Micro Blogs
Micro blogging refers to a type of blogging that uses very quick, small and short messages either in audio, text or video forms. As the name implies, the messages are very short and crisp and usually refer to an present event, a comment about an event and broadcasting of a news clip etc. Though instant text messaging is the most popular form of micro blogging, video clips are also fast becoming popular too.
Micro Blogs – Powerful Medium
Micro blogging has tremendous capacity and capability to relay news instantaneously. Unleashing this power can be of great value to marketers. The power of micro blogging is evident in the cases where news of any international political event or a catastrophe is relayed to the entire world in an instant, even before the same is picked up by the news or TV media or is officially announced.
Twitter, is perhaps the most famous micro blogging medium that has caught the fancy of people all across the world. Besides this there are several services such as Jaiku, Seesmic as well as Status updates in Facebook, My Space, Google+, Google Buzz etc. are the best examples of Micro blogging services.
Subscribing to micro blogging is very fast and easy. All you need to do is to register with a site like Twitter which shouldn’t take you more than a few minutes. Then it takes a few minutes for you to search for your favorite micro blog sites and click follow. Check out your contact list and navigate through to build your contacts through sending invites to friends and interested audience. By posting your own tweets on any interesting topic, event, thought or information that is likely to be of interest to your audience, you can post tweets and those interested will begin to follow you and the link keeps building.
Audio & Video Podcasting
As the technology is evolving, the social media channels to have adapted to multi-media technology. The latest in the Micro blogging platform are the pod casts and video messages. It is no doubt that audio and video contents especially a video can deliver a message more effectively than a simple text message.
Podcasts are nothing but the channel of delivering audio message to the interested community/audience. What makes podcasts different is that the delivery mode of the podcasts. Podcasts consist of recorded audio files that are delivered to the subscribers device. The subscriber then has the freedom to choose the time and place when he would wish to listen to the broadcast. The point to be noted here is that the choice of engagement lies with the audience and not the originator of the message or the marketer.
Providing information to the audience, customers or subscribers using a video clipping or short film is also possible through micro blogging. A picture can say a thousand things more effectively than a text message and it is able to capture the attention of the audience instantly. This medium when used effectively can be most powerful in spreading awareness, brand building and building loyalty of the customers as well as in helping the prospective customers make up their mind to go for your product. The power of the visual medium can be seen when instant videos of customers talking about their live experiences about an airline, hotel or any product is circulated amongst the members of the community. Such video clips show the actual reality and are effect the community a lot more than text messages and thus engage them instantly.
Going through YouTube as well as other videos of commercial business organizations like Home Depot or Charity etc provide valuable clue and understanding of how to use micro blogs effectively.
Micro blogs, especially the podcasts and videos are being used by Social sector, NGOs as well as health and education sector etc very effectively for, the medium lends itself to a global delivery at negligible costs.
At the end, it is helpful for the marketers to remember that these Social Media channels hold great influencing power as well as contributory power of millions, not to forget their global impact and reach.
Mobile Computing
Mobile Computing is a technology that allows transmission of data, voice and video via a computer or any other wireless enabled device without having to be connected to a fixed physical link. The main concept involves −
- Mobile communication
- Mobile hardware
- Mobile software
Mobile communication
The mobile communication in this case, refers to the infrastructure put in place to ensure that seamless and reliable communication goes on. These would include devices such as protocols, services, bandwidth, and portals necessary to facilitate and support the stated services. The data format is also defined at this stage. This ensures that there is no collision with other existing systems which offer the same service.
Since the media is unguided/unbounded, the overlaying infrastructure is basically radio wave-oriented. That is, the signals are carried over the air to intended devices that are capable of receiving and sending similar kinds of signals.
Mobile computing has changed the complete landscape of our day-to-day life. Following are the major advantages of Mobile Computing −
Location Flexibility
This has enabled users to work from anywhere as long as there is a connection established. A user can work without being in a fixed position. Their mobility ensures that they are able to carry out numerous tasks at the same time and perform their stated jobs.
Saves Time
The time consumed or wasted while travelling from different locations or to the office and back, has been slashed. One can now access all the important documents and files over a secure channel or portal and work as if they were on their computer. It has enhanced telecommuting in many companies. It has also reduced unnecessary incurred expenses.
Enhanced Productivity
Users can work efficiently and effectively from whichever location they find comfortable. This in turn enhances their productivity level.
Ease of Research
Research has been made easier, since users earlier were required to go to the field and search for facts and feed them back into the system. It has also made it easier for field officers and researchers to collect and feed data from wherever they are without making unnecessary trips to and from the office to the field.
Entertainment
Video and audio recordings can now be streamed on-the-go using mobile computing. It’s easy to access a wide variety of movies, educational and informative material. With the improvement and availability of high speed data connections at considerable cost, one is able to get all the entertainment they want as they browse the internet for streamed data. One is able to watch news, movies, and documentaries among other entertainment offers over the internet. This was not possible before mobile computing dawned on the computing world.
Streamlining of Business Processes
Business processes are now easily available through secured connections. Looking into security issues, adequate measures have been put in place to ensure authentication and authorization of the user accessing the services.
Some business functions can be run over secure links and sharing of information between business partners can also take place.
Meetings, seminars and other informative services can be conducted using video and voice conferencing. Travel time and expenditure is also considerably reduced.
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