digital media, social media, twitter

Does Vine have it’s first Vine-Superstar?

I say yes. And his name is Adam Goldberg.

Many of you might know Adam from movies such as Saving Private Ryan and A Beautiful Mind.  Adam also happens to be an accomplished musician, designer and director.

And now, he’s using Vine as a creative outlet and to showcase his creative talents. (If you’re curious about Vine check out the blog post I wrote on my company website.)

Which is a good thing. He’s not making videos of cookies being eaten or cats playing with dogs. Not that I have anything against dogs. It’s those darn cats I can’t stand…

And Adam will not be alone for much longer. The Vine platform and format is simple to use. For anyone.

All you need is 6 seconds. A 6 second movie. About anything you want. Think about it. How many people wish they could create a viral video on YouTube? Many. But it’s not really the viral video people are interested in making unless they use the platform for business – “Hey Karim, can you make me a viral video?”

People are interested in the creativity of these videos. However, the masses have been stopped as a result of a continuous raising of the bar. With Vine, the barrier to entry is fixed. And it’s low. Only 6 seconds. Imagine what you can come up with in 6 seconds. Now all you have to do is grab your smartphone* and away you go.

What will you create in 6 seconds?

* = currently Vine is only on the iOS platform. 

digital media, social media, twitter

Vine – the newest social network

Vine seems to be all the rage these days – It is the video equivalent of sharing your life 140 characters at a time. And yes, it’s owned by Twitter.

I consider myself an early adopter so I looked forward to downloading and testing this much-talked about app this past week.  At the moment, Vine is available on the iOS (Apple products) OS.

I’ve also had the opportunity to play with the app previously with Andrew Jenkins.  Andrew was recently a guest of mine on thirdoceanTV.

In short, Vine enables the user to “create and share beautiful, short looping 6 second videos.”

Here are some early thoughts:

From a consumer standpoint, Vine has the characteristics to be sticky like Instagram:
– its easy as pie to use.
– connecting with larger social networks like Facebook and Twitter is seamless. This allows Vine content to be shared even with those who are not on the new platform.
– Vine is not just a video creation and sharing app; It’s a social network. When you create a video it automatically becomes part of all the other Vine videos. And the user can also consume these videos on the Vine platform.

To see some examples, check out some interesting user-generated videos on VineRoulette.

As a partner with thirdocean, I’m also interested in the implications of this new platform on how brands and agencies communicate and create new and interesting content. Geoffrey Colon wrote an interesting piece earlier this morning on Vine and why brands should be testing Vine. Here are his 5 reasons (in short and in my words):

1.) Test and Learn.
2.) We know visuals are more compelling than just text.
3.) Tell stories in 6 second snippets.
4.) Showcase your company and product.
5.) Tell stories of the people and the company they work for.

Obviously these are still early days. I’m sure there will be many case studies coming out over the next few weeks and months on the application of Vine both from a consumer and brand points of view.

A version of this article showed up yesterday on the thirdocean blog.

digital media

Windows Phone 8: TTC transit guru

One of the most used apps on my Windows Phone 8 is TTC transit guru. Made by Ikko systems Inc., this app has saved me time and also lowered my stress levels ever since I downloaded it.

TTC transit guru uses the real-time GPS systems onboard all the buses and streetcars to inform the user of the arrival times of any TTC vehicle at any stop (minus the subways).

Another feature I enjoy is the ability to save my most frequent stops. This allows me, with the tap of just a couple of icons to know when my next bus is coming.

Here are some additional features:

– An amazingly clean and simple interface (Metro really is a more enjoyable mobile OS than any other I’ve used before).
– Find your location on street map and your nearest stops
– Slide map to select any stop
– Real time GPS arrival times of next 5 buses
– Search route list and all stops along route
– Pin your favourite stops to your home screen (Another amazing feature of Metro)

What’s your favourite Windows Phone 8 app?

digital media

thirdoceanTV – Toronto entrepreneurs on how to save Research In Motion

In 2011 we interviewed a number of Toronto entrepreneurs on what they would do if they were running Research In Motion. Later this week RIM will be publicly launching their new Blackberry 10 device. Many people have said this event will determine the future of RIM. Only time will tell.

Today’s edition of thirdoceanTV features some very interesting and unedited interviews with some of these entrepreneurs.

Who was right? Who was wrong? What are your thoughts? Leave your comments below!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zp3VzFQ4cD0?rel=0&w=560&h=315]

Guests:
Steve Hulford – File Mobile
Mark Reale – BNOTIONS
Jeremy Campbell – SpidVid
Ameet Wadhwani – OptMeIn
Andrew Peek – Jet Cooper and Rocketr
Greg Nisbet – Mediazoic (Greg talked about content partnerships. Here is a recent link he shared with me: http://www.newcanadianmusic.ca/buzz/item/134979/2013-01-28. Good call Greg!)

Note #2: The preceding post was first published on thirdocean.com/blog. thirdocean is a Toronto-based social media strategy and digital communications agency. I am a partner in this agency.

digital media, social media, twitter

The World According to Tweetping – 140 characters at a time with Twitter

If you ask my wife, she will tell you how massive of a fan I am of Twitter. One of the reasons is that it is a quick and efficient communications platform that can be used by anyone, anywhere with a mobile phone, tablet or computer. Not too long ago she finally opened her own Twitter account. I announced then that with her getting on Twitter, that everyone in the world must be on Twitter. I tell you this story to tell you how wrong I was and still am.

Not everyone is on Twitter. All one has to do is check out a new and very cool visualization tool called Tweetping.

Tweetping allows you to visualize, in real time, where Twitter is being used globally. One of the things that struck me right away was how dark most of Africa and Asia was. Here are some other observations:

  • At approximately 3pm EST, Europe is more active on Twitter than all of North America
  • Brazil heavily dominates the use of Twitter in South America
  • In Canada, most of the use is along the corridor between Windsor and Quebec City
  • In the United States, the east coast is busier than the west coast.

Tweetping is built as an open source project and was created by Frank Ernewein. Check it out.

digital media, social media

GROW now in Toronto – #GROWtalks

The team that produces the GROW Conference is bringing a piece of GROW right to Toronto. GROWtalks Toronto (http://www.growtalks.com/events/toronto/) is a conference built for startup teams and it will take place February 21st at Ryerson. There’s a great list of out of town and local speakers coming out for the one conference including Brant Cooper (Co-Author, Lean Entrepreneur), Laura Fitton (HubSpot), Dan Martell (Clarity), Kate Rutter (LUXr), Scott Kveton (Urban Airship), Danielle Morrill (Referly), and more.

It’s rare we get this many awesome out of town speakers at one venue and we’ve been told there will be opportunity to not only hear from these speakers, but also to ask them questions and to talk to them throughout the day.

Here’s a special $145 price for the full day event. Register here: http://growtalks-toronto-linkedin.eventbrite.com with discount code “linkedin”

digital media, social media, twitter

thirdoceanTV – in conversation with Andrew Jenkins

The following interview with Andrew Jenkins first appeared on the thirdocean website. As many of you now know, thirdocean is a boutique social media and digital communications agency that I am partner with. I also have the privilege of being the host of program called thirdoceanTV.

Andrew Jenkins is an emerging technology strategist with Volterra Consulting. Over the last five years, social media strategy has become an increasingly larger part of the work that he does. His focus goes beyond social media campaigns to the “operationalization” of social media and the ongoing efforts required to turn an organization into a social enterprise.

In this full episode, Andrew chats with me about:

– How he shifted from ICT consulting to social media consulting
– What is a social enterprise and what does it mean to operationalize social media
– Why banks and other financial institutions are interested in social media
– How banks measure Return On Investment (ROI)
– Why Twitter as a utility has become important
– What innovations we can expect in 2013

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJx_1UrAX-0?rel=0]

Connect with Andrew Jenkins on his website at www.VolterraConsulting.com and on Twitter at @ajenkins.

Remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel and stay up to date with our conversations with North America’s leaders in Social Media and Digital Communications. Follow us on Twitter @wearethirdocean, and Like us on Facebook.

digital media, social media

thirdoceanTV – in conversation with Jaime Stein

The following interview first appeared on the thirdocean website. thirdocean is a boutique social media and digital communications agency that I am partner with.  I also have the privilege of being the host of  program called thirdoceanTV.

This year’s first guest is Jaime Stein of ING.  Jaime currently leads the social media strategy for ING DIRECT here in Canada. Prior to that he was the Canadian Football League’s head of digital and social media where he was in charge of content strategy for CFL.ca.  Jaime also launched the CFL’s involvement in social media.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=424rS2CWqu4?rel=0]

You can follow Jaime Stein on Twitter and on his website.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel and stay up to date with our conversations with North America’s leaders in Social Media and Digital Communications. Follow us on Twitter @wearethirdocean, and Like us on Facebook.

blog, digital media, podcast

New podcast in my ears

Many of you know I love listening to podcasts. Almost everyday I’m commuting 2-3 hours per day. So I spend most of this time listening to podcasts such as This American Life, Wiretap, This Week in Startups, and even the UFC ESPN Podcast.

Last week I discovered another podcast: Humble and Fred Radio.  I wasn’t a big listener of theirs when they where on the radio here in Toronto. However, these guys are gold. They are funny and raw. Besides their random musings they also have amazing interviews. Recently they had Toronto Blue Jays long time announcer Jerry Howarth on.  This was one of the best interviews I have ever heard.

Great job guys! And congrats on your new deal with Corus.

What podcasts do you consider required listening and why?

digital media

Why I donated to Wikipedia

I donated a few bucks to Wikipedia last night. The thought had never crossed my mind to do so previously.  However, I have recently been thinking about how valuable the internet and digital media is to my life. So, when I was looking for information on Wikipedia, I came across a simple request asking if I would like to donate. So I did.

If you use the internet, Wikipedia and other digital tools, I hope you donate.

Here’s a sample of the thank you note I received from Wikipedia soon after I donated. It will clarify for you – as it did me – how important resources like Wikipedia are to our lives.

It’s easy to ignore our fundraising banners, and I’m really glad you didn’t. This is how Wikipedia pays its bills — people like you giving us money, so we can keep the site freely available for everyone around the world.

People tell me they donate to Wikipedia because they find it useful, and they trust it because even though it’s not perfect, they know it’s written for them. Wikipedia isn’t meant to advance somebody’s PR agenda or push a particular ideology, or to persuade you to believe something that’s not true. We aim to tell the truth, and we can do that because of you. The fact that you fund the site keeps us independent and able to deliver what you need and want from Wikipedia. Exactly as it should be.

You should know: your donation isn’t just covering your own costs. The average donor is paying for his or her own use of Wikipedia, plus the costs of hundreds of other people. Your donation keeps Wikipedia available for an ambitious kid in Bangalore who’s teaching herself computer programming. A middle-aged homemaker in Vienna who’s just been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. A novelist researching 1850s Britain. A 10-year-old in San Salvador who’s just discovered Carl Sagan.

On behalf of those people, and the half-billion other readers of Wikipedia and its sister sites and projects, I thank you for joining us in our effort to make the sum of all human knowledge available for everyone. Your donation makes the world a better place. Thank you.

Most people don’t know Wikipedia’s run by a non-profit. Please consider sharing this e-mail with a few of your friends to encourage them to donate too. And if you’re interested, you should try adding some new information to Wikipedia. If you see a typo or other small mistake, please fix it, and if you find something missing, please add it. There are resources here that can help you get started. Don’t worry about making a mistake: that’s normal when people first start editing and if it happens, other Wikipedians will be happy to fix it for you.

I appreciate your trust in us, and I promise you we’ll use your money well.