Sarah Austin was one of the first live streaming, life-casters popularized on Justin.TV and she is the founder of Pop17, “a collaborative blogging platform and web show that covers and tracks emerging web trends and tells the stories behind what’s going in social media.” 

Sarah and I have a SXSWi 2011 Panel Proposal with Brandon Prebynski, Joel Cheesman, Christopher Kahle and Ryan Paugh. We’d really appreciate your votes and comments at http://bit.ly/howtogetajob by August 27th, 2010.

Listen to this entire 38th episode of “The Social Nerdia Show!” with Sarah Austin on the Flash player below. You can also subscribe on iTunes, stream from your phone on Stitcher, and listen to upcoming shows LIVE on blogtalkradio. Some show highlights and quotes are below. Enjoy!

Brands on Social Media

 ”When brands become a part of the community, it really feels like the brand is like your friend. You really love them, like you would a real person. In social media, they take on attributes of people because there are personalitieis behind the brand making tweets, answering questions, customer service, and establishing relationships with people, connecting with people on their interests, and offering something back to the community.”

“Ford’s really great. I had such a time doing the Ford Fiesta Movement. I got to drive a car around and go on all these adventures. It was also a competition. I got to do interviews with Ford designers. It’s interesting to see them being really progressive. Ford used to not appeal to the Millenial demographic. Ford’s really changed and become hip.”

“Companies like Virgin America are doing a really good job. They appeal to a tech demographic and people in social media really like flying on Virgin America. I was able to meet with them and interview Richard Branson. They are really involved in social media and they value people in tech. They syndicate shows like “Wine Library TV” by Gary Vaynerchuck.”

Facebook and “The Social Network” Movie

“Facebook has taken over the world. They own everything but China and they have all the conversations and connections all over the world.”

“To some people, things aren’t official until it’s on Facebook.”

 ”Movies are starting to document a real movement, a social media revolution, and it’s really hitting the mainstream.”

Foursquare

 ”I use Foursquare and have been using it for a while. I have a lot of friends there. If I want to know where my friends are right now, I’ll get on Foursquare. Facebook Places hasn’t quite reached that with me yet. I’m still on Foursquare and plug that in to Facebook.

” It will be interesting to see how developers use Facebook Places and do something cool with it. I don’t think this means Foursquare is over. I think they have to create more relationships with businesses, maybe small local business, so they can provide value on Facebook and stay on there.”

Live Streaming Platforms and Privacy

“Each of the platform has its advantages. There’s just a lot going on. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out when YouTube starts to get into the picture.”

“These sites are going in different directions so what will make them stand out for the long-run will be withstanding all the legal issues that they’ll have to go through, and making the sites safe and guarding by age, demographics, and region. The content and making these sites as secure as possible will be some of their most valuable developments.”

“I use Justin.TV  and I have a lot of information on there. I’ve had 10 million video views and 27,000 followers there. These are people that have a lot  access and have know me about 5 years. I dont really know the informationa bout the people watching me. Having more peripherals set up and have security on my broadcasts. Privacy is a big issue and whichever of these companies can tackle that will have a huge advantage over the competition.”

Word of Mouth

“Word of mouth is one of the most powerful communication tools because people believe that more than anything else. That is the most convincing element.”

Sarah the Geek

“I’m a geeky filmmaker. That’s what I’ve been doing for 13 years. Anything about film making I love to geek out on.”

Interviewing Others

“I think the secret to a good interview depends on whether you’re trying to get a person’s story or trying to get a story out of them. There’s a web of six degrees of separation… everyone is very accessible and the more people that become accessible it opens a lot of doors. What I really wanted to do is capture a positive angle of growth and success, not only contributing to one personal success but also to what they are doing for their communities.”

“I feel like everybody in social media has something to give back to the community and my way of giving back is providing media, documenting and doing interviews.”

Acting

“I took a theater class once. I did act in an indie film that was about a video blogger, it was a horror film. I dabbled in it a little bit, but nothing serious.”

Alternative Careers

“If I had to do something else, it would be something sporty. I’d like to do something where I’m physically active. This might sound silly, but the career before I was thinking about before before was being a park ranger. I hike a lot. It’s beautiful here.”

Our SXSW 2011 Panel Proposal

“We’ll provide a lot of information about how to get a job using social media and how to leverage social media for your career.” http://bit.ly/votesxsw2011

Lisa Murphy is the Product Marketing Manager for Metaio, a company that develops software products for visual interactive solutions between the real and the virtual world.

Metaio is responsible for some of the coolest augmented reality implementations and they recently partnered with Time Out New York Kids to bring P.S.22′s famous YouTube video to your phone through mobile AR (via their Junaio browser). It’s a brave new AR world and Metaio is one of the companies leading the charge.

1) From movie posters to Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, augmented reality marketing is generating a lot of buzz. However, the usage and awareness of AR is still not very high. Is buzz the ultimate goal in AR marketing today?
 
Buzz is definitely a goal for brands and it sometimes is the ultimate goal. But for many others, brands are looking beyond the buzz to deliver an interactive brand engagement experience or help drive sales of their products. For example, LEGO, a partner of ours, created the LEGO Digital Kiosk installation at their retail stores. The LEGO Digital Kiosk allowed shoppers to see a 3D model of the actual LEGO toy with animations and sound right on top of the product package when held to the kiosk. ( )In this execution, LEGO not only created a buzz, a great brand experience, but also sold more products as a result of the experience.

2) Time Out New York Kids and Metaio recently partnered to create a mag cover with AR using the Junaio browser, similar to Esquire’s AR cover some months ago. Now that AR is becoming a reality on print, do you think AR is going to become a trend in the print industry?
 
Print industry is a great fit for augmented reality. As we see a more steady push toward digital ebooks and wide consumption of articles online, publishers are looking for creative and innovative ways to engage their traditional magazine readers beyond just text in a magazine. We definitely see more publishers using augmented reality to create this mixed and interactive experience for their readers and drive more sale of the magazines on newstands. For Time Out New York Kids, having a feature cover and an editorial on PS22 definitely pointed out how talented the Chorus was, but to be able to connect the reader to a video of their performance is instant and engaging.   
  
3) One of my favorite examples of AR is the Adidas Originals 3D Neighborhood sneakers. Where did that idea come from and how successful has it been?

The idea of creating an AR shoe that serves as a game controller for the Star Wars game came from Sid Lee Marketing Agency. They approached us with the concept and we jointly implemented the AR experience using our Unifeye software. The campaign has been very successful and generated much press coverage and buzz. I am not able to disclose any statistics regarding usage as they belong to the client. However, the campaign for the user was successful because it extended beyond just a simple AR campaign, incorporating interactions and social media features to make it engaging and fun. We have heard a lot of good feedback.
 
4) Apps like Tweepsaround (based on Layar) have been able to give us a hint of the integration of AR and the social web. Is Metaio doing anything in the social networking space?

Yes we are. Junaio, our augmented reality browser, has a social focus that allows users to leave “geo-tags” at locations to share with friends. For example, any user can create a “user augmented channel” and leave photos, comments, notes, or 3D objects at locations for friends to discover. Recently, I created a channel called “Lisa’s Adventures” and it’s full of my favorite places to go in the city. My friends can tune into my channel and see my recommendations just by pointing their phone. We have also embedded features such as adding friends, news to create a fun and social experience for our users.
 
On the channel side, Foursquare and Youtube are some of the social networking AR channels that we make available for users to discover. 
 
5) Going back to TONY Kids, what do you think this will do for PS 22, the YouTube sensation and Webby Award-winning fifth-grade chorus from Staten Island?

When we told PS22 about the AR cover, they were very excited. Part of the reason why they were so successful was their viral YouTube videos that garnered more than 2 million hits. Using augmented reality, we were able to connect those videos to the magazine article that allowed the readers to experience the magic as they were reading. More readers are able to see their performance.
 
6) It seems like kids these days are born knowing how to operate computers and smartphones. What about education? Is there an area in which AR could be helpful in the classroom?

Yes! Augmented reality is making books more interactive and fun to read. We did a project with Bertlesmann in 2008 where we turned a couple of pages in their Atlas to 3D AR pages.  The AR experience with visual, audio supplement allowed a reader to better understand the content of the book. Learning by watching a video or having a 3D construction of the terrains vastly improves the intake of information. Future is Wild is another example project.

7) Industrial AR is another interesting use case. Any examples of companies doing this effectively?
 
Yes, Peugeot, Opel, VolksWagen are some of the pioneers in factory planning and prototyping. 
 
In what other ways could the world benefit from increased use of AR?
 
Augmented reality creates a simple interface to data and information that is available in the world. By a simple point of the phone, users can get information immediately. For example, if I am a tourist in San Francisco and looking for places to go, I can use AR to discover landmarks around me.  No more searching through a map or reading a guide, you now can get instant information that is relevant and location-based.
 
9) We’ve gone from webcam/printout examples of AR to all kinds of AR-enabled games and mobile applications. What’s next in Augmented Reality?
 
The growing area is definitely on the mobile side. Everything that we have seen about AR can now be done on a smart phone.

What’s next is mobile AR games? Check out Zoombie Shooter.

I recently participated as a panelist on a webinar titled “Your Brand Advocates- How to Find Them and What They Are Worth,” along with Kety Esquivel (from Ogilvy), Rob Fuggetta (from Zuberance), and Frank Eliason (on his last day at Comcast — he’s now with Citi). We talked about what a brand advocate is, and how brands can identify and energize them. Here are my slides along with a few thoughts and tips.

Brand advocates, at their core, are people who really like and care about a brand. They are the opposite of critics because they’re out there talking about the brand and recommending it to their friends  (aprox 150 if they’re sharing those recommendations online, according to Forrester). What they say actually resonates with others because there is a trust between friends and connections. These brand advocates cannot be bought, forced or created, so others perceive them as genuine fans of the brand.

Brand advocates are brand advocates because they’ve had good experiences with a brand and they are willing and able to share some enthusiasm. Of course, brand advocates aren’t always positive and they aren’t always the most vocal or social (as we might assume they are). They do expect the best from you… and that is a good thing.

Anyone representing a company in social media should seek to connect with this special group of passionate and supportive customers. Once you find one (yes, one is a big deal), try to develop and nurture a relationship. If you’re passionate about your company and its products/services (as I happen to be at Samsung), then this should be easy and natural for you. Help them connect with other fans and try to provide them with valuable and memorable experiences (that can be anything from good on-going conversations to content they actually might want to watch/read). Whatever you do, don’t take advocates for granted (regardless of how connected or influential they might seem).

Not sure what to think yet? Here are some stats if that’s your kind of thing:

McKinsey & Company has found that 2/3rds of the economy is influenced by personal recommendations. Zuberance says that a brand advocate may help provide 5 to 7 times more economic value than the average customer. Keller Fay Group has found that consumers mention 56 brands in conversation per week. According to Weber Shandwick, 1 in 3 people come to a brand through a recommendation, and according to Bain & Company, the most recommended company in any given category grows 2.5x the category average.

So, does anyone care about your brand enough to proactively and genuinely talk about it with friends? Are you ready to be an advocate yourself and join the conversation?

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed on this blog are mine and do not necessarily reflect the views of Samsung.

You probably already heard about the fake @BPGlobalPR Twitter account that was created to criticize the tragic BP oil spill. The account pretends to be an official BP handle, and with a mere 138 tweets, it already has aproximately 85K followers (and it has been listed by 2095 users!) in just a few days.

Of course, the AdAge article and other media have helped spread awareness of the account, but the reason for its speedy rise in followers is mostly due to the severity of BP’s oil spill combined with the the cleverness and relevance of the tweets.

Humor goes a long way when it comes to Twitter. Fake accounts like this one are created all the time, but they rarely make much of an impact. We’ve seen fake Twitter accounts for everything from presidents dictators (ie. @ChavezCandanga_) to Star Wars characters (ie. @DarthVader), but the most effective ”fake” Twitter accounts are often parodies (ie. @BogusBogusky, @ChuckNorris_ @Nick_Nolte) or created by actual fans (ie. @PeggyOlson and maybe @BadPeggyOlson). However, @BPGlobalPR is going against BP with intelligence, and dare I say it.. strategy?

I have no idea who is behind this @BPGlobalPR account, but I wouldn’t be surprised if another “fake” Twitterer like @michael_bay was doing it.

BP has decided not to go after the rogue account, at least for now, and I applaud this because they have decided to focus on communicating through their real account @BP_America and seem to be doing a very good job there despite the huge challenge they are facing. (Update: The @BP_America account was recently hacked for a short time.)

BP could’ve easily asked Twitter to suspend the @BPGlobalPR account soon after it was created, as most companies would’ve done, and as CNN and Megan Fox probably did with @cnnbreaking and @the_megan_fox, respectively. I guess BP could try to reach out to the creator(s) to try to make some peace, but who knows whether much would come out of doing so.

So where does a fake @BPGlobalPR account with a potentially serious, long-term agenda go from here?

Some fakers like @stephentcolbert, with an impressive 96K followers, seem to be trying to profit from their clever tweets through Ad.ly ads. Of course, independent Twitter ad networks are on the way out so @stephentcolbert better have a book something in mind because his ad.ly tweets are not going to keep paying for the broadband connection.

Unless suspended, the @BPGlobalPR account will likely stay open for a long time. And what about spreading itself to other social networks? Well, they seem to have recently opened a fake Facebook Page.

The Facebook Page only has 8 fans at this point, but with several comments (spammy ones) on Mashable’s FB posts, I’m sure other people will start to “like” the FB Page.

(Update: Looks like there is a another “BP Global PR” Facebook Page at http://www.facebook.com/BPGlobalPR and that one has 315 fans.)

One thing is for sure: The @BPGlobalPR account will be remembered as one of the most toxic (very sorry for the pun) cases to remember when considering a crisis response plan. It’s become quite obvious that every company needs a very integrated approach to PR, customer service, and social marketing so everyone should consider the worst of the worst when it comes to getting prepared. We should also pay close  attention to the way that companies like BP, Nestle, United, Domino’s, and others have reacted in difficult times. Learn from those who have been proactive, those who have responded quickly, and those who have extended heartfelt apologies.

More importantly, we should not point a finger at the companies that have failed to respond effectively because as real-time communication becomes the norm and as lurkers become “critics” and “creators”… this could easily happen to any company or person for any kind of problem or crisis. If you think you’re immune because of the industry you’re in or the history you’ve had, it’s time to let go of your complacency because we live in a brave new social world that can be quickly changed by anyone with an Internet connection.

Sometimes, to gain perspective about how big the world is, and how small I am in it, I take my glasses off.. just to realize how blind I really am.

Let me back up a bit. I can’t see 20/20. When I take my glasses off, everything goes awfully blurry and it makes me feel lost and confused. The sensation of not being in control, of not being being able to do simple things like reading a sign that’s only a few feet away, can be really frustrating and intimidating.

When I was about 16 years old I started sitting in the front of the classroom to “see better.” Eventually a teacher told me to just get some glasses already (as if it was obvious to everyone but me). After going to the optometrist and actually getting my first pair of glasses, I realized that I had been needing them for a very long time. I just thought that everyone saw things the way I did, blurry and cloudy and dull. I remember wearing glasses late at night, and the billboards looking so much brighter, so much more colorful and alive than ever. For the first time, I was seeing the way I was supposed to.

Taking my glasses off today really made me think about a lot of the things that are happenning in the social web. Two things in particular concern me, especially because we bypass them with all the excitement about “social this” and “social that.”

The first is that people are becoming more and more self-centered. While we talk about a cultural shift towards sharing, openness, authenticity, and transparency, the shift sometimes has more to do with our egos. This shift should worry us a bit because if we keep calling “social” what is often anything but, we might end up with a bunch of anti-social narcissistic human beings who crave micro-celebritism and their own utopian so-called personal brands.

My second concern kind of ties in with the whole ego thing. For those of us working in online marketing and social media, the ego dillema translates into a mindset of “no one else gets it” and “we are ahead of the curve,” as if we had discovered America or something.

The fact is that we haven’t discovered America, and for the most part, most of us weren’t even involved in actually developing the tools and technologies that make the social web possible. Social media are fantastic and I am very passionate about their incredible potential, but it’s important to remember that this, whatever “this” is right here and right now, is only temporary. The excitement over social networking will one day wear off as it did for many other novel concepts and innovations. One day, probably not too far from now, the social web will just be the web, and Social Media Managers will just be Managers.

So instead of trying to separate those that “get it” from those that “don’t get it,” we should embrace social media for what it should be: the ability to know others and be known. And instead of trying to focus on how we can succeed through making brands out of ourselves, we should remember that “sharing” and “listening” are not really about us, but about building real relationships.

Human connections are starting to get touted as buzz words, ROI and KPIs in board meetings, as if we were talking about eyeballs without brains or hearts, but those human connections really truly are what it all comes down to in this life. Online or offline, at times it is necessary to take off our glasses, and remember just how small and blind we really are.

“My whole approach to making this film is similar to open source web development,” said Tan Siok Siok when I asked her about Twittamentary. On the most recent The Social Nerdia Show!, I had a conversation with her to talk about this unique documentary, which she referred to as a “project about Twitter using Twitter to make it happen, and the power of the real-time web.”

Listen to the entire conversation with Siok Siok on the Flash player below. You can also subscribe on iTunes, stream from mobile phones on Stitcher, and listen to upcoming LIVE shows on blogtalkradio.

Siok Siok explained that traditional filmmaking is “very secretive” because it is important to keep the idea away from anyone who could steal it. “What’s unusual about this project is that we crowdsourced it,” she told me. From ideas like a “meetup road trip” to mobilizing people to “generating leades for the shoot,” the Twitter community has made it possible for many to get personally involved. One such example happened in Denver, CO, where Siok Siok’s team was stranded at a bus station at midnight. Someone read her tweets and soonafter picked them up and let them stay with him for the night. “The film shows that Twitter works.”

Most people have not been immersed in Twitter enough to see its value and many are still skeptics. Siok Siok herself found it a bit pointless at the beginning. “I thought it was the weirdest application in the planet,” she explained. “There’s a bunch of people talking out loud, to no one in particular.. it’s a very weird idea, really bizzarre.” But with some time, “day after day, you really do become friends with others… it opens up an entire world just by talking to someone from a different nation, group, niche or language.”

Siok Siok is originally from Singapore and she spends about half of the year in China so we talked about how people adopt and use social media differently around the world. While Singapore “comes very close to the West in their use of social media,” it is not as easy to get on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube in China “because you have to use a VPN.” What may be surprising to many is that ”even without the blockage the Chinese have a preference for local sites.” While many of us are used to the big three social networks, Siok Siok shared that there are “a dozen clones of Twitter focused on different niches” in China.

“The people who use Twitter in China are the globalized tech elite at the top of the pyramid and they tend to be bilingual,” said Siok Siok. That doesn’t mean that Twitter isn’t known though because “the rest of the population have heard about it.. it’s like a legend for those who don’t have any friends who have actually used it.”

Those relatively few Chinese who are on Twitter have a chance to express a bit more fully than we do. “Chinese is a very economical language,” she told me. “You can say much more in 140 characters than in English.. much more complete thoughts.”

If you’d like to get involved in Twittamentary, reach out to @SiokSiok on Twitter or visit the web site so you can submit your story and nominate others.