Tag: microblogging
What Makes an App Fly or Die
When ever I see an Install button a voice inside my head says Muust inssstaaall. Since it's a nagging voice I usually do what it says.
However, when the app is installed it has a quite short time span to impress me. I'd say it has less than five minutes before I make the decision whether this particular app is hot or not.
Last night I downloaded the Twitter app Seesmic Desktop after it received a good review by Mashable. I took it for a spin but when I got to user group management I went no further. I have been using TweetDeck for some time now and have arranged the people I follow in groups for a perfect Twitter experience.
Since I need an easy way to arrange my user groups, and Seesmic Desktop couldn't offer that, I closed down the app and I don't know when I'll open it back up again.
I might be wrong – there could be an easy way to handle users in SD (but if so it is too hard to find) – the point is that apps need to be aware of what their users are after to be impressed. And they need to display it loud and clear.
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Using Twitter for Customer Support
Photo: Yo no me llamo Javier
Mashable posted a good piece about how to use Twitter for customer support. The most important learnings according to me are:
- Customer support is powerful and cost efficient
- Track your brand and products
- Respond quickly and transparent
- Be personal and authentic
I felt urged to comment adding two steps to the six Mashable steps. Below is my comment.
We are conducting a Twitter+blog+forum customer support project right now for a global client, and I'd say all of the above applies to our learnings.
I would like to add two steps though:
Step 7. Don't be afraid
Lots of companies fear new channels and personal conversations (you know "losing the control of the message") making them hesitate with e.g. Twitter. Don't! Rather than staying away due to fear, you should dare making mistakes - as long as you are transparent and authentic it will be received positively.
Step 8. Be ready to adapt
Your experiences on Twitter or any other channel including personal conversations will give you new learnings. Make sure you listen to these and pass these on within the organisation. This will develop your company in many ways.
What do you say – are there steps 9 and 10?
My no 1 web wish for 2009: one microblog platform to rule them all
Photo: R▲▲S
Predicting the future is popular around the web, which is why I won't try it myself. Instead I will write about what I'm hoping for regarding communications and technology on the web during 2009. Yes, that's right - no trends, only what I'm wishing for.
Wish nr 1: One micro-blog platform to rule them all
At the moment I use two micro-blog platforms - Twitter and Jaiku. For Swedes, Jaiku has been used to communicate in Swedish while Twitter has been for English, but keeping up with both is hard and simply unproductive. For 2009 I'm wishing for one of these platforms displaying the following functions or services:
- Desktop app
- Comments
- Feeds syndication
According to HubSpot, Twitter grew 600% in the last 12 months with 5-10,000 new account registrations every day. I haven't seen any growth numbers for Google-owned Jaiku, but my guess is they are far from those of Twitter. This is a shame, since Jaiku is a much better platform with both comments and RSS feed syndication built in (Jeremiah Owyang mentions Twitter's problems when describing why he's on a Twitter hiatus).
But while Jaiku has the functions, Twitter has the users. And hosting the party with the most visitors is of course all that matters – people want to be there. For example, in the last couple of months, parts of the Swedish micro-blogosphere has left Jaiku for Twitter. Twitter also has the third party tools, such as the desktop app TweetDeck, and statistics/information services, such as Twittercounter, Twitter Search and Twubble.
In conclusion: Twitter is wiping the floor with Jaiku, simply because Google is letting them. Open source alternative, Identi.ca, has pros such as scalability and openness, but right now their chances of beating Twitter look slim.
Slim are also my chances of being able to use one micro-blogging service with all the above mentioned functions. But it is my first wish for 2009. Stay tuned for number two and three!