Monthly Archives: April 2009

Twitter @johnarobb Weekly Updates for 2009-04-26

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  • Does the Oracle acquisition of Sun mean an end to #MySQL? I’d be afraid, very afraid. http://bit.ly/51IKs #
  • Not on a social network? Don’t worry someone you know is. Big Brother is out there. http://ping.fm/ZYI9V #
  • Going viral isn’t always about one camera and a fast food joint … 8 weeks, 400 cast, 10 hidden cameras. http://bit.ly/voqIj #
  • This is the original video RT @dianarocca: Viral marketing at its best…very cool video for T-Mobile: http://tinyurl.com/6wscga #
  • For @aplusk it was about new media’s power, unfortunately old media still has it. @oprah has 428,754 followers w/ 13 updates. #
  • Why doesn’t #twitter show me which of my accounts I’m logged in as? It should be obvious when you are about to follow someone. Agree? #
  • Going forward my #geocaching tweets will be under my @cachemania account. Follow me there if you do the Geocaching thing. #
  • RT @chasejarvis: BMW advert deftly hammers Audi. who doesn’t love this? : http://twurl.nl/ndi2sx #
  • RT @delamothe: The world’s leading consumer of online video… CANADA (ComScore, Feb) 88% of web population watched on average 10 hrs #
  • Just a heads up, if you send me a DM I can’t reciprocate unless you follow me. #
  • thanks @jimcrocker for pointing me to this handy tool http://whofollowswhom.com #
  • Is Google Latitude cool or creepy? #
  • geek humour: </argument concur=true> #
  • http://twitpic.com/3u6r2 – Just saying it doesn’t make it so. #
  • Taking my daughters to see Earth. My youngest is very excited. #
  • Earth … A pale blue dot. A beautiful pale blue dot. My kids recommend Earth. #
  • #followfriday @jimcrocker … great business acumen as well as having a sense of humour. I am constantly learning from him. #
  • http://twitpic.com/3vyl5 – Does too much sun turn you blue? #
  • RT @chaosmarine: #Learning http://tinyurl.com/y64ss5 … Some very interesting suggestions here. #
  • chapters online FAIL. Four attempts to buy book. I gave up. Problem? Loyalty card. Not building much loyalty. #
  • Good for safety, not so good for productivity RT @jimcrocker: productivity. killer. no more texting while driving http://bit.ly/UgrMu #

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Google Latitude Is Not Creepy

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I recently installed Google Latitude on my Blackberry.  My wife thought  that the fact that people can now follow me in real-time was very creepy.  She already thinks that Twitter is a bit like stalking.  I decided to ask my Twitter followers (this includes anyone that reads my status updates in various other locations) if they thought it was creepy.  I received five responses to my tweet: Google Latitude Cool or Creepy? All responders said it was creepy yet none of them actually use Google Latitude so their opinion is not based on the practical application of the technology.  It is clear that the notion of someone, anyone, being able to see where you are unnerves a certain portion of the population. 

As a user of Gooble Latitude I don’t think it’s Creepy because:

  1. only people you invite get to see your location
  2. you can turn it off at any time
  3. you can turn off or limit by user (exact location, city level only, or no location)
  4. you can “specify” a location.  

Could this technology be abused, absolutely.  Any technology is only as benign as the person using it.  Look at email.  It’s a great technology but I’m sure there is more than a little hate out there for spammers!

My take on Google Latitude is that it’s worth a look.  You can sort out for yourself whether you think it’s creepy or not.

What do you think, creepy or cool?  Leave your comments below.
[update] This post has been edited for clarity.

Twitter @johnarobb Weekly Updates for 2009-04-19

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  • Do right by the user and the user will do right by you. Ignore this and your goals will not be met regardless of how hard you try. #
  • sneak peek of new mobile showtimes, very #blackberry friendly: http://mobile2.tribute.ca … currently in testing. What do you think? #
  • This has to be seen to be believed. http://www.zappos.com/map/ #
  • If you are in Cambridge, Ontario try out Casa Greek. My wife and I regularly enjoy lunch there. #
  • Does posting multiple tweets in a row increase or decrease your value in the “link economy”? #
  • recompense for all my crimes of self defense – off to see the English Beat tonight. #
  • I’m now listed on the Local Twitter Directory for Cambridge, Ontario: http://www.loadedweb.com/twitter/ #
  • Time for a little twist and crawl. The English Beat is @ the Starlight in Waterloo, Ontario #
  • http://twitpic.com/3fpz8 – The English Beat on stage at the Starlight #
  • #followfriday @GinaLijoi marketing pro in Toronto. Thought provoking questions, helpful links. #
  • RT @dianarocca: Great tips and funny videos on “How To Nail An Interview” http://www.howtonailaninterview.com/ #
  • Is 6 degrees of separation a myth? Is Network science the next big thing? This documentary explores these concepts. http://bit.ly/zyxrb #
  • Just posted a bunch of pictures from my #Blackberry to #flickr http://ping.fm/Ft2P3 #

Is being social more important than being in Google?

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From time to time I use my personal blog for little experiments.   I recently hooked up my blog to my Twitter account to see what kind of effect it would have on traffic.  I’d start by saying it is positive.   Below is an image of the stats for this site over the last few days.   See below for an explanation of each referer and my conclusion on what effect being social has on website traffic.

Referers to johnarobb.com

Referers to johnarobb.com

  1. Organic traffic from Google.  Most of my search traffic from Google is because of either my Tablet Recipe or my Family History.
  2. Facebook traffic is mostly because I integrated my tweets as my Facebook status message.  So even though the traffic appears to be coming from Facebook it is really as a result of my twitter activity.
  3. Well if it’s coming from twitter it’s because I’ve posted a link to my blog.   The interesting thing here is that twitter sends almost half of what Google sends to my blog.  Is Google less important?
  4. Image searches are mostly looking for picture I took for my tablet recipe.   I guess it just goes to show that blended search is a reality.
  5. Buzzmachine is the blog of @jeffjarvis.   I commented on his blog after reading a tweet.  It turns out those URL links from comments actually help drive traffic.
  6. Davidairey.com is another blog I commented on.   If you leave thoughtful comments people will follow the link to your site.
  7. A link to my family history page
  8. Another link to my family history page
  9. more image searches
  10. you really need to believe in this blended search thing.
First a couple of caveats.  My blog doesn’t get a ton of traffic.  Maybe my sample size is too small.   I’d point to stats from other sites for comparison but none of the other sites I have access to use social media to this extent.
As an added bonus when I link to out to other blogs via my tweets those links are listed in the ping backs for my blog.  Here’s an example of how my tweet generated a ping back to my blog:
Waxing UnLyrical ping back

Waxing UnLyrical ping back

Conclusion:
Using social media has long-term SEO and traffic benefits that should not be underestimated.   Links tend to live a long time.  The act of providing insight via tweet or via comments earns you some equity in the link economy.  Use that equity wisely.
I might also post this entry at my SEO Blog.

Twitter @johnarobb Weekly Updates for 2009-04-12

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