Although I have known of the Wikitude World Browser for some time, my research into the travel social media space allowed for a thorough investigation of this insightful app. The Wikitude World Browser provides travelers with an experienced, educated travel guide that fits in their pocket and has limitless knowledge about the world over. This app could even change how we view landmarks, monuments, and notable sights.

Using augmented reality (virtual data on top of real-time camera views from a smartphone), GPS and the compass feature built into the Android and iPhone 3GS, Wikitude displays information about your surroundings. Facts, distance from your current location, and names of landmarks, monuments and other points of interest pop up as you scan the area with your phone’s camera. Check out a demo video from one of the developers here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EA8xlicmT8 .

Wikitude.me is what makes this app truly innovative. Members of the Wikitude.me community are given the power to “embed unique points of interest (POI) and location-specific, hyperlinked media content which can be viewed on the WIKITUDE World Browser.” This tool enables users to “Geo-tag your world,” by adding content to the Wikitude and viewing it through the Wikitude browser. As far as I understand, once these user generated points of interest are part of the Wikitude, they are viewable by all users of the Wikitude World Browser.

This revolutionary idea has the potential to transform our views of what we consider monumental and noteworthy out in the world. For example, if I am using the Wikitude World Browser in Puerto Rico and see that the sight where the Battle of San Juan was fought is just half a mile away from me, but Melody G. from North Carolina has used Wikitude.me to tell me about the best snorkeling she has ever encountered, including a giant sea turtle sighting, only one and half miles away where do you think I’m going?

Let me know if you have expeience with the Wikitude World Browser, or any other cool travel- related apps!

As a hardened, wizened 23-year-old, I regularly shake my fists at young people who don’t know how easy they have it (“What do you mean everyone in your preschool class had their own laptop?  In my day …” etc.).  But my bitterness at having been born slightly too early to reap the benefits of a fully-computerized childhood reached a new height when I read the New York Times report last week that Tufts University has become the first college to solicit YouTube videos as optional supplements to its undergraduate application.

Nearly everyone who’s gone to college in the last few decades knows that applying to colleges is one of the hardest, most humbling, and consequential processes that occurs within the larger hard, humbling and consequential process of adolescence.  How do you get the admissions staff at your dream school to understand what you yourself know very well: that you are the smartest, coolest, best-looking, most interesting person who has ever existed?  Armed with only a stack of papers detailing your dubious contributions to your high school literary magazine, letters of recommendation from the teachers who maybe weren’t your favorites but were the ones you were least afraid to ask for a recommendation, and a couple of essays you’ve proofread so hard you don’t even know what they’re about anymore, you’re expected to make a lasting, favorable impression that stands out among thousands of students.

Enter YouTube.  Everyone loves it: the perennial time-waster, the medium that vaults Taiwanese teenagers and overweight housewives to their fifteen minutes of fame with equal momentum.

It’s no great surprise that Tufts, a top-tier university noted for its unorthodox essay questions (this year’s options include “Are we alone?” and “Kermit the Frog famously lamented ‘It’s not easy being green.’  Do you agree?”), is the first to give new media a place beside the traditional written essay.  It’s also no surprise that students have been eager to take advantage of the video option: about 1,000 of the 15,000 applicants for Fall 2010 have submitted links to their videos.

The videos are as various as the applicants themselves.  One student performs a rap about her recent jaw reconstruction surgery – through clenched teeth, because her jaw is still wired shut.  Another edits himself into an interview with James Lipton on “Inside the Actors Studio.”  Another builds a remote-controlled flying elephant and videotapes it flying around his backyard.  But whatever the subject matter, the videos all have one wonderful thing in common: they each showcase students being themselves from their own homes, speaking in their own voices, doing what they do best, and showing what makes them who they are.

The questions that come to this jealous college graduate’s mind – oh, to have been born in 1992 and spared the agony of trying to fit my academic personhood into a 9×12 envelope! – are: what does this mean for the future of college admissions?  And what does this say about the present wave of college applicants?

The second question is easier to answer.  Kids who are seventeen and eighteen in 2010 have probably never known a house without a computer inside it.  They probably learned to type before they learned (or instead of learning) to handwrite.  YouTube and Facebook have been staples of their lives since they were about twelve.  The first movie they saw in theaters was probably something like Independence Day (which doesn’t have anything to do with anything, but it makes you feel ancient, doesn’t it?).  In other words, it’s now totally reasonable to expect a teenager to pick up a camcorder (or their cell phone), create a one to two minute video that says something about him or herself, and upload it onto the web for the world to see (some of the videos, such as Amelia Downs’s performance of her “math dances,” have received tens of thousands of views on YouTube).

The answer to the first question is anyone’s guess.  In the Times article, Lee Coffin, dean of undergraduate admissions at Tufts, is careful to emphasize that the videos are optional and the written element of the application is still the most important.  Even if the supplemental YouTube video does become part of other schools’ applications (my guess is it will), it seems unlikely that it will replace writing entirely as a means of evaluating prospective students (as well it shouldn’t).  While some people may have reservations about the intrusion of new media into an institution as traditionally analogue as a college application (in an interesting letter to the editor appearing in the Times a few days after the Tufts article, a high school counselor from Mamaroneck expresses concern that the videos will be absorbed into the lucrative admissions industry, saying “Video producers and directors can now join private college consultants, SAT tutors and essay editors raking in high fees from families willing to pay whatever it takes to gain an advantage in the college admissions race.”), I think that including a video option is fair and realistic.  We all know that the kids who look best on paper are not necessarily smarter or more interesting or better community members than the kids who didn’t get the best grades in high school, or don’t happen to be as good at crafting short essays about themselves.  If the point of a college application is to give a student an opportunity to present his or her accomplishments in the best possible light, it makes sense to play to the very modern strengths of a new generation.

By now I am sure everyone has heard about the devastating earthquake that shook Chile to its core over the weekend. How did I find out? Through Twitter of course!

It’s no secret that social media plays a HUGE role in how we receive information. Pew Internet just released a study that found that 75% of people find their news online through email or social media, with 52% forwarding news through those same means.

The implications of this study were epitomized as this weekend saw a surge of tweets as information about the earthquake became more readily available.

Illustrated above is the number of tweets surrounding Chile over the last week. On Saturday, February 27^th, almost 4% of the entire Twittersphere mentioned Chile in some capacity (according to Google, this is approximately 77,500 tweets; however I think it may be more).

Twitter has always been relatively quick to change and seems to be embracing its role as an organic news outlet. Brief statements (140 characters or less) are now posted when you click on the majority of trending topics. Sourcing info from whatthetrend.com gives users some context about the trend.

Chile Trending Topic Description

Is this a lasting means to obtain news? Only time will tell. It concerns me that anyone with a Twitter account can be deemed a “news  source”; however, individuals can be key in providing timely updates in situations like this.

What do you think? Should we trust Twitter as a news source or hope that, like a trending topic, this will eventually fade away?

The object of participation is to have a face-to-face interaction with a totally random stranger from somewhere around the world via webcam. Strangers can chat by typing into a large, IM style box which displays the usernames “you” and “stranger.” The “next” button offers a safe-haven of constant forward momentum. Either user can click on to the next random stranger at any time; simultaneously giving everyone involved the freedom to act however they want and the power to never become irritated or bored. (Yes, you will be nexted. Yes, it hurts sometimes.) Chatroulette has no login, thus you are not held hostage to any sort of accountability for your actions. No accountability + the thought of being “nexted”= internet pandemonium. People are compelled to be as entertaining as possible, which includes dancing, costumes, stupid human tricks, offering mystic readings, engaging in a game, or just being naked.
We spend so much time organizing the internet, keeping all of our social platforms neat and tidy with the right information, the right people, and the ability to view and take part of almost every interaction. Participating in Chatroulette means surrendering any hope of precision. On the one hand, Chatroulette is like a slightly addictive and sometimes unnerving sociological jungle; on the other hand, each interaction is like having a major part in a surreptitious happening. The experience as of now is often peppered with unwarned close-ups of the male anatomy, which begs the question: Will Chatroulette ever become organized, or would organization kill the attraction?
I think as long as there is no login, a.k.a. no accountability, Chatroulette can become structured into categories without losing its allure or integrity. Even if only two categories were created: “Nudity” and “Not Nudity,” user-ship would broaden as those too timid to risk glimpsing hairy-man-horrors would have no fear. However, think of the possibility of entering a Chatroulette channel based on things you like. Categories could be broad: Biology, Literature, Photography, Australia; specific: Canadian Haiku Lovers, LGBT Hockey Players, People Interested in Aldous Huxley, or anywhere in between. Interaction time and actual conversation would certainly increase, as the current average interaction lasts about 3 seconds, but is the incentive for Chatroulette real conversation, or is it that you have no idea what you are going to get?

Last night the Dalai Lama took one giant leap into the internet age and joined Twitter (@DalaiLama). 24 hours later, his account has ballooned to 58,700+ followers, as Tweeters eagerly sought wisdom from His Holiness via SMS.

But does the Dalai Lama really need a Twitter account? Does it make sense for him to join? It’s too soon to tell if the Dalai Lama’s jump into the twitter fray will help extend the Dalai Lama brand…or help with his world peace effort.

So as news begin to pour in on any incremental updates on the Dalai Lama’s Twitter account and tweets, here are some potential hurdles to consider:

• People are expecting the voice of His Holiness to carry through in the tweets. Of course, it is unrealistic that the Dalai Lama himself would take the time to craft messages—nor should he. He has very important things to do. But his face is in the Twitter profile and his followers will want him to tweet.
• Following the Dalai Lama is like having a spiritual guru on speed dial. The Office of His Holiness will most likely be bombarded with DMs and @replies all wishing the Dalai Lama well, and potentially asking for “fortune cookie” tweets (140 characters of wisdom, advice, and prayer).
• The Dalai Lama is considered an “enemy rebel” to the Chinese government. And as stories of Chinese-based hacks on U.S companies flood in, it’s not hard to imagine Chinese hackers (or at least a pimple-faced computer whiz in the U.S.) attempt to shut down his twitter account.

With all these potential hurdles, does it make sense for the Dalai Lama to have a Twitter account? Is it practical?

With the social media news storm centered around Google Buzz and now Microsoft Outlook, it looks like 2010 will be the year of Integration.  Both platforms are quickly trying to one-up competitors to develop a “social media hub” by integrating popular social networks into one neat package.

It’s not surprising, Integration of social networks, or what Yan Shikhvarger , VP of RFI , calls commoditization means that social networks can lure users in with timesucking features and apps from other popular social networks.

Social media is the great equalizer. Thanks to social networks, blogs and forums the consumers finally have a way to “stick it” to companies that they’ve received poor services or defective products from. The “little guy” is not so little when his complaint can pass along virally to millions online, threatening to sink multi-million dollar marketing campaigns or tarnishing a brand name beyond recovery.

This is hardly news. We’ve already seen empowered consumers embarrass established brands with a single comment or video. And the latest brand to feel the wrath of a customer’s scorn is Southwest Airlines. This weekend, cult-icon filmmaker Kevin Smith sent a series of tweets to his followers claiming that Southwest Airlines kicked him off a flight for being “too fat”. Southwest Airlines’ response to Kevin Smith’s tweets was predictable, as the airline profusely apologized for any inconvenience and insured its Twitter followers that this would never happen again.

However, I can’t shake off this lingering thought of how consumers who know they can bring about a brand’s destruction via social media, will abuse the medium and ultimately raise their expectations of customer satisfaction to unrealistic levels.

It may be the case that like children learning they can get what they want from their parents by crying louder, consumers have found a way to get “great service” by threatening to “brand bash” online.

In the aftermath of the catastrophic Haiti earthquake that struck on Jan. 12, social networking powerhouses and high-tech companies have risen up as the main philanthropic force in aiding Haitians recover from the quake.

While the U.S. and U.N. sputtered to acquire resources for quake relief efforts, companies born out of Web 2.0 or took advantage of social media were able to galvanize support and collect donations in break-neck pace. The Red Cross has already raised $5 million for earthquake relief through $10 donations via simple text messaging, and Google has contributed a $1 million donation of its own.

Other Internet big-names have seized on the crisis and have updated their services to go towards helping the cause. For instance, Zynga has raised $1.2 million using virtual goods in its games like Farmville, while Skype has sent $2 vouchers to customers in Haiti, allowing them to call their loved ones in the U.S.

Facebook, Google, and other tech giants are showing us they can create and galvanize global communities, take advantage of simplified distribution channels to acquire large amounts of money, and spark global discourse all for an issue, cause, or charity.

What these social media giants have seized upon is the concept “Good Social,” flexing social media capability for ethical and philanthropic efforts, but more importantly (yes, they are businesses after all) brandish their social media might on a global scale.

By helping out, social networks ultimately help themselves by portraying themselves as thought leaders in global community discourse, and all things social. Or so says my marketing background.

Social media enthusiasts, mommy bloggers, small business owners, and corporate big shots alike all came out to The Graduate Center of the City University of New York early Wednesday morning to talk social integration. The agenda consisted of breakfast, an impressive line-up of guest speakers, and two round table discussions where we were allowed to chime in on the dialogue.

The overall message was clear: Social media can be a powerful and necessary tool. Instead of writing about tedious details, I’m going to boil all my learnings down to eight important key take-aways.

1. Within social media, consumers become producers – Michael Mendenhall, CMO of HP

• HP used social media to host an online contest that challenged people to express themselves creatively through video for a chance to win $300,000 in prizes. By doing this, HP allowed their consumers to generate the content of the contest and also promoted their brand as being cool and connected to the online community.

2. Marketing strategies have to move from making impressions to making connections – Joshua Karpf, Senior Manager of Pepsico

• Pepsico launched The Juice Campaign to promote Tropicana juices to mommy bloggers via BlogHer. Instead of a generic print/media campaign, The Juice Campaign engaged key opinion leaders in social media within the mom community to make genuine connections with their consumers and executive one of their most well-received campaigns.

3. When executing social media campaigns, companies must accept “authenticity factor” i.e. Do not censor – Brian Kenny, CMO of Harvard Business School

• Although Harvard Business School would like to hold a certain brand image in people’s minds, they will not censor their material for fear of being viewed as unauthentic (even if it results in online photos of their students dressed as drag queens and getting arrested by police officers for fighting).

4. Embrace the technology shift, but always pay attention to your brand in the social media realm – Brian Kenny, CMO of Harvard Business School

• The brand image of Harvard is very important, and although they will keep up with the shifts of technology and social integration online, they strive to preserve that image across all platforms.

5. Few can sound like many – Michael DiLorenzo, Director of Social Media of NHL

• The NHL decided to hold a tweet-up for the Stanley Cup, which is the most important trophy in the NHL, and although there were only a handful of people in the nation that actually participated, the event was widely recognized and brought a lot of publicity for the NHL.

6. Give people a reason to be excited about your brand – Michael DiLorenzo, Director of Social Media of NHL

• Michael is a strong believer in keeping his customers happy by giving them free stuff. From free tickets to free cup-holders, your company’s gestures will reach its consumers.

7. If you are not authentic, people will scream and run the other way – Lynn Mann, Director of External Communications at Michelin NA

• In a playful anecdote involving her nieces and the fake Michelin Man, Lynn conveys the importance of authenticity when communicating with customers.

8. Stop. Look. Listen. And then Respond – Richard Pesce, Social Media and Digital Communications with Sprint Nextel

• A company shouldn’t just communicate to their consumers when it comes to crises. Customer service is extremely important, especially in the service providing industry, and using social media allows companies to respond in real time.

“Lavender”

“Black”

“White”

“Nude”

Look familiar? Well if you have a Facebook account and had signed into Facebook anytime last week, you’d recognize this peculiar trend. These status updates, which are mainly from girls, are the colors of the bras they were wearing at the time of the update. Scandalous. Why again? Because of breast cancer awareness.

Have you watched the bikini-clad girl taking a shower and singing the song of your choice through a showercam? Just choose the song you want her to sing and the bikini you want her to wear and watch her take a shower through a “guilt free” showercam experience. Obviously, this would lead you to go out and buy a breakfast burger at Burger King.

And did you hear about Skittles streaming a twitter feed right onto their home page for everyone to see? Well, even if you did, I’m sure you didn’t give it a second thought until right now.

Social media is a fantastic tool that has the power to spread news at phenomenal speeds and engage your audience ways that were impossible even 10 years ago. However, it’s important to remember that not all social media can help you meet your goals. Using viral methods can prove to be useless if it has no direct correlation to your brand message and especially if there is no call to action after the fact. Although it may generate buzz, it doesn’t motivate people to act or purchase, which is presumably the goal of the marketing campaign. The same applies to the Burger King showercam and Motrin Mom and countless other social media campaigns gone wrong. Not only did they stray from their marketing message (eat burgers, buy Motrin), they managed to offend and isolate large groups of people, most of whom were in their target audience.

With all that being said, there are those companies who hit the nail right on the head. Starbucks’ “My Starbucks Idea” gained rave reviews from their customers just a year after they were thought to be oversaturated and irrelevant. “My Starbucks Idea” encourages customers to co-create the next new Starbucks trend by allowing them to submit ideas on a website and then vote and discuss. The most popular ones get implemented. Not without its risks, but according to Adweek, Starbucks even surpassed Coca-Cola as the most popular brand on Facebook last year.

So what it really boils down to are the fundamentals of any marketing 101 course: know your audience, don’t offend people, align with your brand identity, and for god’s sake, be interesting! Because if you miss everything else, at least you’ll have your 15 seconds.