Sneakers hold high appeal for London looters.

It wouldn’t feel right to blog this week without mentioning the economic holocaust that appears to be threatening the world. The Dow is doomed, Greece is gutted, the States are failing and anyone close to retirement is likely starting to panic. If you didn’t already have your super sorted, you’d be forgiven for feeling downright depressed this week. You might even feel tempted to pack it all in, don a hoodie and join the riots in London. But the rioters don’t in fact stand for anything. There is no silenced, disenfranchised voice emerging from the fray. The only audible voice is that of a greedy kid wanting a cool TV and the latest Air Jordans. It looks like nothing less than a nasty old scab grab.

The deeper cut

While it is easy to sweep the entire episode under one heading and label them all criminals, any society whose youth feel this disconnected from their own communities, undoubtedly needs to take a deeper look. And although ironic, a world whose leading economy just lost their credit rating, is also disturbing and unsettling. Certainly the “I”, “I” “I, “me”, “me”, “me” liberal individualism of the capitalist model is being tested.

1. The greed had to peak eventually, and it sure did in spectacular fashion smashing through the global debt ceiling. American financial markets played pass the parcel with the debt until it finally landed in the states lap and there is no more passing it on. The government is screwed, we’re petrified and the global markets are flailing. But what got us into such debt?  A society focused on the accumulation of wealth above all else?
2. Observing the looters in London certainly suggests that the youth don’t know what else to want for but ‘things” – consumerism gone mad. For years they have postured on the corners outside shops and liquor stores being ignored. Now they have our attention and it must feel good, but there is no political aim or social criticism. It looks like blind consumption and destruction. Is it capitalism that has fostered this unhealthy degree of materialism, or is it instead a hallmark of socialism and the “I expect a handout” mentality it can sometimes foster?

The capitalist, democratic systems of the west are copping it from all sides – economic, political and social concerns are emerging in force, and are airing quickly and efficiently across the globe through the use of modern technology.

London scenes that depict criminality or a socially isolated, disenfranchised youth?

Social Media: the good the bad and the ugly

Once again in our brave new world, social media have played a vital role in unfolding events. Social media was used to organise the initial peaceful protest against police brutality in Tottenham, after a local man was shot dead. Once the riots began the looters used social media to arrange the next “hit” and to avoid police. Onlookers and locals used social media to express outrage, generate social debate and share the latest news updates. Locals used Twitter #LondonRiots to stay abreast of the moving, changing situation, identifying safe back streets via which to return home. Twitter #RiotCleanup was used to mobilise people for clean ups throughout the ravaged communities. The good, the bad and the ugly, social media operates at the very heartland of our world.

Elsewhere it’s same same but different

While London youth rioted, Tel Aviv in Israel claimed itself a revolution after more than 300,000 people peacefully protested against rising housing prices and an increasingly unaffordable cost of living. Whole tent villages spanned the city and spontaneous dancing and music filled the scene. A far cry from London’s masked children smashing windows for “stuff”. Perhaps the same fundamental issues underlie both events – a rising gap between the rich and the poor, the haves and the have-nots. While both events will be experienced, explored and shared through social media, sadly only one stands a chance of achieving a positive outcome, the other having lost all public sympathy.

Tel Aviv, Israel - peaceful protest.

The end game

Worst case, we know what to do.

A rough week indeed, one for head scratching and pondering the shocking scenes from London, while worrying and despairing about our personal fortunes as the world’s leading financial nations teeter on the edge of an unchartered abyss.  It’s only natural to wonder if we’re on a one way street toward anarchy and poverty – a world that after economic depression is handed over to the likes of the angry youth we see in London.  If it all goes tits up, Aussies know exactly what to do. Buy a dirt bike, a helmet and some shin pads, and strap in for a hell ride….Mad Max style.

To have Sharon copywrite in any capacity on your website contact Bluewire Media on 1300 258394.

For superannuation concerns in the current economic climate visit www.superguide.com.au for free information.

How Businesses Are Unleashing Their Employees’ Social Media Potential – Mashable
This article shows how some companies are harnessing their employees’ increasing technical knowledge to innovate.

6 new scientific findings about Facebook users – The Week
So heavy Facebook users are likely narcissists and 34% of users check Facebook in the morning before they even go to the bathroom? Checking Facebook often gets you lower tertiary grades? Users over-estimate how much their friends care about or agree with their status updates? None of this is surprising but at least it’s all scientifically studied! Maybe you should post these stats on Facebook – it might just make you happier, too.

7 Ways Mobile Apps are Enriching Historical Tourism – Mashable
Augmented reality is where technology is used to enhance (or “augment”) the physical environment around you to add new layers of information, visuals or experience. Think of something as complicated as a gaming headset that projects holograms of other gamers onto the street in front of you. Or as simple as Foursquare’s public location comments (I personally think this actually is augmented reality at its most basic and most useful).

…or think a simple iPhone app that gives you detailed information about the historical landmark in front of you. That directs you to subtle areas of significance in famous,  150-year-old murder cases. That guides you on a tour of London’s medical developments over the years or answers your pressing questions about bizarre statues at the Library of Congress.

Take a look at these seven apps used at American and English tourism centres – how could we use this technology in Australia? In Brisbane?

Will personalisation become a dirty word? - Claire Cooper, Bullseye (via Digital Ministry)
Nowadays, marketers know more about you than ever before: what you’ve bought previously, where you live, what you’re interested in. Claire Cooper raises some pretty important points in her article about the line between handy personalisation (of products, websites, emails etc.) and forced, assumed segmentation.

Providing personalised suggestions, offers or information is great – we all know how well Amazon does it – but we need to make sure our customers are given the option to break out of their segment and find other things they might be interested in, too. Claire might have bought that spa treatment coupon once but it doesn’t mean she’s only ever interested in spa treatments!

Elmo gets personal with Sesame Street fans

He’s not wearing a towel or catching silver fish, but Elmo is following in Old Spice guy’s golden footsteps and answering viewer questions through YouTube. It’s good to hear he doesn’t leave Sesame Street without a grownup!

4 Reasons Your Website Sucks – Hubspot
How to make your website not suck: make sure people can find you (search engine optimisation is a start), focus on your client/user (talk about them, not your company), have clear navigation and calls to action (more important than “wow factor” or bleeding-edge design), don’t automatically play sound or video (people will leave before finding the “off” button).

Writing a company blog people will actually read – Bad Language
So you have a company blog… are posts written regularly? Is writing posts on your to-do list? Do you know what you can write about in advance? Do you write how-tos, expert interviews or opinion pieces as well as company/industry news? If you said “no” to any of these, this article has some great tips on how to get your blog working for you!

And more…

Facebook Marketing: A Comprehensive Guide for Beginners – KISSmetrics Marketing Blog
If you have no idea about Facebook but think it might be useful for your business, this is a great beginners’ guide. It covers the different types of profiles you can have, Facebook ads and how to best use your Facebook presence once you have it, from setting up landing pages to running competitions.

5 Important New Trends in Location – Mashable
Coming up next! Celebrity involvement ups the hype, more apps use location as context for their main purpose, automatic background checkins, private location sharing, making statements and supporting causes.

5 Trends Shaping the Future of Social Good – Mashable
Charities and other organisations are using social media to get volunteers, fundraise and increase awareness. See how in this article!

Google goes back a few decades to showcase the future:

The lyrics to Bob Dylan’s Subterranean Homesick Blues get searched.

• Mashable’s live notes from Google’s launch presentation
• Reload Media’s response to what Google Instant means for SEO
• Mashable talks about the different results for single letters (eg. “w” brings up weather results before you keep typing)

My initial thoughts are that it will be a toss up between speed and visual disturbance from the constantly shifting results. It will be very interesting (and exciting) to see how useful it is once it’s fully rolled out!

Designing Great Presentations

You can see the presentation slides for the Google Instant launch in Mashable’s article. Pretty visual and simple, aren’t they? Design Shack has put together 10 tips so you can make beautiful slides, too! They’re effective and useful suggestions, and should be helpful for designers and non-designers alike.

10 Tips for Designing Presentations That Don’t Suck
Part One & Part Two – Design Shack

More!

5 Indie Films that Couldn’t be Made Without Social Media – Mashable
An animated Indian legend, to Lord Of The Rings, to Batman – independent films thrive on the sort of networks social media afford, to generate funding and to get views. Check out these trailers and see if you wouldn’t want these films in cinemas!

11 True Stories Behind Tech’s Top Names – Mashable
Ever wondered what a “twitter” is or why there are four squares? Well, here are the stories behind the big names, from Android to Yahoo.

What’s the story behind “Bluewire Media”, you ask? Well, maybe that’s a blog post for another day!

If Google Maps were real…

What if you wanted information on an address and it appeared in a huge info bubble in the sky? Or you had to dodge giant yellow Street View men on your way to work? Take a look at this artist’s impression of that world!

4 Tips for Writing SEO-Friendly Blog Posts – OPEN Forum
These tips are both easy and effective. Keep your blog posts human-readable while also making it easier for Google to understand what you’re writing about.

Twitter Launches Official iPad App – Mashable
If you have an iPad, grab the official Twitter app now! This app uses the touchscreen capabilities in really interesting ways to make the most of what the iPad was made for: media consumption.

Lessons Learned after 5 Years of Blogging - Perishable Press
Jeff Starr’s lengthy article is a good read about his blogging experience over the past 5 years, his lessons learnt and the paths he’s decided on. Most importantly, he says to “be yourself” when blogging: be honest, real & sincere; work, learn & share; think for yourself; and, stay calm and take advantage of criticism. Be more than just a blog full of round-ups!!!

How to tell if your Company is Advanced: 10 Criteria Of Social Business Maturity – Web Strategy by Jeremiah Owyang
This article is talking about maturity in your use of social media, which isn’t initially clear! With that in mind, I particularly like these points: 1) Clear understanding of customers’ socialgraphics, 5) Thriving advocady program: customers are actively selling on your behalf, and 6) A community of customers supports each other, reducing support center calls. Are these true about your company?

The Three Key Elements of Irresistible Email Subject Lines – Copy Blogger
Brian Clark takes influence from the fundamentals of headlines to explain how to write email subject lines that get your emails opened. From tips like identifying yourself to getting through spam filters, following this article should help you write some amazing & effective subject lines!

152 Social Media Policies – Social Media Governance
Check out the social media policies used by companies like the BBC, FedEx, Kodak, Telstra and Yahoo!

7 Services to Find and Reserve Your Name Across the Web - Mashable
If you think you’ll want to get into social media at some point (perhaps after reading the article above!) but don’t want to start right now, you might consider signing up for the various accounts you’ll need before somebody takes your name. You can create social media accounts long before you start using them, with no problems. In fact, these seven services can make that happen…

The circle of tech life: How computer symbols are born & technologies die a thousand deaths

The Secret Histories of Those @#$%ing Computer Symbols - Wired Gadget Lab
Ever wonder why the Bluetooth logo looks like some ancient rune? Because it is. Discover the history of all your favourite techy symbols in this interesting article.

The Tragic Death of Practically Everything - Technologizer
Bloggers have a habit of hailing the end times of any technology ever slightly superceded by another. This article brings a few together to highlight how the internet must be an “unrelenting bloodbath” with all these deaths! Enjoy, because the platform you read it on is surely on its last legs.

RIP Google Wave – Mashable
Google’s revolutionary product that blends email, instant messaging, file sharing & wikis “didn’t get the uptake they’d hoped for & Google won’t be continuing to develop Wave as a stand alone product.” It only launched in 2009.

Here at Bluewire, we think the problem was the product’s contagiousness, or lack thereof. Many of us were saying that we either couldn’t explain it to anybody else or never understood it ourselves in the first place. If something’s too confusing to tell your friends about, how will the idea take off? As we know now, it doesn’t.

Did you or anyone you know use Google Wave and how did you find it? Could you explain how it works to anyone else?

Getting people to do what you want them to do!

Lessons Learned from 21 Case Studies in Conversion Rate Optimization – SEOmoz
How can you make more people buy? contact you? download your ebook? sign up for your seminar or subscribe to your newsletter? This article covers it all, from making actions more obvious & increasing credibility to split testing enticing headlines. And of course, it’s full of case studies!

If you’re as excited about this as we are, get in touch and let’s get started!

Read on for more detail on shopping carts and “gradual engagement” (getting more information from users over time rather than making them sign up or fill out their whole profile before starting):

Checkout abandonment on the rise – Econsultancy
A quick article about the main reasons why people abandon their shopping experience, often at the last minute after they’ve added items to their cart and are about to pay.

The most obvious ways to combat this are: provide information about delivery and all charges upfront and make shipping costs really easy to find! Having to wait for a manually calculated shipping cost from the store owner is also a huge barrier for many people who just want to click “Pay” and wait for their goodies to turn up. Making users sign up for an account when they might not ever buy from you again is also more likely to make them not bother at all than become a repeat visitor. And of course, they want it to be fast to checkout.

Sign Up Forms Must Die – A List Apart
This article is from 2008 but unfortunately, complicated barrier sign up forms are still far too common. Would you agree that you’d be more likely to engage and stick with something if you already knew what it did and had even experienced it? And then the account was created for you??

This isn’t talking about contact forms or newsletter subscription forms, though they too can definitely begin by collecting just a name and email address and get other details later, but rather when you need to have an account to use a web application like YouTube or Twitter.

Back to the future

Will Ferrell’s Tour of Tech That Never Took – Wired
I don’t know about you, but I’m often painfully reminded that 2010 isn’t quite like we imagined it’d be 50 years ago. Sure, the future’s hard to predict but you’d think we’d have underwater cities by now! And why can’t I just hologram into the office rather than commute in on a machine invented in the 1800s? Obviously Will Ferrell agrees with me…

Plus, what if our favourite social technologies were advertised back when the future was exciting?

View the full size version >

Growing Your Business: 5 Tips From the Founder of Blip.tv – Mashable
Five smart business tips we try to embody here at Bluewire.

How to get your emails some inbox attention – Smart Insights
Mark Brownlow discusses the importance of the From line, Subject line and “preheader” (he explains it all), plus external things that can affect your open rate (like frequency of sends or design consistency between your website and email). If you want to make sure your email newsletter follows all his points, talk to us!

6 Additions and Optimizations to Increase Conversions – TutToaster
18-year-old entrepreneur, Mathew Carpenter, impresses with this useful article about improving conversion rates. He suggests (and we agree!) testing as much as possible: different copy, different background colours… everything! Google does it.

The A-Z of conversion rate optimisation - Econsultancy
Yep, 26 things you can do (or consider) when optimising for conversions! Although some of them are more abstract than others, there aren’t any points that wouldn’t make your website better. This is a pretty quality list and we’d love an opportunity to try them all out on one website!

A Beginner’s Guide to Website Copywriting – Web Design Ledger
Eight nice points to help improve your web copywriting. We can always do it for you, but if you’re writing your website’s content yourself, make sure you have a good grasp on these aspects, from writing clearly & concisely to considering multimedia.

Video Interview: How to be a social media change agent
(Thanks @IATV!)

This is an interesting interview about a lot of the things covered in our event last week, Social Media for Business. Josh Bernoff from Forrester Research discusses what social media is and why (and how!) you can use it with your business. He really delves into the fears and uncertainties we understand a lot of people have around this area.

5 Handy iPhone Apps for Home Improvement – Mashable
Match colours or turn your phone into a working spirit level!

5 Online Tools for Answering Your Small Business Questions – OPEN Forum
Small business owners have millions of questions… here are five places to find useful answers from real people!

Hash: The semiology & phenomenology of hashtaggery – The New Yorker
The way Twitter’s “hash tag” use has changed over time is a pretty interesting study in human communication. If you’re into that kind of thing, this is a fascinating article on how something meant to make your tweet easier to find is now used to add layers of extra meaning to those 140 character quips. It’s changed from an entry to get to your tweet to gateways to more meaning about your tweet.

If you have no idea what a “hash tag” is, then check out this article (and another) and it might just click.

Experts Agree: Gen Y Will Not Grow Out of Social Networking – Mashable
Will we still be Facebooking when we’re 64? Most of the respondents in this study think Gen Ys won’t be giving up on social networks and “ambient broadcasting” anytime soon. What do you think?

Meet the Google Doodlers!

List of common misconceptions – Wikipedia
If I told you that Napoleon wasn’t unusually short or that the Great Wall of China can’t actually be seen from space, would you believe me? What about that Thomas Edison didn’t invent the lightbulb? If that’s not blowing your mind yet, check out the Wikipedia article on common misconceptions! Good lunchtime reading for trivia buffs.

10 iPhone Apps for a Better Night’s Sleep – Mashable
You might already sleep with your iPhone, but if you need a plausible excuse, here are 10 apps to help you fall asleep, wake up and monitor everything in between. You can drift off with gentle guided meditation, make sure your alarm doesn’t wake you up from a deep slumber and a whole lot more!

A Showcase of Minimalist Workstations – Webdesigner Depot
I’m not sure if most of these are truly minimalist, but these are some really tidy desks in very pretty rooms! You might get inspired to renovate your office… or maybe just do that End of Financial Year Clean-up you promised yourself.

5 Cool Non-Profit Uses of Location-Based Tech – Mashable
While we’re in the midst of Foursquare “Mayor Battles” at the Bluewire office, some people are using the platform for good. These 5 non-profit companies are using location-based technology for fundraising, inspiring experiences and enhancing university graduation. Getting any ideas?

Fail Whale Cake Makes Sour Situation Sweet

Mashable found this cake from Argentina to help make us all feel better about the Twitter downtime lately. It just makes me hungry (but not for whales!)