A few weeks ago I wrote a story about LinkedIn and their aggressive approach in turning their platform into Temptation Island when it came to moving jobs. My ire was drawn from all the fabulous new ways they’ve conjured up to move jobs. Clever display adverts that put my head under a fancy job title, jobs I might be interested in floating down my newsfeed and a daily digest of jobs I might like on a weekly basis, usually at my weakest on a Monday.

The post had quite a lot of interest from business owners, to recruitment consultants to, would you believe it, LinkedIn themselves. They got in touch and wanted the chance to explain their vision and why my view, though valid, might have different facets unconsidered in the original piece.

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Looking for a huge numbers of fans? Can’t wait a second longer? Then read on, this blog post is for you…

1. 1. Buy your fans
   This is definitely the easiest way to guarantee a following fast; decide how many ‘fans’ you want then simply go to any dodgy-looking site (probably via a Facebook ad) take your wallet out (remember to stick your head in the sand) et voila, success! But wait a second; by definition once you directly pay for a relationship what does that relationship become? What does it really mean? There’s a very obvious analogy here, one that doesn’t involve any love at all… Read More »

What is influence? It’s a massive question in the world of social media. Thousands of man hours are being pumped into companies who are trying to solve the problem in the hope that one day, you’ll be able to search a category and an application will spit out exactly the 5 top influencers you need to be communicating with to push your product.
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Social media has clunked its way through many evolutions over the years. The past four has seen the digital world settle into a social rhythm. Facebook being the daddy of them all, Twitter is the cooler, younger kid on the block, and LinkedIn taking the lead as the place to hang out to talk serious stuff. The commonality with all of those platforms is they are essentially for everyone. The barriers to entry are extremely low. Most tech savvy people will generally have those three, even if they’re not active in all three (I bet everyone who reads this has all three).

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Google has started the year by encouraging us to take more notice of our friends while simultaneously upsetting some of its other <cough> ‘friends’.

The launch of Search Plus Your World on Tuesday makes sense of some of the moves we’ve seen over the past few months, notably the creation of the Google+ network and encrypted search via SSL connections. Read More »

I was recently asked about the effects of social media and public outrage. Specifically, the question was around Jeremy Clarkson and his ‘oh so controversial’ comments on the BEEB last week. You know, the comments that were definitely nothing to do with shifting copies of a Christmas DVD.

Anyway, let’s paint the picture of how the average outrage works in social media. Read More »

I’m always amazed at the liberal view people have regarding social media moderation. The consensus around the globe seems to be that you can say what you like on social platforms and that a brand should just suck it up and leave it sitting there as some sort of homage to freedom of speech.

Now, I’m all for intelligent criticism. I truly am. If you’ve had a horrible holiday experience and you’re not getting anywhere through normal channels, why not take to a company’s Facebook page to vent your spleen. However, that’s based on the assumption that all criticism is intelligent and well thought out. I can tell you first hand it’s not. Often the comments left on brand pages are poorly spelt, pay little attention to grammar and barely have a point other than to cause a bit of a stir.

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If you’re anything like me, you’ve let a bit of dust accumulate on your once proud and shiny LinkedIn account. Outdated information, neglected networks, a CV that could use some spiffing up—it’s a classic case of LinkedIn lethargy.

Well, the website has been doing some interesting things lately, like its job application button, and is really beginning to stake its claim as the anti-Facebook.

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Everyone’s got an opinion; some are just more vocal than others. As it turns out, UK consumers are far more opinionated than their US counterparts—online, at least.

Nearly half of UK consumers (47%) have reviewed products online compared to the US, where only a third (33%) go online to air their views on products, according to new research.

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The UK is head and shoulders above its continental counterparts in mobile uptake, according to new comScore data, as 35% of UK mobile users access social networking sites on their phones, compared to the European average 23%.

Mobile social networking use in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK nearly doubled in the last year, with 55m mobile users accessing Facebook, Twitter, etc., in September alone, according to comScore’s MobiLens study. Read More »