Boomerang: Intro to Next Level of Social Gifting

 

Last week I received an email invitation to Boomerang, a social gifting service that was formerly Gtrot, a social travel planning service. Most emails that are sent to me fall victim to my daily attempt of clearing out my inbox (I average on receiving over 100 emails a day from newsletters, subscriptions, etc.). What caught my eye was an email marketing 101 tactic – the subject line said I had a free gift.

Your Life In A Word Find #30DaysofContent

Take a look at the above word word find that Social@Ogilvy posted on their Facebook page this morning.  The first three words you can find are evidently what you want most out of life.

If Facebook Was A Government, Diaspora* Is An Anarchist

Do you remember the first time you used the Internet? I used to fight with my sisters to “get online” after school so I could check my AOL mail, Neopets, and the occasion teen chat room.  I went by FelicityRC.  Many thought it was referring to the WB show, but it was actually the name of my American Girl doll.

Fast forward to 2011 where you are Googled by your boss, mom and ex-boyfriend.  What used to be a friendly way of meeting future college peers is now a platform where brands can find you (I am one of people who gets those brands on Facebook, sorry).  Facebook debuted Timeline last week, proving to me that yes, they can figure out the birth order of my sisters (though we don’t post the year for our birthday), how many friends I have made each year since I joined (less each year it seems) and that I will never escape certain pictures.

So appears Diaspora*, a community whose mission is “to build a new and better social web, one 100% owned and controlled by you.” 

Awesome Social Stuff – Week of 8.15 – 8.19

Floppy Portrait by Nick Gentry

Stats

Scanapalooza: QR Codes
What it is
An infographic depicting how people are interacting with QR codes.

Why it matters
Though QR codes have been used for almost a year, they are gaining popularity and starting to appear everywhere from advertisements to museum exhibits.  Based on the research used for this infographic, 42% of people know what a QR code is. Of that percentage, 67% have scanned them.  Now that QR codes are becoming more recognized,

What This Week’s Events Taught Me About Good vs. Evil

I escaped from the world (a.k.a went to rural Michigan for a week) and the world goes nuts.

Awesome Social Stuff – Week of 7.18 – 7.22.11

Image courtesy of LandofEnchantment

New Startup

Pictarine

What it is

Create Albums from Instagram, Twitter & Facebook Photos with Pictarine. Pictarine is a website that lets you enjoy and share all your photos in one place.  Mix and match photos from different services to create shareable albums.

Why it matters

After first-time users authenticate each of their photo site accounts, Pictarine collects their photos, and auto-sorts them into albums by service, while also maintaining third-party site album structure. The service

Awesome Social Stuff – Week of 7.11 – 7.15.11

Image courtesy of cutpasteprint

Shame on me for not posting this on Friday – I guess I was too excited for Pitchfork Music Fest.

Partnership Spotlight

Coca-Cola Offers Twitter followers free Spotify subscriptions

 

What it is

Coca-Cola is offering a sweet deal for its Twitter followers: free Spotify subscriptions. Spotify is an award-winning digital music service popular in Europe.  Yesterday it was announced that Sppotify would launch in the U.S. Free trial memberships were hard to come by Klout, Chevrolet and Coca-Cola partnered to deliver free accounts to followers.

Why it matters

Awesome Social Stuff – Week of 7.4 – 7.8.11

image courtesy of MarianneLoMonaco

Highlight from Cannes

American Rom – Winner of Promo & Activation: Best New Product Launch/Re-Launch
http://www.canneslions.com/work/promo/entry.cfm?entryid=24330&award=2

What it is

Romania’s ROM chocolate bar wanted to gain attention from a younger audience.  ROM  challenged young Romanians’ national ego by triggering a public debate about national values by launching a limited edition of an ‘American’ ROM – same product, same price, but branded with the US flag. McCann Erickson put the product in stores, encouraged sampling, announced the change in media, and stirred the debates. After one week, the old ROM was back as Romanian as ever, while the American ROM became a collector’s item.

Awesome Social Stuff – Week of 6.13 – 6.17.11

Keilantra's Kreations

New Startups
Meet the Yelp for Packaged Goods (Consmr)

What it is

CPG-Focused site pushes reviews for everyday products with check-ins.  Essentially, a social network for packaged goods with a mobile product in the works.

Why it matters

Packaged goods is now a $12 billion business in e-commerce but checking in to packaged goods is nothing new. Brands have had consumers scan barcodes in order to show they are holding the product in their hand. Many CPG brands are launching their own commerce platforms, such as Procter & Gamble Co.’s new Facebook commerce platform.

Social Media – A “Super Sad True Love Story”

You always see one book that everyone reads on the train.  Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart  was the most buzzed about book in the late summer/early fall of this year.  Since I have read Absurdistan, I caved in and bought the book.  I LOVED THIS BOOK.  Besides the fact Shteyngart has a humor that is unmatchable and talent for crafting stories, his characters are so HUMAN.  The premise of Super Sad is the characters live in the future where our hyper-over-connectedness has changed the function of society.  People no longer read books; in fact the main character, Lenny, is an anomaly for  reading War and Peace.