12 Apr Reversing The Search Engine | Social You Should Know
In the midst of a land rush to automation and big data, Jelly, a relatively new service from Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, is refreshingly driven by people. Bringing the social back to social media, Jelly effectively turns us all into an organic search engine.
Reversing the Search Engine – Pass the Jelly
Let’s face it: Google is awesome, but sometimes it just misses the mark in being helpful or intuitive. This is because humans, especially large groups of humans, are really much better at answering questions like, “what’s the best Vietnamese food in Raleigh?” than search engines are. Why is this? As anyone who has read “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” can tell you, quality is subjective. What I think is the best food, wine, car, etc., far exceeds the ability of a search engine or rating to answer.
This is where Jelly comes in. I can ask and answer questions that add real social capital into the system, and the answers feel much more real than those from “traditional” search. Described as the “Human Algorithm” by CNN, Jelly seems to capture the original promise of social vs. the arms race of big data and automated responses.
So what should brands and marketers do with Jelly? Try it out for 30 days, participate and see if it adds value to your world. If so, you’ll probably have a good idea of how others might value the app as well and can begin to build a strategy for its use. Jelly’s tagline says it all: “Let’s help each other.”
Twitter’s Profile Redesign Looks a Lot Like Facebook
Twitter is rolling out a Facebook-esque redesign, starting with celebrities and extending to other users in the coming weeks. The new design brings opportunities to marketers by allowing tweets to be pinned to the top of a profile. Tweets with the most engagement will be highlighted, which can contribute to that piece of content having a longer half-life.
While we’re on the topic of Twitter, Quartz recently released a study on why people quit Twitter. There’s lots of interesting data that’s worth a look but the gist is that users either don’t have enough followers or they don’t know who to follow.
Q&A Social Media Gains Traction
Question and answer site Quora has raised $80 million in a Series C funding round. The website was valued at $400 million after its last round of funding in 2012. This news, along with the buzz surrounding Jelly, is a solid sign that Q&A social media is growing in importance. Here are some great ways to use this form of social to engage with consumers. DIY site Fixya also has some great examples of brands and consumers helping each other.
Have a great weekend!
