Social Media NZ

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"You're holding it wrong" - That's what Steve said.

Following on from videos showing signal drops when holding the iPhone 4's bottom left corner - Steve Jobs last week responded to an annoyed user with these words of wisdom: "avoid holding it that way". Now another email exchange has emerged, where Jobs insults the sender for "getting all worked up over a few days of rumors".

Apple PR, take Steve Jobs' email privileges away from him. It was kind of cool in the beginning being able to get replies from the CEO of such an important company just by emailing him, but now he just seems like an old man trying to keep kids of his damn lawn.  His responses may be pithy and to the point, but they are arrogant and make light of serious questions from people who are forking over considerable amounts of money for his products.

Apple has released a statement, promising to fix the reception issues through a software patch update for iOS4. Considering extensive research conducted by AnandTech into the reception problem shows the problem is a physical one, how exactly will Apple solve this problem? By adjusting the reception bar display programming, so it doesn't display such drops in signal. While this might sound like something straight out of The Onion, this is an actual Apple solution. Do they honestly think their customers are so stupid that they will forget the issue just because they can't see it?

Apple PR have tried to claim the most recent email exchanges were not actually from Steve Jobs, but an updated Boy Genius Report article shows photographic evidence, along with email data trails, that the emails did in fact, come from Steve Job.

Facebook, the Movie: This time it's Personal

The first trailer came out this week for The Social Network, a movie based on a book, based on the real life exploits of Mark Zuckerburg during the first few years of Facebook.

Now the overly-dramatic trailer music aside, this movie has some heavy hitters behind it. It stars Jesse Eisenberg (Zombieland), is written by Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing), and is directed by David Fincher (Se7en , Zodiac, Fight Club). Also it's just been revealed that Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails fame, will be doing the score for the movie.

“It’s really f***ing good. And dark!,” said Reznor, and seriously he is probably an expert on all things dark.

10,000,000 fans gaga for Gaga

Lady Gaga, popstar and curiosity extrodinaire, has just hit 10 million fan milestone on her Facebook page. While this is a huge number, and gives her some massive social clout - does the number of fans an individual or organization have translate into actual success? Check out Courtney Sit's article for more.

Air New Zealand embraces location-based rewards

Air New Zealand have been leading New Zealand's large companies in embracing social media to engage with customers. First with the popular AirPointsFairy on Twitter handing out airpoints to customers and garnering positive brand mentions on the internet, and now with Foursquare rewards. Check out Saquib Ahmed's article for more.

Clip of the Week

We will leave you with the Clip of the Week. This week's clip is from the latest episode of Futurama, in its brand spanking new season on Comedy Central. Keep an eye out for mentions of a popular, cult device that you may have encountered in this millennium.

Social Media NZ

Saquib Ahmed @Simantics

My Website: Saquib.me

Email: Saquib@socialmedianz.com

Whether you love or hate it when somebody tags a photo of you on Facebook, it is hard to deny the fact that it is one of the key features, which make Facebook what it is. Almost everybody with a Facebook account has uploaded at least one photo with over 100 million uploaded every day! But if you are a camera or photo-addict and love to upload photos on to Facebook to show the rest of the world what you have been doing, you will know the amount of time that tagging people in photos can take (especially for the big albums), that clicking could give you repetitive strain injury (RSI).

Well there maybe a solution, Facebook has been testing its new "Face-Recognition" Feature, which consists of introducing a system which will detect if there is a face in the photo - thus eliminating the need to click it and leaving just the need to answer the question "Who is this?". This new feature comes after Facebook acquired DivvyShot one of the many photo-sharing sites. If there's a positive outcome in the results - Facebook has plans to roll it out as a general feature.

Currently only in detection mode, there's a chance that it will eventually become full recognition, allowing people to just confirm whether the people are actually in the photo. There's the a chance that it will get it completely wrong, especially if there is only partial shots of the person's face or if you have friends which look quite similar. And it may also spark another debate on Facebook privacy for example, how this information will be stored and if it is on an on account-to-account basis, as well as protection overall.

Regardless, it may be the thing which will revolutionise Facebook tagging - currently they are working on just making the application more stable for general use like browsing, uploading and standard tagging. And it might not be 'new' but it will probably make the Facebook experience better overall.

Will this new feature be a help to you? Let us know.

Social Media NZ

Courtney @CourtneySit

Any Questions ? Email me at: courtneysit@socialmedianz.com

This week, Lady Gaga topped yet another chart - only this time it was a chart of the social networking elite by becoming the first living person to get 10 million fans (likers) on one site - Facebook. "Famecount" a UK-based popularity measurement site collects data on various sites including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Lady Gaga already takes the lead on Twitter and YouTube, and last week overtook US President Barack Obama on Facebook - also making her the first most popular musician online. Although she maybe the top as a living person, the late Michael Jackson is the top as a person with 14 million, but the overall winner the game "Texas Hold'em" style Poker tipping the scale at over 20 million.

Although the number of fans or likers on Facebook isn't a real indicator of how popular something is - it is pretty undeniable that with a fan count of over a million that in this instance, the person/band/brand/company is really that popular. However, it is not just the number that counts but what it represents that is how the people who claim to be fans express their love or discuss it online. Thinking back to when groups and pages were created, people would "become a fan" or "like" something and then not think about visiting the page ever again - or maybe that was just me, eventually I got sick of receiving various notifications and messages about the things I was apparently fans of, that I chose to do some spring cleaning making me realise that maybe I wasn't such a big fan after all.

And what does this mean for other brands/companies/bands/people? International status would definitely get your fans of over a million, but for the locals the same rules may not apply. For the amount of fans on pages, the rule of "quality over quantity" is always applicable - just like followers on Twitter. It is not about how many you have but the type of follower/fan that are present and more importantly, the conversations that you are having with people or what they are saying about you (positive or negative). With pages on Facebook there's always a risk of becoming a broadcaster, the lack of a two-way conversation is a easy pattern to fall into - however in the case for the more popular things on Facebook, they can get away with being a broadcaster because there are enough people who want to know as much as they can or want to comment and to "like" things.

If based in New Zealand - depending on what you are trying to promote having a few hundred (or thousand) fans or followers is pretty good, especially if they're only from New Zealand after all we are a country of just over 4 million, and you have to be realistic about the amount. Italian Gelato company Giapo has currently just under 9,000 fans on Facebook - but unlike other brands, there are a few followers/fans overseas as friends from New Zealand have told them about it.Used in the right way, there are ways of really get people to interact online more thus creating more two-way conversations - the keystone in Social Media.

Do you agree or disagree? What do you think? Let me know.

Social Media NZ

Courtney @CourtneySit

Any Questions ? Email me at: courtneysit@socialmedianz.com

Every day thousands of us receive newspapers delivered directly to our doors, but how often do we feel that the news we receive is relevant to us as individuals? With millions of sources of news only a mere click away, more and more news consumers are moving towards digital media, further inching traditional news mediums such as newspapers out of relevance. 

Two days ago Google took customization to the next level, by offering web surfers the freedom to choose their own custom-tailored news in their news feed. Readers will now be able to choose the types and sources of the news articles they wish to receive in the Google News section. They have also added local news highlights, local weather, and social sharing functions which let users hare the news which they feel most relevant to them with their friends and connections. 

Integrating social media further, Google are introducing a Spotlight feature. The Spotlight section of their news feed will use Google's Caffeine social algorithms, to highlight the news items which are most being talked about in real time throughout the web. This integration seems to be a late feature coming from the usually leading edge Google, seeing as search competitor Bing already provide a similar feature using Bing Social. 

It seems Google has realized that its users crave relevancy, and that custom tailored real-time user experiences is where the digital space is quickly heading towards. This trend is already being exhibited in other mediums. The American TV and movie streaming service Hulu introduced in May of this year relevant ads, which show ads targeted towards user profile information. YouTube is also experimenting with a similar feature where pre-video ads can be skipped by users, forcing advertisers to create more relevant ads to appeal to the viewers.

An interesting thought comes to mind while writing this article. If Google took all the information about us that we readily provide it, and offered a customized physical newspaper as a paid feature - it could very well become the most successful newspaper in the world. Readers would have relevant news, which they can hold physically - while advertisers will have specific individuals to cater towards, instead of estimated demographics.

Do you think Google is strangling traditional newspapers? Can digital and physical mediums co-exist? What do you think is in the future of the newspaper industry? And would you buy a Google Herald? We would love your thoughts and comments.

Post edited by Saquib Ahmed

Social Media NZ

John Lai @Whoisjohnlai  

For about half the world which is at least a day behind us here in New Zealand, today is June 30th. Yesterday, as we now know it might have been significant for any number of reasons but for the tech savvy social media loving people, June 30th marked the first Official Social Media Day. The initiative to create an Official Social Media Day was started by Mashable, after many realised that there was no official day which recognises Social Media and its impact it has had on our lives. So what does one do to celebrate Social Media Day? Mashable stated there was no boundaries to how people chose to celebrate it, ranging from the formal to informal approaches even some which didn't seem to be related to Social Media at all for example a sports tournament. What Mashable did want, was people to register their event on their Meet-Up-Everywhere page, RSVP on Facebook and upload photos from the event they attended.

As a pretty social media savvy person, I found it interesting that I had no idea about this day or the initiative to make it official. Nonetheless, I support it because I have experienced first hand the effects that Social Media has had on my life in the past year alone - let's face it, I wouldn't be writing this right now if it wasn't for it. However, for a country like New Zealand which in comparison to the rest of the world has a pretty low Social Media profile, the concept of a day to commemorate or celebrate Social Media seems pretty unlikely. Social Media in New Zealand has only really taken off properly in the last year, however despite the sudden surge towards it and insistent to jump the bandwagon or boat there are still many who don't really understand it. And businesses who are starting to learn about it and accepting it, still are struggling to use it to the level which international companies are at. There is still an element of uncertainty about it Social Media (despite being quite black and white to those who immerse themselves in it on a daily basis) for most of New Zealand. Although most of New Zealand may have a Facebook for personal reasons but it is not used or understood from a Social Media perspective which would be considered the norm.

In New Zealand, it seems like for most of the time, we're playing 'catch-up' with the rest of the world. We always seem to be the last country to get everything, from movies and television shows to technology - it doesn't mean we don't know about it like the rest of the world (for those who seek after it) we're just usually the last to experience it first-hand. Social Media isn't really any different, it's just that New Zealand has alot of catching up to do with the rest of the world. That means that what may be on is the trends which have been set worldwide, will only impact here later on - Social Media isn't as trendy here as it is overseas, this really affects how people perceive and accept it as a concept. It has been proven that it isn't just a passing fad, but what else does it mean? It is pretty unlikely that even next year that Social Media Day will be celebrated here next year by the majority.

Never fear though, the team here at Social Media NZ will mark June 30 as Official Social Media Day to celebrate and commemorate. And you're more than welcome to join us!

Social Media NZ

Courtney @CourtneySit

Any Questions ? Email me at: courtneysit@socialmedianz.com

Air New Zealand have just embraced the latest trend in social media: location based services. They are now offering rewards to their frequent flyers through the popular social network Foursquare.

Customers will now be able to use the Foursquare applications on their mobile devices to check in to participating Air New Zealand terminals and lounges, and collect awards for their visits. As with all other Foursquare locations, the most frequent visitor in 60 days is considered its 'Mayor' and is often eligble for special offers. In this case, the Mayors are rewarded with a Koru Lounge pass, or if they are already a Koru, Gold, or Gold Elite member; they instead receive 100 Airpoints Dollars.

This will likely become a very popular service among business travellers, who will want to convert their many hours spent waiting in airport lounges into cold hard Airpoints Dollars. More widespread use will come as more specials are offered targeting casual and infrequent travellers.

Foursquare, and other location based services such as GoWalla and BrightKite, are useful tools for both small and large business owners. They give businesses a novel way to reward repeat customers, while at the same time encourage repeat visits through the competitive game elements of Foursquare's badge and points system.

Also, when a user checks in to a location-based service, they broadcast their location to all their friends in any social network that they might also be connected to. This advertises the business through a social context which, according to a recent Nielsen study, doubles brand recall.

Air New Zealand is currently the largest company in New Zealand offering specials through Foursquare, but as it and the concept of location-based services gain more traction in New Zealand, expect to see more and more businesses embrace location-based reward services.

Social Media NZ

Saquib 'Sim' Ahmed @Simantics

More about Sim : www.Saquib.me | Email: contact@saquib.me

I am passionate about social media. I love people. I love meeting new people. I love stories. I love conversation. I have had the wonderful fortune recently to meet some incredible people, and I want to share that with you through a series of video interviews so you have the benefit of “meeting” these people too.

I recently landed in Las Vegas from Hong Kong and was eager to check into Foursquare to allow the adventure to begin. Upon arrival two exciting figures popped up on the grid: @CHRISVOSS and @matthewray. I knew both of them via Twitter, but had no idea that I would expect to see them in Vegas.

Mathew and I had a special connection because we both worked on Twestival together. He ran the Rochester event while I ran the Hong Kong event on the other side of the world. Bonded through Twitter, and social media for social good, we randomly happen to be in Vegas at the same time, Foursquare alerting us of the fact, Twitter putting us in touch. I cannot think of a better (or cooler) example of social media magic in action at its finest. When Matt and I met he told me he was going to the 140 Character Conference in New York on April 20-21. I had to go. I rerouted my ticket to Asia via New York and voila! See you all in NYC! My video with Matt will be aired on the NY leg of the trip – so stay tuned.

I am deeply honored that my good friend, (and yes, you can make good friends online) @ImadNaffa flew in from California to have dinner with me. If you don’t know this man, reach out and say hello. He is one of the most authentic, engaging, intellectually curious individuals I have met on Twitter. Besides being a man with a huge heart and a kind soul, he is also a pioneer in the social media space in the Engineering industry. You may remember his touching blog post about The Peanut Man in Jordan who passed away that was graciously retweeted by @QueenRania. If not, it is a blog to remember, check it out. I unfortunately did not video our tweetup. Next time!

Finally, and last but not least, I had the pleasure of meeting with Chris Voss. Chris and I have chatted on Twitter, however not as extensively as Imad and I have. I was really impressed with how approachable Chris was and how open he was to getting together. Chris blogs on a lot of different topics and has extensive opinions on social media so I was looking forward to the opportunity to asking him some questions.

Some highlights this video covers:

• Question regarding a blog post where he discusses Twitter turning down gaming partnerships & are gaming platforms the future of social media
• Thoughts on Twitter’s acquisition of Tweetie
• The end of the Video also includes an interview with @NickTako who I met via Chris when I did the interview.

Social Media NZ

Perri Gorman @bethebutterfly and BeTheButterfly.Wordpress.Com

A few weeks ago iTunes 9.2 recently came out to mark the release of iOS4 and prepare itself for the updates all over the world. Although I love my iPod Touch, I don't like iTunes - not one bit, in fact I believe it is so user-unfriendly it makes me cringe at times. My decision to post on this issue has been sparked from my recent frustration over attempting to use it when to sync it and back up my iPod, so I could update to iOS4 if I wanted to, in the end I spent the better half of two days getting angry, uninstalling, reinstalling, removing all traces and then reinstalling again, only to get 4 different error messages and no good results, which just annoyed me more. Ironically, it almost seemed like a blessing in disguise with some iPod Touch users not enjoying iOS4 as much as 'expected'.

If it wasn't for my iPod Touch, I would probably boycott iTunes altogether. That might sound pretty extreme but my experiences with iTunes have been rarely positive, it has caused me more grief than anything else, and it made me think about a few things. Now before I continue, I will admit that I am a Windows user - so people who read this and are Apple fanatics might disagree with me on several levels. And to my defence I will say this, I love Apple - their paid product's work (yes I said paid) but iTunes doesn't, even on a Mac, I just don't like it. Since most of my experiences are from Windows, I can only really talk about it this way - its not completely biased as I am sure most problems come from Windows users. You could debate that it is an Apple product and therefore, is meant to be used on an Apple device - and that might be so, but realistically if they had to make a compatible product, it should really well just that, compatible.

What I find really interesting with my like for Apple products is this: the Apple products that cost (for some people almost an arm and a leg) works well, they're as amazing as they claim, they do almost everything. And then there's iTunes - its free and oddly enough for an Apple product not so great, it seems that only the good stuff is put into the things which they're willing to charge consumers for. Sure when iTunes first came out, Apple only had one product, which used it and so it could be pretty average, after all there weren't alot of consumers to complain about it. 9 years since iPod's first release (back in 2001) there has also been 9 different versions of iTunes, back then there was only one type of iPod to now several generations and currently 6 different products, which use it. Yes, I will admit there have been some improvements - but as a fairly late adopter of iTunes I haven't really seen anything really amazing, which have made me go 'wow'.

Isn't it ironic that a program like iTunes which is required to run several products be so averaged ? Is it that to make it a little more user-friendly? You would think that with the increased use of iTunes would mean a need to improve, but it doesn't seem to be the case. And why is it when you update iTunes, it is like downloading a completely new program (possibly only applicable Windows users) - it almost gets my hopes up thinking, it going to be 'new' and then it looks exactly the same as before, it just took an hour to download and install. It also happens to be one of the programs which also asks to install the most amount of 'optional' applications like Safari and MobileMe possible - let me not forget the fact that it requires Quicktime to run apparently for the video codecs that I never use outside of iTunes.

If I know one thing is that, if it wasn't for my iPod Touch I probably wouldn't be using it - not, unless it was the only media program out there.

Do you love or hate iTunes? Why or why not? I'd like to know.

Social Media NZ

Courtney @CourtneySit

Any Questions ? Email me at: courtneysit@socialmedianz.com

In the last couple of days the buzz on the interweb has been around iPhone 4's antenna problem.

Rather than being a software glitch or a few rogue faulty devices it seems the structure of the iPhone 4 itself may well be the problem.

Technology expert Jamie Nelson from Get IT Here, explained the dropped reception is probably caused by the iPhone 4's external antenna. The iPhones 2G, 3G and 3GS were protected by outer casings.

"When your skin makes contact with the iPhone 4, your body's conductivity causes interference with the metal. As your skin touches it becomes part of the antenna"

Check out these Youtube videos, Blog sites and CNN, showing the bad body antenna in action.

In field trials, the new iPhone 4 was hidden in a 3GS case - as we remember from the "Lost iPhone 4 at a bar" incident. Arguably, if the iPhone 4 was only ever tested under these conditions, Apple HQ may well have never experienced the dropped reception themselves. 

Correct me if I am wrong here, but an external antenna band although boosting your call, can't really avoid making contact with your skin. 

When there is problem, a solution is always quickly followed.  Unsuprisingly, Apple's solution was to hold the phone differently, or of course, fork out some cash for a case.

They've also reports of a software update that will resolve this problem, but I still think it can only do so much in preventing this fundamental hardware  design error permanently.

It still seems weird that the geniuses at Apple HQ overlook this. I wonder whether this is a sneaky tactic to keep us coming back for the next product - the iPhone 4 Bumper. 

Here is a video showing how if you isolate with something, a case in this situation the reception is back to normal.

Social Media NZ

John Lai @Whoisjohnlai