Mobile Groove

Mobile apps isn’t the only game in town. Developers need think big-picture and focus efforts on multi-platform apps capable of connecting our devices and our experiences. This is the trend to watch for 2012 and why Mike Johns, CEO of Digital Mind State, and his views on the vast opportunities at the intersection of apps, TV and social media are more pertinent than ever.

We catch up with Mike to talk about his success brokering profitable business relationships between brands and urban/hip hop artists to deliver a 360 degree entertainment experience combining social media interaction and TV (Social TV) and mobile apps.

How DO you measure your social media ROI? And here you thought pondering the answer to life, the universe, and everything was a tall order. My boss asks me this question. He should. It’s what he pays me for. My friends ask me this question. What can I say? I have some pretty geeky friends. Even complete strangers in line at my local Smog ‘N Go ask me this question. Yeah, it’s that kind of neighborhood.

With marketers spending almost two billion dollars on social media last year, it’s understandable that all of us don’t just “want”, but *need*, to accurately measure the return – the ROI – of our investments in social marketing. Here’s my answer.

Mobile devices have become nearly as commonplace as toothpaste for travelers in North America and Europe. Like the true road warriors we are, we take our wireless gear with us wherever we go — and our use of them is unprecedented.

According to new data from Boingo Wireless, a leading provider of software and services worldwide, smartphones and tablets passed laptops as the most widely carried Wi-Fi device in airports, reaching 58.9 percent of all devices in June. Mobile devices topped the 50 percent mark for the first time in February of this year. The study draws from data across Boingo’s managed network of 60 airports and aggregated network of hundreds of thousands of hotspots worldwide.

For years, tech influencers and bloggers have been accused of being blindly in love with Apple. There is even a name these devotees: fanboys. These men and women live to gush about Apple products and bash Microsoft and others in the process. So it was remarkable to observe the tech influencers this week in their near unanimous approval of Microsoft’s new operating system.

This headline on msnbc.com stopped me cold: Windows 8 Does What Apple Doesn’t. Talk about an about-face.

The Pew Internet Project is consistently a source of valuable data and this week the organization has again produced fascinating research into how technology is changing our lives.

The wide-ranging report, which details people’s use of and behavior on social network sites (SNS), is full of insights and analysis explaining how use of these technologies is related to trust, tolerance, social support, and community and political engagement.

Thank you for your question. I am sitting here smiling. Social media has been compared to a cocktail party, high school and a Bruce Springsteen song. While each of these different analogies has their merits, I don’t think the writers were thinking big enough. Or hairy enough. Social media is like a big, hairy spider. “Social media is like a tarantula?!”, you ask, out of breath from jumping on top of your nearest chair. Yes. It is. Here’s why.