Behind the Numbers at Reddit

Calling Reddit “the best kept secret in social media” is no longer valid. The site is no longer a secret. Reddit is getting huge.

Below, we have broken down the demographics of the top 4 countries that use Reddit based upon data that Reddit accumulated in a survey last month.

Who in the world is Reddit? Here’s a breakdown. Click to enlarge:

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Everything You Need to Know About Google+

In case you're coming out from the rock you've been living under for the summer, Google+ arrived on our digital doorsteps in early July - but only for limited field testing. Yesterday, it was announced that Google+ had finally been released as a public beta, meaning that you no longer require an invitation to join the network. The announcement was certainly strategically timed, with Facebook's f8 developers conference scheduled for Thursday - so strategic that Facebook itself made a few announcements early.
Before I get into some of the specifics about the new platform, I'd like to share with you why I think it's different from Facebook and why I think it makes sense to pay attention to Google+ rather than dismissing it out of hand as others have done (even prior to the public release, may I remind you).
Not Just a Social Network but Glue
When Facebook was created, it began as a private network only available to individuals with .edu email addresses. As it slowly and deliberately expanded, it kept growing from the inside out. It was truly a big deal when Facebook Connect was introduced, as it became the most significant way that Facebook was making an attempt to integrate with the rest of the Web. And Facebook's own mission statement, "Giving people the power to share and make the world more open and connected," is consistent with this inside-out approach to growing its platform.
Google, on the other hand, has gone about things in a different way. There are dozens of Google or Google-owned products and services that span across the web. And while Google+ has begun as a social platform that acts a bit like Twitter and a bit like Facebook, it has the ultimate potential: to be able to bring these disparate parts together in a much more integrated fashion.
Some of the Google products that you may know and use include:
Email (Gmail)Video (YouTube)Photos (Picasa, Panaramio, Picnik)Links (Reader, Bookmarks)Files (Docs)Location based services (Places, Latitude, Maps)Blogging platform (Blogger, Feedburner)Events (Calendar)Mobile solutions (Mobile, Voice)IM (Chat, Messenger)Video chat (Hangouts)Groups (Groups, Circles)Browser & OS (Chrome)Metrics (Analytics, Trends)Revenue (Affiliate Network, Adsense, Checkout)Integration services (App Engine)Forums (Moderator)Connecting the world (Translate)Not to mention everything related to search - News, Blog, Book, Realtime, Images, Videos, Patent, Product, Finance and more...
When you think about the power of all of those being woven into a single social platform, the possibilities are endless. The analytics alone would be enough to catch my attention. Although, as a regular user of a number of those services above - including Blogger, Gmail, Reader, Docs and more - I will admit that I'm predisposed to liking it.
Back when I first started thinking about the potential integration of services, began to see articles like this one from TechCrunch ('Gmail+: Google Already At Work On "Several" Gmail/Google+ Integrations'), which is why I continue to be excited about it.
For a really nice visual exploration of what G+ is - as well as a creative use of the platform for storytelling, take a look at this photo set from Vincent Wong:
An early watcher developed a blog called PlusHeadlines.com and developed a point of view titled "How I See Google+ as Unique" which is worth looking at as well.
What has been fascinating to me is how the Google+ team has fanned out across the platform not only to observe how people are using the site, but to interact and engage with them. The Hangout group video chat feature has been particularly helpful as they've had some interactions with me and my team, for example. And in doing so, Google+ is changing right before our very eyes, making near-realtime tweaks based on customer feedback. The product has been live for 90 days and they've made 91 documented changes.
Just yesterday, along with the announcement that the platform would be public, Google+ also announced eight other improvements to the service, including:
Hangouts on your phoneHangouts On Air - group video chat had been limited to 9 people; now you can broadcast your conferences so others can watch and follow along.Extras for Hangouts:Document sharingScreensharingThe ability to sketch/doodleNamed Hangouts for public eventsAvailability of the Hangouts APISearch
The last one was a particularly sensitive improvement, as Google was taken to task for being a search engine company (even though it's much more) that didn't integrate search into its platform. That has been amended.
How Does it Work?
Rather than me trying to explain what it is, I'll leave it to the Google+ team to explain it directly via video. I've created a playlist that includes a quick look at the overall system, Circles, Hangouts, Instant Uploads and Messenger:
Circles really are a nice feature of the platform. They're intuitive, you can name them whatever you want, put people in more than one, move them around easily and are visually appealing to play with. They do take a little while to get used to and can be overwhelming, but my advice is to pay attention to them and create your Circles early, to help you think about who you're listening to and posting to. It will save you a lot of trouble down the line.
When you begin posting on Google+, one of the major benefits it offers is that you can target your updates to certain Circles, individuals or the public - and your post can be of any length. I've seen examples of short, Twitter-like updates both with and without media attached (such as photos, videos or links). And I've also seen extraordinarily long updates that are more blog-like in nature. The beauty of Google+ is that the platform is completely flexible depending on what you need.
Other features that make it user friendly include the ability to block a person who may not be welcome in your Circles (you don't have to follow everyone to see their updates - they can post on your site; blocking prevents that). Also, there are a number of rather "noisy" individuals who not only post frequently, but whose posts are commented on to a high degree; if you've commented, you'll be repeatedly notified of the updates. A way to prevent that is to "Mute" the post. A rather handy trick.
Resources & Getting Started
So by now you've either left the page out of sheer boredom or you've gone off and started an account. Either way, I can't blame you. But if you'd like some help as to how to go about getting things set up and looking for some pointers, you've come to the right place. I've developed a list of resources to at least get you grounded in what's in store for you and some best practices.
Google+ Resources
I highly recommend using a Chrome browser if you plan on using Google+, primarily because of the extensions you can add onto your browser for additional functionality, such as toolbar notifications, collapsible posts, integration with Facebook and Twitter, and more.For your convenience, I have compiled all of these resources, as well as a number of others with a Google+ tag on my Delicious page. This will continue to update as I find relevant information.
Sounds Great! I Need One for my Business
Not so fast! At this time, Google+ is only open to individuals. For just about every business and website that joined when it first went live, Google asked the owners of those accounts to revert to using their names rather than their businesses. The sole exception was Ford Motor Company (ahem). We have a strong working relationship with Google and together we determined that Ford could act as something of a test account to help discern what features would be helpful versus awkward for a business account.
Google+ has publicly stated that they are working on a version for businesses; the timing hasn't been announced at this point. But they have said that the reason they're waiting is because they'll be able to better understand and serve the business population with a product that is specifically built for business purposes rather than trying to force fit brands into personal profiles.
One other outcropping was a debate that raged (and perhaps is still raging) about Google's insistence that individuals use their real names as part of the service. There were many people who were upset about it, but Bradley Horowitz from the G+ team outlined a number of consideration points in a post on his account.
Your Thoughts
So there you have it. This is a post that I had been meaning to write - at least the introduction of Google+ and its implications - for the last two months. Now that it's public, we'll have a lot more to discuss and to watch, I'm sure.
In the meantime, if you would like to add me to your Circles, I would be honored.
So, what do you think? Are you ready to jump into Google+ with both feet? Or are you just fine where you are?
-- Labels: Google, Google+, social networks

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Social Media & Real Estate

Editor's note: the following is a guest post by Herman Chan.

Social media is where people immediately go to for recommendations for anything and everything, from eateries to vacation spots to even real estate. As a service-oriented business predicated on spheres of influences, social media is more relevant than ever for this industry. Real estate is all about referrals and who you know...which, if you think about it, is what social media is all about.

Information overload is what most people feel when researching real estate. It's overwhelming the amount of data available on the internet. Some of it is junk, some of it is advertising, and a lot of it is just wrong. People are starved to get quality reliable information they can trust. So consumers gravitate to sites and communities that shared their interests and points of views. Sites like Yelp, Facebook, Branch Out, Twitter exploded because they satisfied this need. Knowing what their peers think and find interesting helps shape a consumer's opinion. People are not looking for just info anymore, they are looking for recommendations. It's the power of feedback. The testament of a testimonial. It helps them edit down their choices.

Real estate used to be a private transaction between a Realtor and client. However, it is increasingly now a shared social experience for a community. Open house visitors upload photos of what they saw, buyers blog about their inspection, sellers search Twitter streams for mentions of their house, agents get rated online. Today's buyers and sellers rely heavily on social media. Yet this is lost on many of my colleagues who cling to an era when agents were the gatekeepers of info. Tsk tsk.

So, next time you interview a real estate agent, ask them:

1. What are your strategies for marketing my property?
If they just mention fliers, open houses and website, tell them this ain’t the 1990’s! If they cite social media as part of their plan, ensure they really possess the social media savoir faire to meet your needs. (ie, Posting once a month on their facebook business page doesn't cut it. They obviously have a facebook page for the sake of having a facebook page, which is useless to you as a client).

2. How big is your social following?
If an agent has 10,000 twitter followers who hang on to their every word about real estate, that is 20,000 eyeballs on your listing. That’s more exposure than any flyer or open house will get you. One tweet to plug your home and it is on the radar of thousands of people.

3. Who follows you and how engaged are they?
Perhaps your agent's online tribe isn't the largest, but it may be an active targeted demographic. It’s a good sign when local businesses, past clients and even other real estate professionals are fans of a Realtor. (You can tell a lot about how engaged an agent is by reading their online chatter with other followers.) These people who have “liked” the agent’s page actively chose to read what that agent posts. They clearly expressed an interest in your agents business and want to keep tabs on their local market. With any luck, they will share/viralize your property to their sphere as well!

Bottom line: The traditionally stodgy real estate industry is finally catching on that social media can't be ignored. An agent with strong social media savvy can command a lot of attention towards your house for sale. The more people who are aware of your listing, the more likely someone will write an offer. In this market, a seller can not afford to lose out on any marketing edge, especially when Gen X/Y and Millenials are driving the market now. And guess what, they live on social media. Select your agent representation accordingly.

Real Estate Expert Herman Chan is a videoblogger, speaker, and writer whose social media savvy has made him an authority on branding and cementing one’s online presence. Check him out on www.habitatforhermanity.com or follow him on Twitter at @hermanity. Labels: guest post, social media

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Speakin' Like Them

"If you wish to persuade me, you must think my thoughts, feel my feelings and speak my words."

I've previously cited this quote by Cicero as one that demonstrates the timelessness and universality of human nature. First uttered some 2,000 years ago, it is a quote that today is even more important for marketers and communicators to keep in mind as we think about what we're trying to accomplish.

And so today, as it is International Talk Like a Pirate Day, seems to be an appropriate time to reflect on the need of thinking, feeling, and yes, talking like those you're trying to influence.

Founded in 1995, the holiday was the brainchild of John Baur (Ol' Chumbucket) and Mark Summers (Cap'n Slappy), two friends who were playing racquetball one day, when for reasons that aren't clear to either of them, they started insulting each other in pirate jargon. The website blossomed, followed by a more recent foray into Facebook, and here we are today.

And today there are a number of individuals and sites who like to play along. The first - one that's been happening since 2008 - is Facebook's ability to allow users to change their preferred language to English (Pirate).

If you haven't tried it, you can go to the Account dropdown and click on Account Settings. There you can make the change:

And what used to look like this:

Will now look like this:

Getting into the spirit
Aside from the functional changes on Facebook, I noticed some other brands enjoying the fun of the day and even leveraging some natural connections with their own brands.

The first one that struck me was this Promoted Tweet I saw when I clicked on the trending topic "International Talk Like a Pirate Day":

The link takes you to a little YouTube video from Arby's:

Okay, so it was perhaps a clumsy play on words - but it was cute and in the tongue-in-cheek style of humor that struck so many of our collective coworkers and online friends today.

With a more natural connection than most, the Disney Parks Blog had a field day with its entries today. In fact, there were no fewer than nine posts with the "Pirate Day" tag on the site. My favorite is a video tour by Cap'n Walt himself, giving a tour behind the scenes of a miniature model and early concepts of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride:

These are but a few examples of companies that have understood the importance of memes and adapted their own communications or even products to reflect those sensibilities. By thinking and speaking like our intended audience, we can connect with them on a deeper level.

Oh, and if you have the courage to do so, you can always translate this post into Pirate. Here be t' link.

Are there any other standout examples from Talk Like a Pirate Day that you can cite?

Image credit: Dots Treats Cupcakes (Flickr)
-- Labels: fun, meme, social media

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Reply by Plato Shchukin

I then wrote that I send questions sapportam Yandex and Google. At the expense of what I was going to move to the 2-nd level domain and issues through the TIC and PR and indexing.            To be honest, very difficult runs native re-index. For a long time that I was too, please. With Google, then everything is fine, and Yandex clearly lags behind with pereindeksirovaniem. Though he enjoyed addurilkoj and ping Yandex.            So, Google has not yet responded, I think, already and does not respond. In the Dmoze editors don't find, so in sapporte they that be? But support Yandex me surprised. Platon Schukin on the very next day sent me a reply as follows.

Hello!

TIC and other indicators will be transferred to the new address after the completion of the process of gluing domains. it takes on average 4-6 weeks.

Sincerely, Plato Schukin

Support service Yandex

Which means that all should come to the square one through 4-6 weeks. Let's see how everything is. But here's a week has gone and indexing tugovatoe.            I hope that my blog to new domain receives 10 TIC, on the first Update. Well, or at least in the second, but already 20 TIC. Work now underway on 2-nd level domain and redirect all referers from your old domain must move to a new computer.

The effects of changing the template on the ranking by Yandex

After the change of the template was the biggest issue. And how Yandex replaced template? Whether a good indexing? Don't hit other pages with search? As will be ranked on LF and HF queries?            All these issues concern me. Although I tried to create a new template embed optimization from the old template. Left as is the description and keywords.            All perfectly position Google indexed and pereindeksiruetsa. A new article appears in Google's SERP in a few seconds. Published and you can look for Google. Page already there. But that wonder what loves Google Blogspot.            Look at what Yandex will show. Will publish this article after 2-3 updates renditions of Yandex. When new pages get into the issue and the old pages are re-indexed. Make a comparative analysis of attendance, and it will be clear. Bad change template or well. But one thing is clear because of the markup language "read more" home lose content. But thanks to the reference mass, it must not lose their positions. Watched not long for the search term "Blogspot" I am a 7 line, and was 11. What's next, find out after a couple of handouts.            Prior to the new articles!

PS: the Summer was hot, the cool and fresh air, then purchase a conditioner. Buy discount air conditioners and your summer is not remarkable.

Twenty thousand rubles for the new year

After the change of the template was the biggest issue. And how Yandex replaced template? Whether a good indexing? Don't hit other pages with search? As will be ranked on LF and HF queries?            All these issues concern me. Although I tried to create a new template embed optimization from the old template. Left as is the description and keywords.            All perfectly position Google indexed and pereindeksiruetsa. A new article appears in Google's SERP in a few seconds. Published and you can look for Google. Page already there. But that wonder what loves Google Blogspot.            Look at what Yandex will show. Will publish this article after 2-3 updates renditions of Yandex. When new pages get into the issue and the old pages are re-indexed. Make a comparative analysis of attendance, and it will be clear. Bad change template or well. But one thing is clear because of the markup language "read more" home lose content. But thanks to the reference mass, it must not lose their positions. Watched not long for the search term "Blogspot" I am a 7 line, and was 11. What's next, find out after a couple of handouts.            Prior to the new articles!

PS: the Summer was hot, the cool and fresh air, then purchase a conditioner. Buy discount air conditioners and your summer is not remarkable.