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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 steps out. »
Fresh from winning a #FishyFilmNames competition on twitter care of the good people @HotTuna1969 (check out their new website) we tottered onto the red carpet in our new Almodovar-inspired shoes.
They're slip-ons.
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What's next for Twitter? »
In the first post in a new series of blogposts (about the future of social media, its impact on business and the potential for innovation), we take a look at Twitter's revenue model.
In just a few short years, social media has changed the way we interact with each other – as consumers, as businesses and as individuals. But there's more to come. We've been covering areas of social interest for a while now here on the Hoop blog, but have yet to discuss where we think the potential for innovation lies.
So we've picked a few of the areas where we think there is room for further innovation...
Twitter needs to start generating (more) revenue
Twitter recently announced they had hit 100m users, who send roughly 5bn tweets every month. To date, the company is valued at $8.4bn after recently closing a funding round that generated $800m. Which is all good and well on the one hand, but not so great when you consider the company doesn't yet have a definitive strategy for monetisation.
Luckily, they have a few options. Twitter currently licenses the 'firehose' – which allow tweets to be searchable in real time – to search engines such as Microsoft's Bing. Twitter did have the sameagreement with Google but it recently fell through. But the firehose surely can't generate enough to cover Twitter's current valuation? So the company needs to also be looking at other revenue generating models.
Arguably the next biggest option would be the potential revenue generated from advertising, be that promoted tweets or trending topics etc. When the model was launched last year, many were happy – as long as the advertising was targeted. Which it was; initially promoted or paid-for tweets were only seen in Twitter search from accounts the user followed. Users seem to like promoted content; with a recent survey showing that around 20% of surveyed users have either used a discount from a promoted tweet or discovered a new brand from one.
Promoted content you didn't ask for
But, at the end of last month, Twitter announced it was rolling out promoted tweets from accounts users don't follow. We were a little uncertain at first – how would this work? How would it be targeted? But then Twitter released a bit more information. These promoted tweets would occur in a user's stream if they followed an account that was subject to these ads. Or, according to All Things D;
In discussions with ad buyers, Twitter is describing the concept, which will roll out to a small subset of users by the end of September, as "Promoted Tweets to users like your followers".
This is a process employed on Facebook when you 'like' a brand's page; you're then subject to advertising from brands that Facebook deems to be similar to the one you've just become a fan of.
So, to justify Twitter's currently large valuation (which will only increase), we reckon we'll be seeing a significant increase in advertising on the social network. Will users cope being subjected from adverts from brands they're not following? If users start leaving the network, what other options will Twitter have to generate revenue instead?
Are there other options?
We'd love to see the site say no to an ad-based model and do something a little different.
Why not use the 5bn tweets a month – a veritable treasure chest of content – as a research tool and turn Twitter into something like a crowdsourced information platform? Or aggregate users and the content they generate into interest groups and sell access to them to advertisers/brands?
Change is coming to the twittersphere, change that will mark a new chapter in the company's history. The outcome is far from certain.
Do you think Twitter will change for better or worse once they finish rolling out the promoted content? Have you got any suggestions or points we may have missed in our discussion about Twitter's future? Feel free to leave us a comment below, via email or of course on Twitter.
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5 top finds - number 20! »
Today marks the 20th 5 top finds! We've gone all out for this week's, with the latest patent battle between Apple and Samsung, the famous Google doodle, a lovely animation from Chipotle, some daredevilry and an illuminating infographic.
1. Auf Wiedersehen Samsung Galaxy Tab
There's been an ongoing patent feud between Samsung and Apple. Apple say Samsung ripped off the iPad design for the Samsung Galaxy Tab and, of course, Samsung disagree. Today, a German court decided Apple were right and banned all future sales of the Samsung tablet in Germany. Poor Samsung. Apple also has an ongoing legal battle with Samsung in Japan. We'll wait and see what happens there. In the meantime, TechCrunch has the details.
2. Why does Google doodle?
We've often wondered this. The commemorative Freddie Mercury HTML5 video was one of our recent favourites (speak for yourself Wil, Russ) – but it appears they're more than just topical sketches. Creative Review has the (interesting) lowdown.
3. Back to the start
We came across this delightful video from Chipotle and filmaker Johnny Kelly earlier this week. It's not often we are genuinely blown away by finds on the internetz, but this one did just that. A heartwarming story of sustainability (with Willie Nelson providing the soundtrack with a Coldplay cover) in under two and a half minutes – truly wonderful!
4. Grinding the crack
Whilst we're on the theme of being blown away by videos on YouTube, here's another. Over two million views in two weeks and understandably so. We've never been so terrified and exhilarated in equal measures watching a YouTube upload!
5. Content is king
We recently had a chat in the office about marketing and how content travels via different channels. Then we spotted Eloqua's new infographic with JESS3, 'The Content Grid v2'. Well worth a look.
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Fish on Friday welcomes MCZ. »
Marine conservation zones (MCZ) were proposed for the sea around England and Wales this week, find out where they are on the Guardian's interactive map.
The zones are designed to protect coastal wildlife and sea habitats. According to the BBC, if all 100 zones were implemented around a quarter of English waters would be protected, only 1% are protected now.
So far we like the sound of it.
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Why you need to be thinking about NFC. »
Is near field communication the missing link in the evolution of mobile connectivity?
So you've decided you need to focus your efforts on mobile technology, and whether to develop a mobile (or 'native') and/ or a web app. That's fantastic! But what's the next step? We think we may have the answer...
Near field communication (NFC).
If you live in London or have travelled in the city using Transport for London's Oyster travelcard, you'll already be familiar with the contactless technology. In 2010, 80% of the capital's travel network was paid for using the Oyster card – just one example of where this connectivity is quickly becoming part of everyday life.
If you're not yet be aware of NFC, fear not. 140 of the world's biggest mobile technology companies (Sony, Microsoft, Samsung, Nokia, Motorola and many more) have joined forces to form the NFC Forum championing near field communication and its uses.
Click here to watch 'Nearness' on Vimeo
NFC enables a contactless data transaction (as illustrated in the above video from Berg) between two devices that are either touching or are within a few centimetres of each other. This transaction may be monetary (like a payment or a travel card – like the Oyster), data or may simply involve connecting two devices wirelessly.
However, NFC's potential is most exciting when combined with mobile devices – like a smartphone...
Barclaycard and Orange recently joined forces to bring 'Quick Tap', the UK's first commercial NFC service, to market. Quick Tap allows the user to purchase items under £15 using a smartphones with an embedded NFC chip.
Click here to watch 'Quick Tap' on YouTube
But they're not the only companies looking to capitalise on NFC's capabilities. In May, Google launched 'Google Wallet', their mobile payment system in association with Samsung (although that may change given Google's recent purchase of Motorola). In August of last year, Apple hired an NFC expert as their 'Mobile Commerce Product Manager' – suggesting future iterations of their iOS devices may be NFC-enabled. Nokia announced that all of the new smartphone models they release in 2011 will be capable of NFC back in June 2010.
The 'mobile wallet' seems to have captured the imaginations of most, but other applications of an NFC-enabled smartphone are mind-boggling; opening doors, finding your car, replacing your Bluetooth devices (NFC is significantly faster) and so on.
Leading analyst firm Juniper Research published a report way back in 2009, forecasting the impact mobile payments would have – the numbers make for some interesting reading. The predicted value of mobile payments (for both physical and digital goods, NFC transactions and money transfers) is estimated to reach almost $630 billion by 2014.
So the predicted value is there. The numbers are there. There are 140 companies working towards a world where we revolve around NFC. But, like QR codes, we're yet to see the technology fully make it to the mainstream. It won't be long.
The future's digital. The future's mobile. The future's NFC.
Do you think NFC is the future of mobile connectivity; or are we becoming a little too reliant on our smartphones? Have you got any suggestions or points we may have missed in our NFC discussion? Feel free to leave us a comment below or let us know via email or Twitter.
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Fish on Friday waves Jobs goodbye. »
Farewell then Steve Jobs big cheese of Apple Mackerel.
New depth plumbed, here's an unrelated fish pun.
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