Social Media Drove Just 1% of Black Friday Online Sales

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Despite the increased use of social media and new online platforms in the past decade, a direct measure of online traffic during Black Friday this year showed that social media played a very small role in the record hitting sales. In fact, only 1% of traffic and purchases on Black Friday and the week as a whole were directly generated by social media sites. That number is based on IBM tracking transactions across 800 U.S. retail websites. According to strategy director at IBM Smarter Commerce Jay Henderson, it has been the flat trend year-to-year, with no dramatic change. According to Henderson, although social media may not have a direct impact, it has a "huge indirect influence" on shopping decisions through brand building and product awareness. To illustrate this, Adobe Digital Index found that there were more social media conversations on Black Friday than Thanksgiving Day. IBM tried to analyze the indirect influence of social media on sales through two social media sites, Facebook and Pinterest. Shoppers referred from Facebook were found to have an average order value of $52.10 while shoppers from Pinterest had a much higher average order value of $92.51. However, Facebook converted sales almost four times the rate of Pinterest, which Henderson believes is due to Facebook's sophisticated ad tools. IBM hopes to have better methods of measuring indirect influences that social media has on shoppers in the future.

Although the direct correlation of social media and Black Friday sales are low, it is clear publics are on social media sites and using them as a platform to have conversations about retail stores and shopping. While companies such as IBM look to improve their measuring methods, how can companies be sure that their investments will translate into returns? Also, with the variety of social media platforms increasing on a daily basis, how can companies make the best selections of where they can advertise?

Where Teens are Going Instead of Facebook

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Teenagers are the biggest influencers of modern day communication trends, which make them an extremely important demographic for social media sites to target. Chief Financial Officer of Facebook, David Ebersman recently started seeing a downward trend of daily users on the site, especially among teenagers. In a survey of teenagers in 30 countries, they found that the number of teenagers claiming to be active on Facebook dropped from 76% in the first quarter to 56% in the third quarter of 2013. Instead, it looks like the young teenagers are more active on mobile chat services such as WeChat, which has grown 1,021% between the first and second quarters of this year and photo sharing apps such as Instagram. It looks like there is a clear shift to mobile in general, and companies should be adapting to that.

Have teenagers always been the trailblazers and biggest influencers of communication and media? If so, how can existing social network sites adapt to the changing trend of communication and keep the teenagers plugged in? Just because there is a decline in activities from teenagers, does that mean that Facebook is in true danger, despite the other demographics that are still active on the site?

Red Cross Apologizes for Tweeting False Typhoon Haiyan Image

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On Monday, November 11th, Red Cross posted an inaccurate graphic image comparing the size of Typhoon Haiyan to the continental U.S. The tweet read, "A storm the size of Typhoon Haiyan would cover nearly the entire continental U.S." The tweet went viral, with users retweeting the shocking image more than 700 times and appearing in blogs before the Red Cross issued a correction and apology hours later. Before the apology, Nate Cohn from The New Republic noticed the incorrect image that the Red Cross posted and tweeted "The map of Haiyan over the United States is a hoax and inaccurate". This prompted the Red Cross to looking into the inaccurate image and eventually issuing the correction and apology.

Although the Red Cross put out an immediate apology, it was an avoidable mistake that should have been caught before it went public. It is especially important for non-profit organizations such as Red Cross that seek donations to gain credibility and trust from the public. When people look to donate their money for a cause, it is important that they feel confident in the organization's ability to properly handle and allocate their funds. A loss of credibility over a false tweet can really affect people's decision to donate to the organization.

Twitter IPO

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Twitter, the online social networking and micro blogging service, had an initial public offering (IPO) on November 7, 2013. The company launched in 2006 and generates around $140 million in revenue per year and boasts around 200 million users worldwide. Prior to the IPO, private venture capital investors valued the company at more than $1.2 billion. Only a dozen private companies are valued over $1 billion and many of them have already had informal talks with bankers in regards to going public. Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan led the Twitter IPO and raised nearly $2 billion. A major concern around this IPO, is the lack of profits that Twitter has generated, but the current share price of $41 proves that it is no obstacle. The success of this IPO, paves the way for other private tech companies to rationalize their valuations, such as the company Square and Airbnb, which are exploring the possibility of going public in the near future.

Other companies such as Dropbox, Pinterest and Snapchat have raised valuations in the billions in a short period of time. Venture Capital investors are recognizing that social media services have huge potential to turn their mass users into reliable sources of revenue, even before posting a profit. When a company such as Twitter, is able to touch that many people, there is always a way to make money out of it. Every company is beginning to implement marketing strategies around facebook, twitter, tumblr, youtube, as they are becoming crucial elements in the success of these organizations. A Google ventures partner claimed that this Twitter IPO shows there is a strong demand for consumer web and tech companies which have not yet fully developed their business fundamentals.

Use Your Mind to Drive a Car

Use your Mind to Drive a Car

Alejo Bernal, a graduate of Design Academy Eindhoven, has recently developed a toy car that can be driven forward with thought, using NeuroSky EEG Headset. Aside from using this gadget for recreational purposes, individuals diagnosed with attention deficit disorders can also benefit from this technology. According to Bernal, "As you try to focus, the increased light intensity of the vehicle indicates the level of attention you have reached. Once the maximum level is achieved and retained for seven seconds, the vehicle starts moving forward. This project has helped users to develop deeper, longer concentration by exercising the brain. IT is possible for people to train or treat their minds through their own efforts and not necessarily using strong medicines, such as ritalin." This is a monumental advancement in EEG technology, which has been used in the past to control drones, exoskeletons, and even other human beings.

The mind controlled car is only in its prototype phase and not expected to hit markets anytime in the near future. However, the advancement of this technology is fascinating and can potentially lead to very effective treatments for patients and may even change the ways cars are driven some day! I am curious to see how the EEG sensors continue to advance and determine how strong the mind truly is.

Mobile Device Delivers Rapid AIDS Test Results in an Hour

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A nanotechnology firm by the name of Nanobioysm created a mobile device that can accurately test for AIDS/HIV in under an hour. The Gene-Radar is an iPad sized device that works by taking a drop of saliva, blood, or other bodily fluid and placing it on a nanochip that is put into the device. This new technology has the potentially revolutionize medicine by tracking disease outbreaks and helping contain them in remote places of the Earth. In places like Rwanda where there is an AIDS epidemic, they have tests that are fact but not accurate and others that are high in accuracy but take 6 moths to yield results. Even in the US, the "gold standard" tests take at least 2 weeks to get results and can cost $200. The Gene-Radar cuts the cost of these tests almost 50 to 100 times cheaper.

The new technology not only helps cut costs and turnaround time for the results, but it helps with the containment of the disease as well. The results get stored in a cloud so the data can be monitored and analyzed. The CEO of Nanobioysm states that there are 4 billion people on earth without access to healthcare and technology can change that. Instead of reactive care in hospitals and physician offices, this new device can help with preventative care. They are already working on new models that are smaller in size and possibly ingestible in the future.  

Facebook Lowers Age to Allow Teens to Post Publicly

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For the first time, Facebook is allowing teenagers ages 13-17 to have a public voice on the social media platform. Prior to this decision, teens on Facebook were only allowed to share content with friends, friends of friends, and custom groups. According to Facebook, this age group of people are among the savviest users of social media that simply want to be heard. Any teenager that wants to share a status update or post publicly must first manually change the audience setting on his post to "public" before sharing. After doing so, a pop-up explains that the post will be visible to everyone on the site. The post will go live once the user clicks "ok" on this pop-up box, acknowledging he has seen the warning and intends to share publicly. Currently, if a user shares a post publicly, the audience setting will remain on "public" for the user's next post. For teens, a second reminder message will pop up if they choose to post publicly the next time around.

What are some reasons why Facebook decided to make the sudden change? They have been around for nearly 10 years and have always had a large population of teenage users. If the organization had not deemed it as a safe practice in the past, what could have led to this decision? "While only a small fraction of teens using Facebook might choose to post publicly, this update now gives them the choice to share more broadly, just like on other social media services." This comment makes it clear that the organization is trying to keep up with competitors in order to keep their teenage population active on Facebook. What are parents' views on this? Would you feel comfortable having your teenager post publicly on the platform? What are some of the repercussions that can arise from this?