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News, insight and tips from the social web.
The Hoop blog covers the evolving digital landscape, social media, mobile communications, content marketing and also includes 5 top finds and Fish on Friday. Feel free to make comments.
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Fish on Friday takes the long view. »
There was a time when legislators thought prohibition was a good idea.
This week saw EU legislators proposing to end the wasteful practice of discarding fish. Now it's up to governments to make it happen. Pincers crossed.
Categories: Fish on Fridays
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Why you need to be thinking about mobile. »
"The future of the web is digital... And the future of digital is mobile". So says the Business Development Manager for Mobile (EMEA) at Google – and we're inclined to agree with her.
It's hard to remember a time when it wasn't instantly possible to connect to the web (signal depending of course) straight out of you pocket. With the release of the original iPhone – arguably the first smartphone to be embraced by the general public – back in 2007, the number of mobile users has increased exponentially. The dramatic rise in smartphone owners has been accompanied by an even bigger increase in the consumption of mobile internet.
In 2009, roughly 8% of the internet's users were on a mobile device. Today, that number sits at around 23% – an increase of almost 300% in just two years. The jaw-dropping facts don't stop there; three weeks ago American cloud networking provider Meraki announced that in the 12 months between Q1-2 of 2010 and 2011, mobile device usage had jumped 26% to become the greatest consumer of wifi network data. Mobile devices currently account for over half (58%) of the devices accessing US wifi networks, with desktops lagging behind on a lowly 36%.
At the end of last year, market research firm IDC published findings showing that for the first time ever, the sales of mobile devices were projected to overtake and significantly exceed the sales of desktops (it's worth noting that, in 2010, the sales of smartphones increased by 87.2%, compared with 5.5% for PCs).
In another American study published this week, Pew Internet surveyed 2,277 American adults about smartphones. 35% of the adults surveyed owned a smartphone and of that 35%, 25% said they would rather access the web via their smartphone than their desktop. Yes, the study's sample size isn't huge so we can't draw too many certain conclusions, but that's a fairly good indication of where the market is heading.
According to Amanda Rosenberg, Google's Business Development Manager for Mobile, mobile device users aren't just surfing the web. They're shopping – a massive 28% of UK smartphone users have made a purchase on their device, gambling and going hyperlocal.
You can see Amanda's presentation on how Google are focusing on mobile here and here.
The evidence is pointing overwhelmingly at a move towards mobile over desktop when it comes to consumption of internet data. But as Ian Carrington, mobile advertising sales director at Google, recently wrote; "only 17% of UK businesses report having mobile optimised sites". There's a glaringly obvious lag between what internet users are doing and what businesses are doing to keep up.
You need to start thinking about mobile. Or you'll be left behind on dial up whilst your users speed off into the distance on fibre optic broadband.
If you have any thoughts on mobile, or anything else you've seen on the Hoop blog, let us know via email, Twitter or in the comments below.
Categories: Insight
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Fish on Friday doesn't know much about art... »
..but we know what we like.
A dab hand.
Categories: Fish on Fridays
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Fish on Friday goes forth. »
As we know fish are threatened on all fronts.
Including the western front, according to this piece of archive surrealism.
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5 top finds #14 »
It's that time again, where we compile a selection of our favourite findings from the web. This week we've got social media networks, a flash mob gone wrong, a contemporary artist impersonating 100 other artists in an exhibition, a brand new trailer for Harry Potter and finally some mad balloon art. It's 5 top finds...
1. Twitter vs. Facebook
It's been an interesting week for Facebook. The number of new sign-ups in the UK have dropped for the second month running - possibly a sign of things to come? We spotted this rather amusing article on Sabotage Times yesterday, on why 'celebrated potty-mouth' Jo Fuetes-Knight was swapping her Facebook account for Twitter. Well worth a read.
We also spotted an interesting graphic from Deana at Blonde at the Youth Marketing Strategy conference we attended yesterday (we'd thoroughly recommend booking a place next year if that's your cup of tea). You can see it on Twitpic but the premise was how to decide which platform to use for marketing purposes. Twitter users were primarily influencers and the service was for networking, whereas Facebook was for getting big numbers to interact with your content and its users were mainly consumers - an interesting distinction.
If you'd like to discuss social media marketing with us, why not get in touch?
2. The power of the internet: a flash mob gone wrong
We spotted this video from Tom Scott the other day. It's a remarkable (fictional) story of how the power of the internet can potentially cause massive problems. Definitely worth a watch -you can see the video on YouTube.
3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
We're huge fans of HP here at Hoop. So we were all extremely excited to see that the new trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II went live yesterday. It looks amazing! Watch it on YouTube here.
4. Shea Hembrey: How I became 100 artists
We love TED talks here at Hoop. As it happens, one of the most recent is our new favourite. How does this sound?
"How do you stage an international art show with work from 100 different artists? If you're Shea Hembrey, you invent all of the artists and artwork yourself".
Shea's TED talk is a perfect example of how far one artist is willing to push his creativity and talent. Thoroughly worth a watch! You can see Shea Hembrey's TED talk online here.
5. Balloon art (yes, you read that right)
Airigami (n: the fine art of folding air) apparently "stands at the crossroads of three ancient art forms: sculpture, puppetry and origami". So says artist Larry Moss, who creates art from balloons. Yes, balloons. Bizarre but rather cool! See more on the Airigami website.
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A very special Fish on Friday. »
Russ, proud father of FoF, has become a daddy in real life and might just be singing James Brown.
Congratulations Russ and Haf, we can't wait to meet baby Iona!
Categories: Fish on Fridays
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