Social recruiting?

ComScore recently (Dec 2011) cited social networking as the dominant activity online: An 82% reach into the online population and 1 in every 5 web minutes being spent getting social.

So it’s understandable that brands are falling over themselves to dip into the 1.2 billion potential customers. And future employees.

It’s still relatively early days for the social web with both businesses and users finding their feet in a far more open and connected world. As we become increasingly active online we begin to leave a trail leading recruiters to the person behind the CV. The ability to show our personal and professional selves online is yet to be fully realised by many of the 1.2 billion socially active onliners, but we’re surely not far from that traditional CV being filed away under history.

Recruiters are increasingly looking at the social web to find that right candidate….often using it ultimately like a candidate database to verify the validity of candidates (check out the video below) or cherry pick from a database of CVs (think LinkedIn’s InMail and how you can message members who fit your search criteria). Understandable, but there’s surely more to come before social recruiting truly lives up to its name. There are people to meet, conversations to be had and things to learn and share on the web these days; all to help us connect with the people behind the brand. And the recruiter.

 

Socialising sites

The social web is not just about the usual suspects (line up please Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Google+…). It’s adding that social sauce to an online experience. Once we have that, the category of “social media” should blend in to the all categories when you look at behaviour reports.

The likes of Gigya and Badgeville are a glimpse into what should be tomorrow’s web. Nice video from Gigya.

Santa’s social web on Christmas Eve

Santa Claus, Père Noël, Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas…the big man has been busy on the social web this December (check out my recent posts for other examples). There’s been plenty of chat on the Xmas www with “Merry Christmas” and “Santa” top trends on Twitter in the UK at the moment.

For all of the Coca-Cola ads, with Santa stealing the show (those “holidays are coming” ads seem to come around too quickly each year!), there is an online tradition currently in the making. NORAD Tracks Santa.

Since 1955, the North American Aerospace Defence Command used their radars to tell kids over the telephone where Santa and his sleigh was on the big night. Now, the social web has seen this spread on to Google Maps, Google Earth, Google+, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and now Android and iPhone apps.

I first found out about NORAD Tracks Santa in December 2008 and have been popping online to check this out since…especially these past two years as my little niece gets to that age where the magic of Santa really comes alive (talking to her about Santa over Facebook is strange but a sign of things to come for families enjoying the traditions of Christmas).

This is one of the many moments that one realises technology is become more integrated with our day to day. And how social media can really help tell a great story, bring it alive and keep people engaged. NORAD are rather fortunate to have the big man and a big festive season to tap into but this is a great example of what social media is really about. People, not organisations.

NORAD Tracks Santa has been growing steadily with their YouTube Channel getting over 30,000,000 video views, a Facebook Page with over 930,000 “likes” and a Twitter feed with over 90,000 followers. And rising as the sun sets on Christmas Eve across the globe. Santa has done Paris…now for London…where my niece should be tucked up in bed rather than glued to the computer screen!

Happy Christmas!

Santa’s Naughty List gets hacked

It’s all very different these days: You compile a top secret list over the whole year only for it to find its way on a USB stick gone walkabout and end up in the public domain in seconds. Santa Co really needs to look at its data security. Nice bit of spoofing.

Technology with purpose

For all the technology we have at our disposal to get a message across it can be far too easy to over complicate things.  There’s nothing wrong with keeping it simple. Like this nifty Christmas card from the folks at Dentsu London.

Santa, his iPhone and an Elf named Siri

Santa is popping up across TVs and the web left right and centre as the big man and brands gear up for Christmas Day. With technology knick knacks ending up in people’s Christmas stockings more and more these days, it’s a wonder how Santa would use technology to make his life easier on the big night that is Christmas Eve. Well, Apple takes a guess. Even Santa is not immune to the Apple marketing engine. Watch out elves, you have the iPhone’s Siri to contend with now. Nonetheless, Siri proves to be a useful piece of technology for a rather busy individual.

Twitter spreads its wings with redesign

At last, Twitter do something with their interface. Meaning less reliance of third party apps and a richer environment for users.

Not to mention the opportunity it gives brands. Opening up the platform for brands to customise using more of the page real estate and allowing focus on certain content. Check out Twitter’s blog post about this exciting development. Excellent.

There’s an app for most things in life…

A good pal of mine in the agency just shared this with me. There are plenty of apps in the world that don’t use the attributes of a mobile device while not tapping into the inherent need of the client. So pointless. This one does. And has social very much at its core…the app produces something people can share…and spread the good message of a worthy campaign.

Nokia Lumia’s 4D projection party on the Thames

Nokia have gone all out on the launch of their first proper attempt in the smart phone market. The Lumia takes the Windows Phone OS in hope of crashing the party that they really should have been at years ago. Microsoft have a slick OS and Nokia may just be the ones to help them get in the mix with iOS and Android.

Last Monday saw a rather cool party on the Thames thanks to a deadmau5 set and a stunning 4D projection show on the  Millbank Tower. What a way to launch a product with a huge helping of cool. Great stuff. It may just be too cool too late for Nokia. We’ll see.

Google+ Pages making businesses more social

Big news from Google today means great news for businesses who want to become more sociable on the web. Google+ Pages gives businesses and brands another corner of the web to build, and engage with, communities.

And the chance to leverage Google’s huge ability to sort through information on the web with a social platform. Google+ Direct Connect shows how the social experience can be fully integrated into the web. Excellent.

Google+ Pages are now open to all (Google themselves of course, and The Muppets are two examples….but the numbers will be rocketing as the day passes) but how the likes of Hangout will be applied to Pages is a little unclear at the moment.

What’s for sure is the social experience brands can get on Facebook is fully opened to the web with Google+. This should prove hugely popular for brands and Google could well trump Facebook when it comes to integrating businesses and brands with the social web. The openness of Twitter with the varied functionality of Facebook.

“Businesses don’t make people happy. People do.” That’s the spirit.