Lately, I have noticed that Social Media has begun to slowly sink its many tentacles into traditional media.

It has begun to utilise these mediums by linking back social metrics about our likes, habits, behaviours and wants into mainstream media, that brings a strong need to connect with brands, due to the way our brains are wired after the Social Networking revolution (circa 2004 - current).

Here our brains make the connection between: Familiar Advertising Methods (e.g. TV) and Social Media Data (e.g. Our ‘Likes’).

Over the weekend, I got to preview some new technology coming out towards the end of this year. For many, this is going to blow your mind. But before we get into this, let’s highlight the current context of Social Media infiltrating traditional media.

It all began as businesses started to get on board that good old beast called Facebook. Suddenly, adverts in print, radio, billboard and TV started appearing with “Find us on Facebook” … this slowly evolved to “Find out more about this deal on Facebook”.

Twitter came along and with our mobiles, allowed us to converse in real-time with brands, on the spot if we had to, rather than having an experience, getting home, writing a letter / email and sending it off to the customer relations team. No, these days the complaints letters are tweets and updates on Social Media against your brand (hence the importance of Social Monitoring).

There was also a time not too long ago when print ads asked you to call a number or visit a website. These have now been replaced with QR Codes, which deliver the user straight to the appropriate destination.

Australian twitter users would probably see lots of online conversation with the hashtags #qanda #thevoiceau in their streams …. Oh yes – we’re all already hooked on Social TV!

But the best is yet to come. This year, we will see a revolution that will more than likely have impacts on the way we watch TV, gather information, do our shopping and generally interact with brands and businesses.

As mentioned, over the weekend I got to preview some new technology around the Social TV. As this was not an official release, I will not advise the source or the stakeholders. I won’t even advise on all the new features. I will advise that it did most certainly WOW me.

One feature I really enjoyed was the Multi-Screen Feature.

Imagine watching your favourite cooking show. This is the first layer in your multiscreen. Along with the usage of Hashtags and Social Polls, it will pretty much contain what you know as TV today.

Now comes the beautiful technology integration.

The second layer. This sits behind your first layer, and can be accessed very easily. This layer now contains all the information you will need to make an informed choice about purchasing whatever has been placed into the first layer. In our cooking show example, this is the recipe to the dish being made. The method on cooking and the required ingredients.

But it doesn’t stop there. The third layer, sitting comfortably behind the second layer, is that list of ingredients with prices. That list links straight into your local / favourite grocery store. And with the press of a few buttons, your credit card is debited, and you have just purchased the items you have selected on the show you are watching.

Oh yes, the future is certainly here. Still a bit more tweaking to go with these features, but they are well and truly existent. I got to play around with them and am already hooked.

And as I said – that is only One of many brilliant, futuristic and mind boggling features coming out with Social TV.

As always, Share + Enjoy!

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What is a Twitter Forum?

A Twitter forum is an online session that will run for one hour. The forum is usually structured by a host/moderator who asks several questions over the course of the hour, and the community responds to the questions posed. Questions are tagged “Q1, Q2, Q3 …” and answers are tagged “A1, A2, A3…” The community can join the forum by searching under the designated #Hashtag. Every tweet each community member makes should include this hashtag, as it will be visible to anyone following the stream without having to follow people they don’t know. Normal Twitter interactions are also permitted, e.g. RT, Reply & @mention.

How to get involved in a Twitter Forum?

To start you will need Twitter or a Third Party Application.  If you don’t have a Twitter account, it’s simple to get started. I have shared the link at the bottom of this post.

In a Twitter forum, the content is based around one topic, so be sure to follow people who provide input which you like or other people who you find interesting.

Follow the #HashTag Stream

Twitter Forums are linked together with the usage of a #Hashtag. A Hashtag is a word with the # symbol in front of it. It represents a thought, a topic, an idea or a subject. In a Twitter forum, the #Tag will always be the same. For example if discussing the topic of equality, the #Hashtag will be #Equality.

To be sure your tweets register in the Twitter Forum, the #Hashtag must always be added to every tweet you send out. Otherwise, people who do not follow you, will be unable to see it.

What Twitter Platform works best?

There are several Twitter platforms that you can use to participate in a Twitter Forum. Below is a description of 4 of the most popular. The concept is the same if you are using a platform that is not listed below:

Twitter

On your homepage you will see your stream of tweets by the people you follow. A #Hashtag will appear in a different colour. Simply, click on this #Hashtag and that will take you into the Twitter forum. From here you can ‘reply’, ‘ReTweet’, join the conversation and watch the stream by updating.

If you are new to Twitter and have not started following anyone, you can search for the #Hashtag in the Twitter Search toolbar at the top of your page. Simply place the hashtag (e.g. #Equality) in the search bar and hit the little magnify glass. This will take you straight into the Twitter Forum.

From here, all you have to do to participate is ‘reply’ and / or ‘ReTweet’ the comments in the forum.

TweetDeck

If you are using TweetDeck, the principle is the same as Twitter.

On your ‘All Friends’ stream, you will see the tweets of the people you follow. If they are participating in the Twitter forum, click on the hashtag in their Tweet (e.g. #Equality) and this will open up a new ‘column’ titled: “Search: #Equality”. From here you can ‘reply’, ‘ReTweet’, join the conversation and watch the stream by updating.

If you are using TweetDeck and want to locate the Twitter Forum, you will need to add a column by clicking the grey circle with a + symbol inside it at the very top left of TweetDeck. A pop up window will appear, and you will be prompted to enter a Search keyword. Here place the hashtag (e.g. #Equality – don’t forget the Hash symbol) and the column will now appear on TweetDeck.

You are able to move where the column is positioned by clicking on the ß button at the bottom of each column. Personally, I like to place the Forum column next to my ‘mentions’ column to help me watch the stream and respond to other people during the conversation.

Hootsuite

Like TweetDeck, Hootsuite offer the ability to search and add a column for any Hashtag you use. Under the ‘Searches’ tab, simply enter the hashtag into the search field (e.g. #Equality) and hit the little magnify glass. This will pull all the info from Twitter that contains this hashtag. Now create a column and start interacting with the forum.

Echofon (mobile)

If you are following a Twitter forum from your phone, Echofon is a nice application to use to help you watch and interact with the stream.

Like all of the above application, clicking on the hashtag within a tweet, will automatically direct you into that Topic forum, as denoted by the #Tag.

If you want to search for the forum using Echofon, select the last menu option on the bottom right titled ‘Search’ and then type in the hashtag (e.g. #Equality). Once again, don’t forget to include the # symbol. This will now direct you into the forum, where you will be able to watch, participate, reply and ReTweet from your phone.

The Stream

Popular hashtags and forums usually move very quickly, so don’t be worried if you miss a lot of the content, just respond to what you see. If the stream is moving quickly in real-time, it means it is very popular and a hot topic. Sometimes there could be a few untrustworthy tweeters and bots out there, which tweet links to unfavourable sites. If the tweet doesn’t look legit, my advice would be not to click on the link. Bots usually don’t Tweet, they just post links.

Links

Twitter Sign Up Link: http://twitter.com/

Hope to catch a few of you in our forums!

As always, Share + Enjoy!

Lets Connect:

Twitter: @cosmicrami

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