Social Media Revolution

Last November I wrote about a dizzying 2008 video called Did You Know 3.0. Socialnomics author Erik Qualman created a Social Media focused video with equally fascinating statistics (and the exact same song as the previous video). Check it out:

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Take a listen to Free Energy, an emerging rock act with a gentle sentiment and the heart of a pride of lions.

Favorite Song On the Radio

For all of you psychology students who need a thesis topic, have I got a good one for you.

Please, dissect why it feels so much better to hear a favorite song on the radio than it does to simply play a CD or .mp3 file.

Of course the answer lies in the fact that it’s an unexpected surprise but I have a feeling there’s more. Is it partly because we relish in the fact that someone somewhere out there at a completely different point in their life might share this song with you and feel like you do? Is it because we crave familiarity and like to think that other people also want to hear the things that are our favorites? Or maybe it’s some sort of approval of our favorite things? Tell me everything that makes us feel that way.

Send me a thorough thesis and I’ll give you something (what it is will depend on how well off I am at the time). And then together we can figure out how to apply that beautiful “Omigod they’re playing my song” feeling to product perception and marketing.

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And now for an artist you'll probably never hear on the radio but probably ought to listen to anyway. His name is Parov Stelar and he's an Austrian jazz electro guy who knows how to drop a beat.

Parov Stelar - "Matilda" (I can't even tell you how much I'd LOVE to be in this video, or at least throw paint water balloons around an empty room while wearing all white.)

So You Want To Be Quoted?

Pear Analytics filtered through 28,000 tweets in a recent about Twitter usage and consumption, and if you're at all familiar with Twitter some of the results may be predictable. Apparently 40.55% of 0ur tweets are what they consider "pointless babble," but 37.55% are conversational and 8.7% were of what Pear Analytics calls "Pass Along Value."

You may have heard about the recent Pear Analytics study analyzing the nature of usage and consumption of Twitter, and whether you've read the study or not it probably won't surprise you that 0.55% of 0ur tweets are what they consider "pointless babble." On the brighter side though, 37.55% are conversational and 8.7% were of what Pear Analytics calls "Pass Along Value."

All this is interesting, but here's the real gem of this study, the part that might actually help you. Tweets that occur on Monday and near 11:30am are most likely to be retweeted (quoted and passed along) and if you're looking for news tweets on the public timeline are most newsworthy around 2:00pm and on Tuesdays. Hopefully that helps somebody out there, but if not, check out this beautiful music recommendation.

Bowerbirds - "My Oldest Memory"

Rock Paper Scissors, An Important Environmental Breakthrough

There's a new paper that's made of stone. It's called TerraSkin and production takes half the energy of regular paper. According to a recent article in Business Week it's recyclable and durable, but if "exposed to sunlight and humidity long enough" it "breaks down like talcum powder." I'm not sure what long enough means, but sales of these bags are expected to triple by the end of 2009 and some proponents of green are calling TerraSkin a major solution.

All I have to say is that I can hardly wait to offer to carry a TerraSkin bag for someone and then say, "Goodness this is heavy! What do you have in here, rocks?!?!?!"

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And in case that wasn't enough pun for one night, until you get your hands on a rock bag you should rock out to Frankmuzik electro style.

Obsessed With Augmented Reality

Until a few days ago I was fairly ignorant when it came to Augmented Reality (AR). And then I found the application below.

Nearest Tube, An Augmented Reality App for the iPhone

Now I'm obsessed with Augmented Reality but in my research I've been particularly fascinated with the attitude of people in the AR community. They are extremely forward thinking and I believe this is one of the reasons why AR will accomplish incredible feats in the future. They're so confident, so inspiring, and so full of opportunity. One of the most common phrases I keep hearing as I read up is, "When technology catches up we could build..."

From now I want to apply the same attitude to my thoughts on marketing, advertising, and life in general. It's not about adapting and staying caught up to emerging technologies (phrases I've heard so often), but anticipating them and foreseeing their capabilities. That, I think, is the trick. So thank you AR and everyone in it. You've already, even though I have yet to use your technologies, changed my life.

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For rock music that makes you feel like you're flying, check out Fanfarlo.

I Just Applied For a Job At Google

Yes, you read that right. I put the job in my job cart and sent it away. What job, you might ask? Well I applied for the New York City based Media Lead position in the Creative Labs.

And wouldn't that require like, a lot of experience, you ask? The answer to that question would be a resounding yes. This position requires eight years experience but in my rare case I'm hoping that the fact that I'm in my twenties and going on 40 will do something for me.

And now you want to know what I wrote in my cover letter? Why of course I'll show you. I'm warning you that you'll probably finish reading it and ask if I really did send that pun filled email to Google. Again, your answer is yes. Enough questions though, here's what I wrote:

Hi Google,

My name is Lauren Proctor and new media marketing is my passion. I follow the beat with an unwavering commitment and think of so many ideas for connecting brands with people in meaningful ways through modern media that more than one person in my life has asked if new media communication is as essential to me as the water or salt that keeps me alive.

I'm also a Google fan who believes that your new real time search engine will blow Twitter and Facebook (even with the acquisition of Friendster) out of the water and wonders why the drop down menu asking applicants to disclose the type of phone number they provided doesn't include Google Voice as an option.

When it comes to actual experience in the field my CV doesn't have much to show but in that regard I suppose I'm only taking from the Larry Page and Sergey Brin model of shooting high right from the beginning.

I am, after all, a hard working quick study with a knack for innovation and a hankering desire to make waves (pun intended) in the Google community.

Thank you for your time and I hope to hear from you soon. This is one chance you want to take.

Trust me,

Lauren
Google Voice number 347.926.3232

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Beautiful Music: Orin Lavie - "Her Modern Elegance"

5 Social Media Stories You Should Know Today

Did you watch your news channel of choice and read your papers but miss out on your social media related news today? Never to fear. I'll catch you up with a quick list of highlights (or low lights if you're a Friendster fan).

Please note that this list is by no means comprehensive, nor does it even begin to acknowledge much beyond the realm of new media. It's at the very least entertaining, so here we go:

1. Facebook bought Friendster for $50 million dollars. What does this mean? We're not really sure yet, but a lot of people think the two services will integrate. Friendster will become obsolete and Facebook will adopt more Twitter-like technologies like real time search in hopes that when newsworthy events take place people will stop turning to Twitter and start using Facebook instead.

Somebody best get out the printing presses and make a new shirt because like everything else in the world these days, now has quickly slipped away into the future.

2. Google has also announced their intentions to overhaul their search engine to add real time search. Some rumors say that they're going to partner with Twitter in order to create this real time search that includes microblogging, so this is something to watch out for.

2. A study reveals that Gen Yers are claiming that their real friends are the friends they have in cyberspace. Meanwhile, another study shows that Facebook increases jealousy in relationships.

3. While we're on studies, yet another study points out that psychological distance increases creativity. This article talks about the research and suggests a few ways to increase your own creativity.

3. A year ago we were saying goodbye to human customer service by increasing the capability of ATMs. And now you won't have to go to your ATM as much either, because USAA Bank is going to release an iPhone app that allows people to deposit checks by sending in photos of the front and back of the check.

4. YouTube surges 9% in the month of July and passed MSN and Live.com in the traffic department. Of course we have to take Bing.com into consideration when we look at the numbers of Microsoft properties, but what does this mean about our society?

5. Excuse me for being so late to discover this, but I found out that the British Prime Minister's office tweets. I'm going to do something really British and leave it at "Brilliant."

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With snarling lyrics, a voice that varies between breathy nothings and towering hope, and enough bounce to send you dancing from state to state, Florence and the Machine will take you

Florence and the Machine - "Kiss With A Fist"

Kept, Lost, Forgotten and Remembered Again

There's a website called Forgotten Bookmarks and in case the name of the site doesn't explain enough, it's like Post Secret for the bookish type. I've added a couple images below, but check it out if you're curious.

Preferably while listening to the sweet sounds of The Backseat Goodbye. (Warning: He's a total guilty pleasure but a pleasure nonetheless). And not that it matters, but he has a song called "32 Ways to Make You Smile."

Information Design Resume Draft Experiment

A couple years ago I pinned down a resume format that, at the time, felt like it would last forever. I was convinced it was perfect, but alas, it is tired. And so it's time for a remix.

Lately I've been really interested in the aesthetics of data and information design, so I decided to mess about a bit and see if I could reduce all my experience to one page while switching over to the now desired skill set resume that's supposed to be better these days since so many people are expected to go through more career changes than they used to a few years back.

My result is the file below (please note, I haven't edited it at all). I realize that it's insanely cluttered and probably too overwhelming, but it was fun to create and I personally wish resumes weren't meant to be so cut and dry by nature. I don't know that I have the chutzpah to send something so untraditional to even the most creative trend spotting or marketing firm (my proposed next career move) but it's tempting.

I'd love to get everyone's opinion and advice on how they would feel if they received a resume like this. Would it go straight to the trash or do you think you'd take a (positive) second look if I edited this and cleaned it up a bit? Also, if you have other tips or ideas for reducing clutter I'm all ears.

Thanks for your time in advance. In turn I'll give you yet another good music recommendation. Check out The Foreign Exchange, a chill out soul group that glides in and out of genre but pleases reliably.