Siri gets Sued, the Homeless to Provide Wi-fi and Tips to Boosting your Social Media Community

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Updated on February 8th, 2013

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I would like to welcome our guest blogger Troy Vandermeer. Troy is a new team member at Bluewire Media and will be working with me in the managed services d. Troy has had great success with working in the social media industry and we are pleased to have him on board.

Homeless Hotspots

For years now, companies have been experimenting with new ways to deliver quality internet to locations where tower and satellite reception may lack the full ability offered in other parts of town.

A recent experiment by U.S. advertising agency Bartle, Bogle and Hegarty, recently approached the issue, offering a bold new way to provide high-speed internet services. Essentially, the company has equipped people with hotspot devices and strategically requested them to position themselves around city wi-fi black-spots. Opinions and feedback towards the campaign tend to snowball when people soon discover that these new high-speed internet towers are in fact homeless people equipped with the device.

The sheer thought of the experiment does have the potential to provoke feelings that another million dollar corporate outfit is yet again exploiting the vulnerable. However, a deeper look into this audacious form of providing a service does in fact show a potential to provide these residentially displaced with opportunities that they may not have had prior.

Although no fixed price is requested, the opportunities for the homeless primarily exist with the approximate $2 per 15 minute fee-for-service that is encouraged to be provided by the consumer.

On one hand you have a company providing a service to the wider population at the expense of the others, yet on the other hand you have a service which is creating a form of income that is needed by those who some consider the vulnerable and more needy.

A corporate company attempting to add a philanthropic element? Or just another way to cut costs? What do you think?

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/marketers-use-homeless-to-become-mobile-4g-hotspots-at-technology-fair-sxsw/story-fnb64oi6-1226299255132

Siri’s a trouble maker!

Last year Apple announced the release of the iPhone 4S and its integration with a virtual assist they named ‘Siri’ (http://youtu.be/SD7sZdAaS2M). Buyers, as per usual, flocked to their trusted retailers to try the new technology which was said to have the ability to make a call, tell you the weather, tell you how to tie a tie and even tell a joke.

Having become widely available since the initial release, many have been found to openly express their dissatisfaction with the final product. One man has now even resorted to legal action against Apple’s Siri, with claims that she doesn’t do what Apple claimed she could do.

So what constitutes the failure of a product release from this industry leader ? Has Apple set their bar too high with previous innovations? Is this a sign that Apple are struggling to maintain that competitive advantage which they have so convincingly portrayed to the world over the last decade?

Essentially, Siri can identify that command to initiate a call, she can tell that joke and she can inform you of the weather. Have Apple this time failed to exceed consumers’ expectations in this instance? At what point can the public confidently back their accusations that they have been duped?

Apple stand by their product. A number of consumers have displayed extreme dissatisfaction. Only time, money and the courts will tell how this legal battle will play out.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technology-blog/man-suing-apple-claims-siri-isn-t-awesome-183119245.html

Source: thewwwblog.com

Tips from 12 Top Community Managers – Boosting Social Media Activity

The top community managers give you an insight into boosting activity

Boosting Social Media Activity

Engagement-inducing activities are the product of quality, timely and consistent content. The 12 points below are a summary of key tips and examples from industry professionals that will ensure your business is effectively executing your social media strategy.

Engagement in social media is only as powerful as its ability to also create engagement in our stores. – McKee Floyd, Director of Brand Development at Sweetgreen

Delighting the members of your social media community is not a one-time process. Once you have them engaged, be sure that you demonstrate that you value them as individuals. This will make a huge difference.– Teresa Wu, Community Manager at Google Docs

Promote the idea that your community has the ability to share interests. Promoting the coordination of external advocative events has the potential to instil a belonging feeling within your community to your service or product. – Morgan Evans, Community Strategist at Etsy

It’s a good idea to set up a community several weeks prior to hosting an event. This can create an environment whereby individuals have a forum to make that first point of contact. – Mike Fraietta, Enterprise Community Manager at News Corp

Our blog is our main channel to highlight current affairs, which we use to feature great photos, users and also showcase the different types of people that are using instagram. We post daily and are always on the lookout for interesting stories to tell. We want people to be proud of their involvement so when we feature their work, we make sure that they know it. – Josh Riedel, Community Manager at Instagram

Crowdsource content across platforms: Cross-pollinate content across your social media channels, playing to each channel’s individual strength. Statigr.am or HootSuite are great tools to coordinate this type of tactic. – McKee Floyd, Director of Brand Development at Sweetgreen

Know your customer service team. Attending to queries delivered through social media can be a whole different beast. Even the most seasoned customer service specialist will need training on social media interaction. – Jonathan Goldmann, Social Media Manager at Jetsetter

Within every community there are leaders. Identify yours as they are you most valuable assets. Connect with them and listen to what they have to say and what they feel about your brand.– Morgan Evans, Community Strategist at Etsy

Some companies are lucky enough to have an established and very supportive online community. Some comprise intelligent professionals who are independent enough to have in-depth conversations about your content on their own. However, sometimes they want to know you are listening. This means it’s your responsibility to read and respond. At other times they want to have a spirited debate and as a brand it’s difficult to know when to get out of the way. You have to know when to step back early. It’s hard to show restraint, but your community will thank you for allowing them to run.– Sheena Medina, Community Manager at Fast Company.

“I like to pay close attention to our @-mentions and keyword searches when I work in the restaurant. Once, a guest tweeted that she was served a warm beer to her hundred-something followers. I was able to figure out who she was by her picture and have a manager send over a new, ice-cold beer, even though she never asked her waitress for one. It was definitely a social media surprise-and-delight moment for me, and she left a happy customer.”– Morgan Brady, Social Media & Events Coordinator at Southern Hospitality and Strawberry’s Sports Grill

http://mashable.com/2012/03/15/community-manager-engagement-tips/