Tracking the flu with technology and Twitter

The Germ Tracker web app features a map of flu-related tweets.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Social media information like tweets is being used to map the current flu outbreak
• Researchers are working on ways to better filter tweets for accurate real-time predictions
• There are apps and tools from the CDC, Google and startups dedicated to tracking the flu

(CNN) -- Complaining on social networks about being sick might annoy your friends and followers, but it can be useful for tools that track the spread of illnesses.

A new method for filtering tweets, developed by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, could make the real-time data pouring in more accurate.

The United States is in the middle of one of its most severe flu seasons in years. Tech companies, universities and health organizations are harnessing the wealth of data from social networks and search engines, in addition to the usual reports from vital statics offices, hospitals, doctors and public health departments, to keep the public informed and better prepare public health workers.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention releases a weekly influenza update for the United States that includes stats on people with flu-like symptoms, hospitalizations and deaths. But the detailed information is about two weeks old by the time it comes out.

"There are a lot of gaps in the system that Twitter can fill," said assistant research professor Mark Dredze, who headed up the Johns Hopkins project.

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Real-time information like tweets are becoming a popular source of public health information. They can be used to do more than just track outbreaks. Dredze's goal is to get ahead of the curve and actually predict where and when illnesses will spread. This information could be invaluable for public health departments, providing them advanced warnings and time to plan with additional doctors, hospital beds or school closings. Thanks to GPS information for each tweet, the location information gathered from Twitter is more finely detailed than the CDC.

Early warnings are good for regular people as well. They push people to get vaccinated before they catch the flu, and individuals with health issues who might be more vulnerable can take extra precautions.

With an average 340 million tweets a day, Twitter is a firehouse of muddled and misleading information. Taken at face value, keywords would indicate the entire country is suffering from an ongoing fever epidemic of the Bieber variety. Much of the running commentary on Twitter is a reaction to news events, so when a flu epidemic becomes a national news story, the number of people talking about it spikes, regardless of their own health status.

"Most people have just focused on the presence of flu. The very simple thing is you look at Twitter and look at the number of people using the world flu or sick everyday," said Dredze. "The problem with that is if you look a little more closely it doesn't really work."

Dredze's team is using algorithms to correct for these issues, filtering out the noise to isolate the useful information. They were already researching using Twitter to track health issues before this winter's recent outbreak but quickly changed tracks to focus on the flu. The group plans to share the information it gathers with public health officials.

Tracking influenza and other illnesses based on social media isn't new. In a 2011 paper, researchers reported being able to accurately track disease levels for the swine flu outbreak two years earlier by searching for keywords such as flu, vaccine, illness, Tamiflu and pneumonia.

The University of Rochester has turned research about predicting the spread of diseases with social media into a web application called Germ Tracker. The colorful interactive map pulls up geo-tagged Tweets that contain keywords related to illness. If you find a tweet that's clearly mislabeled (like someone bragging that their new car is "sick"), click a button to let the app know they're not actually sick. It also allows self reporting with a slider you can set to Awful, Sick, Yuck, Meh or Good and options to share specific symptoms.

Sick Weather is a similar project that can pull from Facebook and Twitter to map and show animations of contagious illnesses such as chicken pox, colds and whooping cough, as well as other issues like allergies, stress and depression.

Even as researchers get better at filtering tweets, the social network presents limitations. It isn't an accurate representation of the entire population in terms of age or location. Two of the groups hardest hit by influenza outbreaks, the elderly and children, are the least likely to be live blogging their symptoms.

Google's Flu Trends looks at search terms to create real-time estimates of where the flu is flaring up. Developed in 2009 in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control, the tool digs through massive amounts of search data (all anonymous) looking for flu-releated searches around the world and maps out the intensity of outbreaks.

"The advantage of using these social media tools and Google is they're much faster than the CDC," said Michael Paul, a doctoral student working on the Johns Hopkins Twitter research. "As an early warning, they're useful to the government when it needs to plan."

Armchair influenza trackers will still get the most detailed information from weekly reports released by the Centers for Disease Control. The reports dig deep into the data gathered from doctors, hospitals and other health officials to outline things like number of deaths, flu-related hospitalizations and a breakdown of strains. The CDC also has its own simple app called FluView that plots the volume of influenza-like illnesses by state.

"Our job is really to figure out what viruses are going around and what effect they're having," said Lynnette Brammer, an influenza epidemiologist at the CDC. "It's more laboratory based; we try to get as close as we can to the viruses."

The CDC teams do check tools like the Google Flu Tracker, and Brammer says that while the results don't always match up, Google is close to the CDC's own findings most of the time. The CDC has slightly different goals than tech tools that track symptoms in real-time. It's drilling down to find out what strains are being reported, see if they are close to the current vaccine and if not, determine if the vaccine needs to be changed to include new virus candidates.

By Heather Kelly, CNN

updated 10:57 AM EST, Wed January 30, 2013 | Filed under: Social Media

http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/30/tech/social-media/flu-tracking-twitter/index.html

Will Samsung Replace Apple As Innovator-In-Chief?

Samsung dramatically outsells Apple now, according to IDC's latest numbers, but market leadership isn't merely a matter of market share. While Samsung will almost certainly outsell Apple for years to come, the bigger question is whether the Korean giant is ready to take its mantle as mobile computing's innovation hub. For now, the answer seems to be 'Sort of.'
In the global mobile phone market, Samsung crushes Apple, claiming 23.4% of the market to Apple's 7.8%. But in smartphones, which arguably better demonstrate innovation, Samsung owns 30.3% of the market to Apple's 19.1%.

Despite Samsung's superior global market share, it still trails Apple in the U.S., and its flagship Galaxy S still falls short of Apple's iPhone 5 sales. Most of its numerical advantage in emerging markets comes from a "spray-and-pray" approach to product deployment, shipping a number of different form factors and hoping a few will stick. Fortunately for Samsung, its "phablets" like the Galaxy Note 2 seem to be finding an audience, while Apple offers nothing in this tweener market.

A Question Of Innovation

This may be a winning sales strategy, but it doesn't necessarily indicate market leadership through superior innovation. But then, is this any different from Apple?
According to Booz & Company's 2012 Global Innovation 1000 report, which surveys executives at 700 companies to compile its list of the world's most innovative companies, Apple not only topped the list for the third-consecutive year, but it actually widened the gap between it and second-place finisher, Google, being named as a top innovator by 80% of respondents to Google's 43%.  Samsung, which claimed fourth place, garnered even fewer votes. In this and other measurements of perceived innovation, Apple reigns supreme.
And yet... Apple didn't exactly invent tablets, smartphones, touch screens, voice recognition technology or any of the innovations we generally credit to Steve Jobs and his disciples. Apple simply created demonstrably better products than its competitors. So much so that in 2010 then Samsung telecom chief J.K. Shin, comparing Samsung's user experience to Apple's, said "the difference is truly that of Heaven and Earth."
Let's just say that Shin didn't see Samsung making it to the Pearly Gates.

Is Samsung Getting Better?

Samsung has taken the smartphone and tablet concepts and blended them in its Galaxy Note 2, as mentioned above, which arguably is at least as "innovative" as Apple. But when we talk about innovation, we're really thinking about people or companies that so clearly take control of a market and its very essence that they command respect. Under this definition, Samsung still has a ways to go.
But there are plenty of signs that suggest it knows the way. Remember when Samsung, LG and other Asian brands were considered low-end imitations of innovative Western brands? No, really. People used to think that. But take a walk through any electronics or appliances store and you'll see that it's Samsung, more than any other, that now pushes the innovation envelope. Samsung used to be what you bought when you couldn't afford a "real" brand like Bosch or Sony or GE. Not anymore.
In fact, Samsung arguably has much in common with Apple. Much more so than with Sony, which actually did create a whole new market with its Walkman. Samsung, like Apple, is adept at taking others' concepts and cranking out highly polished products that are superior in form and finish.

The Road Ahead

Looking forward, I suspect we'll see Apple attempt to go back to its role of being a premium, highly profitable BMW-like brand that sets the tone for the industry without actually being used by most of the market. Samsung, like Honda, will be innovative in the sense of building mass-market, high-quality products that stand on their own merits, even if they sometimes take their cue from Apple.
Could Samsung challenge Apple at the high end for the soul of the industry's direction? Yes, it could. As VisionMobile's Developer Economics 2013 report highlights, a big part of Samsung's success, like Apple's, comes down to its "in-house ownership of the most expensive hardware components, ensuring both earliest availability and lowest bill of materials," not to mention the ability to innovate at every level of hardware design. But despite Samsung's ability to challenge Apple at the high-end, as it does now, I suspect that, as it has in every other market in which it competes, feeding the mass market will prove more appealing than dominating the premium-and-comparatively-tiny niche.
Samsung is an innovator. It just doesn't want to have innovation at the expense of market share.

http://readwrite.com/2013/01/31/will-samsung-replace-apple-as-innovator-in-chief

Top 7 Most In-Demand Tech Skills For 2013

John Paul Titlow yesterday

If you promised yourself you were going to beef up your tech skills in 2013, now is the time to get moving.
But where to start? With so many languages, platforms, protocols and other technologies, it's hard to know what's worth spending your limited free time to learn. Based on surveys and data from a variety of sources, ReadWrite has put together a list of seven of the most sought-after tech skills for this year.

7. All Things "Cloud" 

The cloud computing craze is still going strong, if tech job hiring trends are any indication. Specifically, companies are looking for software developers who specialize in things like virtualization and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) development, with familiarity with Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) technologies.
According to one survey of IT execs, 25% of companies are planning on hiring people with SaaS and related cloud-computing expertise in 2013.  In general, SaaS and virtualization are both buzzwords often cited as being on-the-rise on job search sites.
Of course, SaaS and PaaS (not to mention whatever-else-as-a-service) can utilize any number of specific programming languages and technologies (more on those below). Suffice it to say that if a given skill helps companies utilize cloud infrastructure or virtualize any aspect of their computing needs, it's in high demand.
See also: Tech Jobs in 2013: Open Source All The Way Down

6. IT Project Management

One of the most sought-after tech job skills isn't all that technical. Slinging code, maintaining infrastructure and designing software are all really important, but they're kind of useless without somebody to see the project through to completion. That's why certified project managers can pull in six figure incomes and why 40% of IT executives are looking to hire project managers in 2013.

5. JavaScript (And Related Technologies) 

On the Web, JavaScript is what makes things interactive, especially now that the rise of tablets and smartphones has bumped Flash from prominence. Whether it's the ever-popular jQuery framework or the JSON data interchange standard, companies need JavaScript-focused talent like never before. In fact, JSON is the most in-demand skill on CyberCoders.
It's worth noting that when people say "HTML5," they're often referring in part to JavaScript. That's because what makes Web apps look and feel so app-like is CSS and JavaScript, not just the plain HTML itself.
If you're looking to learn Web programming, JavaScript is the place you want to end up. If you want to start slow, a framework like jQuery could be the way to go.

4. Java / J2EE

Java and the J2EE development platform are popping up more and more on job hiring boards. Indeed, Java/J2EE developers are going to be in high demand throughout 2013, according to a survey from Dice.
Unlike hot new technologies like Android development and HTML5, demand for Java skills has been fairly consistent over time, although it has been on the rise in the last few years.

3. PHP / MySQL

It may lack the sexiness of mobile development or newer Web programming technologies, but PHP is still very important. The open source scripting language runs on more than 20 million websites and powers high-profile sites we deal with every day, including Facebook and Wikipedia. Any blog, news site or other website built using Wordpress or Drupal is making use of PHP as well. It's all over the Web, even if you can't see it by clicking "view source."
PHP is currently ranked as the most sought-after skill on Elance, with MySQL and Wordpress also cracking the top ten. There are more than a quarter of a million PHP programming gigs listed on Elance alone.

2. iOS Development

It comes as no surprise that iOS developers are sought after. Most sources that track job talent demand rank iOS development or related skills like Xcode and Objective-C programming very highly. As Apple's sales in both tablets and smartphones has exploded, so too has the demand for developers who can build apps for the iOS ecosystem.
iPhone and iPad development have been trendy for a few years now, but it's actually accelerated pretty dramatically in the last two years. After years of slow but steady growth, demand for iOS development skyrocketed over the course of 2011 and 2012, according to data from the job aggregator site Indeed. If you've been meaning to try your hand at building apps for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, now is a good time to get into it.

1. HTML5 / CSS

Where would the Web be without HTML? Nowhere, really. This simple markup language is literally what the Web is made of, with cascading style sheets (CSS) making everything look nice and JavaScript adding interactive functionality.
It's only natural that the language at the heart of the Web would be in high demand, even as native mobile app development and back-end cloud technologies command bigger ad bigger chunks of IT budgets. In fact, as tablets, smartphones and cloud-hosted services proliferate, the importance of the Web grows along with it. Consumers still need to access their cloud-hosted SaaS services via their Web browser. And studies show that tablet owners still love the Web.
After years of relative stagnation, HTML has made big advances in recent years with HTML5, which is now supported by the latest versions of all major Web browsers. Meanwhile, the design options available via CSS3 and the interactivity provided by JavaScript have pushed the Web even further, blurring the line between Web-based and native apps.
HTML5 makes a 23-year-old markup language cool again - and back in high demand. Elance and Indeed both rank HTML as one of their most sought-after job skills, while other studies routinely point to it being in strong demand.
As a bonus, it's relatively easy to learn compared to the other skills on our list.

http://readwrite.com/2013/01/30/top-7-in-demand-tech-skills-for-2013

Infographic: Top 10 Failed Social Media Sites

http://socialtimes.com/infographic-top-10-failed-social-media-sites_b117218

When you said were BFFs with these social networks, you lied. This infographic shows 10 sites that came and went as Facebook captured the general audience and new sites popped up to take their places.
Not all of these sites have given up the ghost: Google+ is aligning itself better with its other products like Gmail and YouTube, while a newly redesigned MySpace focuses on entertainment. Does anyone remember Eons or Diaspora? You will now, after reading through these descriptions.
Take a look at the infographic below and let us know if you agree with this list from MyLife.com. (Click on the image to enlarge.)

92% Of All Smartphones Shipments in Q4 2012 Were iOS & Android

Dan Rowinski posted 2 hours ago

If you are a smartphone manufacturer trying to make a dent in the mobile wars and are not building a device running iOS or Android, you are out of luck. According to Boston-based research firm Strategy Analytics, 92% of all smartphones shipped in the last quarter of 2012 ran either Apple or Google’s mobile operating systems.
Overall, smartphone growth for the quarter grew 38% annually between Q4 2011 and Q4 2012 from 157 million units to 217 million. For the year, Strategy Analytics believes that 700.1 million smartphones were shipped in 2012, well ahead of the 490.5 million shipped in 2011.
Growth rates for the smartphone market are slowing. Granted, growth is still in the double digits, but global ship growth slowed from 64% in 2011 to 43% in 2012, according to Strategy Analytics senior analyst Neil Shah in a release.
On a global basis, Android is winning the smartphone wars. In Q4, it took 70.1% of all smartphone shipments. Apple’s iOS was second with 22%. That left 7.9% to all other competitors, notably Microsoft’s Windows Phone and Research In Motion’s BlackBerry.

For the entirety of 2012, Android held 68.4% of all smartphone shipments. Apple held at nearly one-in-five (19.4%) while the rest of the market shared 12.2% of all shipments.

http://readwrite.com/2013/01/28/92-of-all-smartphones-shipments-in-q4-2012-were-ios-android

Game of Fame: Cut the Rope

http://dailytekk.com/2013/01/23/game-of-fame-cut-the-rope/


If you’re an iOS gamer, chances are you’ve played Cut the Rope (or seen and heard a lot about it at the very least). I know I have personally enjoyed playing Cut the Rope because it’s the type of game that you can play when you just need to kill a few minutes waiting for something (or you can play it for an hour–it’s fun either way). It’s easy enough for a small kid to enjoy while an adult can derive hours of enjoyment from it as well. Not many games can say that. Plus, Om Nom (need I say more?). As a fan of Cut the Rope I naturally wanted to learn more. That’s why I contacted ZeptoLabs’ Semyon Vionov to tell us how this famous game got it’s start in his own words. Be sure to scroll to the bottom to see some early Om Nom sketches.
There are just a few noticeable mobile games built around rope physics, and I think that Cut the Rope has succeeded in taking this very simple idea and perfecting it – without making it more complicated. That is what makes the gameplay unique. The only important tip any player needs to know before he (or she) starts to play the game is already written in the title. The rest of the game’s rules pretty much come from people’s instinctive knowledge of how the physical world works around them. Also, the idea of feeding a little cute creature (instead of just delivering some abstract object from point A to point B) created an emotional link between the game and the players, and it helped to make the game successful.
The visual inspiration for Cut the Rope came from wanting to make the game appealing to a wide variety of ages; we wanted it to look cute and casual, but not too childish. One of the main references for the art were the classic animated motion pictures.
As a player, I like the fact that each level requires both puzzle solving and arcade gameplay. It’s nice to exercise both your mind and reflexes.
Although we were lucky to lock-in the core gameplay quite early on, we had different options for the visual theme. Some of the original concepts did differ quite a bit from the way the game actually turned out, visually. One of the ideas was to have a wooden puppet on a stings, and a player would have to cut the stings to set the puppet free. I still think that was a cool and artsy idea, but it probably wouldn’t have equated to the same amount of success as the game had with the help of Om Nom.
I think people would probably be pretty surprised that I got an initial idea for the game while working out in a gym!
While we were in development, we showed the game to as many people as we could – our friends, family members, random people – and it proved to be extremely helpful! I would definitely recommend doing that for any game developer as it’s essential to understand how intuitive, appealing and addictive your game is. That’s something you shouldn’t just trust your gut with.
It’s cool to see how the game has affected the market overall. Sometimes I download some random game from the AppStore and I see some things in it which are clearly inspired by Cut the Rope – and it’s great. Our highest goal is to inspire people! Of course, the market has changed quite a lot since Cut the Rope was released two years ago, but we believe there’s still a space for a cute and addictive snack-like game. Our new game Pudding Monsters which was released Dec 20 is exactly that kind of a treat.

12 Month Plan For Boosting Your Social Media Presence [Infographic]

12 Month Plan For Boosting Your Social Media Presence [Infographic]

Megan O'Neill on January 22, 2013 11:39 AM

When it comes to building a presence for your brand or business on social media, it can be tough knowing where to start.  There are so many social sites out there—which should you be focusing on and how do you use them effectively to engage with your customers?  Luckily, whether you’re just starting out building a social presence or trying to boost an already existing one, Intuit has put together a helpful 12 month plan, in infographic form.
Intuit breaks things down, giving you a different aspect of your social media plan to focus on each month.  In the first quarter you’ll focus on taking social media inventory—in January you’ll assess how well your business is currently doing with social media; in February you’ll revisit and set your social media goals; in March you’ll work on establishing ways to measure your social media success.
In the second quarter you’ll work on your online relationships, becoming a better listener, learning to communicate in new ways and engaging your customers effectively.
In the third quarter, it’s time to integrate everything you’ve been working on, and in the fourth quarter it’s time to review what you’ve done and look to the future.
Check out the full infographic below and let us know what you think.  Have you gone through any of these steps when building a social media strategy for your brand or business?

Megan O’Neill is the resident web video expert here at Social Times.  Megan covers everything from the latest viral videos to online video news and tips, and has a passion for bizarre, original and revolutionary content and ideas.

http://socialtimes.com/12-month-plan-boosting-social-media-presence-infographic_b116798#.UQLmOm4enRU.blogger

10 ways to save money on tech in 2013

By Blake Snow, Special to CNN

updated 8:03 AM EST, Fri January 25, 2013 | Filed under: Gaming and Gadgets

New technology can be expensive, but if you're resourceful there are lots of ways to cut costs, Blake Snow says.

(CNN) -- From Airbnb to GasBuddy to shopkick, lots of apps and websites help consumers save money.

But how do we spend less on technology itself -- that digital drug we can't seem to get enough of? How can we save money on electronic gadgets and services ... so that we can buy more gadgets?

Here are 10 ways to stretch your tech budget this year:

1. Employ smart strips. Surge protectors have saved countless gadgets from being electrocuted over the years. But new ones like Take Charge's Power Saver Smart Strip are even better because they save money on your monthly power bill by killing standby power (aka vampire or phantom power) that most electronics consume even when turned off. In my case, after installing two smart strips (one in my office, the other on the entertainment center), I've saved at least $10 per month on my power bill since August -- more than enough to justify the $30 cost of each.

New technology to save money

2. Buy less computer (or data). Processing power, bandwidth and chipsets used to mean a lot when deciding on a computer or Internet provider. But most computers and data plans today are really fast. Even when they're not, software developers have made perceptible gains in making gadgets and data feel faster than they really are. So instead of paying for a top-of-the-line machine, blazingly fast speeds or unlimited data, consider a lower-powered but still functional alternative. You'd be surprised how many people are buying too much computer or data for their needs.

3. See gadgets as assets. This is what I call my perpetual technology fund. It works like this: Two or three times a year, I identify gadgets, handhelds, old phones, laptops and gaming devices I no longer use (follow the dust) and/or have no intention of using over the next 12 months. The ones with value that I choose not to give away, I'll resell on Craigslist, eBay, or similar classifieds like Gazelle.com. In some cases, you can expect several hundred dollars in "returns," which, of course, can then be used to subsidize your next tech purchase.

4. Cut cable TV (and buy your own cable modem). Like many tips on my list, this one, too, requires additional effort, but the savings can be immeasurable. First, stop renting a cable or internet modem if you haven't already. They cost less than $50 on average and quickly recoup the $5/month leasing fee. Next, see if you can find your favorite shows and programs on streaming websites such as Netflix, Amazon and Hulu. You may have to make a few sacrifices, but $100 a month in savings ain't a bad consolation prize.

5. Use freeware as often as you can. After paying hundreds of dollars for accounting software over the years, I recently switched to a free online service. It does everything my old software did at no additional cost. And there are a lot of other freemium software products to help you do what you need for less (or nothing). So get clicky with Google and see what's out there.

6. Avoid extended warranties. I know a lot of people get peace of mind when buying extended warranties on pricey TVs, smartphones and other gadgets. But the fact remains, according to numerous consumer reports, that extended warranties cost more money on average than what they might eventually save in the unlikely event your gadget breaks beyond its default warranty. This has certainly been the case with me. I've had stuff covered under warranty. Most of my tech survives without problem. And I've had a few devices out of warranty that I paid for. But overall, I've saved a lot more than I would have paying for extended warranties. My free accounting software says so!

7. Consider refurbished gadgets. Contrary to popular myth, refurbished electronics are often as good as new. For example, my friend just bought a beautiful MacBook for hundreds less than it would have cost new. It came in a new box. Smelled new. Featured those protective stickers that are always fun to pull off. And was really shiny. Even better, it's still under warranty.

8. Buy cheap digital cables. Most digital cables are created equal. I say most because I've had a cheapo digital cable go out on me. But I was only out a few dollars. And most of the knockoff digital cables I've bought -- including HDMI, iPhone cables, audio cables, etc. -- are still going strong after several years. Together, they've helped me pocket hundreds of dollars in savings (which I use to buy more tech).

9. Buy online. Before you roll your eyes and let out a big old "duh," remember that shopping online often requires additional patience before seeing significant savings. For example, if you need an item right away and opt for expedited (and costly) shipping, you might be better off to buy at retail. Free shipping can take more than a week in some cases. But there are good deals out there. And even if you don't end up buying online, you should research prices there first before stepping into a brick-and-mortar store.

10. Buy smart rechargeables. Rechargeable batteries have come a long way over the last decade. In fact, batteries such as Sanyo's Eneloops now pack more than enough juice to power all your electronics. These ain't your father's rechargeable batteries, so start buying and start saving.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/25/tech/gaming-gadgets/tech-money-saving-tips/index.html?hpt=te_t1

Does Social Media Sabotage Happiness?

http://dailytekk.com/2013/01/21/does-social-media-sabotage-happiness/

AppSurfer adds tablet apps to web-based try-before-you-buy Android app demos | VentureBeat

AppSurfer adds tablet apps to web-based try-before-you-buy Android app demos | VentureBeat

How Long Does It Take to Make An App: Infographic

Cameron Scott on January 17, 2013 8:30 PM


 Kinvey, backend service for apps, released this infographic based on conversations with 100 app developers.

“Of course, there’s a subtext to this graphic. Specifically, it doesn’t have to take 18 weeks to build v1 of your app. It can take a lot less time. The backend alone is estimated to require 10 weeks, but a backend as a service like Kinvey can dramatically reduce that time,” the company says.
Another thing to keep in mind before you go off and make an app: Most don’t make money.

http://socialtimes.com/how-long-does-it-take-to-make-an-app-infographic_b116559

Apple wants to make Siri more conversational | VentureBeat

Apple wants to make Siri more conversational | VentureBeat

Nielsen: The next smartphone battlegrounds will be Brazil, Russia, and India | VentureBeat

Nielsen: The next smartphone battlegrounds will be Brazil, Russia, and India | VentureBeat

15 Social Media Concepts to Make You a More Marketable Social Media Professional in 2013

By Jessica Rogers 

Approximately 73% of Fortune 500 companies have a Twitter account; 66% have Facebook Pages.  However, many of these organizations lack experienced personnel to truly unleash the power of social.  According to a survey by Harvard Business Review of 2,100 companies, only 12% of those utilizing media feel they use it effectively.  Further, online job postings requiring social media skills have gone up 87% from 2011-2012; there is now demand for proven social media professionals.  This is great news for all of my Social Media grad students!   This leads me to believe that not only employers accepting social, it is now a requirement for business (a notion many of have been shouting from the rooftops).  Along with this comes the need for employees who can accomplish social strategies for businesses.

Many believe that social media is simply having an active Facebook profile or Twitter feed.  I assure you it is not, there is a method behind the madness!  My social media MBA courses offer students the opportunity to learn and apply skills relevant to their career or career goals.  These courses are part of a traditional MBA program, requiring courses in accounting, finance, management and more.  Students utilize all of these classes together; not in a vacuum.  They learn to be strategic and analytic.  Upon their completion of the MBA with the social media marketing focus, a student should be able to demonstrate the below competencies.  These are not necessarily individual skill sets, but cover a broad spectrum of skills that if used together, make the individual more proficient and marketable. These topics below are addressed more fully within the courses I teach, but are a great resource to look over and evaluate yourself.  View this check-list and assess which you have conquered and which you can improve upon in 2013:

• At a minimum, you should have an active Twitter account and LinkedIn account designed around your personal brand.  Similarly, you should know what a hashtag is, why we use it, and how not to use or overuse it!
• Do you know the logic behind utilizing social?  Here’s a hint: Engagement. This is a broad answer, but if you have been following this blog, you should know that the common theme is “engagement” with external and internal stakeholders.
• Accept and embrace the importance of listening before you speak (via social) and having a social plan/strategy before jumping on the social media roller coaster.
• The social media professional must be open to trying new things and possess the flexibility to make changes as needed.
• Commit yourself to reading constantly about social media and measurement; searching aggressively for the latest trends and best practices. This is a must to keep you current in this ever changing social landscape.
• You must be religious about social media monitoring for customer service opportunities and initiate conversations on behalf of the customer.  Social media allows brands to actively monitor conversations and arrive at resolutions more quickly than ever before.
• You must embrace connecting with consumers directly. These deeper connections can lead to higher-level interactions, including advocacy and loyalty.
• Analyze social media actions and reports on a monthly basis to uncover successes.  This also gives you the potential to identify new opportunities you may be overlooking.
• Timely and relevant content for any social platform is very important.  Similarly, content must tailored and optimized for a particular platform and intended audience.
• You must identify and understand your business-related goals.  All content on your blog, Facebook page, Twitter profile, YouTube channel, etc., has to support your business-related goals.
• As a social media professional, you must have the patience to go the distance.  Social strategies are not short term.  Long-term goals with specific objectives must be identified first, followed by specific tactics in place.
• Importance of integrating traditional with social strategy.  This is often easier said than done and involves a lot of time, people, and patience.
• Do you have some knowledge of SEO best practices?  Many students give little attention to this facet of the courses thinking it is more of an IT job duty. Knowing the how and why of SEO can be a huge help to your career and your brand.
• You must have a solid understanding that as a social media professional, you must collaborate with various other departments (including but not limited to sales, IT, legal, HR, R&D) to share, innovate, and improve business.
• Do you know who the top influencers are in your sector? Your competitors?  Industry specific trends?  You should be able to find them using various social techniques and feel confident in the data you are collecting.

I will address each of these points above more fully in 2013, so please be sure to follow this blog to read more. Social media is so much more than simply knowing how to tweet, how to use the various social platforms, and how to navigate the different tools available.  It’s knowing how to utilize them together (effectively) to reach your organizations goals. This involves high levels of strategic thinking, a very critical skill. Strategic planning is more important than ever given the significance of integrating social with other brand communications.  Aligning social media goals with the goals of the business as well as business objectives is often overlooked. Strategic planning in business today must include more than creating outputs (tweets, blog posts, and videos), it should include the actual building of relationships that lead to an increase of the bottom line.

My graduates know that no one is truly THE social media expert, guru, Jedi, ninja, rock star, king, (you get the idea). I even reprimand those who might use those phrases with my name in the same sentence.  We are all learning from each other and are actively taking social media to the next level! I believe that is what I enjoy most about social media: those who truly love the field and love what we do want all to succeed. Making this community of social media folks one that is full of individuals helping each other, communicating successes and failures so others may learn, while also “checking in” with each other “just because”.  This is so different than any other business sector that I have been in partly due to the nature of social media, but also due to how business has evolved since the early 90’s.  I look forward to what 2013 brings to social, 2012 truly rocked my world!

http://windmillnetworking.com/2013/01/11/social-media-marketing-professional-2013/

The 100 Best, Most Interesting Blogs and Websites of 2013

Note: If you tweet or share this post, please include the #bmibw2013 hashtag.
Welcome to one of the web’s most anticipated lists of the year: The 100 Best, Most Interesting Blogs and Websites of 2013. This is the second such list I have made since founding DailyTekk and it’s very special. A website can only be featured ONCE in this annual series, so make sure to check out last year’s list so you don’t miss 100 other amazing sites and blogs. I’ve broken this monster list down into 19 categories and limited myself to five links per category (except for the last category) to ensure I whittled away all but what I thought were the most deserving candidates of right here and right now in 2013. This post kicks off a whole new year of incredible top 100 lists (see a summary of the best curated content from last year in The Ultimate Lifehack for 2013: 200+ Incredible Sites and Services). This isn’t a wussy list like Time’s 50 Best Websites of 2012 which contains a bunch of web tools; nope, this is essentially a treasure trove of pure content.
When I make this list I consider 3 things: content, design and style (you know, that x-factor that really makes a site stand out). Throughout the year I save screenshots, bookmark, email myself links, star and favorite the best web content I run across. It’s a year-long process but I start getting pretty excited when I’m finally getting close to publishing it because I’m so excited to share with you my good finds. Actually, I took a few really good suggestions from readers (in the form of comments from last years post), and I had some valuable input from my wife, so I can’t take full credit for what you see here, technically.
Apparently, as of March 2012 there were 644,275,754 active websites (according to Business Insider) and you know the number has done nothing but rocket up since then. Someone has to go through and find the best, most interesting web content to make it easier on everyone else–but what does this have to do with technology? After all, DailyTekk IS a tech blog, right? Yes it is, and to me, great web content has everything to do with technology; as TechCrunch pointed out, the world is being eaten by technology to the point that all journalism is becoming tech journalism. Here’s another way to look at it: what good would your smartphone or tablet be if you had no good content to read, watch, interact with or play? You’re welcome.

Cool

1. Visual News - The cure for eyeball boredom.
2. moddea – Visual catalog of everyday modern objects.
3. Very Short List – Cultural gems from a different curator every day.
4. SoulPancake - Art, culture, science, philosophy, spirituality and humor.
5. The Curious Brain – A strategic planner from Greece who is curious about everything.

Viral

1. BuzzFeed - High quality original reporting, insight and viral content.
2. UPROXX – The culture of what’s buzzing.
3. PocketHits - The most popular stories, videos, images, recipes and more from Pocket.
4. What’s Trending - See it first.
5. Viral Viral Videos - Videos going viral right now.

Culture

1. Open Culture – The best free cultural and educational media on the web.
2. Trendland - Your daily dose of fashion, trends, art, design and photography.
3. Slacktory - A comedic blog about the pop culture of the internet.
4. Flavorwire - Culture curation. Highbrow, lowbrow and everything in between.
5. Internet for Beginners – About.com’s guide to participating in online culture.

News

1. Quartz - Digitally native news outlet. Bracingly creative journalism.
2. The Daily Beast - Read this skip that.
3. Matter - Commissions, crafts and publishes unmissable journalism about science, tech and ideas.
4. PostDesk - Indepth news, analysis, discussion and debate.
5. WhoWhatWhy – Groundbreaking investigating journalism.

Design

1. NOTCOT – A visual filtration of ideas + aesthetics + amusements.
2. The Exaltation - A collective of creatives sharing inspirational projects.
3. The Khooll - A digital design and lifestyle magazine.
4. dsgnWrld - Propagate design.
5. designboom - A large independent publication dedicated to design and architecture.

Humor

1. Twaggies – Funny tweets illustrated.
2. Team COCO – Conan O’Brien presents…
3. White Whine – A collection of first-world problems.
4. Improv Everywhere – They cause scenes (funny videos).
5. PassiveAggressiveNotes.com - Pictures of funny passive aggressive notes people have left.

Men

1. Valet - Men’s style, grooming, living, shopping and how-to guides.
2. Por Homme - Men’s lifestyle, fashion, footwear and culture.
3. Bless This Stuff - Web magazine for guys. Categories include: wear, living, culture, sports, vehicles and more.
4. The Art of Manliness - Men’s interests and lifestyle.
5. Dappered - Affordable men’s style.

Women

1. Goop – Limited edition collaborations, recipes, travel notes, shopping ideas curated by Gwyneth Paltrow.
2. The Hairpin - Ladies first.
3. HelloGiggles - Entertainment for creative women.
4. The Everygirl – The lifemap for everygirls everywhere.
5. Pick the Brain - Motivation and self-improvement.

Photo

1. In Focus – News photography from The Atlantic.
2. Amazing Things In The World - Photos of, you guessed it, amazing things in the world (Facebook).
3. NPR Picture Show – Photo stories from NPR.
4. Feature Shoot – Travel, fashion, documentary, editorial and portrait photography.
5. White House Photos – Photos from the White House.

Video

1. Freddie Wong – Action shorts from Freddie Wong.
2. Vsauce – Amazing facts and the best of the Internet.
3. All Time 10s – The funniest, most relevant and informative top 10 list videos you’ll ever watch.
4. Household Hacker – Mods, life hacks, science, cheats, pranks and gaming.
5. WatchMojo – Profiles, videos, top 10s.

Audio

1. SoundCloud – Hear the world’s sounds.
2. Studio 360 – What’s happening in pop culture and the arts.
3. Blank on Blank – They find lost interviews, you listen.
4. Fresh Air – Contemporary arts and issues (from NPR).
5. Radiolab – A show about curiosity.

Read

1. Longform - Recommends new and classic nonfiction from around the web.
2. Byliner Spotlights - Read more from your favorite authors.
3. Longreads - The best long-form stories on the web.
4. The Feature - A hand-picked selection of the finest articles and essays saved with Instapaper.
5. The Paris Review – Introducing you to the important writers of the day.

Tech

1. Skillcrush - Learn about technology and how to put it to work for you.
2. Singularity Hub – The future is here today.
3. Gizmag - New and emerging technology news (lots of cool hardware).
4. Internet Today - The best internet and tech news from LinkedIn.
5. ExtremeTech - The only tech site I’ve ever seen with a category labeled “Extreme.”

Smart

1. TED - Ideas worth spreading.
2. Co.Exist - World-changing ideas and innovation.
3. Talks at Google - Speakers of all stripes giving talks at Google.
4. Conference Bites - Big ideas for short attention spans. The best quotes from the latest events.
5. Aspen Ideas - Multimedia from around the Aspen Ideas Institute.

Geek

1. Geekosystem – Your guide to tech and internet culture.
2. Geek & Sundry – Eccentricities for your entertainment.
3. So Geek Chic – All things geek and/or chic.
4. Geekologie - Gadgets, gizmos and awesome.
5. DudeIWantThat.com - A gift guide of gadgets, gear and novelties.

Good

1. GOOD – A global community of people who care.
2. Stanford Social Innovation Review – Informing and inspiring leaders of social change.
3. Charity Navigator – America’s largest charity evaluator.
4. Dutiee – Stories that matter.
5. Socialbrite – Social solutions for nonprofits (blog).

Environment

1. TreeHugger – Dedicated to driving sustainability mainstream.
2. Grist – Environmental news, commentary and advice.
3. GoodGuide – Green, healthy and safe product information and reviews.
4. Environmental Graffiti – An eclectic mix of bizarre, funny and interesting environmental news.
5. Food & Water Watch – Works to ensure the food, water and fish we consume is safe and accessible.

Politics

1. POLITICO – Driving the conversation.
2. BagNews – Reading the pictures; visual politics and the analysis of news images.
3. Think Progress – Hard-hitting political news.
4. GovTrack.us – Easily track the activities of the United States Congress.
5. OpenSecrets.org – See who’s getting and who’s giving.

Can’t Miss

1. Mental Floss - Random, interesting amazing facts plus fun quizzes and trivia.
2. Hypebeast - Fashion, arts, design, culture.
3. Brain Pickings - Human-powered discovery engine for interestingness.
4. DROOL’D - Stuff to drool over from gadgets to places.
5. Bored Panda – The only magazine for pandas.
6. ThreadBanger – For people who make their own style.
7. Unhistorical – Day by day reflections on history and culture.
8. Daily Grommet – Discover unique products with innovative design that make unique gifts.
9. I’m Remembering - Pop culture and nostalgery from the 80s and early 90s.
10. Richard Wiseman - Quirky mind stuff including videos, illusions, trivia and more.

http://dailytekk.com/2013/01/14/the-100-best-most-interesting-blogs-and-websites-of-2013/

Infographic: Mobile Users Spend More Time on Facebook than Google

Infographic: Mobile Users Spend More Time on Facebook than Google

How to take control of your company’s social destiny in 2013 | VentureBeat

How to take control of your company’s social destiny in 2013 | VentureBeat

How Long Does It Take To Build A Native Mobile App? [Infographic]

The last several years have seen an explosion in mobile applications. By the end of 2013, both Android’s Google Play and the Apple iOS App Store will be hosting a million apps - and we have only seen minor signs of slowing growth.
Where the heck are all these apps coming from? Thousands upon thousands of developers are working hard to pump out games, social networks, utility and productivity apps, news readers… if you can dream it, someone is building an app for it.
So, how much time and effort is going into feeding this beast? Exactly how long does it take to build a quality native mobile app (not a mobile Web, HTML5 app)? Boston-based Backend-as-a-Service (BaaS) mobile-cloud-platform vendor Kinvey set out to answer just that question.

More Than 4 Months!?

In a survey of 100 native mobile developers, Kinvey determined that creating a fully functional and polished app takes a team about 18 weeks from start to finish. That includes both front-end design and user interface as well as back-end integration like push notifications, user management and authentication, caching and sharing through social channels.
I know what many app developers are thinking when they hear that: “18 weeks?! Who the hell are these turtle-slow developers?” On the other hand, enterprise developers are probably saying: “18 weeks?! We are only halfway through by that point.”
Given the sheer volume of apps published on a monthly basis (the App Store averaged 641 new apps a day from September 2012 to January 2013), taking 4.5 months for one app does seem like a long development cycle. But as many smartphone users already know, not all of those apps (probably not the vast majority of them) are any good.
Some apps are naturally easier to make than others, like reverse-engineered “copycat” apps or feature functions like Android wallpaper apps. For instance, it was rumored that it took Facebook engineers only a matter of days to clone Snapchat with its similar Poke app.

Android vs. iOS: Which Takes Longer?

What if you are developing specifically for iOS or Android? Does one take longer than another? The answer used to be a definite Yes, Android took longer because of the fragmentation issues of developing an app for a wide variety of smartphones.
That is not quite as true as it used to be though. Google spent a good portion of 2012 updating and streamlining the Android Software Developers Kit (SDK) to better handle varying screen sizes, pixel densities and operating system versions. Many improvements came to Android app development processes with both the Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean releases.
“Assuming equal skill level on the part of the developer, it shouldn't take longer to build an app on one platform or the other," said  Joe Chernov, VP of marketing on behalf of Kinvey’s engineering team. "In the fairly recent past, Android took longer because of the complexity of multiple device form factors. However Android's vastly improved developer tools and SDK has removed that complexity. Now a developer can use a designer tool to instantly see what the UI will look like on multiple devices. Yet while building the app might take the same amount of time on each platform, what does take longer is the approval process. For Android, approval takes hours (and there's a self-service option that removes approval entirely), while Apple can take weeks.”
The infographic below is the result of Kinvey’s developer survey, conducted in partnership with AYTM (Ask Your Target Market). The infographic itself was created by Visual.ly. Developers were asked 12 questions on how long it would take to perform a variety of functions such as integrating server-side data storage or design work. Respondents varied from different aspects of Web and mobile development, with 30 identifying themselves as mobile Web (but not native) developers, 27 as strictly native developers and 43 as enterprise-level developers. The 18-week-development-cycle conclusion was reached by adding up how long developers said it would take to perform certain actions. The data seems to show a standard deviation of about two weeks in either direction.
So, how long will it take you to develop your native mobile app, start to finish? Really, there is no easy answer to that question. Dave Bisceglia, founder and CEO of Boston-based iOS game development studio The Tap Lab sums it up nicely:
“The less exciting but entirely true answer is, ‘It depends,’ " Bisceglia said. “I've seen very talented teams crank out high-quality apps in just a few weeks. However, the demand for higher production quality in apps has certainly risen in recent years. Accordingly, app dev cycles have extended and we're seeing folks spend anywhere from 6 to 12 months on more complex projects.”

Note: Click the infographic to see the full-size version.

http://readwrite.com/2013/01/09/how-long-does-it-take-to-build-a-native-mobile-app-infographic

Google to bring free Wi-Fi to New York - Jan. 8, 2013

Google to bring free Wi-Fi to New York - Jan. 8, 2013

Twitter will now use humans, not just machines, to process your search terms | VentureBeat

Twitter will now use humans, not just machines, to process your search terms | VentureBeat

Inside Twitter

Twitter is one of the coolest companies around these days, but what is it like to actually work there? Well, aside from the roof deck with gorgeous views of San Francisco, frequent visits by celebrities looking for ways to better connect with their audience and being able to meet the President at the White House… it’s a pretty normal place to work. Here to tell you more about it is Isaac Hepworth. The department listed on his business card is, I kid you not, Unusual Projects.
The word that best describes Twitter’s culture is Open. We’re open in the sense that we have transparent internal communication and discussion. Open in the sense that the platform is open to all: from everyday individuals to news organizations to governments to entertainers and so on. Open in the sense that people at Twitter are always open to new ideas and perspectives. Open in the sense that Twitter employees Tweet freely and fearlessly about their lives and opinions.
My favorite part of the office is the roof deck; it is very special. It reminds us all that we’re in the middle of a wonderful and vibrant city and provides views of Twin Peaks and—often—the sunset.
At Twitter I feel incredibly privileged to work at a company which makes a product that I so deeply love. I’m besotted with the thing which is Twitter, and that makes every day here special. If I had to choose one in particular, it’d be meeting Barack Obama at the White House while organizing the first ever presidential Twitter Q&A in 2011.

Isaac’s desk.

My workspace is pretty minimalist. A laptop stand and 27″ Dell monitor, wireless keyboard, wireless mouse. I’ve been at Twitter coming up for three years and have had 13 different desks since I’ve been here. I travel light.
I would describe the quintessential Twitter employee as passionate; humble; smart.
Every week team members are meeting and hosting visits from heads of state, world-famous athletes, mega-star musicians, religious leaders, award-winning journalists, best-selling authors and media companies. We work with them to help them use Twitter ever more effectively to connect with their fans and followers, and to create unique interactive experiences on and off the platform.
There’s an incredible unity of purpose here at Twitter: every Twitter employee works here because they want to make Twitter the best it can be. From making the site faster to improving search algorithms, from testing new features with users to making sure our office feels like home, everyone is working passionately toward a common goal, eagerly looking toward the future and constantly amazed by the creativity of our users.
Related: The Top 100 Twitter Tools of 2012


http://dailytekk.com/2013/01/08/inside-twitter/

Infographic: Lifecycle of Mobile Devices

http://dailytekk.com/2013/01/07/infographic-lifecylcle-of-mobile-devices/

When shoppers choose a new mobile device they often expect to use it for several years. However, in the United States the average consumer never makes it to year two. Mobile device management has led many buyers to re-consider their mobile phone options after just a few months on a new operating system. Especially for employers who allow workers to bring their own devices (BYOD), managing the various phone interfaces for security purposes can be tricky. Learn more about the shocking statistics on phone lifecycles from this infographic. After you learn about phone recycling and manufacturing, you might want to consider making your device last an extra year for the sake of the environment.

Why Facebook Advertisers Spend More on Mobile

Why Facebook Advertisers Spend More on Mobile

Can Social Media Sell Soap?

ONE morning in mid-December, Pope Benedict XVI gazed down on an iPad and composed his first tweet. From a marketing perspective, it was about time. While the pontiff had been issuing his traditional encyclicals online, other world leaders were venturing further, onto Facebook and Twitter. The Dalai Lama, for example, was already spreading his wisdom in 140-character packets to more than five million followers. And as people retweeted his posts, his messages winged through social media, reaching tens of millions. How could the Vatican resist such marketing magic?

Enlarge This Image

Darcel Disappoints

Growing legions of marketing consultants are pushing social media as the can’t-miss future. They argue that pitches are more likely to hit home if they come from friends on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or Google+. That’s the new word of mouth, long the gold standard in marketing. And the rivers of data that pour into these networks fuel the vision of precision targeting, in which ads are so timely and relevant that you welcome them. The hopes for such a revolution have fueled a market frenzy around social networks — and have also primed them for a fall.

The drama swirls around data. In the “Mad Men” depiction of an advertising firm in the ’60s, the big stars don’t sweat the numbers. They’re gut followers. Don Draper pours himself a finger or two of rye and flops on a couch in his corner office. He thinks. His job is to anticipate the needs and desires of fellow human beings, and to answer them with ideas. What slogan would light up the eyes of the dour airline executive, or the dog food people? Fellow humanists dominate Don Draper’s rarefied world, while the numbers people, two or three of them crammed into dingier offices, pore over Nielsen reports and audience profiles.

In the last decade however, those numbers people have rocketed to the top. They build and operate the search engines. They’re flexing their quantitative muscles at agencies and starting new ones. And the rise of social networks, which stream a global gabfest into their servers, catapults these quants ever higher. Their most powerful pitches aren’t ideas but rather algorithms. This sends many of today’s Don Drapers into early retirement. Others, paradoxically, hunt down new work on social networks like LinkedIn.

Yet this year has brought renewed hope for the humanists — or at least a satisfying burst of schadenfreude. Facebook made its public offering in May at a valuation of $104 billion, only to see the share price tumble as many began to doubt the network’s potential as a medium for paid ads. Corporate advertisers are devoting only a modest 14 percent of their online budgets to social networks. According to comScore, a firm that tracks online activity, e-commerce soared 16 percent from last year, to nearly $39 billion this holiday season. But advertising from social networks appeared to play only a supporting role. I.B.M. researchers found that on the pivotal opening day of the season, Black Friday, a scant 0.68 percent of online purchases came directly from Facebook. The number from Twitter was undetectable. Could it be that folks aren’t in a buying mood when hanging out digitally with their friends?

A more likely answer is this: When big new phenomena arrive on the scene, it’s hard to know what to count. We’ve seen this before. During the dot-com bubble in the late ’90s, investors threw billions at Internet start-ups that promised to deliver targeted ads to millions of viewers, or “eyeballs.” But eyeballs didn’t produce dollars, and the high-flying market crashed. Many naysayers gleefully concluded that the Internet itself had failed.

Yet as these cyberskeptics crowed, a company called Overture Services was pioneering an innovative advertising application for the new medium. When Web surfers carried out searches, it turned out, they welcomed related ads. And if they clicked on one, the advertiser paid the search engine. Google soon implemented this system on a mammoth scale and turned clicks into dollars. Advertisers could calculate their return on investment down to the penny. In this domain, the insights of a Mad Man counted for nothing. Search ran on numbers. The quants rushed in.

While the rise of search battered the humanists, it also laid a trap that the quants are falling into now. It led to the belief that with enough data, all of advertising could turn into quantifiable science. This came with a punishing downside. It banished faith from the advertising equation. For generations, Mad Men had thrived on widespread trust that their jingles and slogans altered consumers’ behavior. Thankfully for them, there was little data to prove them wrong. But in an industry run remorselessly by numbers, the expectations have flipped. Advertising companies now face pressure to deliver statistical evidence of their success. When they come up short, offering anecdotes in place of numbers, the markets punish them. Faith has given way to doubt.

This leads to exasperation, because in a server farm packed with social data, it’s hard to know what to count. What’s the value of a Facebook “like” or a Twitter follower? What do you measure to find out? In this way, marketing resembles other hot spots of data research, including brain science and genomics. In each one, scientists are combing through petabytes of data, trying to discern whether certain genes or groups of neurons cause something or simply correlate with it. It’s not clear, because these are immensely complex systems with millions of variables — much like our social networks. Even as researchers swim in data that previous generations would have swooned over, they struggle to answer crucial questions regarding cause and effect. What action can I take to get the response I want?

Debates rage as quants accuse one another of counting the wrong things. Take I.B.M.’s Black Friday study. While the numbers indicate that few shoppers clicked directly from a social network to buy a laptop or a fridge, some may have seen ads that later led to a purchase. If so, valuable influence went unmeasured. “I.B.M. is looking at a single point in time,” says Dan Neely, the chief executive of Networked Insights, a marketing analytics company. Neely’s team followed Macy’s Black Friday campaign on Twitter, which started weeks before the big day; it generated a viral flurry on the network, he says. Clearly, many big advertisers are still believers: last week, Facebook shares got a boost from reports that Walmart, Samsung and other boldfaced names have recently stepped up social-media advertising.

But gauging the effectiveness of these ads is still a challenge. “It’s hard to measure influence,” says Steve Canepa, I.B.M.’s general manager for media and entertainment.

That, in fact, may be the ultimate lesson to draw from the social media marketing miracle that wasn’t. The impact of new technologies is invariably misjudged because we measure the future with yardsticks from the past.

Dave Morgan, a pioneer in Internet advertising and the founder of Simulmedia, an ad network for TV, points to the early years of electricity. In the late 19th century, most people associated the new industry with one extremely valuable service: light. That was what the marketplace understood. Electricity would displace kerosene and candles and become a giant of illumination. What these people missed was that electricity, far beyond light, was a platform for a host of new industries. Over the following years, entrepreneurs would come up with appliances — today we might call them “apps” — for vacuuming, laundry and eventually radio and television. Huge industries grew on the electricity platform. If you think of Apple in this context, it’s a $496 billion company that builds the latest generation of electricity apps.

Social networks, like them or not, are fast laying out a new grid of personal connections. Even if this matrix of humanity sputters in advertising and marketing, it’s bound to spawn new industries in consulting, education, collaborative design, market research, media and loads of products and services yet to be imagined. Maybe, just maybe, it will even be able to sell soap.

Stephen Baker is a technology journalist who blogs at thenumerati.net, and the author of “Final Jeopardy: Man vs. Machine and the Quest to Know Everything.”


http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/06/opinion/sunday/can-social-media-sell-soap.html?ref=technology&_r=0