Effective and Ineffective Use of Social Media

The three sites that we are analyzing are:
Groupon.ca

Livingsocial.com

Teambuy.ca

Positive effects of social media

All three sites utilize Facebook and Twitter as their social media network. All three sites have short-cut icon/links to their respective Facebook page and Twitter accounts on the homepage.

Teambuys.ca’s Facebook page is:

http://www.facebook.com/TeamBuyToronto?sk=app_53267368995#!/TeamBuyToronto?sk=app_4949752878

http://twitter.com/#!/Teambuy_Toronto

http://www.facebook.com/LivingSocial?sk=wall

The Facebook page of Teambuy.ca consolidates all three major social media networks into one side panel. It has links to Twitter and Youtube. It also has a wall section for users to comment. The ‘wall’ is used by TeamBuy.ca to monitor conversations, engage user’s participation, also sparking interest. They also have a ‘like’ function where users can click and add to their personal profile page; therefore Teambuy.ca can become the conversation when friends get notified. The Facebook page is effective because it is updated frequently, and has users engaging in conversation about specific deals/offers on the commenting section.

Twitter is shown to be effective with users utilizing hashtags of the company. For example, #Teambuy in their tweets. Hashtag can represent a topic of conversation and is track-able by Teambuy. This Track-ability can allow teambuy to view and respond to individual comments and posts.

Livingsocial.com’s Facebook page also offers a review section for consumers.  This section is used for reviewing the user experience of the parent site LivingSocial.

Negative effects of social media

http://twitter.com/#!/Teambuy_Toronto

http://twitter.com/#!/livingsocial

http://twitter.com/#!/groupon

When you compare the size community of the three mentioned sites, Teambuy’s twitter followers are substantially lower than the larger organizations. This may be a false representation of Teambuys’ reputation; this may cause consumers/users to interpret the site as being less valuable. Users may not take account that Teambuy is a more geographically segmented in comparison to the large firms such as Groupon and LivingSocial.

The negative aspect of Groupon and LivingSocial’s Twitter page is that it is not region specific. News and updates are not specific to the consumers and is not relevant to all users.

Survey Monkey URL

<a href="http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SKC2HHS">Click here to take survey</a>

Google Questions

What things did you learn about Google that surprised and/or disturbed you?

1. Yahoo is just as good as Google.
2. Google provides roughly 75% of the external referrals for most websites.
3. Other online companies struggle for advertising revenue, but Google is profiting a lot because everyone wants to get their hands on the new Google way of advertising. 'Google Watch" was the example used; when it is typed in the search engine, it is expected that advertisements for wrist watches would appear on the right side of the screen. That is how GoogleAds work.
4. Privacy - Google struggles with 2 main issues concerning privacy: 1) Customer/user privacy (the older issue), and 2) government surveillance (the newer issue- governments would love to get a hold of Google's user data information). However, Google is seen to be a "ticking time bomb" in regards to privacy due to the amount of cookies and information that is streamed per user whenever the search engine is used.
5. PageRank problem -- the fact that Google's primary ranking system has less to do with quality and more to do with the popularity of the site.

Are you for or against the direction that Google is going in terms of the collection of user information and creation of user profiles on the Internet?

I personally do not believe that the collection of information and the user profile creations are entirely ethical. I do understand the general use of cookies on your computer when a website that you visit most often is recommending products that you may be interested in (for example: if you visit Nike's website regularly to check new inventories for shoes, the website will suggest other shoes and related products that are likely to meet your needs/wants).

However Google seems to be collecting more than a basic interest, in terms of user data collected from cookies. According to the article (found on the link at the bottom of this posting), Google plants a cookie on your computer, through your IP address, every time a new search is done on your computer when using the google search engine (google.com).

On top of collecting a large amount of information per user, Google is believed to have the accessibility rights to see all of this private information when they please. The company does not comment on why all of this in-depth information is required; privacy questions and inquiries are said to be "completely ignored." 

The last and major unethical thing that Google manages to pull off is the functionality of its toolbar. Apparently the toolbar with update without even asking the user. Mostly all other toolbars will ask for permission to update and install new information, but not Google's toolbar.

All of the privacy issues surrounding Google make it hard to ignore the fact that the endless amount of user information could be used in the worst ways possible. The way that the data is collected and the sneakiness behind the acts would concern anyone who was brought up to speed on Google's practices. I highly disagree with the use and creation of their user profiles because it seems like an unwanted, uninvited, and unknown invasion of privacy. To be honest, it is almost frightening to think that one company holds such powerful information; it is no wonder why Google is seen as "a privacy time bomb."

Please visit the following link to read about Google's privacy issues and how this powerful entity came to hold such detailed information:

http://www.google-watch.org/bigbro.html

Persona Assignment (due week 6)

Personae

Nickname: Past-time Art Browser

Demographics: 20-35 years old, low to middle income, casually browses art

Interests/ High Level Goals: passionate about art but as a hobby. Browsing digital art is a creative past-time that she may passably get into doing herself one day.

Pet Peeves: does not like extremely professional art work; prefers amateur/new artist styles versus the work of professional artists.

Type of Internet User: uses simple applications and easy-to use sites. Active on  social media sites, such as Facebook and Flickr, where images and art can be uploaded and shared amongst friends. Prefers broadband connection. Does not use purchasing options if she can find it in stores.

Type of Shopper: shops when she has money to spend on wants. Does not ever purchase art online, simply browses others’ work.

Where Shops: refrains from purchasing anything online; prefers to physically go to stores to touch, feel, and see products/services. Enjoys browsing for art but does not purchase materials for personal work that she may do. 

Specific Goals: learn more about her passion of art. Find online communities that can help her grow her browsing interest into a hands-on hobby/activity. Be able to afford a computer with more digital art capabilities in order to better integrate in digital art communities (on social networks)

Use-Case Scenarios

Specific Goal: search for digital art pictures to add to a “Favourites” folder/collection.

·         Step 1: Direct navigation to homepage (http://www.deviantart.com/)

·         Step 2: Link Designs and Interfaces (http://browse.deviantart.com/designs/)

·         Step 3: Link Newest (http://browse.deviantart.com/designs/misc/?order=5)

·         Step 4: Link Next page (http://browse.deviantart.com/designs/misc/?order=5&offset=24)

·         Step 5: Link Next page (http://browse.deviantart.com/designs/misc/?order=5&offset=48)

·         Step 6: Link Next page (http://browse.deviantart.com/designs/misc/?order=5&offset=72)

·         Step 7: Link angst(http://browse.deviantart.com/designs/misc/?order=5&offset=96#/d3itqol)

·         Step 8: Link *Add to Favourites

Specific Goal: browse for new tattoo ideas; looking for a unique wing idea.

·         Step 1: Direct navigation to homepage (http://www.deviantart.com/)

·         Step 2: Link Designs and Interfaces (http://browse.deviantart.com/designs/)

·         Step 3: Link Tattoo Design (http://browse.deviantart.com/designs/tattoos/)

·         Step 4: Link Popular (http://browse.deviantart.com/designs/tattoos/?order=11)

·         Step 5: Link All Time (http://browse.deviantart.com/designs/tattoos/?order=9)

·         Step 6: Link Next page (http://browse.deviantart.com/designs/tattoos/?order=9&offset=24)

·         Step 7: Link Next page (http://browse.deviantart.com/designs/tattoos/?order=9&offset=48)

·         Step 7: Link Rose Wing (http://browse.deviantart.com/designs/tattoos/?order=9&offset=48#/d38gnbz)

·         Step 8: Add and Comment and link *Add to Favourites

Name: Kate

Balanced Scorecard

Customer Perspective:
- Loyalty and Satisfaction: the user creates more loyalty based on the amount of times that the site is used weekly. It can also be measured by how many people were invited and/or referred to the site in order to access a particular schedule/calendar.
- Appropriateness of Target Markets: the user(s) are usually business professionals who require weekly, monthly, and/or annual scheduling programs/applications.

Internal Perspective:
Goals and Quality of Online Service: this site is supposed to help business professionals schedule shifts, meetings, and other appointments with ease. The site is designed for fast and effective scheduling that will help create clear and precise calendars.

Learning and Growth Perspective:
Service Innovation and Improvements: the site is constantly going through updates that automatically change your settings to be up to speed with the latest versions.

Financial Perspective:
The site financially grows through advertising agencies that invest in the site by posting their ads. The company also makes money by receiving payments for premium packages that offer more functions than the free option provides the user. Currently Doodle.com is one of the only scheduling sites with the functionalities that it offers, and would therefore hold quite a large percentage of the market share that makes up online scheduling. This means that this company has a lot of financial growth opportunity.

Georgebrown.ca - Marketing Research Course

Step 1: Go to George Brown homepage
Step 2: Click on the "Programs" link (http://www.georgebrown.ca/globalnav/programs.aspx)
Step 3: Click on the "Business" link (http://www.georgebrown.ca/business/programs.aspx)
Step 4: Scroll to find a "Marketing Program" (Business Administration-Marketing B108)(http://www.georgebrown.ca/Marketing/FTCal/bus/B108.aspx)
Step 5: Scroll to find "Marketing Research Course" (MARK 2007) and click on the link (http://www.georgebrown.ca/CO/GBC/business-arts-and-design/school-of-business/courses/MARK/2007/MARK2007-Master.html)
Step 6: Scroll, explore, and familiarize yourself with the Marketing Research Course content (requirements, prerequisites, etc.)

*** there are also "Continuing Education" Marketing Research courses; however it differs from the full/part-time program****

User Persona

Name: Busy Bee

Demographics: Active (business) professional, low-middle income, like to stay on top of things

High-level Goal/Interests: Work, appointments/meetings, and scheduling are all part of their position. Enjoy managing work content and calendars.

Pet Peeves: Does not like scheduling manually; prefers an easier way to decide on shift work and/or meetings. does not like to navigate and search for the content that is being sought out.

Type of Internet User: uses simple applications and sites, and social media/connecting sites. Prefers broadband access (which is faster)

Type of Shopper: shops when there is time; time management is a big issue

Where Shops: Prefers to do most retail and banking transactions online for the sake of convenience and speed.

Specific Goals: effectively manage weekly, monthly, and annual schedules that are easily accessible for all users/members, and allows for changes to be made with ease. Something their business, personal, and family life can all benefit from.