What the Japan Earthquake and Michael Jackson Have In Common: Twitter and the New Flow of Information

I started writing a blog post yesterday about hackers, but then I woke up this morning to the news about the earthquake in Japan and subsequent effects to Hawaii and possibly the West Coast. I learned of this through a channel I never would have imagined a few years ago: Twitter. Thinking back, I also first found out about the Iran elections, Michael Jackson’s death, the trapped Chilean miners, the hostage situation at the Discovery building in Maryland, and the chemical laced packages around the corner at the MDOT and Annapolis in January - all through Twitter. And I know I’m probably forgetting a few other major news events in that list.

I’m still amazed by how the flow of information has changed so drastically in such a short time. Curious to find out how many people are now getting their news and information from Twitter versus television coverage, phone calls, email or other online news sources, I have started doing a little research. Although I haven’t yet found hard statistics about how sources of information have changed over the years, I did find a study about Internet usage put out last year by the Center for the Digital Future at the USC Annenberg School. According to the highlights of the report, about half of those who go online are using micro-blogs like Twitter and Facebook, so it’s a good bet that those users are also getting a percentage of their news and information through these sites as well. The study also reveals that nobody is willing to pay for social networking services that are already free but 18 percent of Internet users report that they have canceled a printed newspaper subscription because they can get the same information online. Oddly, this percentage has actually decreased from 22 percent in 2008. Another surprising decrease is the amount of trust Internet users have for information available online. Although the percentages vary among sources (search engines, online news sites, and social media sites) trust in accuracy is decreasing for all of them. A blog post put out by Social Citizens digs into the issue of trusting Twitter as an information source. However, according to the statistics, just because people are seeing it there first doesn’t necessarily mean they trust it first.

The highlights of the USC study are available in a PDF document that is definitely worth the read or skim. The report offers quick reading statistics broken down by topic. You can get it by clicking the highlights link at the bottom of this page:  http://www.digitalcenter.org/pages/current_report.asp?intGlobalId=19

Are any of you getting your information first through Twitter? If not, how are you hearing about breaking news?

Let us know your thoughts and come connect to us on Twitter and Facebook.

About the Author: Jandee Ferland is the Social Network Engineer at IC. She is an avid fan of any technology that makes life a little easier and can often be found checking out new apps, posting on Twitter (@ICtweet), or learning how to podcast.

5 Lessons from the Rogue Red Cross Tweet

Earlier this month, an amazing phenomenon occurred. A representative of a well-known and respected organization mistakenly sent out a personal tweet promoting a craft brewery from the organization’s Twitter account…and it turned out to benefit all parties! Hard to believe in a time when companies are implementing strict web policies for employees and stories of personal postings resulting in termination are cropping up each week. But a positive outcome is exactly what happened when Gloria Huang, a social media representative for the Red Cross, accidentally made a post to the organization’s Twitter account about finding a pack of Dogfish Head beer and including the hashtag “#gettngslizzerd.” 

The tweet was intended for Huang’s personal twitter account, but tech accidents happen…more frequently when managing multiple Twitter accounts on a mobile device. Another Red Cross rep caught the tweet and replaced it with a humorous update. The next day, social media savvy Dogfish Head tweeted about the mix-up and encouraged Red Cross donations on behalf of the incident. Word spread and the Red Cross saw an increase in donations from Dogfish Head fans. Both parties got a lot of positive attention and even ended up with a post on Mashable. In a quest to discover why this scenario turned out so well, I came up with 5 lessons businesses and organizations can garner from this whole story:


1. A little humor goes a long way. Sure, lots of credit is due to Dogfish Head for jumping in with their support. But even if they hadn’t, the quick and humorous response from the Red Cross was the perfect recipe for a successful recovery. The subsequent support was just icing on the cake.

2. Collaborations are powerful. Especially collaborations between two brands with loyal followings. And the more strange the pairing, the better. People like to see unexpected connections between things they like, particularly if they seem to have nothing to do with each other.

3. Employees really are the face of a company. Even if they are not in the office or on duty, every employee has the potential to be a walking billboard for a business. This can provide excellent promotion, especially when social media is involved. So keep your employees happy…you need them on your side!

4. Leave room for happy accidents. Don’t be so cautions and afraid of your online presence and posts that there is no room for opportunities outside the plan to happen. Being completely professional, always carrying a corporate tone, and scrutinizing every possible piece of information before it posts might be safe, but it holds you back too.

5. People love the human aspect of business. The public likes to know they are interacting with real people, not just a corporate robot. Aside from providing personalized attention, nothing earns trust and loyal customers more than being personal, authentic, and sometimes even vulnerable.

What do you guys think about how this mistake turned out? Do you have any other lessons we can get out of it?

Let us know what you think and come connect to us on Twitter and Facebook.

About the Author: Jandee Ferland is the Social Network Engineer at IC. She is an avid fan of any technology that makes life a little easier and can often be found checking out new apps, posting on Twitter (@ICtweet), or learning how to podcast.

Bye Pandora, My iPhone Misses You Already

Thanks to Apple’s new subscription policy, I fear that some of the most beloved aps on my iPhone might be going away in the near future. Since Apple released the details of their updated subscription guidelines a few days ago, announcing that they will be taking 30 percent of what subscribers pay through iOS apps, a steady uneasiness has crept into iPhone and iPad owners that use such apps as Hulu, Amazon, Netflix, and Pandora on their devices.

As the post Apple’s New Subscription Model: Pros and Cons by Ian Paul of PCWorld points out, there are some advantages of this new policy to smaller content publishers that don’t have royalties like the major publishers. Paul explains that if you create your own news or written content, it will be easier to gain new views and subscribers to your products. However, the same post also validly describes how unfair the changes are to music and video content publishers that are already paying large royalties to many parties, just to be able to deliver that content to their customers. And music and video are the types of content that consumers really want, especially on their mobile devices.

Personally, I think 30 percent is just too much. I believe major content providers will either withdraw their services from iOS apps out of protest, or try to stay and find that they just can’t sustain the extra costs in the long run without passing the cost on to the consumer. If the most popular content providers do end up revoking their iOS app subscription options or raise subscription costs 30 percent, I think it would be a real disservice to consumers on Apple’s part.  If Apple wants to keep their mobile products at the top of the heap, potentially pitting customers between their devices and the content they want doesn’t seem to make sense.



Your thoughts? Leave us a comment below. Of course Twitter and Facebook are options too.

About the Author: Jandee Ferland is the Social Network Engineer at IC. She is an avid fan of any technology that makes life a little easier and can often be found checking out new apps, posting on Twitter (@ICtweet), or learning how to podcast.

The Devices We Love – And Not Just on Valentine’s Day

Over the last few years it has become increasingly apparent that many of us have new additions in our lives that we have grown to not only love, but also find hard to live without. We rush to them as soon as we wake up. We secretly check them during our lunch break and one last time before we go to sleep. We look to them for advice and recommendations. We stop to check in with them when we are out with friends. We rely on them for directions and depend on them for the latest news. The evidence is clear: electronic and mobile devices are the new loves of our lives.

We’ve become a cult of addicts and everyone has a drug of choice. From iPhones and Droids to tablets and Kindles, we just can’t seem to help ourselves.  And the worst part is, there is always something new and better that we just absolutely NEED to have…the minute it is released! This condition, long associated with children in the era of shameless toy commercials aired during Saturday morning cartoons, now has full grown adults drooling at events such as the Consumer Electronics Show each year. 

But all is not lost. More and more, we are coming back to our senses and putting things in perspective. The priorities of family activities and spending quality time unplugged are slowing coming back into vogue. People are getting the message that certain tech products can be used to free up time to get back to more physical endeavors and interpersonal conversations, instead of Facebook updating and Guitar Hero. There is a time and place for everything, including technology and mobile devices, but the wise know that balance and moderation is everything.


What is the tech device that you can't live without?  Let us know on Twitter and Facebook!

About the Author: Jandee Ferland is the Social Network Engineer at IC. She is an avid fan of any technology that makes life a little easier and can often be found checking out new apps, posting on Twitter (@ICtweet), or learning how to podcast.

State of the Tech Union for Small Business – The “Should Have” List

As promised, this post finishes up our State of the Tech Union series with a more substantial look at the latest tech concepts that you should be thinking about and implementing for the future growth of your business. In the first post, I outlined that going mobile and accounting for influence are two important concepts to be considering. This is why they deserve attention:


Going Mobile: People want easy. Your customers and potential customers want it too and that translates to being able to contact your business and utilize your services on the go. If the service between you and your competitors is truly comparable, offering a choice that is even a little easier is a factor that can catapult your business and give you an advantage in the options war. Plus, mobile apps are cool and fun and can be made into anything you want or need them to be. Starting down the path to mobile inclusion will take some effort and time, but it’s definitely worth thinking about now.


Considering Influence: “Influence” is one of the latest buzz terms. Everyone seems to be trying to measure it. Although the jury is still out on how all these measurements can be applied to marketing strategies for business purposes, it’s certainly not going away. Influence isn’t new. It has been around for a long time in the form of word of mouth communication. Mouths have now turned into online reviews and social media comments. But, as it’s always been, some people are more talkative than others. These are the influencers and they are demanding more attention and reaching a larger global audience than ever before.


Thanks for following our first post series! We have more exciting posts in the works starting next week, but we’d love to hear your thoughts and comments. Let us know what you think and come connect to us on Twitter and Facebook.

About the Author: Jandee Ferland is the Social Network Engineer at IC. She is an avid fan of any technology that makes life a little easier and can often be found checking out new apps, posting on Twitter (@ICtweet), or learning how to podcast.

The Great Verizon iPhone Debate: Worth It?

It’s the day that some of you have been waiting for: the iPhone is available for pre-order for current Verizon customers. The pros and cons of the Verizon iPhone have been swirling around the internet for weeks, so by now it should be no surprise that it will be a little different than your friend’s AT&T iPhone.

As you may have heard, the main difference is that you won’t be able to multi-task on the Verizon iPhone the way you can with AT&T’s. Basically, you won’t be able to do anything over the 3G connection while on a call. It is not certain yet whether the nifty hotspot capability (Wi-Fi tethering for up to five devices), that Verizon is trying to sell as a big bonus, will work when a phone call is received. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t be very excited if I depended on the phone’s hotspot for Wi-Fi but lost connection every time a call came through.

The other difference affects avid travelers and has more to do with the AT&T network instead of iPhone operation. Verizon won’t offer global roaming like AT&T does and service abroad won’t be as accessible as AT&T’s, which is more compatible with networks around the world.

The Verizon iPhone still won’t offer FaceTime over the 3G network and it will only work over Wi-Fi, the same existing limitation as AT&T’s. Sources believe that it shouldn’t be a problem for the Verizon iPhone and the AT&T iPhone to interact with each other using FaceTime. I would personally like to test it out myself.

Bottom line: If you are already a Verizon customer that just wants the iPhone (and you can suck up the extra costs if you don’t have an upgrade due) then go ahead and pre-order. If you are an existing AT&T iPhone customer, you have a lot of expensive hurdles in your way if you want to make the switch. The big decision is whether the expense is enough to outweigh the fact that you might get less features and no guarantee of a better connection.


Are you going to pre-order the Verizon iPhone? Switching from AT&T? Let us know and come connect with us on Twitter and Facebook.

About the Author: Jandee Ferland is the Social Network Engineer at IC. She is an avid fan of any technology that makes life a little easier and can often be found checking out new apps, posting on Twitter (@ICtweet), or learning how to podcast.

State of the Tech Union for Small Business – Explaining The “Must Have” List

Continuing our State of the Tech Union blog series, I’m going to dig a little deeper into some of the “must have” tech inclusions for small business. To recap, in our first post I said that the three tech elements a business MUST have today are a website, a plan to actively track your online presence, and an efficient way to organize your business information by utilizing software and web tools. Here’s why these are so important:

A Website: This may seem like a no-brainer to some. To others who have survived for decades without a website, its importance may seem over emphasized. The bottom line is that every business needs a website, and it’s not enough to just list your basic information. In an age filled with people that are starved for information, a lack of information can send a tremendous message – and probably not the one you want. If potential clients are searching for your business online and are not finding answers, they will either give up and go elsewhere or continue with a slight distrust of your brand until you can earn their trust with exceptional service. A website is the ultimate platform for you to take control of your brand and how it is projected to the world.

Tracking Your Online Presence: There is no excuse why you shouldn’t be tracking what is being said about your business online. Even if you don’t have a website, people are probably talking about your business on the web. Good or bad, you should at least know what they are saying. This can be as basic as typing your business name (or even your name, for that matter) into Google and seeing what results come up. If you want to make this process easy there are advanced options like using an automated service to track and alert you when your brand is mentioned online. If you are doing a manual Google search, make sure you do it at least once a week. As they say, knowledge is power.

Organize and Access Information: As an internal topic that may seem like it has little to do with technology, I can’t help but to point out that if you haven’t looked into some of the new products for organizing your company’s information recently, you may be really missing out. When it comes to managing client lists, bookkeeping, and internal files, utilizing software and tools can be a real time saver and provide backups in case of emergency. This doesn’t mean you have to go completely paperless just yet (although some companies are doing just that) but it can’t hurt to check out options that could make your business processes easier, quicker, and cheaper.

As always, let us know what you think and come connect to us on Twitter and Facebook.

About the Author: Jandee Ferland is the Social Network Engineer at IC. She is an avid fan of any technology that makes life a little easier and can often be found checking out new apps, posting on Twitter (@ICtweet), or learning how to podcast.