Web 3.0 focused the web on content; albeit recycled, reshared, and repinned, but content. We’ve freely shared our profiles, accounts, demographic info, opinions, and a few great meme’s. I think with the next web, we’re growing up a bit. I see 5 trends… and no, lists aren’t one of them.

A push to privacy
Wow… these kids have been listening to their parents… and the news. Creepers abound and the growing trend among millennials and as importantly, teens, is privacy. Or at least anonymity. The Facebook days of “Hi, this is my real name. This is my home address, these are my family members, and this is every way to contact me… stranger” are ending. Teens and millennials are experiencing “Facebook Fatigue” in mass numbers and acting on it. They’re shifting to networks and apps that focus on content, not on the person. I’m looking at you Tumblr, Instagram, and Whisper.

AIM is back
Well, not really, but peer-to-peer is coming back en masse. Networks like Snapchat, kik, and WeChat are taking the youth market by storm. Here’s the kicker. If you’re old or uncool like me and have no friends, the apps are useless. Some offer finder options using your facebook contacts but I didn’t even have any friends on them. AND I’M ONLY 34!!!

Content is in
The sites making waves these days are doing so by way of content. Niche interest forums, image sharing sites, and shopping sites in the growth segment. I talked to 5 different “millennials” about the websites they actually interact with. Results were surprising. Reddit, Imgur, Fab.com, and a few niche forums focused around film and video games. I didn’t get a Facebook, MySpace, or even a Twitter among them.

Social Shopping is a growth market
This one wasn’t as surprising to me. I’m an avid Fab.com shopper and have excersized more than a couple of the LivingSocial daily deals. What I was surprised about was the level of interaction the millennial crowd has within these and other networks. Wanelo and its accompanying app are the most commonly referenced I’ve seen in my research. After downloading, a quick set up, and some digging, I can definitely see that this network is going places.

Little bitty videos
We’ve been creating videos online for a while. It’s nothing new. What is new, though, is the length of clip and the ease of capture. Apps like Vine and Viddy are starting to make an impression, particularly among that goldmine group of millennials. Both offer those key elements we’ve been talking about. Slick, minimalist designs, low barrier to login, and relative anonymity. They limit capture to around 15 seconds and Viddy even throws in some “instagrammy” filters to assist in the editing process. On that topic, a recent release by Instagram has been made that video is coming soon. Like I said, the trend is growing.

I end this novel with my suggestions on a few of the rising stars of Web 3.5. These each fit into the points above. I’ve registered for each so should you check them out, look me up! Also, if anyone gets into Medium before me, let me know. Very interested in that one.

Medium – Medium is a new place on the Internet where people share ideas and stories that are longer than 140 characters and not just for friends.

Kik – Kik is the fast, simple and personal smartphone messenger. What’s not to love?

WeChat – WeChat provides multimedia communication with text messaging, hold-to-talk voice messaging, broadcast (one-to-many) messaging, photo/video sharing, location sharing, and contact information exchange.

Wanelo – Wanelo (“wah-nee-loh,” from Want, Need, Love) is an online community for all of the world’s shopping.

Vine – The best way to see and share life in motion

Viddy – A simple way to capture, create and share mobile videos with friends.

What has been your favorite campaign with Social Fabric?

My first and only campaign so far was buying items to make an Easter hamper for my son. It was his first Easter, so it was super special thinking of things to buy him. I really loved the experience and it made us think about each item and why to add it.

What do you enjoy most about the Social Fabric Community?

I like the forums and opportunities to discover new blogs I wouldn’t have found.

Please share a link from a campaign you have participated in so we can all go check it out!

http://mytwomums.com/easter-basket/

Any fun or interesting facts about yourself or your blog that you would like to share with the world?

I have completed the London to Brighton bike ride 3 times and hope to one day complete the London Marathon. I love setting challenges and as I get older the challenges are getting more adventurous.

If you were sent to a deserted island with one other person, who would it be and what 3 things would you bring with you?

If I were sent to an island it would have to be with my wife and I would take my camera, my iPad and a mobile dongle, so that I could document our adventures and upload them to our blog.

Kirsty’s Links ~ Check her out, follow her, give her some Social Fabric love!

Blog ~ http://mytwomums.com

Facebook ~ http://www.facebook.com/mytwomums

Twitter ~ http://twitter.com/mytwomums

Each year, Arkansas Business honors 40 intriguing business and political leaders under 40 years. These are rising stars nominated by readers and chosen by the editors of Arkansas Business.

Amy will be featured in a special 20th year edition of Arkansas Business, a retrospective coffee table-style issue that will also list brief updates on all the past 19 classes as well. The issue will be published on June 17th.

This is a great honor for Amy and thanks to her it’s also tremendous recognition for our company. Please congratulate her when you see her next or tweet her at @AmyfromCB.

Congratulations, Amy!

]]> http://blog.collectivebias.com/2013/06/14/amy-callahan-named-2013-40-under-40-honoree/feed/ 0 http://blog.collectivebias.com/2013/06/11/photo-a-day-challenge/ http://blog.collectivebias.com/2013/06/11/photo-a-day-challenge/#comments Tue, 11 Jun 2013 20:55:36 +0000 kristinwheeler http://blog.collectivebias.com/?p=7425 Recently in Social Fabric, we have started a Photo-A-Day Challenge! Not sure what that is? The members of Social Fabric have fun each day sharing a photo on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter based on the  [read more →]]]> Recently in Social Fabric, we have started a Photo-A-Day Challenge! Not sure what that is? The members of Social Fabric have fun each day sharing a photo on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter based on the topic for that day! Each month has its own list of topics, one topic for each day, the topics are given to participants at the beginning of the month in graphic format. When photos are shared on social media, these photos should include #LuvSoFab, #cbias and the hashtag for that day’s topic (i.e. if the topic is fruit, then also add #fruit). It’s a lot of fun to participate!

Even if you are not a member of Social Fabric you can participate. It’s a fun challenge for all! If you are not a member of Social Fabric and would like to apply, please APPLY to SoFab! We are especially searching for male bloggers, millennial bloggers (ages 18-33), beauty bloggers and fashion bloggers! Make sure you let us know if you meet one of these qualifications in the referral question of your application using the following codes:

Male bloggers = PADMales
Millennial bloggers = PADMillennial
Beauty bloggers = PADBeauty
Fashion bloggers = PADFashion
All other bloggers = PADreferral

Now for the topics for this month! Check out the image below, and HAVE FUN! We can’t wait to see your photos!

What has been your favorite campaign with Social Fabric?

I would have to say my favorite campaign has been the Fall Cookie’s Kids shop. I just love to shop, especially for fashion items. I am also a recovering Polyvore addict, so I loved having an excuse to hop on there to create a new fashion set.

What do you enjoy most about the Social Fabric Community?

What I enjoy most about the Social Fabric Community are the Shoppertunities that push me to be creative, whether it is with fashion, a craft, or a recipe.

Please share a link from a campaign you have participated in so we can all go check it out!

http://www.3garnets2sapphires.com/2012/09/shop-n-share-kids-fall-fashion.html

Any fun or interesting facts about yourself or your blog that you would like to share with the world?

I am a huge Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan and am currently slowly working my way through all the novels that have been written based on the television series.

If you were sent to a deserted island with one other person, who would it be and what 3 things would you bring with you?

If I could only have one person with me onto a deserted island, I would choose my husband because he is my best friend. I would likely bring art supplies, a game (either Chess or Scrabble), and a photo of our family because those are all things both my husband and I would enjoy having with us.

Karen’s Links ~ Check her out, follow her, give her some Social Fabric love!

Blog ~ http://www.3garnets2sapphires.com/

Facebook ~ https://www.facebook.com/3Garnets2Sapphires

Twitter ~ https://twitter.com/_Karen

Behold the media industry and a full on, Godzilla Tokyo style beat down change era.  Media companies are actively driving change and using piles of cash to do it.  However, it seems to me that the investments are still being deployed against the prevailing business model; you know, get a bunch of eyeballs and show them ads.  That worked well when you could control the channel but now, consumers really don’t consume media that way.  They choose the media they want, when they want it, how they want it and switch channels incessantly.

Instagram and Tumblr have huge amounts of eyeballs but neither have anything like an identifiable revenue model and it’s likely that anything resembling an ad will be roundly rejected.  Ads in the new media world aren’t really ads at all, they are content that the user WANTS to consume because it’s interesting, funny, helpful, etc. The content itself is the ad and like all content, crap tends to be ignored or worse, ridiculed. Even with accepted social platforms like Facebook, there is doubt among marketers about the advertising effectiveness.

I suppose you are looking for a point.  Here it is, ready?  There are a bunch of new media companies (one that I work for included) that have robust, growing, viable revenue models producing content-based social advertising with measurable results!  Many have business models that are focused on dislocating specific types of inefficient traditional media (big pot of money) vs. taking share from other forms of digital (smaller pot of money).  This is where marketers need help as most of their investments are STILL deployed in print and broadcast and they welcome investments that help them engage with consumers, not advertise to them.

As a blogger taking wonderful pictures is a must. Even though I have a good camera for this purpose, I am often not at home or just need a quick picture that I don’t have time to get my camera. I recently was asked to review Flickr, a Free App from Yahoo that allows you to share your photos with anyone, anywhere! Instantly share with your Flickr groups, Facebook, Twitter, tumblr or email contacts. You pick.

So what does Flickr have that makes it an easy tool for bloggers or just photo enthusiasts?

As you can see it is pretty easy to change the look of a photo and store it on your album.

• - Capture and create stunning photos: Take photos with the app’s easy-to-use camera and make them your own with all new filters, editing features, and geo-tagging.
•  - Discover the world through photos: The most interesting images in the world live on Flickr. Rediscover the world and be inspired by the Flickr community of photo hobbyists.
•  - Experience high-quality, high-resolution photos: Flickr maintains the original quality of your photos so they look as crisp and stunning as the moment you snapped the photo. Your photos always look better on Flickr!

Requirements for the Flickr APP: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.3 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.

My 11-year-old  daughter is home from school and loves playing with technology, especially photo site, so I allowed her to fool around with it a little bit and take some pictures with me on my iPad mini. It is simple to start-up; just simply upload the app from iTunes and then create your login information. Simple right!

What she learned:

You can add all sorts of stickers easily to a picture you take from Flicker or you can upload previously shot photos.

You can also add fun frames to photos. This photo was taken a while ago and she just enhanced it.

She had so much fun editing photos I had to pull my iPad back from her.

You can easily send it to your Facebook or Twitter account as well.

✓ Custom filters enhance your photos plus photo correction, retouching and many other tools

✓ Access your Flickr photos on any device – phone, tablet, computer and Apple TV!

✓ Connect with others around shared interests. Whether it’s food, travel, or anything else – Flickr has more than 1.6M groups, so there’s bound to be a Group that interests you!

✓ New justified layout photo display makes your personal photostream look amazing

✓ See recent photo activities from your friends and family. Make comments or mark them as favorites.

✓ Flexible, personal privacy options to make your photos as public or private as you want

PROs:

• FREE
• Custom filters enhance your photos plus photo correction, retouching and many other tools
• Access your Flickr photos on any device – phone, tablet, computer and Apple TV!
• Connect with others around shared interests. Whether it’s food, travel, or anything else – Flickr has more than 1.6M groups, so there’s bound to be a Group that interests you!
•  New justified layout photo display makes your personal photo stream look amazing
•  See recent photo activities from your friends and family. Make comments or mark them as favorites.
• Flexible, personal privacy options to make your photos as public or private as you want.

CONS:

• One more app and social media site to work with (come on bloggers you know what I am talking about)
• Just be careful as to what you want Flickr to have access to.  Make sure you check the public/private for each photo/album.
• I had to set it up with a yahoo account which I did not have, so just one more login to remember

I will continue to use this app for photos for my blog and the kids will have a place to enhance their own photos.

Bio: Maria is a SAHM of 3 and pet owner of 2, working part-time tutoring and blogging.  She loves spending time in the kitchen, garden and crafting with her kids as well as discovering family friendly products to make life at home easier!  You can find her at Close to Home.

Catch her on social media:

Blog – http://www.stayingclosetohome.com

Twitter – @stayclosetohome

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/stayingclosetohome

Well, things ARE changing. Traditional advertising isn’t yet extinct, but there is simply too much noise out there, and people are sick of it. They’re shutting out the blast advertising that has crept into every aspect of their lives and centering in on the things they truly care about—friends, family, and social connections. You need to take a step back and study this shift in order to take advantage of it.

For brands, that doesn’t mean you can simply move your blast advertising campaigns into social channels. You actually have to make real conversation with real people and help them get what they want. That means knowing your prospects well enough to understand what they want. It also means creating content that’s helpful, entertaining, educational, or all of the above—content that helps them make a decision when they’re ready to buy; content they’re willing to share with friends.

Does that mean advertising is dead? Not entirely. Smart brands have noticed that we’re moving to a “connection economy,” and they are producing ongoing content that meets the new search “relevancy” standards. They’ve studied their audiences, listened to their social conversations, and have developed plans to use that content in their social profiles to emotionally connect to their audiences and encourage conversation. When it resonates, it gets shared and receives comments and likes, which makes that brand more visible in search.

What it all boils down to is that in the new world of content marketing, the Content “IS” the Marketing. Sharing, conversation, and emotionally connected content will be the ads of the future. Instead of thinking in terms of “Convince and Convert,” start thinking in terms of “Converse and Convert.” Helpful content gives your customers reasons to stay engaged—not just react—and also increases brand advocacy.

So start thinking like a publisher because the more relevant, helpful content you create, the better you can drive engagement. And as my ROR formula illustrates… Content drives Engagement, Engagement drives Advocacy, and Advocacy correlates directly to Increased Sales. 

What has been your favorite campaign with Social Fabric?

I have only done one campaign at the moment, but I love anything that brings family together and allows them to connect.

What do you enjoy most about the Social Fabric Community?

I like connecting with people and establishing relationships. I do not want to be best friends with people, but I do value others opinions and thoughts. I feel that by being part of something like this, I am also part of a like-minded community. I know that I always value other peoples opinions of products and places and always check online before committing my own money to anything. I also like being an online influencer, being able to try things out and be an early adopter.

Please share a link from a campaign you have participated in so we can all go check it out!

http://www.muminthemadhouse.com/2013/04/09/redefining-me-time/

Any fun or interesting facts about yourself or your blog that you would like to share with the world?

Oh, I am so not interesting. I wouldn’t want people to think that you have to be interesting to blog. I write about the everyday mundane things in life. I am really an introvert in RL. But online am happy to share things I wouldn’t elsewhere. I am fiercely loyal and never thought I would have children.

If you were sent to a deserted island with one other person, who would it be and what 3 things would you bring with you?

I would like to be on an island with my man. We have been married 18 years, ten years before Maxi came along and sometimes I miss our time together without the children. Lose leaf tea. I am a tea monster and need good quality tea to keep me sane. Tea is my vice and I love it from a tea pot! A pen and Paper (that counts as one right?) I need to write. I need to get out what is in my head and writing allows me to process my thoughts. Sunscreen – I am very pale and burn, so would need sunscreen!

Jen’s Links ~ Check her out, follow her, give her some Social Fabric love!

Blog ~ http://www.muminthemadhouse.com

Facebook ~ http://www.facebook.com/muminthemadhouse

Twitter ~ http://twitter.com/mum_themadhouse