Social media for schools

Can social media be an effective communication tool for keeping parents, teachers, students and the community informed about what is actually happening in schools?

The way we communicate and share information with one another has changed; Internet, social media and mobile phones are the way of the future...well, we can even say it is already the present.

Gen Z (born 1995-2012) is constantly connected to their social networks both digitally and emotionally. Almost 8 in 10 teens belong to some kind of social network and use it to chat with friends, share photos and videos, and play games. Being on social networks has become more common then using phones and emails and looks set to eclipse SMS too.

So in many countries around the world schools are already beginning to incorporate social media platforms such as forums, photo albums, blogs and secure messaging to develop discussions, communication and education through closer collaboration and knowledge sharing. I believe it is the way to go if precautions are taken.

Technology in general is giving schools a great opportunity to communicate with all its stakeholders in a way that has never been done in the past. If the education system is ever going to catch up with the rest of society and jump on the social media bandwagon, then we have to change the way we think about technology in classrooms and in our community. We can no longer see the Internet as something for home simply because it isn’t.

As this is a broad topic I’ll divide this post into several parts; next part will be on how schools should prepare to embrace social media as well as the benefits and risks. 

Fastest app to book your hotel

You might remember that crazy skydiving stunt Hotels.com did last year for the launch of its smartphone hotel booking app. It was performed by extreme athlete JT Holmes who booked a room at a hotel while in free fall. If you missed it click here.

Now, Hotels.com, is at it again and with this stunt you can really see the speed with which travelers can book a hotel room at the last minute.

Stuntman Andy Bell tries to book a hotel room in Pamplona while bulls run after him...

...crazy stuff!!!

SMS & MMS R.I.P.

There’s no doubt that if you use a phone while driving you’re taking a deadly risk. In this hard-hitting campaign (done by advertising agency Blue Hive) the message is clear; if you text and drive you could die.

The images below are taken to the next level with creepy emoticons superimposed onto the faces of dead people.

Remember, using a phone and driving is a deadly combination, and it will have catastrophic results.

I'm giving away free Facebook and Twitter fans

Some time ago I posted about how to get 1000+ Facebook fans in 3 days; this post wants to be a reminder of how buying fake Facebook fans is great as it makes your brand look really good...doesn’t it?

These so called fans, I call them leeches, will never interact with you and they will never visit your page simply because they could not care less about you and what you offer. But why would you care when you still look so great for having so many fans.

Well, there’s a little problem with it; those leeches fake fans lower your brand’s popularity simply by existing, and limit the odds that your content will ever be seen. For instance, your existing number of fans is 100 and 10 of them like or comment on your status; that will give you a 10% interaction rate. If you buy 1000 fans you’ll have now 1100 fans and if the same 10 people like or comment on your status you’ll end up with an interaction rate of 1%. Pretty straight forward isn’t it? I could show some real examples but I don’t want to attract more enemies than I already have ;)

That decrease in interaction will lower your EdgeRank and it will cause your posts to be shown less and less on people’s newsfeeds as Facebook will rate your content as not important or not interesting.

Social media is about communication and interaction. It is about quality over quantity, and being able to interact with your fans and build a strong base and foundation for future growth.

This post is dedicated to those of you buying fans whether on Facebook or Twitter. While you think you look supercool the rest of the world think you’re either a loser or have the brain of a 5-year old child (with all due respect to children).

Don't buy fans, it just makes no sense.

Air-babes sky-high marketing stunt

VietJet Air, Vietnam’s leading low-cost carrier, was recently fined $US 1,000 by the aviation authorities for organising a dance show during its first flight to the city of Da Nang, a beach resort.

The marketing stunt in itself wasn’t particularly great; just a bunch of beautiful stewardesses dancing in bikini tops and sarongs. Passengers on board the flight seemed to appreciate the airline’s effort though as many travelers used their mobile phones and video cameras to catch the action.

A VietJet Air spokesperson later said that having a dance in bikinis seemed appropriate given the destination is a beach resort and the fine was given because they had not asked for a permit from the authorities.

The stunt might not be the most original ever but videos and photos are going viral. After all a $US 1,000 fine is a tiny price to pay compared to the worldwide exposure the airline is getting. Here is a short clip.

Click here for a similar stunt by Finnish airline Finnair.

Social media networks - winners & losers

This infographic is courtesy of Ignite Social Media who have released their annual monster document about the worldwide state of social media in 2012.

Here you can find all most popular (and less popular) social networks' statistics including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and many more.

Some interesting findings:

• The overall male/female ratio of social network users is an even 50% male 50% female split.
• The top three social networks with the highest percentage of women:
• Pinterest
• Habbo
• IMVU
• The top three social networks with the highest percentage of men:
• Dribble
• Douban
• Odnoklassniki
• The oldest (65+) demographic social networks:
• Plaxo
• Newsvine
• Wayn
• The richest ($150k+) demographic social networks:
• Plaxo
• LinkedIn
• Yelp
• The five social networks on the rise are Twitter, Tumblr, LinkedIn, Pinterest, & Reddit.
• The five social media networks in decline are Taringa, Digg, Bebo, Friendster, & MySpace.

  

The world's first instant direct mail...by Porsche

Pfaff, the biggest Porsche dealer in Canada, transformed the regular boring flyer, which usually ends up in the trash bin, into a clever and effective piece of direct marketing.

Pretty simple; they took a Porsche 911 Carrera S to rich Toronto neighborhoods and took photos in front of various homes. Photos were immediately processed and made into customised direct mail postcards inviting the homeowners to schedule a test drive.

The result was excellent! About 30% of the people who received the fliers showed up at the showroom for a test drive.

The Italian Football Federation scores an own goal on Facebook with a racist comment against Arabs!

Italian football is going through the usual match-fixing scandal (the real scandal being the corrupted Italian Football Federation’s (FIGC) complete inadequacy and unwillingness to handle it in a fair and honest way) but this is not what I want to highlight.

What happened on the FIGC’s Facebook page left me speechless. The picture below summarises it all.

As I’m writing this post people are bombarding FIGC’s Facebook page with comments asking for an apology because of the racist statement but instead the page administrator is deleting several comments and now in a cowardly move he seems to have vanished!

Today I feel ashamed to be Italian. Those people do not represent me nor the vast majority of Italians who are friendly and welcoming people.

Visit the FIGC's Facebook page and let them know what you think, alternatively drop them a mail at international@figc.it.

Online advertising gone wrong

Online advertising is becoming more and more “in your face”. There are now pop-up ads, ads that play music and sound tracks, ads that you can interact with and so on.

Online ads have several advantages as well as some disadvantages. One of the disadvantages is that sometime you lose control over the position of the ad and it might end up misplaced.

Here follow a few misplaced ads; some are funny, some others are creepy, while some other have just gone wrong!

Click here if you want to see the worst of Facebook adverts!

Social media check up 2012

Burson-Marsteller recently released the Global Social Media Check-Up 2012. They examined the Fortune 100 companies’s use of social networking platforms including Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and, for the first time, Google Plus and Pinterest. 


The below presentation provides interesting data and stats.