As Whitney Houston sang, “We believe that web apps are our future”… (well, near enough…). And today we’re launching a beta of a web app that you’re going to really love*. Since its launch in December last year, Chrome TweetDeck has consistently been the most popular app in the Google Web Store. We are delighted to see that almost 400,000 users are now enjoying the super-slick new interface, and great new features like combined columns, enhanced Facebook integration and the flexibility that running in a web browser brings. As we said at the time, Chrome TweetDeck marks the start of a new era for TweetDeck, with all efforts now focussed on building our next-generation... Read more

HootSuite acquires “What the Trend,” a web service which shares user-defined explanations of trending topics on Twitter.  Branded as “The Front Page of the Real-Time Web,” this tool provides constantly updating, crowd-sourced definitions and explanations for why the topic is trending. This tool will complement the company’s social media management system and builds on the recent funding announcement and acquisitions of Twapper Keeper, TwitterBar and Swift App. What the Trend What the Trend (WTT) highlights and explains content trending on Twitter in real-time from the web or mobile devices. Editors curate content for specific international markets and, along with users’ votes, determine the... Read more

Adding useful content to your Facebook page just got easier. The latest release of Optify helps you build a Facebook tab in minutes, adding even more power to your social media marketing. The new release also includes other landing page enhancements and a new way to share them. Landing page power Facebook Content is a new template in the Landing Pages application that combines the ease of Optify’s customizable forms with the power of social networking to reach more people than ever. With just a few clicks of the mouse and keyboard, you can create an attractive tab and find complete instructions for adding it to your existing Facebook page. Visitors are encouraged to “like” your page... Read more

Tweet There has been a lot of conversation recently about Klout. As the CEO and Cofounder of Klout, I want to share my perspective publicly with you. I get why Klout can rub people the wrong way. We are putting scores next to people and that can be initially off-putting. If you met anyone from the Klout team my hope would be for you to see that we are not elitist jerks but just a bunch of data nerds passionate about understanding the impact of every person online. We believe that every person who creates content online has influence on some topic, to some group of people. We want to help every person maximize their reach and influence and to be recognized for the impact they have. Here I am sharing my... Read more

Michael Wu, Ph.D. is Lithium's Principal Scientist of Analytics, digging into the complex dynamics of social interaction and group behavior in online communities and social networks.   Michael was voted a 2010 Influential Leader by CRM Magazine for his work on predictive social analytics and its application to Social CRM. He's a regular blogger on the Lithosphere's Building Community blog and previously wrote in the Analytic Science blog. You can follow him on Twitter or Google+.     Few more announcements today: It’s been a busy couple of weeks for me. I’ve just finished teaching the Rotman Executive CRM program last week. And this week I’ve been invited to participate on... Read more

  Image by Matt Westervelt via Flickr If you attend social media conferences, you have probably noticed that after just a few events the content begins to sound the same. So what comes after Social Media 101? Fresh Consulting designed Social Media 301 to answer the question and invited Seesmic to participate.  Join me for Social Media 301 on June 3rd at Microsoft's Conference Center. Speakers and panelists hail from Dell, Cisco, Microsoft, Altimeter, Ant's Eye View, REI and Boeing. I will be joining a panel to discuss Social Inside The Enterprise Friday, June 3 at 10am.  No matter how much time we spend online, nothing beats the value of offline interaction. If you are a large enterprise, small... Read more

Have you ever stopped to consider how much information you might be giving away to your competition through your personal or professional profiles? It’s probably not something many of us think about but it is something you should seriously consider. Just like the information your company shares can potentially be used by the competition to gain competitive insight, the information you’re sharing on your social profiles can as well. Giving Too Much Away What you may be revealing might surprise you. If your social profiles are not completely private, then you are sharing plenty of information that might be beneficial to the competition. Twitter and Facebook allow others to see who you are connected... Read more

With the right marketing automation solution, you can automate both simple and complex marketing activities with just a few clicks from one-off to batch messaging, data movements, integrations, and report delivery.No matter what your industry, marketing automation can simplify repetitive marketing tasks and drive more sophisticated uses of your customer data. For example:Financial services: Back-end operations like account statements, low-balance alerts, and lifecycle marketing campaignsTechnology: Subscription renewal programs, interactive account reminders, and product updatesManufacturing: Lead scoring campaigns, on-your-behalf communications, and low inventory reportsTravel & Hospitality: Reservation... Read more