It is easy to feel like a slave to social media – especially if you’re not awesome at it. There is a special type of shame that goes with realizing that 14-year-old girls are better at some parts of your job than you are. This is not knocking 14-year-old girls. It is painfully clear that this particular demographic…
Before you dive all the way into this article, I want you to do one thing for me: open your email. (Actually, it’s probably open already, isn’t it? I know you’re a master multi-tasker…) How many unread emails do you have? How many folders and little stars and “mark unread from here” have you assigned in the…
Too many businesses fill their newsletters with nothing but regurgitated blog content and entreaties to buy. Ask yourself how you can use your email campaign to provide added value to your clients, at no extra cost. When they’re shown you have something of value to share, they’ll be more willing to pay for…
Fluidinfo is a database that’s created and kept by people like you and me. Anything that exists can be added to this database, and other people can tag it. You can add people, cars, houses, movies, books… it can all be added to Fluidinfo, in just one click. People can browse through this database in the same way they would browse through a site like Wikipedia. And anything that’s added to the Fluidinfo database can be tagged with a value. This makes it simple for you and the people who look at your entry to rate it. If the object’s a magazine article or a blog post, then it’s really easy to say how much you’ve enjoyed it. And the same goes for any other person who uses the site, he’ll be able to rate the product or concept being discussed.
In any case, you’re the only one who can change the way in which a tag works. If you’ve set a value, only you can change that. People who want to rate the object you’ve added to the database have to go by that value.
If that were all that Fluidinfo could do, then it’d be an interesting platform for knowing how people from all over the world feel about anything that matters to you. Yet, there’s a lot more to Fluidinfo than that. The service comes with an API, and lots of different apps and browser extensions. These make for creating queries that “normal” search engines could never handle.
For example, using Fluidinfo you can easily find out entrepreneurs who are working in areas such as social networking or location-based services. It all boils down to asking something like “Which entrepreneurs are working on location-based services?”. And you can even ask which successful entrepreneurs are working there. Provided they’ve been rated by people, Fluidinfo will be able to find that out for you.
Fluidinfo is also useful in lots of other different settings. You can use the service to pull information from services like Twitter and Facebook, and find people who have got a set Klout range or who get lots of retweets/shares every day. And also, to filter people out from search results.
Fluidinfo is largely the work of entrepreneur Terry Jones, and the startup has been no less than 15 years in the making. The conceptualization period alone took the best part of a year. But it’s just now that Fluidinfo has really begun picking traction. It was demoed at TechCrunch Disrupt in 2010 (and met with a lot of interest), and it raised two rounds of funding in 2009 and 2010. Something tells me this is a service we’ll hear a lot about in the not-so-distant future.
You know these apps that let you tag the world around you like Virtual Tags, Tagzania and Junaio, don’t you? Well, Qrawr is one of these. Available for iOS, you use it along with a series of stickers that you can place in any object or surface that makes you feel like commenting on it. You place the sticker there, and any person that comes across that sticker in the future can know what you had to say about that item by scanning it. The sticker comes with a QR code that’s unique, and that’ll let any person who scans it both read what you originally had to say, and add his very own insight. Those who scan the item from that point onwards will get to read everything – what you had said, and what was quipped by those who came after you.
Not counting all the obvious marketing uses that something like this can be put to, I also find myself thinking an app like Qrawr could work greatly when it comes to shared books. I’m talking about the kind of books that people leave in public places for others to pick up, read and drop again as part of collective reading programs. Well, Qrawr would let people give all that sharing a much deeper (and even more meaningful) layer.
Qrawr can be downloaded for free at the App Store. No fees are included for actually using the app, although you’ll have to buy a new set of stickers whenever you run out of them.
It’s lots of fun to have your photo taken at The Leaning Tower of Pisa pretending you’re holding it like tourists have been known to do from the dawn of time. But what if you could do more than that, and leave your mark there on the Tower, for all to see that you were around? This new app lets you do exactly that, and in a way that’s 100% harmless and legal. Stiktu is an augmented reality application that allows you to leave notes, photos and videos by using nothing more than your iPhone’s camera. All that data can then be accessed by people who come after you, and who scan the object you left your message in.
Your media can become attached to objects like magazines, posters and product packaging. When I said you could leave your mark on the Leaning Tower Of Pisa, I was talking figuratively. You can’t actually add media to the Tower for a couple of reasons, but the main reason is that you just aren’t allowed to get that close. But it won’t be that hard to leave your mark in the surrounding area, just use your imagination.
As of the time of writing this, Stiktu is available in the following countries:
the Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Greece.
Tagg is a new iPhone application that makes it really simple to tag people on any photo that you’re sharing. This new app works on devices running iOS 5.0 or later, and it’s available for free. You simply download it (App Store link) and import all your contacts from your address book, and from sites like Facebook and Twitter. These are used by the application to detect your friends’ faces. It highlights them with red squares, and you’re allowed to input the names of your friends one by one.
The app is actually capable of filtering through contacts for you. You don’t have to type the full names of people, just by typing the first letters of the name of the person you’ll get the job done. And voice control is also supported, so that you can speak your friend’s name instead. Full integration with Siri makes that possible. And once the photos have been tagged, they can be both shared and stored offline.
Tagg competes with an application named AutoTagger which actually goes all the way, and detects people for you. There’s no inputting to do, AutoTagger takes care of just everything. Like Tagg, AutoTagger can be downloaded for free.
Formerly known as Pixazza, Luminate allows bloggers and webmasters to turn every single image that they include as part of their posts into something that has far more than visual value. Luminate enables anybody to turn images and pictures into nothing short of interactive applications that users can navigate in and out from. It’s all done by applying a series of tags that once they are clicked upon will let the user perform lots of different actions such as buying the item being tagged, commenting on the photo, sharing it on sites like Facebook, and even jumping straight to other pages or sites. That is, Luminate can turn images into true navigational devices.
And Luminate also enables anybody to have advertisements placed within images, and (consequently) have products pitched in the most relatable of ways.
The commercial aspect of Luminate is actually one of its better-developed points, as people like you and me can sign up as image investigators and make money by matching the products that are seen in photos with the ones offered by the affiliates of the company.
If you’re interested, registration is over in a minute. Just follow this link and fill in the provided form to get started.
Available for iOS, Pinsnap is a new app that speeds up the way in which images are shared with all of one’s friends. Pinsnap is a location-based application that makes for having all the photos which have been taken at a specific place instantly tagged and categorized. The goal of Pinsnap is to let people browse through photos faster (and certainly more naturally) than ever before, by letting them relate to the content which is shared in a way that is 100 % intuitive.
Pinsnap makes for uploading high-resolution photographs (up to 1280×1280 pixels), so those who have professional aspirations will be able to share their work through this site more than satisfactorily. And the fact services such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Posterous are all supported means people will be able to access images directly on these social sites they’re already hooked on, and have them shared further on and on with all of their contacts.
The Pinsnap application can be downloaded for free at the App Store. Follow this link in order to get started. And online registration to the service is also free and fast.
By the looks of it, the cure for social network fatigue might be closer than expected. That’s what one has to think after trying a service like this one out. RelationMesh can be used to make sense of your every online interaction, by applying tags that basically let you define who is who in your social life. Those who use this service can create “relationships” which are conformed by at least 1 tag and 1 e-mail address, and by 10 tags and 5 e-mail addresses maximum.
The relationships that are created on the site typically look like this:
#meeting with [email protected] #restaurantBBB
The way the site works, people can create relationships even with those who are not registered users of the service. When a relationship of such nature is created, an invitation is sent out to the person in question.
Relationships can be kept public or private, and the service is already integrated both with with Facebook and with Twitter. Relationships can be posted in either service just by doing the relevant linking.
VisR is a new mobile application that makes finding these pictures one keeps in his mobile a lot easier. Available for Android (iPhone version coming soon), VisR takes care of automatically cataloging all the images that one takes using his smartphone, right as they are taken. The application does that by looking at variables such as the time any picture has been taken, and the location the user was at when that happened. Persons are tagged using an advanced face recognition system, and users can apply lots of event filters, effectively pointing searches in the right direction in no time at all.
And in addition to enabling people to find photos really quick, VisR makes for having them posted to sites like Facebook and Twitter even faster. It’s all done in three or four taps.
If you have an Android, you can download your very own copy of VisR by following this link. iPhone owners will have to wait a little longer yet, but when the day comes they’ll be able to get VisR for free, just like Android users can get it now.
The kind of service that is simple and yet incredibly handy, Tag Notifier is going to put an end to these “Hey! Who’s that cutie!?” questions that grip us when we are checking our friends’ photos on Facebook, and we come across good-looking people that have not been tagged. Well, Tag Notifier is going to turn that into a thing of the past. As its name so aptly suggests, it is an application that can take care of letting you know whenever any person who is untagged on any photo you ever see on Facebook finally receives a tag of his/her very own.
This service is provided at zero cost. You just grant Tag Notifier permission to access your Facebook account, and individualize these photos with people you want to have identified by copying and pasting their URLs into Tag Notifier. That’ll be it. You’ll be sent an email whenever new tags are added to any of these. Romancing on Facebook has just become a whole lot easier…
Your friend uploaded a picture with someone cute, and you want to know who they are, but they are not tagged yet.
Near Field Communication (NFC) is something to watch out for. In case the name is new to you (quite likely, as the concept is still germinating), it suffices to say it is a technology that will let you pay for items just by tapping your phone against specially-placed sensors. In other words: NFC is going to radically change the way in which we buy items at any store. No longer will one be dismayed when he discovers he has forgotten his wallet at home after having waited in line for ten minutes.
Tagstand is one of the first companies that are intent on simplifying the way in which retailers can adopt NFC technology. It basically sells custom NFC stickers that come with URL tracking, and it has them shipped in less than 24 hours. This will be incredibly useful for small business owners, as other purveyors of NFC stickers (the vast majority of them, actually) tend to move fast only when processing large orders. Tagstand is targeting that problem directly, and aiding those who want to buy NFC stickers on small batches.
And the company also plans to develop libraries for programmers to integrate NFC into their applications much easier. But that is coming in time. For now, any retailer that wants to give customers a readier checkout experience will be able to get NFC stickers much quicker than anywhere else just by going for this company.
A new tagging tool, ThingLink basically lets you take images and add as many links as you want to them. As it stands right now, ThingLinks enables you to link to content on no less than eight different platforms: Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Spotify, Vimeo, Wikipedia, SoundCloud and Twitter. It is not too much of a stretch to say these are the services that people will be aiming for in nine out of ten cases. Just go through the list again, that is the whole of the Social Web and every significant site in which data is shared covered. There is nothing like a full-on launch, is there?
The actual dynamics of the site are nothing fanciful. All you have to do is to connect your own site or blog with ThingLink, and then you will get an embeddable code that will turn all your individual images taggable.
In addition to all the obvious commercial uses that spring to mind, a platform like this one will let any blogger or webmaster add a new layer to the interactions that take place on his blog or site. He will effectively be adding voice, music and video to any picture that he posts, and provide users with a more involving experience. And that translates into more time being spent on the site, which should mean a bigger revenue at the end of it all.
TurlyTag is a really interesting system that basically lets you take every step you could possibly take to ensure that your most treasured possessions will be returned to you in the event you have lost them, and someone else has found them. In essence, TurlyTag is an ID system that lets anybody apply a unique code to these items that he values. These are generated using the provided tool, and once they have been created they can be printed and stuck on just anything – a bag, a bicycle, a notepad, even a set of keys. It is all identifiable and trackable using TurlyTag. And the idea is that when other people find the item that has become lost, then by merely having the code scanned they will get to know everything about its rightful owner.
As the creators of TurlyTag themselves point on the site, there is really no way to stop thieves from stealing. Yet, a system like TurlyTag enables people that always wish to do the right thing to do it more easily. Anything that has been tagged using TurlyTag is going to come back to its original owner, there is just no doubt about it whatsoever.
Read more on TurlyTag.com – Recover Your Items If They Get Lost…
TagNow is advertised as a new game, but it is not more of a game than actually using Facebook to interact with all your contacts. You see, TagNow is a service that lets you apply tags to people, such as Funny, Boring, Sociable, Grumpy and so on. People will either accept or reject these tags that they have received, and then conversations will be started around these tags that were accepted. They will be able to defend themselves, and say why this or that tag is not really accurate, or why one that they have received could hardly be any more suitable.
These discussions can then be tracked via a news feed, so that people who have tagged anybody will get to know if anything new has been said, or if someone else has applied a new tag to their friends.
So, a game or a social application in the broad sense of the word? You are the one deciding…
Emma Active is a new platform that rewards people who take the time to identify and tag products on photographs. This system is open to just any person who is willing to give it a try, and both site owners and advertisers are greatly benefited by it. The former make money whenever people tag a product on any photo displayed on their sites, whereas advertisers are getting a higher-quality of inbound traffic (IE, people who are keener on buying anything than those who are surfing the Web aimlessly).
The real strength of this image advertising platform is how it lets people who visit a site looking for specific products buy them directly by merely clicking on the tags that are featured.
Emma Active means that no more will anybody have to look for the best spot to buy anything they saw and liked when browsing the Web. This service turns every image that is tagged into something that can be purchased. And since people are being rewarded for taking their time to tag products, everything comes full circle.
Tagsono is basically a fun service that lets you tag your friends on Facebook, and be tagged yourself if due turn. When talking about tagging others here, I am talking about giving people adjectives like grumpy, lovable, stingy, generous… That is, Tagsono is a service for the categorization of people.
These tags are given anonymously – if you label a friend as kind-hearted, he is not knowing that you applied that tag to him unless you tell him personally. And if someone tags you, you are not knowing who did it either.
And once a tag has been applied, others can vote on its accuracy, and also comment on it.
As I said at the beginning, this is basically a fun service. Yet, it is blatantly obvious that it can have some really worthwhile uses as far as ecommerce is concerned. Just think of how easy it would be for customers to rate these companies they have dealt with.
Socio Central is where you should go if you are looking for new social media communities to become an active part of. This site turns that search process into a really straightforward one, as its members not only share all the communities they know personally but also rate them. They rate them, they review them, they tag them… the idea is to give people who have never heard of such communities before a ready understanding of what to expect if they visit them.
Note that not any old site can be included here. Only sites with voting features and social technologies are considered for inclusion. A standard blog would never make the cut.
Naturally, sites such as GoWalla and Foursquare have already been added to this database (and extensively commented, too). Yet, I think the true value of Socio Central will become apparent once sites that are always neglected begin picking up mentions here.
Read more on SocioCentral.com – The Best Social Media Sites…
Virtual Tags is a platform that enables people to post geo-referenced messages. Users of this iPhone application can leave messages in any place that they have been to, and these will be readable by any person who has also got the Virtual Tags application installed. The messages themselves will be shown as a hovering cloud over any real life object that the iPhone is aimed at, and they will be readable the moment the cloud is tapped on.
These messages can be just anything, but a platform like this one is really suitable for getting directions or for knowing more about any historical spot that you happen to be stopping at when you are traveling.
The site brings together these tags that have been emploed the most by its users on its homepage. These are a good indicator of how people have been using the app until now. In addition to tagging places, another popular activity is to use the application in order to promote services and businesses.
