This week in Social

Happy Australia Day! While to some our national day is all about the Hottest 100, Big Day Out or riding inflatable oversized Havianas on our beaches, to the community managers of some of our major media outlets it’s a headache as the public takes to their social networks to share their opinions on sensitive topics. 9 News* and news.com.au both had to do some damage control on their Facebook pages as tensions flared.

Top news of the week

• The social media smackdown between Google, Twitter and Facebook has taken another turn with Don’t Be Evil, a tool developed by engineers from Facebook, Twitter and Myspace (remember them?) that reduces the importance of G+ results.
• Google+ is finally allowing pseudonyms and nicknames in a 180 degree turn from their original and controversial “real-name only” policy. Read what Stilgherrian had to say about his experience in August last year [warning: C bombing imminent].
• US politicians have decided to postpone further action on the online piracy bills SOPA and PIPA in reaction to online protests. In the words of Jeff Jarvis, we are the lobbyists now.
• Obama is answering questions on a Google+ Hangout on Jan 30th. He also recently joined Tumblr and Instagram but appears to have no plans to release a collection of cover songs on Spotify.
• Monday was Community Manager Appreciation Day (#CMAD). Yay for social (media) workers.
• Claims Anonymous were planning to take down Facebook on Jan 28 have been announced as fake. This follows recent hacks to CBS and Universal Music websites, the websites of the U.S. Justice Department, the U.S. Copyright Office, Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). The hacks were in response to the raid on Megaupload, the $42m earner for Kim Dotcom.

New stuff of the week

Bupa’s FoodSwitch app seems to have hit the sweet spot, reaching #1 in the app store, but more importantly appearing to make an impact outside of the tech blogs and marketing rags to real WOM testimonials. A must have for the “label readers” (you know who you are!) the app is perfectly timed to feed the New Year resolution craze, provides a service that is useful and beautifully simple, and has a thinly veiled education piece weaved through it. The only downside is that some people have had trouble finding products meaning there’s a possibility they will lose users before the database is more comprehensive.

Infographic of the week

Social login and social plugins increase page views- see how.

Random stuff of the week

Mini has impressed yet again with Fan the Flame- a campaign to drive “likes” of their Facebook page in Belgium and Luxembourg. Mini installed a live streaming social installation at the Brussels Motor Show where a Mini Countryman was held on a 15% slope by a thick rope. Underneath the rope was a Bunsen burner that was ignited for a second with each “like”. The person who’s “like” finally broke the Mini free got to keep the car. Watch the video here.

Windows Phone challenged techies at CES earlier this month with the #smokedbywindowsphone challenge. Basically, PC Guy went around challenging people to see whose smartphone could complete tasks faster- tasks such as uploading a photo to twitter- and Windows Phone won 88% of the time. The loser had to give the winner $100. Major ouch for iPhone. Watch the video to see PC Guy in action.

Social clusterf#ck of the week

Once again, we are shown that Twitter is an advertising platform that companies have yet to achieve control over. In a campaign that strongly echoes of #Qantasluxury, McDonald’s have stuck their foot in it this time with the #McDStories campaign. Maccas put a callout for people to share their experiences, but it soon turned into a #McFail when people started tweeting McDonald’s horror stories. Here are some highlights:

#McDStories Working drive-thru shift as a teenager. Arch Deluxe fell off the conveyor belt onto the floor. Re-wrapped it and sent it out.

— Curtis Townson (@ctownson) January 24, 2012

3 times I have purchased the Benedict Bagel, 3 times I have had egg shells right through. #mcfail #mcdstories

— Kimberley Hopkins (@Kim__dracula) January 24, 2012

While the hashtag generated some not so positive commentary, McDonald’s have said that the negativity accounted for merely 2% of the day’s mentions, potentially thanks to the quick thinking of the team that swapped the hashtag to #MeettheFarmers.

*HT Mike Watkins

Photo credits: Regretsy; Engadget

Thanks to social superstar Madi Arnold for contributions.

~ by mandi bateson on January 27, 2012.