The Power of Social Media

Either you've been living under a rock for the past week or you realized exactly how strong the power of social media is. If you have been living under a rock, I'll briefly explain what happened.
On April 16, two bombs exploded at the Boston marathon, essentially killing three people and injuring over 170 more. This event was such a monstrosity and absolutely despicable, however, without social media we might have never found the attackers.
As with any marathon, many spectators took photos of the race with their phones and one man actually took a photo just after the second bomb exploded. He subsequently sent this photo to police and it was used to track down the suspect.
But here's where social media is really involved: the man posted the photo of one of the attackers on Facebook and it spread like wildfire. Friends of friends starting sharing the photo which caused it to spread even more and people also commented with information they had regarding the suspect. As well, with Twitter, everyone updated with their own information faster than the news could. People turned to Twitter for information rather than the news because Twitter is as real-time as it gets. The two guys that are considered responsible for the bombings were both caught in less than a week, although one suspect passed away in a shoot-out with police.
The link with social media and this case is incredible. I can only imagine what would have happened if social media was around when JFK was shot. Only a small number of individuals ever took photos that even showed the shooter and even then, it still took time and money to get the film developed. It took even longer for news to spread and even then it had to seem relevant to a higher source for it to even begin to spread. Nowadays interesting information can spread much quicker.
This case also highlights the importance of information from our peers. Most people turned to Twitter for their news during this tragedy, which also sparks the debate about the news and how they could become more real-time in a real-time reliant world. That is for another day. I just think it's nice to see what can come from social media when we learn to use it to help us rather than hinder us.

New era in social media?

I can't help but think about the current change in social media. Long gone are the days of sitting in front of a computer scrolling through websites such as MySpace and Facebook (unless you're over 65, in which case you have time to do that). Everything has changed from sitting and actually reading status updates or looking through an entire album of photos, to more of a quick scroll viewing process.
I'll call this the "scroll-view" although I can assume I didn't make that up. When social media websites first arrived, everyone wanted a place to socialize with everyone. Or so they thought...but now it seems as the more people join Facebook, the less active everyone is.
Many people I know prefer Twitter because they say it's less invasive. You don't have to have your full name or any photos and you can post freely about anything. But with Facebook it's really like a profile into your life, so it seems as though many people use it less and less.
As well, with Twitter, you're limited to 150 words, which eliminates those annoying "OH MY GOD MY LIFE IS SO BAD, I JUST HAD THE WORST DAY EVER...First I woke up and fell out of the bed, stubbed my toe, then slipped in the shower...." posts that no one really cares about.
Not only that, Instagram offers the whole scroll-view process as well. You can only upload one photo at a time, which sort of limits you to some extent. I don't mean to say that Facebook isn't "scroll-view" but something about complete and absolute freedom seems to bore people. Maybe we need a limit on how many photos we post or how long our updates are.
Along with the whole scroll-view process comes the tablet. This revolutionized the way we consume content. Not to mention, apps offer many more unique ways to stay in touch with friends rather than just writing on someone's Facebook wall.
So although we want social media, we also want privacy and exclusivity. When Facebook was college exclusive, so many more of my friends used it, and now it's like the long lost shirt you loved at one point, but kind of forgot about.

Is Piki the new Pandora and Spotify?

I must start out by saying I love Pandora and Spotify, but I've always felt as if there should be something more. I love that with Pandora, songs are automatically played based on your "taste," but you have very little control besides stating that you like or dislike something. With Spotify, you simply play songs that you want to hear. Sometimes I'll search playlists, but other than that I'm on my own.
However, just released is a new app called Piki and here's how it works:

1. Add songs you love to your profile (hence the name "Piki")
2. Find and follow people with "great taste in music" (or really just your taste in music)
3. Start listening to a mix of all of their music

I've always wondered why your friends' taste in music wasn't prevalent in any apps or music sites. Now you can follow all of your friends and make playlists based on what they like. This is, essentially, what happened in the 90's when you'd make a mixtape for your friend (of everything you liked haha).
As free apps such as this become more prevalent, marketers can find unique ways to draw in these crowds of people.

ModCloth is gettin' it right!

One thing I've noticed (while looking for bridesmaids' dresses) is that hardly any websites actually organize their dress selection. I know this seems extremely mundane, but many know exactly what they want and do not want to look through twenty pages to find it!
For instance, on Pinterest many women have a wedding inspiration board and will post dresses and other items according to...COLOR! So why would a company with thousands of different dresses not organize their selection according to color?
As well, many women prefer a certain fabric such as silky lace or dreamy chiffon and the color is not as important to them. ModCloth is one of the only companies that I believe has done something right. First of all, they have organized by color...

ModCloth also has a vintage wedding style selection too.
You can also search by designer, length of dress, size, price, and even what type of dress:

As women begin looking to more casual dresses for their bridesmaids, I think ModCloth will become a huge supplier. They recognize not just one need from the consumer, but multiple needs, making it a memorable shopping experience.