A Start-Up’s Tale, Tweet by Tweet

A Start-Up’s Tale, Tweet by Tweet (WSJ)

This WSJ article covers how start-ups are document there experiences using Twitter.  It features a quote from TBG’s own David Murray.  The relevant section of the article is below:

Over the next few months, Mr. Callahan’s Twitter stream and blog documented, blow by blow, the start-up of a new business, with all of its victories and defeats. His experience suggests that wise use of social media could help speed the birth of many new ventures—not just those involved in social networking—if a business owner knows how to connect with the right people, learn from their conversations and weather the ups and downs that come with this new form of communication.

“Twitter is a digital handshake. It’s one of the fastest ways you can reach out to people,” says David Murray, director of social Web communications at Bivings Group, a Washington, D.C., consulting firm.

Utilizing Usability

“Usability” is a word used ad-nauseum in the web development world. Since most of us spend all day navigating and constructing sites, it’s easy to assume just about anyone can be an expert in usability if they’re even half aware of what makes a good or bad site.

Smashing Magazine, however, published an interesting article Thursday on uncommon findings about usability.

The list includes some interesting psychological research results like the fact that people look at images of other people’s faces – and then whatever those faces are pointing at.

Another surprising find was, according to a Jakob Nielsen study, 77 percent of web users do not scroll when visiting a site for the first time. This makes the phrase “above the fold” as important for web designers as it is for print.

Check out the rest of the article for more tidbits and facts, such as why all your links should be blue and why users ignore your advertising.

Some Facts about the Internet

This is a great video that throws out random facts about how the Internet and technology are changing our lives.  A couple to whet your appetite:

• The average America teen sends out 2,272 text messages each month.
• There are 240,000,000 televisions in the United States.  2,000,000 of those are in bathrooms.
• 40,000,000 people have been Rick rolled.

Medical Openness in Social Media

As social networking sites and technologies have flourished over the last few years, there has been much discussion about privacy today.  It is not that uncommon for people to provide updates about their personal lives on their Facebook accounts or Twitter feeds.  They talk about if they are sick, have a crush on somebody, are out partying, etc.

While this information sharing is innocuous at times while concerning at others, there are some social networks that are pushing the limits.  For instance, while at the O’Reilly Gov 2.0 Summit last week, I learned about the site PatientsLikeMe.  This is a fascinating site in which people with medical conditions come to connect with other people suffering from the same condition.  However, there is so much more than providing moral support and answering questions, people are expected to build detailed profiles about their bodies and health histories.  When they undergo treatment, they are encourage to share their experiences to it.  Does it give them gas?  Do they get headaches?  Is their sex life affected?  Of course, does the treatment actually work?

Now, it is one thing for me to announce on Facebook that I’m going to have Papa John’s Pizza for dinner tonight, but it is another to share personal side effects of a medication that I’m currently taking.  PatientsLikeMe does acknowledge privacy, but expounds upon the importance of openness on the site by stating: “You see, we believe sharing your healthcare experiences and outcomes is good…for a greater purpose: speeding up the pace of research and fixing a broken healthcare system.”  By sharing detailed health information about yourself, you help others understand how medical conditions and the procedures used to treat them work.

So, do you think that openly sharing your health information on the Internet is worth the potential it can to help others with their health?

Great Quote on News Industry

“…the news industry doesn’t suffer from a shortage of ideas or possible revenue models, it suffers from a different but more acute malady: being an institution during a time of disruptive change.”  Stop Giving the Newspapers Your Advice – They Don’t Need It