The Social Mashup is back for another week! Here’s what we’ve got for you: Foursquare’s new ‘Radar’ feature, the L.A. Dodgers ‘Social September’ promotion, Google+ adds hashtags and real-time search and last but not least NBA players unite through social media.
Foursquare Introduces ‘Radar’
Foursquare has introduced a new feature to increase your social experience. Radar will find things around your location that you may not know otherwise. For instance, say you want to go to a dance class and have it on your To-Do List, when you are close to one Foursquare will let you know. Or perhaps you follow a certain list, you’ll be notified if you’re near one of those locations. If you are driving by a restaurant and a few of your friends are there, you will receive a pop up, even when Foursquare is closed, to let you know they are there so you can meet up with them.
The new feature is only available for iPhones with iOS 5 and is available in the latest version in the App Store. Foursquare’s Explore algorithm fuels Radar, finding all the cool and fun things going on right around you.
L.A. Dodgers ‘Social September’
The L.A. Dodgers wrapped up their ‘Social September’ a few weeks ago with a month chock full of social media events and promotions. This undertaking may be one of the biggest social media projects done by any organization this year.
Joe Jareck, the Dodgers assistant director of public relations, said,
Social September was a month-long initiative designed to engage our fans online, in-stadium and at home.
The project was conceived earlier in the season when the chances of a Dodgers play off run seemed rather dismal. The organization knew they would have to encourage fans to continue their support of the team and give back to the loyal fans at the stadium and watching on TV. The plan included this ‘Social September’ promotion that stretched across TV, web, radio and Dodgers Stadium.
Here are a few of the elements from ‘Social September’:
- Fans asked questions during a September 1-8 road trip through the Dodger’s Twitter handle which were answered during broadcasts.
- Facebook polls were used to grant fans the chance to choose which songs would be played when a Dodger’s player walked up to the plate
- During the September 12-22 homestand, tweets that included the hashtag #SocialSept were shown on the big screen at the games
- Clayton Kershaw, a pitcher for the Dodgers, guest tweeted from @Dodgers for a day
- Prizes were awarded to fans on Twitter. Some examples are an on-field introduction prior to a game, a game of catch on the field during the offseason, announcing the start of the game and lunch with Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda
The Dodgers saw a ‘Social September’ to be a great success. The organization saw an added 21,000 ‘likes’ on Facebook and 11,000 tweets with the hashtag #SocialSept. The team had the second most Twitter followers during September of those teams not in contention. Jareck said,
The goal … really was to just give our fans more voice … another way to follow the Dodgers closely and be rewarded for it. The goals of additional likes on Facebook or more followers on Twitter were secondary.
With such a successful promotion, I’d imagine more teams will be following suit to include social media to engage fans at the stadium and at home.
Google+ Adds Real-Time Search and Hashtags
Google+, while trying to hang on to any sort of relevence in the social media world, has added two new ways for users to find information: real-time search and hashtags. When you search a message will appear showing new posts immediately once they become available. The most relevant posts will come up in real-time if you chose ‘Most recent’ or select the message. Links to search results will be added to any post you tag with a hashtag.
While these features may not get you to try or stay on Google+ for very long, they will be helpful to users like journalists and media who are looking for breaking news. However, the technology used may be what is to come for real-time search on Google.com in the future.
Who knows what may come of Google+ given its significant drop in usage. Take a look at this graph over the past month showing a 70% drop from the highest trafficked time to the lowest point.
NBA Players Unite Through Social Media
As we all know, the NBA lockout is well underway. Players are trying to unite their voice online through social media. Just as NFL players did, Derek Fisher, president of NBAPA, is pushing the slogan “Let Us Play.” Fisher encouraged players to use their social networks to show their unity as well as pushing them to attend another meeting out West. Here is a excerpt of what Fisher had to say:
Chris Paul and I will also be utilizing our personal social networking channels to show the fans and you all, that we are united and want to get back to work under a fair deal.
On Monday, Chris and I will tweet and post “LET US PLAY.” This was used by the NFL players and many will be joining us on Monday and retweeting the same message to show their support for our players. I will also be using the hash tag #StandUnited after all my messages until this lockout is over.
We invite you each to do the same. To show our unity and to remind the fans that this is not our choice and we would like to go back to work and play the game they love to support.
My twitter is @DerekFisher and Chris’ is @OneandOnlyCP3. Please feel free to send me yours so we can support each other.
