Google Search becomes Social

It was just waiting for the moment that Google integrates a social feature in Google Search. The moment is there. Google recently introduced the +1 (plus one) button in the search results. It is such a feature that when it's there you think: 'ofcourse, why haven't they thought of this sooner!'

Relevant search results
The +1 button represents things like "great website!" or "check this out", comparable to the Like-button on Facebook. Your friends or family automatically see your recommendations in their own Google search results. According to Google, your search results will become more relevant with this new feature. They take the ‘+1 stamp’ into account when determining a page's relevance and ranking.

Google experimental
Unfortunately, we in the Netherlands are not yet able to use the +1 button. The button is first tested in the US for a number of users, and will soon be available in other languages. If you can't wait to try it out, Google has been so kind to make this feature available for try out on Google Experimental.

Promote your website
In the future, you can also integrate the +1 button on your website. This is the perfect way to get more organic visitors on your website, since Google is one of the greatest players in online search engines. You can already sign up if you want to install the button on your website. You'll receive an email as soon as it's available.

Google profile
In order to assign a +1, you need to have a Google profile. This way, friends and family can see who has recommended a certain search result. Just a warning: +1's are public for anyone who is socially connected, so be careful with recommendations of 'certain embarrassing sites' ;) Users are able, however, to conceal their +1's on their Google profile.
This profile makes the +1 button less approachable, but is necessary in order to connect to social media. A great advantage is that your own +1's are saved on your account. This way, users are able to retrieve the links they have found and liked on the World Wide Web, at any time.

Read more about the effects and possibilities of the +1 button on the Google Webmaster Center.

Find the perfect vacation using social media!

Many people are planning their summer vacation at the moment. I've just booked my own vacation, but perhaps I can interest you with a new tool.

Today, KLM launched an innovative application where you can search for a vacation using personal interests. With KLM Travlr you can use keywords that match your own interests such as shopping, diving or surfing. This makes it fun and easy to look for a vacation, which is adjusted to your individual desires. Furthermore, you can explore destinations that you wouldn’t normally think of.

The content is retrieved from social media such as Twitter, YouTube and Google Maps. The application runs completely on user generated content. In addition, you can share the information you find on social media.

My personal experience
I'm not sure whether I am a big fan of the application just yet. The first time I tried it, the interface was a bit fuzzy to me. When you click on a photograph, the interface jumps to a different screen without any clear connection to the previous one. It looks fancy, but there are too many pop-up windows overlapping. However, after some clicking it became clear to me. My preference goes out to interfaces that take no more than a few minutes to figure out. Today's launched application is still a beta version, so perhaps this is the first possible improvement.

Win-win-situation?
Obviously, a big advantage for the KLM is that they receive a lot of information about potential customers. It sounds like a win-win situation. However, you need to be aware of the fact that KLM keeps track of your personal input. I am also wondering how information is automatically retrieved from social media: can this information be legitimately retrieved from public profiles on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter? I suppose they thought it over carefully, but there are stil some questions on my end..

All in all, I think it's a smart application and I wouldn't be surprised if other travel websites take over this idea soon.

Try it yourself: Travlr Application

The Wisdom of the Crowd

Last week, my parents tipped me about a television program of Labyrint (Nederland 2). This turned out to be an interesting topic for my new blog! The program was about the power of a crowd, and how this power is increasingly used on the internet nowadays.

Cow experiment
Labyrint has replicated an early experiment, by which a large group of people had to guess the weight of a cow. The expectation was that the intelligence of a group of people is higher than the smartest person of that group. Requirements are that the group is diverse in knowledge and experience, and that people guess independently.

The wisdom of the crowd was proven by the early experiment. However, the Labyrint experiment failed: the average estimation of the weight of the cow was 552 kilo’s, while the actual weight was 740 kilo’s! How is this possible? Labyrint explains that people might have googled the weight and the study was probably too casual. In addition, nowadays people are not as close to nature and agriculture anymore.. there must be knowledge in the crowd!

Watch the entire tv program:



Crowd sourcing
Foldit is a computer game by which people can collectively help to calculate the development of a protein. This prediction is important because the structure specifies the function of the protein. Foldit is one of the first online initiatives for crowd sourcing. People help each other, mistakes are neutralized this way, and the average is close to the right answer.

Monk is an other example of such an initiative. With this computer program, people can collectively help to decode illegible historical documents.
This way, small contributions result in big solutions.

Developments
A more recent development is the situation in the Middle-east, where one revolution is followed by the next. People share their knowledge via social media and blogs, and provide varied and detailed information this way. Twitter is an other recent development where organizations can retrieve information from groups of people for several purposes. Micro-blogging can for instance predict movements in the stock market.

I think in the future the power of the crowd should be, and will be, used more effectively. I’d say: exploit that crowd! Especially if it’s also for entertaining purposes (computer game) or informational purposes (middel-east), it is an optimal win-win situation.

Blackboard 9.1. What's in it for us?

The latest version of Blackboard was launched last week. I was curious what this change has done for us, students. When I Google the new Blackboard, it seems like most changes are for teachers. You can find a nice overview of all the changes on this website. Besides the improved visual interface, there are some improvements for students as well. So, let's review a short outline of the changes:
 
Groups
Perhaps you haven't noticed yet -I hadn't- but there is a new interesting feature in your menu on the left: Groups. Here you can see in which group you're enrolled within the course. Students can also create groups themselves if the lecturer allows it. You can exchange files, send an email or start a discussion with your group members. You can even change your groupbanner and -color! It’s a pitty that the color combinations look like they've been randomly chosen (not very attractive) but it's a nice extra feature.
 
Other changes
- The standard display for announcements is no longer 7 to 30 days, but 'all announcements'. A teacher can fill in an expiration date and when the announcement is expired, it is no longer visible for students.
- The tool 'Assignments' replaces the former Digital Dropbox. A big improvement is that you can see which assignment you've uploaded. Assignments can be handed in multiple times (if allowed by the lecturer) and it's possible to hand in an assignment with a group.
 
Check out the manual of BB 9.1 for further explanation.
 
Mobile devices
For the English course, last semester, I've studied the desires of students for Blackboard and other e-learning projects. My results showed that most students have internet on their mobile phones, and there was a high demand (63%) for improvement of the Blackboard for mobile devices.
However, when I try to enter the new Blackboard on my mobile phone, it says: Proxy Error. Contact the system administrator. Therefore, I can conclude that Blackboard hasn't improved for mobile devices yet..it even got worse! There is an app called Blackboard Mobile Learn, but it is only available with a Sprint 3G/4G network Android or a Sprint 3G/4G network BlackBerry device, as well as the Apple iPad, iPod touch and iPhone. So that doesn't work for me with my Nokia.
 
Other results
The results of my study also showed there was a high demand for online reading, discussion groups and an online community. These changes seemed to have been taken into account while they created the new Blackboard. However, students also addressed the interest for synchronous communication and a general message board, which is not present yet. Furthermore, the study showed that bad usability was a major issue of Blackboard. Only 25% of the respondents was satisfied with the former Blackboard. It would be interesting to repeat this study and find out whether this number, but regarding the new BB, has increased.
 
Also, many teachers use Twitter or other social media in their courses. It could have been nice to integrate these facilities in the newest Blackboard.
 
Performance issues
The new lay-out is kind of spoiled because of the red text about performance issues that has been there since the launch of BB 9.1. Implementing a new system can cause many problems, which you cannot test in advance. However, the sign says the problems are the highest priority but I think 1,5 week is a long time to be fixed. Blackboard has also become slower in loading time, which is not really desirable for a userfriendly system.
 
Overall, I think Blackboard has improved a whole lot, but there are still some adjustments to be made.

What happens when you DON’T use social media?

Hyves, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, you name it! Can you think of anyone who doesn't use it?

Nowadays it's hard to find anyone who is not a member of a social networking site. Some people use only one type while other people are active on all sites. Some use it occasionally, others use it excessively.

It seems to me that there are more and more excessive users of social networking sites. When I look around, all my friends are active on social networking sites, some more than others.

I consider myself to be a moderate user of social media. I check my Facebook, Twitter and Hyves every now and then, but not on a daily basis.
There are times that I forget to check them for several days or weeks -huh? Yes, there are still people who forget social media!-. But when I do, I sometimes notice that I'm missing out on things. It is however not in my nature (yet), to post personal tweets or to check my Facebook every day. That is actually quite strange, since my study is all about new media. Perhaps I'm a bit old-fashioned in this area, but I don’t need to be a social media fanatic.

It makes me wonder though, can it actually have bad consequences when you aren't an active social media user?
Are friendships maintained through the internet stronger than face-to-face friendships? And are you obliged to maintain your friends via the internet?

I have tried to search the internet for some more discussion but couldn’t find any. Perhaps I’m the only one, or I didn’t use the right keywords ;) When I look at other blogs, I see for instance that Sandra is also struggling with the use of Twitter.

It's clearly important to maintain friendships via the internet. New friendships may arise, or you can interact with your existing friends. I however use this 'maintaining' especially for people I rarely meet face to face. The availability and usage of all the new media makes me feel like people are socially obligated to participate and as far as I’m concerned, that’s not the point! I think it’s up to you to what extent you use it. And if it’s not in your nature, you simply don’t have to. I feel good as an “moderate user” and as long as I do, that’s fine!

Are Interactive Billboards the future?

Explaining the title of my blog, this topic is an interesting case. Interactive billboards are the latest innovation to Pass IT On!
‘IT’ stands for ‘Information Technology’, and so I litteraly mean IT. By using IT, companies are able to spread word of their products or services in an innovative manner.

These days, companies are searching for ways to attract consumers by using the newest technology. An interactive billboard is one of these methods. Just Google the term and see for yourself how many articles and info there are to be found about interactive billboards! From an edible chocolate billboard, to colour sensitive interactive billboards.
Check out the video below for another interesting example of a campaign in Rotterdam and Amsterdam.



With this campaign, Dutch authorities created awareness for street violence by making use of the surroundings. I think it's pretty innovative!
After a few days, the campaign got a lot of attention in the media. On Geenstijl.nl, the video was watched 200.000 times a day and generated a big discussion.

It seems like a good way for companies to get more interactive with customers. It also makes the advertisements more fun and interesting. The billboards can communicate with mobile devices, social media and have touchscreens. But will this be the future?
Possible problems that might arise are the high costs and the difficulty to make the billboards safe. Safety is an issue due to the fact that private information is shared and shown. High costs might be a problem because creating huge touchscreens is still quite costly. Since the billboards are public, the expensive billboards somehow need to be protected against thieves.
I am also wondering whether customers will actually use it. However, an interactive billboard is a nice way to attract attention. It can greatly contribute to branding and word of mouth through social media.

But do these benefits outweigh the drawbacks? Will there be interactive billboards on every bus stop and train platform in the future? I'm curious what you think! Use the comment box below for letting me know :)