Author Archives: Devi

Impact of Social Media on Chennai Floods

In the first week of December 2015, Chennai, India’s fourth largest city with a metro area the size of Chicago, was paralyzed. Flooding from record rainfall, the heaviest in more than a hundred years, has cut off more than 3 million people from basic services for days.However this has taken a different turn on Social Media. Social media has created a significant impact on Chennai floods by clubbing in people from around the world in providing relief for the flood victims. Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Whats App have played a crucial role in spreading message to help marooned citizens in flood ravaged Chennai, with many offering voluntary services and establishing contact with loved ones through these medium. Though several areas were inundated in last week’s heavy rains, people still managed to post messages seeking help or sharing information about those ready to offer help.

chennai-rain-final_story_647_120315081804

Facebook and Twitter hashtags have made a huge contribution on bringing in the attention to many during Chennai floods. Facebook has also started its Safety Status update which provides an alert for Facebook users by marking their status as safe. After Google and Facebook offered to help citizens of Chennai affected heavily by rains, Skype has also joined the list. Chennai locals have already started using Twitter not just to tweet images and updates of the floods, but also to organize and coordinate rescue and relief efforts.

Rain in Chennai Hashtags such as #ChennaiRainsHelp, #ChennaiRescue and #ChennaiMicro are being used by stranded people to ask for  help, as well as help the volunteers to offer food, shelter and transport. Twitter handles such as @ChennaiRains are also sending live updates. Google India also activated its Crisis Response page, which compiles resources for emergency helpline numbers, crowd sourced maps, flooded streets and relief centers. A crowd sourced Google spreadsheet started by Chennai residents  has become one of the most popular platforms for relief efforts. It has a list of shelters and other helping aid being offered by volunteers.

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Its overwhelming to watch youngsters utilize the Social Media in such a productive way. Social Media providing a great platform for uniting people from every corner of the world and allowing every single person to be a participant for varied causes. This reflects the utmost potential for our future generations, pushing it to a level were even the current political existence can be challenged and upturned.

Video Me Out Live! – Facebook

Judging by the trend, social media has rocketed to a level where we can share seconds of our life with our loved one at the other part of the world. “The recent test run by Facebook , which lead’s user to have live video streaming” is a classic example.

New Features Added To Facebook

Facebook last week launched a beta version of its Live Video service for a small percentage of iPhone users in the United States. Live Video reportedly will be available for the Android platform at a later date.

Facebook press release stated that it is a pilot project to make it easier to share videos from mobile devices. The lessons learned from that will help Facebook decide which new items to share in the future.

For the selected few, you can bring the photos and videos you share on Facebook to life with live video and collages, to help friends and family feel like they’re in the moment with you.

Live video step

Dec 03, Facebook marked the beginning to test the ability for people to share live video on Facebook, starting with a small percentage of people in the US on iPhone’s. Live lets you show the people you care about what you’re seeing in real time — whether you’re visiting a new place, cooking your favorite recipe, or just want to share some thoughts. No matter where you are, Live lets you bring your friends and family right next to you to experience what’s happening together.

Wants to share your first video? Follow this.
How it is done

To share live video, tap on Update Status and then select the Live Video icon. You can write a quick description and choose the audience that you want to share with before going live. During your broadcast, you’ll see the number of live viewers, the names of friends who are tuning in, and a real-time stream of comments. When you end your broadcast, it will be saved on your Timeline like any other video, which you can then delete or keep for your friends to watch later.

Live Video could appeal to independent broadcasters looking to add a stronger social element to their videos, and companies seeking to add a new twist to their social marketing campaigns

Also headed to their app is a handy new Collage feature. Because chances are you want to share more than just 1 photo of an event or outing, going through your “Camera Roll” and picking them out 1-by-1 can be tedious. With Collage, Facebook organizes recent photos and videos from your gallery based on where they were shot.

Twitter Moving t.co to HTTPS Only for New Links

Twitter Https

Twitter is now moving t.co to HTTPS only for new links from October 1, 2015 onwards. The HTTPS scheme helps Twitter securely transfer readers to the intended landing page.

One of the team members from the Twitter development team published a thread on the Twitter Community forum stating that the new company’s plan for HTTPS on new outbound links. So from October 1, 2015 onwards, if you share a link on Twitter, it will cloak in https://t.co. This HTTPS scheme allows Twitter to securely transfer readers to the intended landing page, even if the landing page is not an HTTPS link.

Going forward, this HTTPS change will increase the length of cloaked URLs by a single character. Another issue with this change is tracking referral traffic to non-HTTPS sites. Twitter explains that non-HTTPS sites may notice an apparent decrease in referral numbers from Twitter. Based on Twitter estimates, you may see a 10% drop in traffic attribution as a result of this HTTPS change. Also, the percentage will decrease over time as users update their browsers to the latest versions supporting to the referrer policy.

Facebook Pages: New Updates for Mobile Devices

Facebook declared few updates to Pages that are designed to help business owners to connect faster & better engagement with their audience on Mobile devices.

Prominent Call to Action Buttons

Call-To-Action buttons bring a business most important goal to the forefront of its Page. For that, Facebook gave a new look & prominent placement to “Call-To-Action” buttons on mobile, which is bigger, brighter and directly under the Page cover photo. Also, Facebook tested several new Call-To-Action buttons for people & businesses to connect directly.

Enhanced Page Layout

Facebook wants to make it easier for people to navigate through Pages on Mobile. So they’re updating the Page layouts, without lots of scrolling and clicking. Also, the new layout is focusing around tab navigation, so it is easy to navigate between various sections. The new changes to the Page will help Page owner to organize the information better for their customers. This new layout is planning to release in the upcoming weeks.

Update Your Page for Mobile

All businesses need to keep up with their customer expectation, so that they can find information easily and connect with your business any-time, anywhere on any device. The new customization option allows adding new sections in Page, which provides a newer way for businesses to promote themselves on Facebook.

You may see the above listed updates will be rolling out in the upcoming weeks for Facebook Pages.

Tips To Optimize Your Facebook Native Videos

The power of video is often deprecated. Many people don’t even aware that videos are a critical element of their marketing strategy. This is because videos are attractive with users and extremely flexible. So you can create a YouTube channel for your company, embed videos in the website, post them on social media especially on Facebook, use them in your email newsletters, and much more.

A latest study says that Facebook native videos received a higher number of likes, shares, comments, and reach. Also it has higher organic reach than status and link updates on Facebook.

Facebook Video

Facebook Video

Some tips you need to be aware of when creating a Facebook Native Videos.

Ensure Quality

Make sure your video should have a high definition quality but also it should not exceed the size limit of 1.75GB. Otherwise Facebook won’t accept the video for publishing on the Facebook Business page.

Length Matters

Now-a-days people are looking for more relevancy and immediate outcome of the video in a short time. According to recent study, the ideal length of a video should be less than five minutes. So to reach your potential customer, try to make videos less than five minutes with a proper message.

Capture Your Customer Immediately

According to a study, people in this era have a very less attention span. The average attention span is 8.5 Sec., so try to capture your customer attention with an attractive headline, engaging introduction and so on.

Give a Good Name for Video

It’s important to give a good title to your video, so it helps the audience to get understand of what the video is all about. Also it will enhance your video in organic search for specific keywords.

Choose the Right Thumbnail

You can make sure the thumbnail should attract the users to click on the play button. Facebook provides you ten thumbnail options captured from the video, out of that you need to choose one which captures the audience click-through. If you’re not happy with the Facebook options, you can upload a custom thumbnail for your video.

Facebook is one of the best Social Media site which helps to increase your brand’s reach with videos and connect with your audience through visuals, sound, and emotions. So utilize it properly and gain more out of it.

Facebook Introduces Live Streaming for Public Figures

Facebook introduced a new feature today which will let the public figures and celebrities to broadcast live stream’s via the Facebook Mentions app. Facebook Mentions is an app that’s only accessible to famous athletes, musicians, politicians and influencers. Using this app these public figures will broadcast live video in a way that’s related to Periscope and Meerkat.

You’ll be ready to connect with the live broadcasts just as you would any other Facebook post and you’ll be ready to see when one of your friends is seeing a live broadcast so you will also jump in and watch it with them. Facebook defines this feature as Live, as an engaging and authentic way to connect with the public figures you concerned about it, in real-time.

If you aren’t ready to see the live broadcast you will be set to see it later, as a recording will be held in reserve on the person’s Page. This feature is available to a very limited amount of Facebook users at this time. If Live seems to be a breakout success for Facebook, then may be the company can look to roll out live broadcasting to all users.

How to Safe Guard Your Site from Getting Hacked

Google successive in its #NoHacked campaign today with a few helpful tips on preventing website from getting hacked. Since they are seeing a 180% increase in the total of websites getting hacked, Google says, and in comport oneself to state your website isn’t targeted the company recommends appealing the assistant precautions.

Google Services

To get notified from Google, you need to sign up in Google Search Console (formerly known as Google Webmaster Tools) is one of the most apparent guidance since it has Google’s direct connection to website owners. In addition, Google suggests setting up Google Alerts to notify you of suspicious results for your website.

Password Security

By now it’s a common knowledge that every person knows a strong password contains a mixture of letters, numbers, and symbols, but Google says there is more to it than that. Length is also a factor, the longer the password is, and the harder it is to guess. It’s also suggested to avoid using the same password across multiple services. Also, Google advises to turning on 2-step authentication, which can radically strengthen your account’s security.

Hosting Provider

Google suggests you to contact hosting provider to check if they offer on-demand support for dealing with issues connected to hacked websites. In case if you manage your own server, then be equipped to deal with any complex security issues that might arise at any time.

Software Updates

Keep your website’s software up to date, because archaic software is one of the most common ways a hacker can get control of your website. This includes maintaining your web server software patched, CMS’s plugins and add-ons were updated.

Google Search Console Will Send Typical Webmaster Notifications to People

Gary Illyes from the Google Webmaster Trends Analyst team declared that the Google Search Console, at one time called Google Webmaster Tools, can begin sending their notifications to fewer individuals for the average notification type. The amendment can inherit play in regarding three weeks and can solely have an effect on the average type of notification.

Google can currently solely give notice the direct owner of the website in question, not the property owner. For example, if a website like https://example.com/dont/panic/have/a/towel triggers a message inside the Google Search Console, Google would give notice to website owners:

https://example.com/dont/panic/have/a/towel (the site triggering the message)
https://example.com/dont/panic/have/a
https://example.com/dont/panic/have
https://example.com/dont/panic
https://example.com/dont
https://example.com

Now, only the owner of https://example.com/dont/panic/have/a/towel can receive the notification within the Google Search Console. According to Gary Illyes, the amendment won’t have an effect on Google notifies webmasters of more serious messages, like notifications that a website has been hacked.

Yahoo Maps Is Shutting Down By End Of This Month

yahoo maps

Yahoo has declared a few changes to its products and services, but the biggest surprise is that the organization is closing down Yahoo Maps by the end of this month (June), after eight years of its launch. Yahoo said, “The Yahoo Maps site will close at the end of June. We made this decision to better align resources to Yahoo’s priorities as our business has evolved since we first launched Yahoo Maps eight years ago.”

Yahoo will still continue their mapping service at present but won’t necessarily be powered in future.

Yahoo has gradually slow down their development around maps in the course of recent years.

Notwithstanding, Yahoo is slaughtering off its Mapping services, they additionally reported the end of Yahoo Pipes, a developer tool, and some additional product changes.

How To Be Successful in Mobile Advertising

Over the last few years, mobile has driven an extraordinary connectivity at our fingertips. Mobile phone is increasingly used throughout the day, and mobile marketing, has developed a complete marketing channel to reach mobile consumers.

Key Mobile Trends 

  • As majority of the population is connected to mobile and mobile phone offers significant reach and opportunities for advertisers. So, mobile penetration is growing as huge as earlier.
  • A larger proportion of digital consumption is on Mobile phone. Mobile phone allows more ways to connect with your consumer.
  • Mobile phone is taking attention away from Television. It helps the advertiser to connect with their audience easily.
  • Mobile phone has become a significant sales channel among customers. Now-a-days people are converting to Mobile phones and expecting more will be joining in the future.
  • Mobile advertising is now becoming more accessible. As ad market places and new players have entered the Mobile space, these challenges are being addressed, providing new opportunities for marketers.

Various Ways of Mobile Advertising 

The most common types of Mobile ads are:

  • Mobile banners – which appear at the top or bottom of a web page,
  • Mobile search ads – which appear in search results.
  • Interstitial Ad – Interstitial ads are full screen ads that cover the interface of their host application.

Banner ads can be more effective when targeting customers by their browsing histories.

Mobile ads

Tips for Successful Mobile Campaign 

Few tips to ripe the success of Mobile campaign

  • Integrate Mobile into your overall Ad campaign strategy
  • Develop creative and messaging that enhances the experience of Mobile users
  • Optimize your website for Mobile (Responsive website)
  • Define and target the right audience
  • Set a definite metrics and goals for Mobile Advertisements