Empire Avenue: Social Stock Exchange
Posted on | August 30, 2011 | No Comments
Empire Avenue
Have you ever wondered about entering the stock exchange, what would you be worth? Now you can find out, through this new website which combines your social media network with an online game: Empire Avenue. The idea is not so much to become friends or follow other people or companies, you can buy shares in them. And earn some virual money, connect with interesting people and see how active your social network really is.
Having just started, I can mostly say that it’s fun to find out how this game works and to see your own stock grow as people invest in newcomers quite a bit. The link to your social networks is mostly to track your work there. The website does not allow other users to see your Facebook updates for example, unless you are friends with them already on Facebook.
I can see how a website like this can be quite addictive, could also lead to some discussions about privacy, especially since you can buy stocks in people who have not signed up for Empire Avenue. But so far it looks like it’s just another way to expand your social network and gain more traffic to your blog, your twitter or Facebook fan page.
More as I learn more about this game. So far a few first impressions and here some links about this game:
Beginners guide to Empire Avenue by the NextWeb
Empire Avenue on Mashable: How to buy & sell share of your friends
Nice incentive to keep posting!
Posted on | August 4, 2011 | No Comments
Web shop T-junk for artists & t-fans
Posted on | August 1, 2011 | No Comments
A bit off topic it seems from social media, but online shops are a form of social interaction on the web. T-junk is an online t-shirt shop that to me stands out among other web shops. It brings artists together to design t-shirts and sell them online.
Finding a shop that benefits the buyer as well as gives room to artists to sell their great designs should be rewarded. The site works with various artists who can sell their designs on a t-shirt. It’s not possible to change the type of shirt or the color, but some of the shirts come in different variations.
The prices are reasonable and get better once you realize that VAT and shipping cost are included. So for a t-shirt that costs 15 Euros, you pay 15 Euros. And that makes an online shopper smile, for it’s very transparent what you’re buying.
T-junk is still looking for new designers and the designs that are up so far are from music inspiration, like 22 tracks a jukebox containing 22 playlists of different genres, each filled with 22 tracks. T-junk shows an online profile of the designers who create the t-shirts, making this a very social web shop. This definitely helps to come back every now and then and check out new tees and artists.
Not another Google+ Review
Posted on | July 20, 2011 | No Comments
Thinking about writing a Google+ review, I realize there are already so many blogs and writers commenting no how great this new more social venture of Google is. Since I agree and have been using Google+ for little under 2 weeks now, I thought it would not hurt to do a short update on my own experience.
Google+ Circles
The basics for GPlus are that it’s a social network, based around your G-account where you get a timeline much like Facebook with updates from people you follow. This following goes through Circles, which you can create and maintain yourself. I decided to create a few circles, based around the level of privacy I want to use for my posts and updates. And for reading purposes I created a few more circles of certain online blogs and people I already follow on twitter, based on the content they create. I find this is very easy to maintain and also to get an overview for one specific topic. In my case mostly social media, but you can create circles for your RP friends, your knitting group or whatever you may think of.
Feeding social media into Google+
The main objective I read about in the first weeks after Gplus was launched was ‘no, not another social network to keep up with’. And somebody listened, because with www.startgoogleplus.com you can feed your twitter and facebook timeline into your Google+ timeline. Or you can just have notifications for new posts, the fun keeps on growing.
Sparks
A feature I have only just started using, but seems quite effective is the Sparks function in Google+. You can add keywords here, that will be fed into a separate timeline for that Spark. Much like the feature in Google Reader, but since we’re checking the Gplus timeline a lot, why not have your latest news updates on Android feature in this account as well.
All in all I am quite happy with this new social medium, that allows you to send and discuss content with your peers or friends in an easy and well-connected social medium. Google+ I like!
Question: do you unfollow?
Posted on | March 18, 2011 | No Comments
Posed this question on twitter earlier after some thought on the subject: do you unfollow tweeps who do not follow you back? To me the answer is pretty clear, but it seems that others might have a different opinion. I use twitter to follow tweeps I find interesting and I use lists to follow companies or news blogs that I want to check on set times, instead of having them pop up in my timeline every so often. Especially news blogs tend to post a lot at once and fill up that timeline quickly.
But when you are being followed by a new person, especially someone who has tags in their profile that match your own, why not follow them back. And when you find an interesting blog or read a retweet, check the profile and maybe have someone new to follow.
My goal is to catch up on a specific topic, theme. Going online to find opinions contrary to my own, these are more about creating a social network from your twitter account. You seek interactions with the tweeps you follow and they need to follow you back in order to be able to have a conversation and to use DM. So do you unfollow your tweeps when they do not return the follow?
Twitter lists: follow a list instead of just one person
Posted on | March 6, 2011 | No Comments
Recently I have been looking more at twitter lists. These can be made by others, or you can compile one yourself based on a theme. It’s easier to do when you are actually interested in a specific theme. For me the challenge is still to find out how life sciences and biotech can make use of social media. What do other companies tweet about, what news can be found in the international life sciences sector. 
Examples of these might stimulate the Dutch sector to also go online and do more with online PR. Because that is in the end what we are about, branding and a positive attitude. Be it online or off, companies need a good reputation and new clients or investors.
I found a great list that really has the twitter accounts of the type of people I want to follow. The list was created by @Comprendia and is found here: @Comprendia/life-science-cos. It currently (on the writing of this post) follows 179 different accounts of companies and people ranging from technologies, to networks and marketing.
A list I decided to put together myself was of a number of bloggers and twitter posters I do not know, but have found while clicking and reading. Social Media bloggers and news sites place in one neat list (with room for more): @aveltema/social-media-blogs. Instead of following them all individually and losing quite a bit of the posts, I put them in a single list. Easy to browse through and also nice to see what hot topics are discussed by more people at once. I can recommend using lists for specific themes or topics of interest.
Also, getting listed for something that is relating to what you aim to build up online is a nice way of finding out if your account is effective. If my twitter account was listed under ‘garden lovers’ I’d be very surprised, however to find my name on a social media list is a great boost to keep going!
keep looking »Blog Lovin’
Follow Me!
NaNoWriMo participant
