Julia Roy, A Digital Girl

The Top Foursquare User List

I discovered from a post on Techcrunch today that I am ranked #8 on the newly released Top Foursquare User list by Osnapz. When I saw that I was within the top 10 "most friended" users on on Foursquare I was definitely surprised because Foursquare to date hasn't provided friend count stats on user profiles. They measure and display a lot of other statistics on user profiles like number of check-in's, badges, mayorships, etc., but not friends. I was never sure why they didn't show a friend count on profiles, but I imagine it is because they wanted to encourage and reward users for their participation rather than popularity (which is what Twitter does by only displaying following and follower stats on user profiles rather than any kind of real engagement metric).

With that said, since I started on Foursquare I have had a few debates with other Foursquare users about the fact that I accept every Foursquare invite I receive, no matter if I know who they are or not. I always understood the argument against accepting friend requests from people you don't know. Foursquare is a platform for users to inform their friends where they are hanging out and compete with each other for the most number badges, which signifies who is the most adventurous out of the group.

Although I respect why most people restrict their Foursquare network to real life friends, I've always looked at it differently. I like to use Foursquare when I am out socializing and crusin' around NYC as a way to help me connect in real life, with both the people I know very well, and people I don't know well at all (yet). When investing so much time into digital relationships, it's a unique opportunity to be able to tell my close friends where I am at, and at the same time unexpectedly meet others that I likely would have never connected or had a real life conversation with. 

Also, as Foursquare expands to more cities and countries, the opportunity when traveling to meetup with and learn from your Foursquare friends who live there can make an unknown city a friendly, local experience. As soon as you switch cities on Foursquare, you can see what the locals are doing and where the most checked-in hangouts are.

I've had lots of people tell me that sharing my location publicly, with people that are practically strangers, is weird and creepy. But they also said similar things about Twitter in the beginning, and look what Twitter has done to change the way millions of people connect, communicate and learn from each other. And although at first it feels awkward, there is nothing better than turning a stranger into a friend.

Your Tweet Cloud is Telling

I joined Twitter on January 13th of 2007 and to date I have posted a total of 8,134 tweets. I've shared my  many thoughts, opinions, links, personal feelings and interests with my followers over the years. The reality is, Twitter has been my main vehicle to express myself, share my life with others and learn and grow from the wisdom and support of those I follow in return.

Since Twitter has been my main outlet and communication channel for quite some time now, I often wonder what my aggregated conversation looks like. Do my tweets over time reveal obvious patterns and common threads of opinion, interest and emotion. Well, of course they do, but I want a detailed report.

There are plenty of sites out there that allow you to generate "word clouds" from your latest tweets. These services aggregate, combine and arrange your most recent and frequent words posted to Twitter and visualize it back to you, revealing your most common and public thoughts, emotions and conversations. A good example of a word cloud generator is Wordle, which creates beautiful word clouds from any URL or RSS feed you enter. 

Even though Wordle and sites like it are fun to play with, when it comes to looking at Twitter conversation I'm more interested in understanding the use of words over time. I think it is much more insightful and meaningful to analyze an entire year of someone's tweets, than it is to simply looking at the last week or so. Enter - a newly launched, more extensive Twitter word cloud generator by Chad Scira called Tweet Could. Tweet Cloud allows you to aggregate and display up to an entire year of tweets into a word cloud, giving  you a comprehensive look at a year of your most frequent Twitter conversations.

As you can see from the word cloud below, some of my most frequent conversations included the words "thanks, love, follow, office, plane, fiesta and soho." I encourage you to check it out. I have found it to be quite telling and a pretty accurate representation of the last year of my life via Twitter.

 

American Express Twitter Case Study

I was one of the lucky attendees at the American Express sold-out Jon Bon Jovi unplugged exclusive cardmember show last night. American Express was nice enough to extend a ticket to me last minute and after hearing how they sold the rest of the tickets, I was inspired and impressed.

The first and only link to purchase tickets was posted exclusively on the @AmericanExpress Twitter account and they were able to sell out the show 1 day. The tickets were $50 with all proceeds benefiting City Harvest via the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation.

Everyone in the audience (roughly 500 people) were tweeting, snapping TwitPic photos and spreading the word about the event while they were there. Excellent use of Twitter to promote and sell out an exclusive event, as well as spread the word about the brand. I had a blast and think American Express has created a great case study of how to offer something special to your fans and followers, donate to a great cause and create enthusiastic and positive conversation around your brand using the power of social networks. 

British Airways November Seat Sale

This is a sponsored post on behalf of British Airways via Izea. All the opinions expressed here are mine.

I don't know about you, but I need a vacation and I'm seriously considering booking a trip after being told about the British Airways November Seat Sale. They are currently having a ‘world sale’ to promote both flights & packages from the US and Canada.

Basically, if you book a flight before November 19th, for a trip between now and May 2010, British Airways is offering some SICK flight and hotel combo's for cheap, cheap, cheap to places like London, Cairo, Dubai, Hong Kong and Madrid. For example, I am looking at a trip to London that leaves from NYC for $659, including round-trip airfare, and a 3 night stay in a hotel. 

And, after reading about the British Airways "Upgraded" experience, I am even more sold on booking a flight with them. On the flight you get 200+ On-Demand TV, complimentary food and cocktails and, in addition to the usual pillow and blanket, they provide you with eyeshades and flight socks! Um, yes please!

So, where would you go? I am honestly considering a trip to London as I have never been.

 

Bom Dia Brazil

A Brazilian journalist interning in NYC for the largest TV network in Latin America, GloboTV, reached out to me unexpectedly last week and asked if I would be interested in discussing my experiences with Twitter and Foursquare as it relates to establishing virtual, and real life friends. The best part of the whole thing is that my the interview is translated into Portuguese, and I can't help but how awesome it is. The segment aired yesterday on GloboTV's Bom Dia Brazil morning TV show, but you can watch the video below (my part is 1:35seconds in) and read the accompanying article in either Portuguese or translated into English. I bet you can guess how I found out yesterday that the segment had run earlier that morning in Brazil. Yup, a rare Brazilian tweetie bird flew all the way from Latin America to NYC to give me the good news. ;) 

When we discuss social networking and its ability to drive more real life networking, it's important to remember that the synergy between online and offline interaction is an essential component of what this whole social networking thing is ultimately about.  You have to get out there and give quality face time to make your digital relationships stronger. Meet more people and solidify your digital relationships into something more tangible and memorable.

My Big Announcement

I made a significant change in my professional career recently and wanted to take this opportunity to share some big news with everyone.  

I left my position at Undercurrent last month. Despite my departure, I have the utmost respect for Undercurrent. I am confident they will continue to do great things in the digital space. I am also incredibly grateful to have been able to work with such innovative thinkers and forward-thinking clients, giving me the opportunity to learn, grow, and become the digital diva I am today. I thank Undercurrent for the last two amazing years, and I look forward to the future in which I will apply the knowledge and skill I gained at Undercurrent to new challenges and opportunities.

Ok, now moving on to my big announcement. I recently joined Coach, Inc. in its nascent Global Web and Digital Media department, as Senior Manager of New Media. I am very excited to share this news with everyone, as I am elated to have the opportunity to work with a top- notch brand alongside the smart, driven, and motivated people at Coach. As I articulated in my previous post, the luxury fashion industry faces some significant challenges in regards to social media. Coach is ready to tackle those challenges, engage with their loyal fans, and create unique experiences online for their consumers, and I could not be more excited to help spearhead those initiatives.

The future is bright and surely fashionable. ;)

Follow Coach on Twitter, Join Coach on Facebook

Luxury Brands and Social Media

Lately there has been quite a bit of discussion around luxury brands and how they must adapt and innovate in this challenging economy by embracing the new media landscape. Up until now, luxury brands and their relationship with consumers has been built solely around highly controlled communication and interaction through the store, PR and advertising efforts. But today with the high end market sector facing an economic downturn, evolving luxury consumer landscape, and suffering traditional media outlets, luxury brands must embrace social media as a new way to reach consumers or risk continued falling sales.

The Situation

The reality is in this economic climate, obsessing over “living the life of luxury” is becoming less and less relevant to people’s lives and there are fewer people willing to use credit to pretend they can afford it. And for those that can actually afford it, they’re also feeling the effects of the economic downturn, at least enough for them to question some of their unnecessary purchase decisions. Luxury and high end brands are being forced to come up with new strategies that make both the upper and middle class desire their exclusive and elite offerings.

This is combined with the fact that there are more and more affluent, active internet users than ever and their shopping habits are changing because of the internet. Welcome to the digital shopping revolution where high end shoppers have shifted online out of convenience and are looking to digital channels to shape how they are inspired by brands. Nowadays, you don’t have to buy a magazine or tune into a trendy TV show to find out what is new and hot right now. People can go straight to the internet to get information on the latest in trends, style, technology, and fashion, and they can share their opinions and taste with their online network. Brands have to change their consumer approach by reinventing the shopping experience and their relationship with consumers through innovative uses of technology, communication, and entertainment.