In our blogosphere recap we examine four blog posts from last week that discussed the increase in QR codes in magazines, Black Friday tweets, Facebook shrinks six degrees of separation to four, and Google axes four more products. Below are some of the highlights from these articles:
- According to a survey of the top 100 magazines in the U.S. by circulation, the number of “mobile action codes” rose from 88 in January issues to 507 in September issues.
- To gauge where shoppers plan to spend their money on Black Friday more than 270,000 tweets were monitored between Sept. 26, 2011 and Nov. 17, 2011.
- Facebook reduces the six degrees of separation to only four, meaning the world’s largest social network had made the world even smaller.
- Google has decided to discontinue Wave, Knol, Search Timeline and Google Gears.
QR Mania: Mobile Codes in Magazines Rise 228%
Media Post | Steve Smith | 11-21-11
According to a survey of the top 100 magazines in the U.S. by circulation, the number of “mobile action codes” rose from 88 in January issues to 507 in September issues. The share of codes being leveraged for advertising purposes is rising sharply, even as editorial uses of the codes has remained relatively static this year. As any mobile code user will attest, this medium is still struggling to give the consumer a rewarding experience. Marketers apparently consider video the most important payoff, so 47% of the codes in Q3 led to a streaming media experience.
Key Takeaways:
- Magazines like Allure have discovered that sweepstakes entries and easy subscription opt-ins are among the most effective ways to engage users; they account for 34% of campaigns.
- Only 16% of codes are prompting people to buy something via their phones.
- Fewer than 12% of QR codes are offering coupons.
Who’s Tweeting about Black Friday? [INFOGRAPHIC]
Mashable | Christine Erickson | 11-22-11
Last year, according to the National Retail Federation, 212 million individuals spent an estimated $45 billion total on Black Friday. This year, social media has played a big role in Black Friday marketing, and buzz about when and where consumers are shopping is stronger than ever. Social media analysts at Mashwork monitored more than 270,000 tweets between Sept. 26, 2011 and Nov. 17, 2011 and found out where shoppers will be spending their money this upcoming Black Friday (whether it’s online or in line), and what products they’re going after. What’s interesting is that according to the study, more people will be buying for themselves during Black Friday this year than for others.
Key Takeaways:
- In 2010 212 million individuals spent an estimated $45 billion total on Black Friday.
- California, Texas, New York, Illinois and Florida are the most engaged states in Black Friday conversations on Twitter.
- 46% of people plan to buy for themselves, while 36% of people plan to buy for others and 18% people will buy for both.
Facebook Makes the World Smaller, Shrinks 6 Degrees of Separation to 4 [STUDY]
Mashable | Stan Schroeder | 11-22-11
A theory stemming from an experiment by social psychologist Stanley Milgram in the 1960s claims every living person is connected to any other through only six friends. According to a recent study, Facebook reduces the six degrees of separation to only four, meaning the world’s largest social network makes the world even smaller (figuratively). Facebook’s research shows that if you limit the analysis to a single country, the “four degrees of separation” theory shrinks even further, with most pairs of people being only separated by 3 degrees.
Key Takeaways:
- 99.6% of all pairs of users are connected by paths with 5 degrees.
- 92% of all pairs of users are connected by only four degrees, with the average “distance” between users getting smaller over time.
- The average Facebook user has 190 Facebook friends.
Google to Wave, Knol, and Gears: Get off my lawn
VentureBeat | Meghan Kelly | 11-22-11
Google has decided to discontinue Wave, Knol, Search Timeline and Google Gears, along with a slew of other features in order to build up fewer products with more integrated features. These products did not take off for Google as originally anticipated, so the company is axing them, leaving room for more important projects such as Google+, which is starting to see deeper integrations with successful Google products such as YouTube.
Key Takeaways:
- Wave will be completely turned off on April 30th, but those who want to save their files can download PDFs of them.
- Google is now directing Timeline users to Google Trends for this sort of information.
- Google recently killed off Buzz, meaning more products may be on the chopping block in the future.
