Posts Tagged "TechCrunch"


I am constantly amazed by the number of startups that build applications and take a huge business risk by building their company on an API call. Countless apps, particularly social apps, have popped up through the last 24 months that have taken data from other systems and re-displayed it in their systems. While there is widespread usage of APIs (and not for a moment am I suggesting that people not use them at all), I just think that start-up founders consistently underplay the business risk. The risk is clear, if the data dries up so does your business. For all that have created apps based largely on API calls, consider what would happen if that information fire hose wasn’t there anymore. The companies who provide these APIs may not disappear, but it will definitely be a game-changer. The changes to Twitter’s API should serve as a warning sign and an important reminder. Countless third-party Twitter apps have found all their hard work rendered useless by the latest release of their 1.1 API, as the vital flow of data has come to a halt or slowed greatly. Some might blame Twitter and say how dare they shut down the fire hose to the community. I think a lot of responsibility needs to be placed on the developers who consciously build on an ecosystem they knowingly can’t control. Two examples cited directly by Michael Sippey on the Twitter blog are Tweetbot and Echofon. In the words of Sippey, “Nearly eighteen months ago, we gave developers guidance that they should not build client apps that mimic or reproduce the mainstream Twitter consumer client experience. And to reiterate what I wrote in my last post, that guidance continues to apply today.” I am not here to parse the he said she said, just to offer a warning to startups building their business on an API. If your startup could have its throat cut by a TOS (Terms of Service) change or API change, you shouldn’t just brush inherent risks to your company under the carpet. Moving beyond the risks to your company you should also consider what the true value you are providing to your users. In many cases (especially in the case of social), apps merely have a new UI on top of the information of Twitter or Facebook. On the contrary, there is something amazing to be said for companies who build into the ecosystem and allow their functionality to be seamless across a broader group of applications. The best example that comes to mind is 37 Signals universe and the way they have built and integrated into countless other useful applications. They allow vital business information to...

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WrestleMania has transformed itself from a small wrestling event to an international media spectacle. In its 28th incarnation, held at the beginning of this month, there were no signs of it stopping. The WWE did something unique last year – it announced the main event for Wrestlemania over a year in advance. The big match featured Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, a huge cross-over star, and John Cena, the current flag bearer for the company. Recognizing the challenges of trying to keep interest for the match a year in advance, the WWE turned to social media. I wanted to some of the people driving this initiative, both on- and off-screen. Jason Hoch, SVP of Digital Operations for the WWE, discussed his social media strategies for fan engagement and social TV. Since joining the WWE, Hoch undertook a huge project to re-launch WWE.com with a totally new UX with social media at its core. Rather than just putting as Jason says “plug-ins” or social areas, they have tried to build the entire site to be socially enabled. This included deep integration so users could follow their favorite stars on multiple social networks and interact with them seamlessly. Throughout the event, WrestleMania and related hashtags dominated Twitter. As they push hard into social, Jason specifically recognizes that social media fatigue is a key element that needs to be closely monitored to determine what level of interaction is appropriate and doesn’t turn off fans in its broadcasts and other media. I also interviewed Zack Ryder, who talked about how he has elevated his career due to social media. Zack has been one of the key individuals who helped push social onto the WWE radar and elevate its corporate importance. While he isn’t the biggest star in the WWE, his usage of social has elevated his position in the company and allowed him to better engage his fans. He points to this and says if he didn’t embrace social media and make some waves he would have likely been fired. This is a good example of how employees are using social media to elevate their status within a company and make themselves more valuable employees in the eyes of their employers. So far, their engagement strategy appears to be working. The WWE feels like they are more up-to-date and engaged. In many cases, WWE wrestlers were actively retweeted, followed and engaged by fans. One stat that is very telling was the number of followers and likes they have on Facebook and Twitter. The numbers behind this are impressive. Between all of the stars’ accounts, they have over 60 million Twitter followers and 20 million Facebook...

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  It’s the eve of WrestleMania 28, and I got a chance to meet with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. What does that have to do with tech? Well, in the video interview, Johnson shares his thoughts on how social media has changed the game, what is his favorite tech and how he uses it to engage his fans. Johnson says he launched his Twitter account a little more than a year ago, and that it’s “one of the greatest things” he’s ever done, because it gives him a way to connect directly to fans. “A lot of people would have had a team coming in … these great business minds, but I wanted to strip away the business of it all,” he says. You can see more, including a peek at Johnson’s iPhone, in the video above. (The background noise is a little loud at first, but Johnson comes through loud and...

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I got to sit down and interview Dana White ahead of UFC 140. The event takes place on December 10th in Toronto, Canada and like every UFC event, heavily hyped via social media. Over the past 3 years, Dana White and the UFC have built a very strong social media presence. I wanted to speak to the head of the UFC himself and get some more detail on what he thinks of Twitter and other social media tools. Dana goes on to outline how he got into Twitter, how he uses it to help his business, what are the pitfalls and benefits. Amy Jo Martin of Digital Royalty, who helps build social media strategies for business such as the UFC had this to say about Dana White and his use of Twitter. “Dana White was the first sports executive to see the power of these new communication channels. From day one, Dana and the UFC have treated social media channels as a dialogue vs. a monologue.” Digital Royalty...

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Over the past year the WWE has continued to push the social media envelope by integrating Twitter and Facebook further into its regular broadcasts. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, now a cross-over star in both the WWE and Hollywood, cut a promo on WWE Raw to hype the upcoming pay-per-view “Survivor Series”. During that promo, the Rock quickly coined a new catchphrase “Boots to Asses” and said it was now trending worldwide. Before he mentioned it there was no mention of it on Twitter. Shortly after he said it, not only did it start a new chant throughout the arena, but it proved that Mr. Johnson was prophetic as minutes later the term “Boots to Asses” was trending worldwide. One might say this is a one off, but for anyone observing what the WWE has been up to this can be seen as only a small part of a much larger social media strategy. In the last year, the WWE has bolstered it’s already strong web presence with a very savvy social media offensive. Now every performer who appears on WWE TV has their own Twitter handle which they use to build a fan following and actually continue storylines started from the show. During the broadcast, whenever a wrestler heads to the ring, their Twitter handle is prominently featured next to their name on the screen graphics. Their strategy is obvious and effective, providing a method to allow their show to be more interactive and leverage casual fans to tune in more regularly especially when something eventful is on the screen. Throughout the show, it is quite common to hear announcers talking about whether something is trending worldwide. Some wrestlers who are trying to increase their standing in the company have actually taken to social media to build an audience. Zack Ryder and his self-styled ”Jersey Shore” persona created a series of YouTube videos to drive interest. To his credit, not only has he been successful driving nearly 100,000 people to become subscribers on Youtube, but he also has 300,000 followers on Twitter. He essentially went out and built a new fanbase for himself and received more airtime and interest as a result. Wrestlemania is by far the biggest event held by the WWE. To hype the main event, they have already launched a separate site to highlight their main fight, John Cena vs. Dwanye “The Rock” Johnson, and to encourage fans to choose whose side they’re on. The site is integrated with both Twitter and Facebook pages. On each side they have attracted huge audiences. Here is the tale of the tape so far, and it is pretty impressive. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson John Cena Twitter Followers 1.6m...

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