Jon Swartz is a veteran technology reporter based in Silicon Valley currently covering emerging and disruptive tech at USA Today. This is the second time we’ve invited him to Revolution. His take on news trends is less about hype and more about how technology impacts everyday business and society. Sometimes technology is the solution as much as it is part of the problem. For consumers, the ability to use mobile, social and the web is not only enlivening real-time experiences,…
The Future of Social TV is a Multi Screen Experience [video]
The Pew Internet and American Life Project recently published a study that found 50% of cellphone owners use their phones while watching TV. Connected viewers are not only driving the rise of Social TV, their activities are opening new windows for real-time multi-screen experiences that require design. Joining me on this episode of Revolution is Jesse Redniss, SVP Digital of USA Network. His work already looks beyond how to make programming social. Redniss and the team at USA Network are…
Businesses not Making the Pivot from Lip Service to Social Customer Service [infographic]
Social media changes everything. Marketing, sales, customer service, they’re no longer departments, engagement is now a way of business. As the impact of social spreads through organizations, questions arise about the role social ultimately plays in customer service and overall customer experiences. For the past three years, good friend Brent Leary and the folks at Social Media Today have produced The Social Customer Engagement Index. It examines how companies are using social tools for customer service and, more importantly, how…
Facebook: Over 1 Billion Served – Plus Interesting Stats
Mark Zuckerberg announced in a short and sweet post today that Facebook is now home to one billion digital denizens. I’m not going to focus on the impact this news will have on its stock. Instead, I would like to focus on how this significant milestone aligns with his vision, a vision that was clearly communicated in the company’s S-1. After re-reading Zuckerberg’s letter to investors, here are a few themes that resonate with me in light of this news……
Never Say Never: How Loic Le Meur turns startups into successful experiences
All eyes are on innovation hot spots around the world. But it’s not just about hot startups, soaring investments, and mind-blowing exits, it’s about the series of common traits that inspire entrepreneurialism. Vision, determination, creativity, salesmanship and the relentless pursuit of communities is something that not only applies to entrepreneurs but also intrapreneurs within small and large organizations. The truth is that in times of innovation, everyone must think about what we do today and how it can be done…
Are you connecting with your new generation of customers…Generation C?
As youāll no doubt read here over and over again, social media is important to your business. If you donāt engage on Twitter, Facebook, or Youtube, youāll eventually go out of business. At least thatās what the experts will have you believe. Fear tactics are not so much as effective in business or defining customer relationships as they are at creating a sense of [contrived] controversy. I must be honest with you however. While social media is indeed a game…
Silicon Valley is Not a Place, It’s a Movementā¦and It Has a Story Behind the Story [video]
Silicon Valley is a flashpoint for innovation and entrepreneurialism. But, what does Silicon Valley even mean these days? Silicon Valley technically spans the area in the southern San Francisco Bay Area including Santa Clara Valley, San Jose and southern East Bay. What Silicon Valley actually refers to in terms of geography seems moot in an economy when the idea of Silicon Valley is much bigger than the square miles it covers on a map. In reality, when people outside of…
The Hunt for Social Business Value
Guest post by Ashley Furness of Software Advice When Microsoft announced plans to buy enterprise social network Yammer recently I was a little stunned. The reported $1.2-billion acquisition price tag seemed like a lot for simply replicating social networking functions in the business environment. Would companies really achieve ROI? Or would it be more of a ādistraction,ā as one user told me? Still, Chatter Product Marketing Director Dave King told me in a recent conversation that āsocial is more than…
Without a Strategy, There Is No ROI
Guest post by Danna Vetter, VP, Consumer Strategies,Ā ARAMARKĀ – Part 3 in a series Have you ever started a meeting without an agenda? Driven your car with no destination? How about gotten surgery before diagnosing a need? While some of those options may seem like refreshing changes, itās not the way you run your business. But that is exactly what itās like when you start a social media campaign without a strategy that ties to real business needs. At ARAMARK, a…
The Age of Transparency in Digital Politics
Guest post by Minter Dial @mdial on social, transparency and politics using the recent French Presidential election between Nicolas Sarkozy and FranƧois Hollande as a case study The paths of social media and politics would seem to be inextricably linked. Politics has proven, in many countries, to be a great way to ādemocratizeā social media, or the other way around. During the Arab Spring, social media helped inspire a change in regime. In the US, social media clearly contributed to…