That Facebook is in the top three of most visited websites in the U.S., and the most visited social media in North America does come as a surprise. But that Facebook tops the list of most visited in Africa (over 17 million users) is not as obvious. This fact, together with that the continent now has more than 600 million mobile phone users opens up for major opportunities for businesses using social media. Africa has had the highest rise of mobile Internet penetration in recent years and by 2016 it is estimated that there will be 1 billion phones in Africa*. Further sign of the Facebook’s significance is that it has already been launched in 3 of the major languages – Swahili, Hausa and Zulu.

Except for the extensive growth and future outcomes, one interesting thing with Internet usage in Africa is that it is currently used different as in rest of the developed world. In Africa Internet is primarily used for using social media and be entertained, whereas in the developed world Internet is used to find things, check e-mail, and do social media. In other words the increased usage of Internet in Africa is highly connected to use of social medias, namely Facebook. Moreover if knowledge sharing could be integrated into social media, not only using it for entertainment, could be the beginning of something big.

* Map shows social media area of usage in Africa (grey fields = no data)

 *http://www.screenafrica.com/page/news/africa/1402055-The-rise-of-social-media-in-Africa#.UKyuQqVnoTV

SAS’s risk for bankruptcy have dominated the Swedish newspapers the last couple of days, and caused a lot of worry for some of my Swedish friends here at UBC. Yesterday the announcements that everybody hoped for came; SAS managed to reach a deal with trade unions to avoid bankruptcy. SAS personnel have worked day and night to manage the crisis and one of the things that caught my attention was the great focus on how SAS successfully have managed to keep customer informed by being highly active on social medias, namely Twitter. Cecilia Saberi is responsible for the company’s online communication and she is the one who have been acclaimed for her heroic Twitter effort. Cecilia believes social media is a golden opportunity to account for the company’s motto “Service and simplicity”, and have therefore continued put effort into it after the success of reaching out to customers via social medias during last year’s ash-clouds crisis.

I believe this is a very relevant example that correlates to what we have learnt in class about how companies can leverage social medias. Customers have noticed that they can receive answers quicker by the use of social medias (compared to e.g. phone) and it is important for companies to recognize this, especially in crisis. SAS have understood that the key to effective customer support is on social media is response time, and this has led to loads of positive comments around the company after the crisis.

A friend of me recently posted Air New Zealand’s new in-flight safety video on my Facebook. Since I have never flown with them, a legitimate question would be – why? The answer is simple; it is not a regular safety video. Air New Zealand has a record of spicing up their videos for increased attention; in the past the national rugby team and Richard Simmons has starred in their videos. This time the video was Tolkien inspired, relating to the release of the new Hobbit movie. The movie manages to have a great deal of humour in it, and still be informative and professional. I find it interesting how Air New Zealand increases the passenger’s awareness of the safety concerns, Air New Zealand and the movie at the same time by only using a video. This shows how great power social videos has, and explains why they are on the rise.

eMarketer defines social videos as video advertising or content that easily can be shared on social medias, email lists etc., often being longer than traditional advertisements (15-30 seconds). In their recent article “Social Video: The Next Wave in Digital Advertising”, they show that 1,362,9 million social videos where viewed in the first quarter of 2012, compared to 773 in last years first quarter. Social videos has proven to be able to reach out beyond the original target audience, and makes it easier for the marketers to determine the return on investments, compared to traditional advertisements. This is something Air New Zealand is well aware of and is managing successfully. Who would have thought that an In-flight safety video ever would achieve viral success? Not me, but as the rise of social videos continues it probably won’t be long until next unexpected video advertisement pops up on my Facebook.

“An unexpected briefing”: http://youtu.be/cBlRbrB_Gnc

My university recently reached the next level in Dropbox’s Space Race, a competition that aims to refer Dropbox to classmates in order to get increased space. Thanks to my university’s great amount of referrals I know have 8 GB. Dropbox have been the only online cloud storage service for me since I first got introduced to the concept. It was not until Google introduced Google Drive that I started to reflect and further look into the alternative free cloud store services that are out there, and I discovered several services offering the same amount of space, or more, and that are seen to be better than Dropbox. Examples are Sugar Sync, File Savr, Glide and Google Drive. Glide having the impressing amount of 30GB available free.

I find it interesting that I always have had Dropbox without even considering looking into alternatives, which leads to the next question – how do they work to attract new and keep current customers? The two obvious and crucial factors are space vs. price. Dropbox was successful in managing the freemium model (basic features free, pay to get further benefits) in a time where there where not much competition. However, today there are a vast variety of different similar services, offering higher space limit than Dropbox without extra charge (e.g. Glide). Even among the most known services that aims at the consumer and home user (Google Drive, iCloud, and Microsofts SkyDrive) Dropbox is offering the least amount of space, 2GB. Dropbox’s Space Race is a sign that Dropbox feels threatened, and the competition makes the service superior in free space over Google Drive, iCloud, Sugar sync and SkyDrive. It is important to remember that Dropbox is a very strong brand, but so is Google which additionally offers popular connecting features as e.g. Google Docs, that ads value to its cloud service. Thanks to the success in the competition I have decided to stay with Dropbox for time being, but more and more of my files are added to Google drive. I’m looking forward in following the development of free online cloud services and see if for how long the companies will be able to charge for x amount of space.

In April 2011 Internet Explorer had a 57,8 per cent market share, in October 2011 it went below 50%, and earlier this year Google Chrome (who had about 18% market share in beginning of 2011) overtook Internet Explorer. Google’s web browser now has a market share of 35%, which is the largest share among the top 5 web browsers (Internet Explorer, Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Opera). After Chrome past Firefox in November 2011 it only took one year for Chrome to overtake Internet Explorer (IE). From the beginning of 2011 Chromes growth compared to IE:s decline is in a similar rate, while the other browsers remain fairly steady; showing that Chrome was stealing market share from IE. Some journalists earlier this year believed Chrome’s share will go beyond 50% in the end of this year, which is not impossible but having 35% last month I see it as unlikely. Even though Chrome is in the lead now it is an industry where a lot can happen in a short time. As more and more of our daily functions and data store requirements move to the Internet we are likely to see an interesting and highly competitive battle between the browsers in the near future.

I stumbled in to these figures when investigating my client’s compatibility to different web browsers, and I think it is fascinating how the domination of Google is found in so many different areas. I also find it interesting what makes people choose one browser over another. The main reasons behind my changes have been due to change of computer and referrals from friends, hence these are the two reasons that come to mind.  But I guess, as internet-usage increases people are getting more aware of what they are looking for in a good browser. It will be very interesting to see how the market share is distributed in two years from now, as the knowledge of the consumer increases.

Here at Sauder, UBC, most of my course readings are online articles. Out of five courses only one has a required book. In my home university it is quite the opposite, hence I began reflecting about the differences in reading from a computer/iPad compared to reading a paperback.

When looking around I found that I am not the only one interested in the comparison. Maia Szalavitz has written the article Do E-Books Make It Harder To Remember What You Just Read?*. Here she takes up different researches and findings regarding this particular subject. What I found as most interesting is that when we are reading from a computer more repetition is needed to inform the same kind of information, and when reading books we seem to grasp the material at a deeper level. This has partly to do with the lesser amount of associations and landmarks at a digital document compared to a paperback. This is important since it is easier to recollect memory that is based on various associations. Printed text in books or documents is easier to navigate through since it has a physical reference point, which an e-book and electronic document don’t have.

What also caught my attention is researches on that the grade of memory from an e-text is dependent on the size of the screen; small screens e.g. mobile phones makes it harder to remember than reading of e.g. a big computer screen. Regarding the reading-speed Jakob Nielsen has made a study in 2010 comparing the iPad and the Kindle with books. This led to the result that the iPad measured being about 6% slower than a printed book and the Kindle around 10% slower than print. After presenting the results they follow up by saying that due to a fairly high variability in the data it is hard to determine which device offers the fastest reading speed and that the only possible conclusion is that iPad still hasn’t beaten the printed book*.

I find the combination of lack in reading-speed and decreased memory highly interesting since it is something probably many people may experience now in the rise of new electronic solutions to books and documents. Of course there are many arguments for reading on an iPad or Kindle that one can weigh against the reading speed and memory, but it is important to keep in mind when investing in a Kindle or reading an important document from an iPad.

The fact that you most likely will be reading this post on either an iPad or smaller computer screen makes me question my whole idea of writing a post about this. I guess you just have to repeat it a couple of times!

* http://healthland.time.com/2012/03/14/do-e-books-impair-memory/

* http://www.useit.com/alertbox/ipad-kindle-reading.html

One may think that the vast increase in watching movies, series and TV-programs online on either a tablet or a computer would have decreased the amount of hours spent in front of a television, but a recent report from E-marketer proves that the figure is remaining the same, with a slight increase in some cases. For me this fact is surprising since I almost started to see the end of traditional TV-watching. As the article describes reasons for an increase for respondents under 50 years old was because of their possibility in further multitasking while watching TV. The most popular activity (34%) is, not surprisingly, posting comments on Twitter, Facebook or a blog about the TV-show being watched*. Other activities are looking up advertised products or visiting shows’ websites.

When reading the report, and remembering this summer when my mom used three different digital devices to be able to watch all the Olympic disciplines at the same time, it makes sense. Instead of taking out each other, it looks like TV-time is increasing hand in hand with using tablet and tablet TV. Nonetheless even though the degree of traditional TV-watching is staying the same, the traditional TV-experience is changing because of today’s multitasking. It is more seldom now for a family to gather in the living room and watch a TV-show together. Instead they are all on their phones or tablets and the TV-show is received less attention.

* http://www.emarketer.com/(S(t1dbt545e1mlujiknbqcinbo))/Article.aspx?R=1009405

Why do people in general ignore online privacy policies? Is it because of laziness, complicated texts, or is it because people are not aware of their function? If the privacy policies were around two pages and easy to understand I would call it laziness, but we all know that is not the case. I believe the major problem lies in the complexity in finding the terms that interests you as a user, and knowledge of how you can change your privacy settings.

I have specifically two sites where I feel a bit worried of giving away too much of my privacy, namely Google and Facebook. When it comes to Google I feel less aware of the privacy policies. Since I am a frequent user of Google’s products as for example Google translate and Google docs, and recently changed to Gmail, I should know more than I do.

In March this year Google introduced a new privacy policy that collect information from all of its services (gmail, youtube, google+ ec.), with the purpose of better tailor search queries based on the users interest. This has created a lot of discussion, especially towards the fact that the users don’t have a possibility of opting out. Meaning that if you don’t want Google to have a detailed description of you by combining information from all platforms, your only option is to stop using all of Google’s products. Google’s reason – it would be too difficult*. I am not an opponent to Google, I am very thankful for many of the services they are offering, I just use the company as an example. The thing that worries me is if information as e.g. Google possess comes in the wrong hands, because of money or illegal reasons. Bottom line is, for the websites you visit often, make an effort in reading the privacy policies so you know what you are signing up for. There are alternatives out there, yes, even for Google.

*http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/09/opinion/ghitis-google-privacy/index.html

I have never been so exposed and dependent on social medias since I started my exchange term here at UBC in Vancouver. Everything from the total amount of groups I am part of on Facebook, to the frequency I check my Swedish friends’ pictures on Instagram has increased vastly. There are heaps of social medias out there but so far I’ve only joined the two mentioned, and it has always been with a touch of reluctance; e.g. I have never posted a status update and rarely press “like”. The reason, well I guess it’s a combination of feeling no need in doing so, together with my astonishment/repugnance of people who post the most questionable status updates.

Social media has no doubt increased the social experiences both online and offline, and it has many advantages that I find very useful. I love the fact that you can keep contact with friends in distant places and how easily you can arrange activities, but I find some of the social impacts that come with it worrying. What I found as most interesting is the rise of comparisons that I believe has emerged through the usage of social medias such as Facebook. In my circle of friends, having around 500 friends is seen as normal, and I know many that have many more than that. This makes the information you’re exposed to daily massive. This massive flow of information has increased the possibility to compare oneself with others, and since the personal information posted tend to be positive and sometimes even perceived as bragging, you are more likely to feel less of yourself and become anxious. Being in my early twenties, constantly thinking of my choice of path, I occasionally feel that Facebook contributes to an even more puzzled mind. I often end up comparing with other achievements and choices, even though I try to remind myself not to. Of course it can also be motivating, but unfortunately I believe it more often has a negative effect. Comparisons lie in our nature but we are not used to comparing ourselves with so many “successful” people that comes as an effect of e.g. unilateral Facebook.

Earlier this year Microsoft’s search engine Bing introduced a “social search” feature with the slogan “It’s amazing what you can do when your friends becomes a part of your search”. Google did the same when they debuted the new search tool that draws results from their social media Google+. As icing on the cake Mark Zuckerberg announced Facebook’s development of a search engine last week. There’s no doubt that social search is growing and if/when Facebook’s search engine is introduced, social search will take a giant leap forward.

The idea of making the search social is to get relevant information quickly and easily find out what your friends think about it. If I for example type in “Activities in Vancouver”, my friend’s photo album “Weekend in Tofino”, another friend’s movie “Skiing in Whistler”, and how many likes Vancouver Art Gallery have, would pop up next to the relevant web pages.

I believe it’s a natural step forward in today’s Internet based world, but I’m doubtful of my opinion. In the area of e.g. travel I can see myself having great help of a social-search, but I am also afraid that the great amount of different opinions will make it harder for me to make up my own.