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Archive for October, 2010
2510.10
Hash Tags are popping up on TV! Just see #bbcHIGNFY
Posted by Mike in Online Marketing, Social Media
Picture the scene… Hash Tags on TV!
So there I was, last night, sat relaxing watching TV when on came BBC’s Have I Got News For You. Great! Whilst watching the intro credits, as the camera pans into the studio, what should come up on the screen but #bbcHIGNFY.
Initially I read it and thought ‘What on earth does that say?’ and then it clicked, they were screening a Twitter Hash Tag! I immediately picked up my phone and sent the following Tweet;
Watching Have I Got News For You and noticed there was a HashTag at the beginning! How cool! #bbcHIGNFY.
Within a minute I had a reply from someone else that had used the Hash Tag. This got me thinking about how powerful Social Media, especially Twitter really is. By adding 10 characters at the beginning of a programme the BBC had created a dynamic and temporal forum for discussion and promotion of the programme!
What is a Hash Tag and why bother?
A Hash Tag (or #Tag) is most commonly used on Twitter, being included in tweets by prefixing words or phrases with the # symbol. Hash tagging allows users to group and organise topics in a easy to follow way. The upshot of this was that anyone tweeting or searching #bbcHIGNFY could instantly see all related tagged tweets, disuss the programme and share it amongst their friends.
There are now even dedicated websites available to follow HashTags, one of my favourites being Twitter Fall.
So what do Hash Tags mean for you?
Hash Tags are becoming much more popular. We can see that TV broadcasters such as the BBC are now including them at the beginning of programmes. If you want people to talk about your event, business or topic then creating a Hash Tag will help people come together and discuss the common topic.
Hash Tag Examples:
#bbcHIGNFY – BBC Comedy show Hash tag allowing people to discuss and share the show.
#sevendays – Channel 4’s weekly reality TV series where the general public can interact via Twitter.
#Likeminds – A Conference Event Tag allowing people to connect before during and after the event.
#bbcqt – Question Time took questions from this Hash Tag.
Useful sites:
http://trendsmap.com/ – View trends on twitter geographically.
http://www.paper.li/ – Curate your twitter happenings in a newspaper format.
http://twitterfall.com/ – See live information in an animated ‘waterfall’ of Tweets.
Post by: Mike Lemon
0110.10
Google’s New URL Shortening Service Goo.gl
Posted by Mike in News, Social Media
So what is Goo.gl all about?
Today we noticed Google’s new URL shortening service recently available to the public called goo.gl.
A URL shortening service allows you to create a shorter, easier to share version of your website’s address, ideal for social networks like Twitter where characters are limited.
It was originally launched to be used only by Google but has recently been released to the public and is now available as an extension to the Google Chrome browser.
When and why would you use Goo.gl?
Anyone can use Goo.gl and by signing into your Google account it allows you to track the statistics on your Goo.gl link through Google Analytics. This displays clicks and historical data based on the short URL’s that have been created. Knowing how many people have clicked your shortened links can help you track links you have put on Twitter and other Social Media platforms, therefore enabling you to gauge the success of your interactions on Social Media.
Goo.gl with QR Codes?
For people out there with mobile devices that have the ability to read QR codes, it also has the function for QR scanning. The odd looking box below shows you an example of how a QR code is represented. The additional information shows you how the analytical data is represented.
Goo.gl
What we think of this?
We think this is a cool new service although is unlikely to supersede established URL shortening services such as bit.ly and the others that are built into software such as Tweetdeck. Overall, this is a great looking service, very useful, top quality (as you would expect from Google) but has perhaps come a little late in the day.
What are your thoughts?
Have you tried Goo.gl? What are your thoughts and opinions? We look forward to hearing from you.