Author Archives: Kaitlyn White

Foursquare grew 3400% in 2010

24th January 2011

If you think check-ins are a fad, you may want to think again. More than 380,000,000 checked-ins occurred in 2010 via Foursquare alone.

Foursquare has released a pretty neat infographic breaking down their membership statistics including some interesting caveats such as when movie theatre check-ins spiked, top venues worldwide and more.

Check out the entire infographic on the Foursquare blog here.

The Perks of a High Klout Score

22nd January 2011

Klout has called itself the standard of influence for measuring individual influence across Facebook and Twitter. With 500 Million and 175 Million users respectively, the tool has certainly defined a way to navigate the chatter and overload we all face in social. However, up to this point, the biggest concern for an influence score as an individual is so what? My score is a 45 (a drop from a 51 only a month ago, but who’s counting right?), but what does in earn me?

In a sea of millions of members across networks, searching for the perfect candidate to spread your businesses’ next big thing feels like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Klout is working to change that.

Earlier this month, Klout announced Perks, a platform allowing Klout users with high scores in targeted area, demographics, etc. to be rewarded  with, you guessed it, perks. For example, the company is currently running a campaign in San Francisco along with Audi allowing selected users to take the new Audi A8 for a test drive at an upcoming event as well as a chance to win a luxury weekend getaway.

It’s pretty clear that is is win-win for both sides. Exclusivity for users, perks for being the highly socially engaged. The brand finds not only a highly defined test market, but a market inherently inclined to spread the message to peers that are ready to listen.

As outbound communication becomes more and more defined by the actions of users rather than the advertisements of brands, these platform enhancement will help to finally uncover the ever elusive ROI we were all searching for in social in 2010.

How to: Solve a sudoku puzzle by snapping a picture

12th January 2011

The power of mobile continues to amaze me each and everyday. And I have to say, this recent advancement would have come in pretty handy during those “difficult” days of filling in puzzles from the Red & Black while in class at UGA.

Check out the video below on how Google Goggles can now solve your sudoku puzzle. If you are not familiar with the application, Google Goggles allows user to do a visual Google search from his/her phone. Simply snap a photo, and it works to recognize the image using their image database.

As we see more mobile advancements in 2011, the uses of applications such as Goggles and it’s implications for search, branding, etc. are endless.