When our class was first introduced to Color it was something that many of us were interested in. Even though the company has already invested 41 million dollars and exuded confidence that they had created the new Social Media giant I was wondering if they were getting the results they had anticipated. Through my research I found that many of the users of Color were unsatisfied. I came across the blog that explained that even though the creators weren't receiving the feedback they had desired they were not allowing it to bring them down.
Even though, that within the first 24 hours that Color was released they were seated 26 at the iTunes most downloaded app chart the reviews they were receiving weren't all that great. Despite the excitement of users many complained about the short distance that Color covers as well as the poor experience with the app when other users are not around. This was something I felt our class was disappointed with as well. I know for me personally, I downloaded the app but have been unable to use it because of the lack of other users. I think one of their main focuses should be on gaining awarness amongst the public. Many people do not even know Color exisits and creators should work on getting their name out there better, esepcially if they want to become the next giant.
The blog further explained that the company has taken the critques and have been working on making the app better. Already a week after the initial release they had an update which furthered the distance allowed for communication for users. I think that this app is defiantly something that many people will want to pretake in and it will be only a matter of time before the creators have fixed all of their errors, and the app will really be able to take off.
I'm sure most of us can remember the two very different presidential campaigns back in 2008. We saw that McCain took the traditional approach, whereas, Obama pioneered a different campaign integrating Social Media. Many people argue that what enabled Obama to be so successful was his utilization of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. I came across the article that recently Mitt Rommney announced his candidacy for the 2012 Presidential election through his social media pages. Through his tweet he posted a link with a short video explaining some of his platforms and stated some of his opinions on the Obama administration.
Understanding that Obama really set off this trend it'll be interesting to see how other candidates follow suit. Since Social Media networks have been so successful and hold the attention of so many people it would be almost silly not to tap into these networks to spread awareness. These networks offer the ability to reach a mass audience quickly and frequently. I think these networks will allow the candidates to stay relevant in voters’ minds better than other outlets, such as TV commercials. Another great thing about candidates utilizing social media sites is that it gets younger generations involved. I remember reading shortly after the 2008 election that it had one, if not the best turnout for voting for our generation so far.
I also have seen that along with Rommney, Obama has started to post various statuses and tweets pertaining to the election as well. I think this gives us an adequate inclination that "traditional" elections are somewhat sort of the past, and I think it'll be interesting to see how social media influences these changes.
We have already discussed some of the benefits that location based networks, such as Foursquare, offers to businesses-and the list just got longer.
There is over a thousand of different brands that are on Foursquare, but often times are hard to discover by the users. So, in order to diffuse this issue they have launched a "page gallery". This gallery complies a collection of all the businesses on the site and gives the users the option to "follow" the page. By following the page users are able to receive tips, and updates from their favorite brands. The gallery also shows users what pages are popular amongst their friends.
With so many people and businesses jumping on the Foursquare bandwagon I think the Pages concept is a great idea. In order to stay relevant these networks need to keep evolving to fit what the consumer is wanting.
