Yesterday, I came across a nice looking infographic from Lab42 with some basic statistics on how people use twitter. It’s nothing too in depth, but does offer a nice quick overview.

Lab42 was nice enough to allow me to share the image here. Take a look:

I came across an nice infographic from WordStream (view the original HERE) detailing the top 20 most expensive keywords in Google AdWords. Did you think “insurance” would cost almost $55 per click? Check out the image below.

Today I came across an interesting infographic. It visualizes the statistics that “make up” a gamer, collected from a variety of sources. Nice visualization. Nice statistics. Check out the image below (originally found here).

Five articles I liked/thought were important/found interesting this past week.

Is Social Media Killing TV? — If Anything, Facebook, Twitter and Other Mobile Startups Have Brought Back Appointment Viewing
by Irina Slutsky and Kunur Patel, Ad Age
adage.com/article/digital/social-media-killing-tv/227028/

iPhone keeps record of everywhere you go
by Charles Arthur, Guardian
www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/apr/20/iphone-tracking-prompts-privacy-fears

Twitter, Facebook and YouTube now crucial to presidential campaigns
by Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times
www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-social-media-20110418,0,3160762.story

Facebook: Liked to death
by Rafe Needleman, cnet
news.cnet.com/8301-19882_3-20054791-250.html

Ban on Twitter, Facebook election-night posts draconian
by Paula Simons, Montreal Gazette
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/decision-canada/Twitter+Facebook+election+night+posts+draconian/4647769/story.html

I recently dipped my toes into Empire Exchange, which touts itself as a “social media exchange.” Essentially, it’s a virtual stock market where you can buy and sell people. Empire Exchange is, in their own words:

Empire Avenue is the Social Media Exchange, where you can buy and sell shares in any social media profile, meet new people, unlock Achievement badges, and earn boatloads of virtual cash by being active and social online! Buy shares in your friends, your followers, people with similar interests, brands you love, celebrities – anyone! All using a virtual currency and all for free!

I haven’t had enough time to fully go through the service yet, so a review wouldn’t be fair at this point. I do however think it’s an interesting idea. The company has a strong gaming background, so that’s a bonus for the gamification of the site. It’s also fun to “buy and sell” friends and associates of yours (people having been doing this for years with Hollywood Stock Exchange). Empire Avenue seems to believe that the value of the service is in engagement and connections/networking, but right now I only see it as a novelty (which can be fun for some and off-putting for others). Though, like I said, more time on the site might offer up some new conclusions.

One major drawback that I can see occurring is a slew of marketing and digital folks jumping onto the site with the only goal being an inflated “stock price” – pushing “I’m trading at…” to become the new “my Klout score is…” I am worried that some people/orgs will attempt to use something like this as a benchmark for candidates, which I don’t think is viable (at least not at this point). If you have someone saying you should work with them based on their Empire Ave. shares or even Klout scores…you should be looking somewhere else. If you’re a company using these as major evaluators of talent…you need help (and I’m happy to help).

I’ll be playing around more on the site and let you know what I find. In the meantime, I am on the service, and you can find me HERE. Have you tried it out? What are your thoughts?

Five articles I liked/thought were important/found interesting this past week.

The Guy Who Says He Owns 50% Of Facebook Just Filed A Boatload Of New Evidence — And It’s Breathtaking
by Henry Blodget, Business Insider
http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-lawsuit-paul-ceglia-new-evidence-2011-4

Trouble @ Twitter
by Jessi Hempel, Fortune
tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/04/14/troubletwitter/

How Paywalls Are Changing News Organizations’ Social Media Strategies
by Meghan Peters, Mashable
http://www.mashable.com/2011/04/12/paywalls-social-media-strategy/

An Interview With Twitter’s Forgotten Founder Noah Glass
by Nicholas Carlson, Business Insider
http://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-cofounder-noah-glass-2011-4

Rumor: Google “Disgusted” With Record Labels
by Wayne Rosso, The Music Void
http://www.themusicvoid.com/2011/04/rumor-google-“disgusted”-with-record-labels/

GetGlue has announced that they have now reached the one million user milestone, and released some data in the form of an infographic (see below). One million users is great, and not an simple task to reach, but what interests me most are the shares. Just look at how many tweets around television shows are coming from GetGlue check-ins. Clearly there’s something here. It’ll be exciting to see how the space grows.

GetGlue is obviously only one of the many options available in the entertainment check-in space (though I’m sure that term will evolve), but so far it’s been leading the pack. What do you think about entertainment check-in services? Do you use any? Which/why?

Courtesy of GetGlue. Original source here: http://blog.getglue.com/?p=6842

I recently came across some great applications of a developer API, and began to wonder why people/agencies don’t take advantage of APIs more often. Two of the more recent items I saw were Instaprint (from the great forward thinking Brooklyn digital shop Breakfast), and Postagram.

Instaprint allows you to print your Instagram photos from an Instaprint box when tagged with a specific location or hashtag. And it prints like an old Polaroid. You get your images right then and there. Cool idea right? If you saw and Instaprint box at an event or party (like, oh, say, SXSWi), wouldn’t you want to try it? I certianly would. Yes the actual need of a physical box can be a bit limiting for some, but that’s not the point of this post. It’s a great idea that can be leveraged in so many different ways. I’m sure more than a few people were introduced to Breakfast this way. Great thinking, and great use of an API.

Postagram does something similar. It also leverages the Instagram API to print and ship postcards from your Instagram photos. Another example of taking digital to physcial. Cool? Certainly. Is it a business? Can it be used for marketing? We’ll have to see, but it’s certainly another creative use of an API.

One of my favorite API integarations is WeePlaces which leverages Foursquare, Gowalla, and Facebook Places (with more services coming) to visualize where you visit. Again, something cool that was widely circulated when it first launched. I’m sure there’s a possibility to turn something like this into part of a marketing campaign, but if you were an agency that created this, well, there’s some marketing for you agency that shows off your expertise, thinking, and acts as a proof of concept. I believe that his was actually made over a weekend.

Here’s another example from Breakfast, which leverages Pandora and last.fm (this one is just fun):

As a developer or agency, projects like these can show of your thought process and showcase that you can create something that is buzzworthy. This actually is marketing for an agency or for your yourself (much the same way infographics can be). You’re marketing what you do and you’re creating something people want to talk about and share (I’ve shared all of these examaples previously). And of course, most of these ideas can be further leveraged/tweaked for clients as part of a larger campaign. One thing’s for sure, don’t forget about the API!

Here’s some more fun uses/tweaks of APIs:

http://www.wheredoyougo.net/ (A heatmap of your Foursquare check-ins)

http://www.whereitwentdown.com/ (Promoting Skins on MTV)

http://paper.li/ (Personalized “newspapers” built from Facebook and twitter streams)

Five articles I liked/thought were important/found interesting this past week.

Twitter Co-Founder Jack Dorsey and the Ideas that Sparked a Revolution
by Brian Solis, briansolis.com (as featured in FastCompany and Entrepreneur)
http://www.briansolis.com/2011/04/twitter-co-founder-jack-dorsey-and-the-ideas-that-sparked-a-revolution/

Facebook: Where marketing efforts go to die?
by Kit R. Roane, Fortune/CNN Money
http://www.tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/04/06/facebook-where-marketing-efforts-go-to-die/

U.S. Government Considering Big Changes to Rules Governing Private Stock
by Ben Parr, Mashable
http://www.mashable.com/2011/04/08/sec-facebook-stock-rules/

StumbleUpon just crossed 1 billion stumbles per month
by Courtney Boyd Myers, The Next Web
http://thenextweb.com/apps/2011/04/06/stumbleupon-just-crossed-1-billion-stumbles-per-month

Death Cab for Cutie Shoots Live, Scripted, One-Take Music Video
by Brenna Ehrlich, Mashable
http://mashable.com/2011/04/05/death-cab-for-cutie-live-video/

Video streaming by Ustream

I’ve noticed that a lot of the traffic that comes here, is focused are Foursquare questions. The most phrases appearing the most are usually something like “how can I cheat at Foursquare?” or “Can I check in at home?” This probably has to do with some of my previous posts.

Since this is how a lot of people find my blog, I thought I’d go ahead and answer some of the most frequent queries here. On to the questions!

How do you check in on Foursquare?

Load up your foursquare app on your device, click “check in” and then select the place where you currently are from the Places tab. Venues will occasionally be grouped into “My Favorites” or “Nearby” lists, helping you find the venue you’re looking for even faster. If you don’t see the venue listed, click “Not in List?” and search for the venue by partial name (to guarantee best search results), and click the big green button to check in. You can then decide whether you want to tell your friends where you are or keep your check in private (i.e. “off the grid”) You also have the option to add a “shout,” (think: adding context to your check-in and letting your friends know what you’re doing) as well as to publish to Twitter and/or Facebook if you’ve linked those accounts in your settings

To check-in on your computers, point your browser to http://m.foursquare.com/, scroll down the page and underneath your friends’ feed, click on option # 2 “Check-in (tell us where you are!).” It will open up a new page where you can easily check in.

The above answer is from Foursquare support directly. Please visit their support page by clicking HERE.

What are some cheats to unlock badges on Foursquare?

The site http://aboutfoursquare.com/ is an excellent resource to keep up to date with new badges and how to unlock them. You can also find a good list of badges and how to get them here: http://www.4squarebadges.com/foursquare-badge-list/. I don’t suggest you attempt to cheat at getting badges.

How do you cheat at Foursquare?

Cheaters primarily have simply been people checking in to locations when they are not there. Foursquare has been cracking down on this and it’s usually effective. After all, if you’re nowhere near where you are checking in, your phone knows that, which means Foursquare knows that.

People can still do “drive by check ins” which is simply checking in when you pass by a location and aren’t actually there, but are close enough as a passerby to have it count location-wise.

Checking in to locations when you are not there, drive by check ins, and other forms of “cheating” are looked down upon but both Foursquare and the vast majority of users. I do not suggest that you actually do so.

Can you/how do you check in to events (concerts, sporting events, etc…) on Foursquare?

At the moment, there are no “events” per se listed on Foursquare. On occasion, an specific event (for example, Snowpocalypse) may be created by users as a venue. Once an event is added as a venue, you will be able to check in just as you would any other location.

There are also events that are tied to locations, and sometimes badges. For example, the 2010 I Voted badge was essentially focused on an event, but required you to actual go to a polling location and check in to unlock the badge.

How many times can you check in on foursquare?

We don’t set limits on check-ins, per se, but if our system thinks you’re checking into too many places in a short amount of time, or checking into two places that are too far to travel between, or consistently checking into places that are far from where your device thinks you are, we won’t award points, badges, or mayorships for your check-in. Only check in where you are at the time, and it’s accepted that you should only check into a place that you are actually at (i.e. not just walking by).

Foursquare is meant to be a social utility that helps you connect with your friends and track your own personal history

The above answer is from Foursquare support directly. Please visit their support page by clicking HERE.

How can you add your home on Foursquare but keep the address private?

While Foursquare does not explicitly support “private” venues, if you categorize your home as “Home” it will not show up in “nearby” searches. The location will only be shown to you and other users who explicitly search for the name of your home venue (thus you may want to name your home something unique to limit the visibility).

Additionally, you can check in “off the grid.” Please see the following question for details.

How do you check in privately on Foursquare?

You can check in privately on foursquare by selecting “No” next to the question “Share with friends?” (or by unchecking “Tell My Friends” if you are using a BlackBerry). Your check-in will not show up at all to your friends, but it will be visible to you in your app and in your private foursquare check-in history. You will not be listed in the “Who’s Here” list at the venue, either. Note that these“off the grid” check-ins can’t be published to Twitter or Facebook.

Why would you want to check in “off the grid?” You could be on a date, out to dinner with your parents, or someplace you don’t want people to know about; while still wanting to check in to earn badges and track your check-ins on your history page (which will include your own private, “off the grid” check-ins).

Note: Off the grid check-ins unlock badges but will not disclose the location or venue tied to the badge. Though off the grid check-ins will not unlock a Mayorship, they will count towards the Mayor tally.

The above answer is from Foursquare support directly. Please visit their support page by clicking HERE.

Can I add and check into my house and home office on Foursquare?

Yes, you are able to add your home or office as a foursquare venue! Please note that any venue you add to foursquare will be visible in public search results. If you categorize your home venue as Home, it will *not* show up as ‘nearby’ when any foursquare user hits the “Places” tab in the foursquare app. Only you and your visitors who know the name of the venue will be able to search for it (use a unique venue name so it’s less visible if users search common words like “home”).

The above answer is from Foursquare support directly. Please visit their support page by clicking HERE.

How do you check in at home on Foursquare?

Once you have added your home (or if it has previously been added) as a venue, you can check in just as you would any other location.

Can you be mayor of your home on foursquare?

Yes. As long as you have added your home as a venue, it is possible for you to become mayor. It is also possible for you to lose the mayorship is someone else checks in at your home more than you do (family members, friends, etc…).

What is snowpocalypse (and others such as sluchpocalypse, heatpocaplypse, etc…) How do I check in to these?

People often creating new “venues” that are more an event than an actual venue. Snowpocalypse was created by Foursquare users to signify a large snowstorm and showcase that numerous people within in geographical location were experiencing the same thing. The extension ‘pocalypse has been used widely used, snowpocalypse is just one example.

To check in to an “event” simply search the name as a venue. Often, large events such as snowpocalpyse will be trending.

According to Foursquare:

We do think that venues like Snowpocalypse, based around a temporary, real event, are social and thus ok! Examples of what not to add: your car, your bed, stuck in traffic, your mom. Make sure to search for a venue before adding it to our system. That’s the best way to prevent duplicates!

*Foursquare has some great Do’s and Don’ts that they call House Rules. You can read there HERE.