What #Hashtags on Facebook Mean for Twitter

With Facebook jumping on the hashtag bandwagon… the major platforms (LinkedIn, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest) now all have a feature that was once exclusive to Twitter.

Hashtags play an important purpose of categorizing conversations and connecting people to generate shared experience. The pound symbol was once something strictly associated with landline telephone and now is everywhere you turn. At the largest scale, these shared experiences are: current events, sports, TV shows. Just check your social feeds before, during, and after the Superbowl or Game of Thrones.

Twitter’s brand link to the hashtag is for sure the strongest, but it is not the only place where we turn to discuss the world’s happenings as they unravel. 65M+ social interactions occurred surrounding this year’s Oscars on Facebook. The difference there is that these conversations have limited public visibility depending on a user’s privacy settings.

The intro of hashtags to Facebook won’t change the issue of privacy restrictions but will definitely help organize conversations with your friends and connect you to those with open profiles via Graph Search.

My gut is saying that this new feature will start to cannibalize the volume of conversation happening on Twitter. Twitter is a great platform and will still play an important role in the social ecosystem given its open nature; however Facebook’s edge with the number of users and the fact that those users are typically more comfortable with the platform than people are with Twitter will start to eat away at Twitter’s dominance for events. Overtime, this will be a real challenge for Twitter to stay relevant.

Time will tell but once hashtags are rolled out Facebook-wide, there will be new wave of people using hashtags for the first time who never ventured onto Twitter.

It will also eventually be an opportunity for Facebook to develop a monetization strategy around conversations; which would give Twitter’s ad suite some strong competition around real-time events. Brands using hashtags as part of their integrated marketing efforts (Like Bud’s #MakeItPlatinum) will reap the benefits of being able to increasingly measure and participate in conversations happening on Facebook.

I’m interested to see how this plays out for both sides. #GoodLuck

DIY 2.0 – Empowering the amateurs

Last week, my trusty laptop had its first problem after 4 years. The back light on the LCD burnt out.  It was pretty much useless unless you plugged it into the TV or another monitor. So much for portable…

In the past, if you had an issue with electronics, you had a few options:
1) take it to a repair specialist and be at their mercy with pricing
2) try to figure it out yourself [if you could find the parts] with little guidance on how to DIY
3) chuck it and buy a new one

Today, a quick Google search for parts reveals many online stores that specialize in specific hardware components, usually priced well. These retailers have also invested time into preparing easy step by step guides for the average Joe to follow, tons of resources on YouTube, HowTo.com, and personal blogs.

I came across LaptopScreen.com and located the replacement screen for my laptop. They also had great instructions on exactly how to use their product. I ordered the screen after price comparing and got it a couple days later.

I have taken apart and built PCs before but never had the need (or confidence) to try a monitor. I took a shot with it this morning and after 30 mins of following the instructions… my laptop was back and better than ever.

I realized and appreciated that with any new project, we are so much better off today by being able to share what we know with others. Not to sound cheesy, but the web has empowered us to feel inspired by others around the world to try new things offline that we wouldn’t necessarily before, and ultimately build new skills to progress in our lives.

This isn’t just for electronics but everything from cooking to home repair to Yelp reviews about restaurants. We can easily turn to Google and search for “How to…” for pretty much anything we are curious to learn about and try.

I definitely have a new fond appreciation for the people who take the time to openly share their knowledge for the rest of the world. I’ll be thinking of what I can enlighten you all with…

Real Time Social Media Displays

For events, social media now plays a big role in the planning process. How do you encourage the attendees to share their experience in real time with each other and the outside world? One way is through real time activity feeds on displays inside the venue, showcasing all the buzz surrounding the event.

Working on the TIME100 event, we helped develop a massive 20 ft by 16 ft “social media wall”,  featuring the #TIME100 feeds from Twitter and from Instagram. 

The display turned heads of the guests in attendance and captured the live activity from the red carpet and throughout the night.