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Tag: Instagram

  • 5 For Friday — Links, Stories & Posts For Your Weekend

    2068779988_4422f1bf5e_b1. Dusting The Website For Spring: Optimization and SEO Cleaning — SEOmoz

    How long has it been since you spent some time cleaning up your website? I’m sure for many of us, it’s been far too long. In this post, Scott Wyden Kivowitz gives some great tips for dusting on-site and off. A cleanup might be exactly what you need to increase your web presence. A good deal of the post focuses on social media and the benefits of linking your website to your various accounts. When it comes to off-site initiatives, social media is important once again, as you want to make sure you’re active on your accounts. Overall, this article has a lot of great advice when it comes to the little things you can do to get your website out there!

    2. Facebook To Add More Support For Emoji Within Status Updates, Comments — AllFacebook

    According to AllFacebook, the “Unofficial Facebook Blog,” the social media giant is fully embracing the popularity of Emojis. I’m sure you’ve noticed the recent addition to your status bar, where Facebook now asks how you are feeling. Apparently this was only the first step. Comments are now Emoji-laden as well, and Facebook is adding new support for the animated addition. Unlike most Facebook changes, the presence of Emojis seems popular with users, who are apparently grateful for an additional way to express themselves—especially such an adorable way. I’m sure you can all expect to see many more cartoon cats on your newsfeed in the upcoming weeks.

    3. Hipstamatic Battles Instagram With Oggl iPhone App — PC Mag

    Apparently Hipstamatic is making attempting to regain lost popularity with a new product called Oggl. Could this possibly be enough to replace Instagram in our hearts? As a latecomer to the iPhone, I’ve never used Hipstamatic, as Instagram was already the go-to photo app by the time I switched from Droid. Maybe this makes me biased toward Instagram, but I don’t foresee a big shift. Apparently Oggl allows you to edit photos after you’ve already taken them. The same filters and lenses from Hipstamatic are still available, though. According to this post, it seems like the makers are marketing the new venture as a more art-focused app (Oggl is NOT for selfies!). I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if edgy marketing can overtake Instagram’s immense popularity.

    4. Instagram Now Lets Anyone Tag You [Or Brands] In Photos, Adds Them To “Photos Of You” Profile Section — TechCrunch

    In case you missed, it, last week Instagram launched photo tagging. I know what you’re thinking: “It’s about time!” There’s now even a Photos Of You section, so you can keep track of pictures you’ve been tagged in. I’m still trying to decide if I like this switch, as I kind of enjoyed Instagram’s focus on photos rather than people. In this post, TechCruch’s Josh Constantine explains how this signals a new emphasis on identity for Instagram. (He has another interesting blog post linked on this page that further examines the issue.) He also tells you exactly how to use it, in case you’re interested!

    5. Google Removes Related Searches – Blind Five Year Old

    For those who haven’t noticed, Google has removed the Related Searches feature from Search. For many of us, this was an important tool when it came to keyword research and will be sorely missed. In this post, Blind Five Year Old owner AJ Kohn, who’s pretty upset about the change, laments Google’s neglect of SEOs. It’s really interesting to hear his take on why Internet marketing matters, and how individuals working in SEO actually benefit Google. According to the post, it’s SEOs that are “demystifying search,” to help websites, which helps Google in turn. In fact, spurning SEO may end up hurting Google in the long run.

     

  • 5 Tips for Proper Hashtag Usage


    I love social media. I also love staying organized. The great thing about hashtags is they bring the two together. For those who don’t know, hashtags are a way to categorize a post on social media platforms, like Twitter and Instagram, by tagging it with descriptive words or phrases. Hashtags are also helpful for businesses running specific campaigns to monitor what followers are saying about their company. Although we all love reading about the latest social media blunders, we never want to fall victim to them ourselves. That is why I’ve compiled a list of questions to ask yourself when choosing a hashtag.

    1. Is this hashtag trending?

    Trending hashtags are a great way to get your message out there, and even help you brainstorm interesting, relevant tweets. If you can seamlessly incorporate your message with a trending topic, others will be able to see your post when browsing that hashtag. Although trending topics are a great first step in choosing a good hashtag, you should be careful to understand why the hashtag is trending. This takes me to the next question…

    2. How is this hashtag currently being used?

    Before hitting the submit button, you absolutely want to see how the hashtag is being used. Learn a lesson from Entenmann’s. Back in 2011 when Casey Anthony’s trial ended with a verdict of “not guilty,” Entenmann’s tweeted the following using a trending hashtag:

    Angry, Entenmann’s followers made their disapproval known causing the company to delete the message and issue an apology.
    3. Is this hashtag concise, yet descriptive

    You want to make sure your audience can read and understand the hashtag, whether you are posting for a business or your own personal account. This is important if you are a business trying to start a hashtag campaign, like Dominos or Edge shave gel, or simply telling friends about your new shoes. While it may seem funny to have a long hashtag (example: “Gabrielle stole my favorite sweater AGAIN #mysisterdrivesmecrazy”) it is not easily read at first sight. One way to make hashtags easier to read it to capitalize the first letter of each word in the hashtag. However, if you find your hashtag looking something like an excerpt from a Charles Dickens novel, you should probably just shorten the whole thing altogether. If your hashtag is easily read by your audience, it has a greater chance at being effective.

    4. Is this hashtag too broad?

    While it may be topical to your message, broad hashtags are generally not searched. If you are a business, ideally you would like your hashtags to be interesting and search-worthy, as this could bring new eyes to your message. If your hashtag is not searched, it will not help you reach new audiences. Another problem with broad hashtags, for both business and personal profiles, is that they do not add additional value to your message.


    In this example, the hashtag #hat does not offer any additional insight, and causes the tweet to become repetitive.

    5. Does the place I am posting to recognize hashtags?


    As funny as it may seem, it is important to know that the hashtag you send your friend via text is not recognized online. That being said, here is a list of a few places that do and do not recognize hashtags.

    These places DO recognize hashtags
    -Twitter
    -Instagram
    -Google+
    -LinkedIn
    -Pinterest

    These places DO NOT recognize hashtags
    -Text messages
    -Facebook (although they are working on incorporating hashtags now)

     

     

    Whether your posts are seen by millions of viewers or just your closest friends, the important idea here is to think before you post. Let’s make 2013 a year with no social media mistakes!

  • Quick! Delete Your Instagram Account! (Or Don’t.)

    Instagram, the popular photo sharing app recently acquired by Facebook, will be changing its Terms of Service next year. This change in terms, slated to take effect January 16th, provoked a massive storm of criticism because of ambiguous language that some interpreted as allowing the company to sell the licensing to photos posted on the site to various advertisers.

    CUE INTERNET MOB WITH PITCHFORKS AND TORCHES

    Simpsons Mob Fun Run

    The language in question states that in using Instagram, “you agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your username, likeness, photos (along with any associated metadata), and/or actions you take, in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation to you.”

    Instagram's new terms before the backlash.This didn’t sit well with the app’s user base, who instantly began posting screenshots of the new terms as photo shares on the service and started up boycott initiatives. Even someone claiming affiliation with the hacker collective Anonymous called on its followers to ditch the service. A contingency of users has even urged others to switch to the Yahoo-owned photo sharing service, Flickr. (Long before this kerfluffle, Flickr wrote an official blog post saying the company “feel(s) very strongly that sharing online shouldn’t mean giving up rights to your photos.”)

    What does all of this mean? Is a photo of your child going to become the new flagship image for the Gerber campaign? Probably not: in face of the uproar, the company produced clarifications within hours. Co-founder Kevin Systrom put out an official statement from the company apologizing for the confusion over the new terms, saying “it is not our intention to sell your photos. We are working on updated language in the terms to make sure this is clear.” Systrom also stressed that Instagram’s users are the owners of their own content, and that the company had no intent to use its users’ content in advertisement. The offending text from the new terms has been removed.

    Instagram claims it never intended to use your photos in advertisements and they weren’t claiming ownership to license them out to major ad campaigns either. While I don’t think the language used in the new terms was as vague as some claims make it out to be, I don’t think Instagram had the ominous intent to freely sell your photos to advertisers. Instagram was merely trying to set up the legal grounds for promoted/sponsored posts in your photo feed. What’s really remarkable about this whole story, however, is the speed with which the whole thing took place. The terms were released, outrage spread across the web and social media sphere, and within hours, the head of the company was personally issuing a statement. This rapidity is becoming typical for doing business on the social web: the Hitman social media game that included misogynistic and crude content was pulled in just an hour, and in the infamous Susan G. Komen debacle, the company was forced to reverse its position just days after announcing their deeply unpopular decision to cut funding to Planned Parenthood in the face of a massive online uproar. The fact that Instagram was so willing to clarify its position in plain language actually speaks to a greater transparency and user responsiveness in online business: the mistakes that provoke these bad PR storms are inevitable, so let’s hope the trend of immediate address continues.

  • Instagram Web Profiles Bring Nashville Filter to the Masses

    Screen Shot 2012-11-07 at 1.25.38 PMPhoto sharing service Instagram announced the release of brand new web profiles for all users last week, some two years after the launch of its iOS app. Although this is big news for your average Instagrammer, the addition is also a major breakthrough for businesses who use the app for photo editing and social sharing. The new web profiles have already begun launching, and the majority of Instagram users can expect a new profile featuring their photos within the coming week.

    Not only does the new functionality improve a business’s ability to monitor and respond to comments on photos, it also adds the ability to direct users on other networks to follow your account. Previously, it was difficult to encourage fans to follow your account within the app-only software because there was no easy way to find individual profiles without manually searching. The new web profiles add the “Follow” function directly on each individual profile, which allow businesses to link easily to their page and improve their reach. This new feature will also allow customers who do not have Instagram accounts to see your photo stream without downloading the app.Screen Shot 2012-11-07 at 1.26.12 PM

    The web profile layout is extremely similar to Facebook, with one major exception: no news feed. In order to view a user’s profile, you have to manually go to instagram.com/[username] or click a direct link. It seems likely that there may be some sort of “explore” or feed feature in the future, but as of right now it can only be used to directly visit pages. You can click on user profiles of people who comment or like your photos, which would allow businesses to follow back people who interact with their brand.

    Screen Shot 2012-11-07 at 1.59.51 PMThe new design also includes a follow button on individual photos, so Instagram users can easily add other users to their feed from photos sourced elsewhere, such as Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. I’ve already seen some businesses showing off their new web profile pages on Facebook, with links back to the page for maximum follow value. The integration of that button should help increase Instagram follower counts significantly for many business pages.

    All in all, the new design seems destined to help more users reach your business page, and will hopefully lead to increased interaction for your Instagram photos. With a little self-promotion on other social networks, Instagram profiles can now easily reach wider audiences, and showcase your brand’s identity to more potential customers. Has your business gotten a web profile yet? Check it out, and let us know what you think!