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Twitter is an amazing tool for connecting with other professionals in a specific job niche. Some of the best ways to find others is through conference hashtags, tweetups and Twitter chats.
I’d like to introduce my new website, eduTweetups – a running directory and calendar of higher education-focused conference hashtags, tweetups and Twitter chats. The goal is to collect and share upcoming and ongoing events with the higher education community.
Visit eduTweetups.com today to see what’s coming up, or contribute your events or regular Twitter chats! Also, follow @edutweetups on Twitter to get a feed of the newest events up on the site.
Did you know you can ask Facebook Questions as a Page? This may be an incredibly useful tool for business or brands that want to poll their fans. Mashable gave some examples of how companies can use the Questions tool.
I tested this out and found that the Question will not post out to the News Feed of your ‘Likes’. But, you can always grab the link of the Question and post it out as a status update from your Page.
Do you think Questions will be a useful polling or survey tool for companies?
On March 22-23 .eduGuru held the first .eduGuru Summit, showcasing 12 speakers from the higher education spectrum to cover topics in marketing and web development. To read the backchannel, search #edugurusummit on Twitter.
The slides from my presentation, Boosting Customer Service with Social Media, are available below.
Parts of my talk were inspired by Gary Vaynerchuk’s new book, Thank You Economy. He discusses the shift in business practices and the power of the consumer in the interview below.
After being a solid iPhone supporter and user since June 29, 2007 (the iPhone 2G release date), I made the switch and purchased my first Android phone – the Motorola Atrix. I was stuck on the iPhone 3GS for over a year, not impressed with iOS and the hardware offerings in the iPhone 4. Apple’s iOS just felt stale and I wanted something new.
After four days using the Motorola Atrix and Android for the first time, here are some of my initial reactions.
Hardware
The feel of the phone is solid – even though it is mostly plastic. It measures 2.5 inches wide by 4.63 inches long – about the same size as my iPhone 3GS. At 0.43 inches thick, the Atrix is almost as thin as the iPhone 4. It has a 4-inch screen with a bright qHD (960 x 540) display. Text and images render incredibly sharp on the phone.
Motorola Atrix vs Apple iPhone 4: via Smartphoneenvy
The speed of the Motorola Atrix is ridiculous (as it should be) with a dual-core Tegra 2 processor and 1 GB RAM. I’ve noticed almost no lag in switching between apps while multitasking. I haven’t compared it side-by-side with an iPhone 4, but it is noticeably faster than my iPhone 3GS.
The battery will generally get me through a full day with about 30% battery remaining at the end of the night. I’m still getting used to all of the features of the phone, so this usage includes a lot of app installs, uninstalls, multitasking and streaming.
I haven’t experimented with the cameras extensively, but the Atrix includes a 5 megapixel camera on the back, capable of shooting 720p video. It also includes a front-facing VGA camera for video calls. Here’s a example of a photo taken with the Atrix’s 5 megapixel camera.
Motorola Atrix camera photo example
The fingerprint scanner security feature is quite the novelty. When showing it to friends, it reminds me of showing off the ‘wow’ features of the iPhone 2G, like swiping and pinch-to-zoom. Funny to think that was only three and a half years ago. Fingerprint swiping works fairly well, but I’ve turned off the feature in favor of the standard swipe-to-unlock.
As for the call quality (I’m still on the at&t network), the speaker volume and clarity is much better than the iPhone 3GS. Not a shock there.
Android OS (Android 2.2 FroYo)
After setting up my Motoblur account, I dove in for my first experience with Android. Since I’m only four days into using the Android OS, I’ll review this experience from the perspective of switching from Apple’s iOS and the iPhone.
My first step was to sync some accounts, like Facebook, Twitter, and my corporate Exchange account (mail, calendar). Setup was easy, but looking at my list of Contacts afterwards was a mess. I exported the Address Book list from my Mac and imported that to my Google account, then merged any duplicates. Much better. The built-in Calendar and Contacts apps were great on Android.
Widgets and notifications on Android are a huge improvement over the iPhone iOS. Android gives the ability to customize seven home screens with an assortment of widgets (viewing your calendar, shortcuts to contacts, RSS feeds, etc). I’m still figuring out how I want to customize my home screens, but having the ability to step away from the standard tiled iOS experience is refreshing. Pull-down notifications in Android allows you to view multiple notifications at once. A single tap can bring you into the app or you can choose to clear the notifications. This is a vast improvement to iOS’s blue glass bubble that popped up and interrupted anything you were doing.
Installing apps through the Android Marketplace is very similar to Apple’s App Store. I spent some time installing some of the apps that I used frequently on my iPhone 3GS and noticed some pros and cons. The Facebook app on Android is very weak. It feels like browsing Facebook’s mobile site, offers very little on features (no viewing Pages, seriously?!). I’m still experimenting with Twitter apps – I’ve tried Twitter, Tweetdeck, Seesmic, and Twidroyd. I’m finding Twidroyd and Seesmic to be my favorites so far, but none rank close to Twitter for iPhone (formerly Tweetie 2). Evernote and Pandora on Android are great. The GMail app and Google Listen (for podcasts) are also pretty awesome.
To sync my music and video, I use doubleTwist. It’s not as dead-simple as using an iPhone with iTunes, but it acts pretty similar. Mount the Atrix by plugging in the USB, open doubleTwist on my Mac, choose the playlists I want to sync, then in one click I have that music on my Atrix. Not too difficult.
Video Review
In the video below, I walk through the Motorola Atrix and show you the phone hardware, browser, maps, and fingerprint scanner.
To look at a comparison between the Motorola Atrix and the iPhone 4G, here’s a great video from Smartphoneenvy:
Corning Incorporated, the “world leader in specialty glass and ceramics,” released a promotional video this month showing some interesting future uses of glass and surface technologies.
The video is titled, “A Day Made of Glass” and walks you through a family’s interactions with very cool surface technologies. Some examples are:
Facebook will be phasing out Facebook Markup Language (FBML). On March 11, 2011, you will “no longer be able to create new FBML apps and pages will no longer be able to add the static FBML app.” But, the good news is that if you’ve previously installed the static FBML app, it will continue to work after the March 11.
From Facebook:
We are in the process of deprecating FBML. If you are building a new application on Facebook.com, please implement your application using HTML, JavaScript and CSS. You can use our JavaScript SDK andSocial Plugins to embedded many of the same social features available in FBML. While there is still functionality that we have not ported over yet, we are no longer adding new features to FBML.
Facebook is at it again with redesigning features within Pages. New features were revealed accidentally in December, but now all Page administrators have the opportunity to tour the new features. Admins also have the ability to “upgrade” their Pages to the new design.
What changed in the new design? Here’s a quick summary:
Photos are now at the top of the Page in the new layout
Profile picture size of the Page adjusted from 200×600 to 180×540
Wall filters have updated
Notifications are available whenever a user posts or comments on a Page you administer
Tabs are replaced by a menu below your Page’s profile picture
Additional moderation features added that allow you to filter posts proactively
Using Facebook as a Page – admins can choose to interact with other Pages as their Page
Admins can comment and post to their Pages as either the Page or as their personal profile
How does the upgrade impact your school’s Facebook Page?
The Wall
You still have the option to display posts by Everyone or just your Page’s posts. But, if you select to show posts by Everyone, Facebook’s algorithm determines the “most engaging posts” and pushes them to the top. What does that mean? It appears that more weight is given to posts by friends, posts with more interactions and comments, or posts by the Page. But, each fan of your Page may have a different experience with your wall, depending on their connections across Facebook.
Go to Edit Page -> Manage Permissions to change this option
So, if there’s a controversial post, or a thread that is getting a lot of attention, it may ‘stick’ at the top of your Wall. If you choose to show posts by Everyone, simply posting multiple items to push something down the Wall may not be effective PR anymore.
At Emerson College, we’re discussing changing the Wall to just show posts by Emerson College so that we’ll maintain the reverse-chronological listing on the Wall. We’ll still maintain a high level of customer service by checking the Everyone section and responding to questions if users post to our Page.
The most recent photos that you post to the Wall as an admin, or photos you tag your Page in, will display at photos at the top of your Page. I’ve also found that any photos added to Page albums will also appear in the photo strip at the top of your Page.
If you want to control this real estate on your Page, I would suggest creating an album dedicated to photos you want to appear at the top of your Page. If you post a photo to your wall and want to remove it from the top of your Page, simply hover over that photo and click the ‘x’ in the top-right corner.
Using Facebook as a Page
To switch to this option, go to the Account drop-down and select “Use Facebook as Page” and you can choose from any Page you administer.
The option to receive notifications (either by email or by switching to your Page) is a great addition for administrators that keep a careful eye on their Page interactions. You can also change those settings if you’d like. If you are using Facebook as a Page, you have the ability to:
Receive red on-site notifications about new people who like your Page.
Receive red on-site notifications and email notifications about people who comment and post on your Page.
View a News Feed for your Page. This News Feed will be populated with stories about your Page and stories about other Pages you like.
Like other Pages and comment on posts by these Pages.
So, be careful when switching back and forth between using Facebook as you, or Facebook as a Page. Just to note, if you would like to post or comment on your Page as yourself and not the Page, you can change that setting in Edit Page -> Your Settings
Feedback
How are you adjusting to the new Facebook Page design? I’d love to hear your feedback and lessons you’ve learned after using the new design for your school.
