Social Media Update – March 15, 2011

Good morning. Facebook is going deal crazy in the coming weeks. They’ve apparently noticed the buzz that all the social coupon sites have generated, and the market share they are quickly gaining. With the recent catastrophes in Japan we’re seeing a lot of communication on Twitter and other social sites that truly displays the severity of the situation. These social channels are often the only form of communication after land lines are wiped out, and the comments are raw, compelling and somewhat disturbing. Foursquare is making a play to become the host for all location based services with a new API that allows other companies to utilize their location data. The location based services are littered with misinformation and poor user generated data, and this is the first step in clearing them up. Retailers (us included) are really jumping into the world of social commerce. The article below gives some great examples of growth trends and the brands behind the campaigns. Enjoy.

I. Facebook to launch Groupon-inspired deals service in the “coming weeks”, thenextweb.com, March 14, 2011
II. Tweeting in Japan: The Good, the Bad, and the Panicked, adage.com, March 10, 2011
III. Foursquare Moves to Become the Rosetta Stone for All Location Data, fastcompany.com, March 15, 2011
IV. Top Of Mind For Retailers? Facebook, investors.com, March 10, 2011
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I. Facebook to launch Groupon-inspired deals service in the “coming weeks”, thenextweb.com, March 14, 2011
http://tnw.co/hLvKtw
Facebook is to unveil a new daily discount deals service, similar to Groupon, that will provide its 500 million members with the opportunity to purchase products or services at significantly reduced prices. Bloomberg reports that Facebook will initially offer deals in San Francisco, San Diego, Dallas, Atlanta, and Austin, Texas, working with local businesses to highlight deals to users in specific areas and allow them to share them with their friends.

II. Tweeting in Japan: The Good, the Bad, and the Panicked, adage.com, March 10, 2011
http://www.fastcompany.com/1738847/the-uses-of-twitter-in-a-crisis
As today brings further news of a potential nuclear disaster following the earthquake in Japan, Twitter has become an echo chamber for an understandable emotion: sheer panic. Some Reuters reporters in Asia spent time sifting through tweets and other messages from Japanese and Chinese Internet users, and came up with the following:

III. Foursquare Moves to Become the Rosetta Stone for All Location Data, fastcompany.com, March 15, 2011
http://www.fastcompany.com/1738897/foursquare-the-universal-keeper-of-venue-data-for-location-based-services
Could the expansion of Foursquare’s API allow it to become a universal look-up list for venue and location data for all location based services online?
In a blog posting late yesterday, Foursquare tried to summarize where it stands in its long-term vision, and set out its thoughts about “the foundation that underlies a lot of the location-based world.” The post pays particular attention to Foursquare’s API–the open code framework that lets other third-party apps access certain aspects of Foursquare’s system for their own purposes.

IV. Top Of Mind For Retailers? Facebook, investors.com, March 10, 2011
http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/565574/201103101730/Big-Retail-Trade-Show-Is-Friending-Facebook.aspx
Retailers have discovered social media in a big way, and they like what they see. The fast-growing role of Facebook in particular was a constant topic at the National Retail Federation’s Innovate 2011 conference in San Francisco this week. And while most retailers’ social media presence remains limited to Facebook fan pages and a steady flow of Twitter posts, several conference presenters made clear that the industry is only scratching the surface of social media’s potential.