Mediaboss Marketing

How did Mark Zuckerberg change the world? He built a global community that brings people closer together. The origins of Facebook are available to the general public. Everyone is familiar with the story of building social network platform that will greatly impact human relations and economy. Mark's vision of community opened a door to many variations of social media network platforms that today exist. Jack Dorsey created Twitter in March 2006. Rome may not have been built in a day, but Twitter was built in just two weeks, says Jack.

A few years later Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger built a pared - down photo app today known as Instagram.

Facebook has now 2 billion monthly users, Twitter 328 million and Instagram 700 million worldwide users.

Mark did pave the way for many new social media networks. He got one brilliant idea that greatly impacted the humanity. However, other social media channels were created only because their CEOs were smart enough to recognize good opportunity at the right time. Facebook did all of the hard work and now building a social network website from scratch is a lot easier process than before. Nowadays, creating a social media network can be done quick by following certain unwritten rules and regulations.

How to build a social media network/community website from scratch? What does this mean from business and development point of view?

I've compiled a list of 8 steps that you need to follow in the process:

1. Identify your community

If you don't want to shoot in a dark and have financial losses you need to identify your community. The process of identification needs to be done in the brainstorming stage. Social network platform is created to meet certain needs of the population. Identifying preferences and dislikes of your community will help you in better understanding the psychological factors that affect them as a consumer and what you can do to get their attention. Sometimes the need for what you are offering won't exist on the market, that's why gathered demographics and psychographics data will give you the power to trigger and create that need.

2. Define the features and functions

The definition of the features and functions is tightly related to the quality of the identification of your community. Your community wants and needs will shape and outline the features of developing a social network website. What do you want your users to do? How will you define the privacy of the data?

The overall vision of your website is crucial. Macro scan that will break things down into categories such as user functions, administrative functions, and advertising is a must thing to do.

Defining the type of data that will circulate, what they can post, how they will register and what automation you should use is only the beginning. There are a lot of things to be considered at this phase.

3. Choose the right technology

Identifying the features and functions of your social media network will determine the platform and the company where you can create your own network. The biggest issue at this stage is the doubt about what method will be effective and efficient for your social media network. Evaluating technology is something that must be done by professionals. Hiring a consultant to help you compare technologies is a great solution. It will save you time and money.

If you choose to do it by yourself then you need to prepare list of relevant questions to ask. You can apply different CMS such as Ning, Drupal, Ruby on Rails, or .Net

The questions will allow you to see if their technology and solutions completely support your idea.

The last thing you can do is analyze existent social networking platforms and what building technologies they have used. This learning process will help you figure out various issues and opportunities for your social media network. Here's a few other useful tips when choosing which social network is right for you.

4. A must have structure

Once the user-specific features are listed, you must prepare the growth environment. Certain general rules apply for building all web pages and are out of huge importance for your social media networking platform since you are trying to engage users in social activity and keep them longer on your site. There are three must have pillars that you need to incorporate if you want your social media network to be successful and profitable.

Customer service - Partnering with a hosting company can change your life. They will deal with technical issues and any other issue related to your platform.

Security - Use reliable security systems that will make your users feel like they can do everything on your social media platform without worrying about privacy intrusion and data leaks.

Scalability - When you start building a social network from scratch you have to consider growth. Facebook was not familiar with the fact that it will grow to this extent. Mark was prepared for growth even when he wasn't sure that he will achieve global success. Your social media platform has to be able to expand easily and quickly so it can follow the pace of your growth.

5. Design Activity Stream

What is a social network site without activity stream? Nothing. Nowadays, activity streams are the core of every social media website. Facebook introduced this feature first and since he sets the standards on the market, the concept went mainstream and affected everyone. The fascination people have with their friend's activity is real. We want to know what they are doing, how they are feeling every moment of the day. Failing to develop quality activity stream can affect the attractiveness of your social media network. This is the focal point and the driving force behind the success of launching a social network. You can use Joomla 's plug ins or Drupal's activity stream module that accomplishes this very well

For example, activity feed of Ning allows you to connect your network to Facebook, Twitter or to add RSS feed. Stay always tuned with the comments, likes and shares, which are shown in your news feed. You can make publications in the form of tweet or post, and decide what to show in your activity feed, and who can see your updates. These features let you highly customize your network.

6. Create Status Update Features

Status updates are crucial. Every social media user wants to express their feelings and thoughts freely anytime of the day. You need to design the perfect tools that will make the status updates pleasurable and easy experience. Even though Facebook popularized the activity stream, Twitter made the status update another mainstream aspect of social media sites. Status updates are incredibly addicting. People are immediately hooked. If this feature is not user-friendly and easy to use they will abandon your social media platform immediately. What can you do to design the perfect status updated tool?

It really depends on the values your social media is built. Twitter made an amazing move by limiting status updates to 140 characters. The developers were grateful for that decision. It made their work so much easier. Of course, you have to make sure to add comment adding options on the status updates. In other words, interaction with other users is everything.

There are a lot of open-source microblogging platforms you can use for developing quality status update features. Laconi.ca or Identi.ca are perfect for it. If you are using content management system like Joomla, it is easy to make a content type that has a limited number of characters.

7. Quality Viewing Data options

How to increase the engagement level and clicks on the site? You need to create multiple data viewing features that will increase the visibility of the content on your social media platform. Remember, users will see only what you allow them to see. Do you have enough data viewing options available? If the answer is no, then check the list of features you need to make available for your users:

- Popular Upcoming Stories

- Popular Stories in the last 24 hours

- Popular Stories in the last 7 days

- Popular Stories in the last 30 days

- Popular Stories in the last year

Remember when Facebook launched their timeline features? How fascinated everyone was by the fact that they can access history data so easily, with just one click. Users get excited a lot of social data.

The data viewing features must have user - centric design. It must be easy to use and accessible. Everyone has different preferences. Allowing people to access and tailor their experience is a big plus and will keep them coming back again and again to your social network platform.

8. You need to attract the right users

After everything is said and done, in terms of defining the target audience and developing the right features the next step is attracting the right users. There are a lot of tools that will help you create awareness on the market. Facebook was created in a college environment and it was a pioneer in the social media industry. What helped Mark the most is the good old word of mouth. Even though this is a traditional marketing tool is still effective. Before people start talking about your social media they need to be aware of it. Digital marketing has tools to increase awareness. It has the right set of available options that will help you reach your goals and it's cost effective too. Here's how to do it:

1. Email Marketing - Do you have an email database? If you don't, you must create one. Lead generation tools are available and can help you down the line. Unbounce in their article offers the right tips and tools that can help in preparing your email base. After you created your relevant database, prepare engaging templates and use them for newsletters. Don't worry if you are not experienced with email marketing.

2. Blogging - Create your own blog where you will discuss your new social media platform. People like to read useful information. Give them that, focus on what they like and give them the titles they are interested in. The best tactic is to contact blogging influencers and make them write a piece for your social media platform on their blog. Neil Patel applied this technique in his early struggling days and he achieved a lot in terms of traffic and engagement later. You can even monetize your writing endeavors.

3. Engage with people - When other portals mention your social media network or write news about you, you need to act immediately. Engage with them. Make a connection. Build a community. Ask them about another piece of content and reply to that story with your own blog. People appreciate engagement and care.

4. Activate paid ads - Google ads can do wonders. Activate multiple paid ads for a certain period of time. Use different wording for each ad and see what works the best. Through testing find out what gives the best result and focus all your marketing budget there.

With the numerous available resources today, creating a social media platform is easier than it was in the past. Doing a quality research is a must activity before you start with anything else. The right information can save you time and resources. There are three types of companies that have emerged in the space of white label social networking according to Techcrunch.

In their article, they review the best social media building tools and rank them based on quality. Remember to focus on the tools that will benefit your idea the most. Focus on the core values of your social media platform and build it the best you can. Success is inevitable if you plan everything the right wat. Who knows, maybe your idea will change social media forever.

The rest is here:
How to Create Powerful Social Network Platform in 8 Steps | Inc.com - Inc.com

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has reportedly written to LinkedIn Corp, questioning the company over a potential breach of the Companies Act. According to sources, the market regulator has alleged that the business-oriented social networking service is providing startups and individuals a platform to raise money publicly.

However, LinkedIn has denied all such allegations. Head of Consumer PR-Asia Pacific, Deepa Sapatnekar stated, LinkedIns vision is to create economic opportunity for the entire global workforce. We can confirm that LinkedIn is not engaged in any activities associated with the securities market.

LinkedIn currently reaches more than 42 Mn users across India, some of whom are angel investors. The platform also hosts several funding groups that claim to offer financing to any registered LinkedIn users involved in entrepreneurial activities.

Popular groups that fall in this list include Startups and Entrepreneurs Get Funded (62,396 members) and Global Investment Network (44,005 members).

Email queries sent to LinkedIn did not elicit a response at the time of publication.

Given the wide user base of the social networking platform, the SEBI believes that the number of investors funding startups through these LinkedIn groups could very well be upwards of 200. This stands in direct violation of the Companies Act, which dictates that a private company securing funding from 200 or more investors should make a public issue of the securities on an established stock exchange.

One angel investor told Livemint requesting anonymity, For practical reasons, these online networks can be used by companies/startups to solicit funding from practically millions of registered users. So, a founder of a company can be a part of such groups and propose detailed funding proposals in the group, which can be broadcast to all the members within a second. In comparison to professional and dedicated Indian online funding platforms, LinkedIn and Facebook have enormous reach.

As per reports, the concerns were raised by the SEBI in a letter to the social networking service, wherein the regulatory body asked the social networking service to share details of the measuresithas adopted to ensure that private placement norms are not violated.

In the second week of August, it was reported that the SEBI is looking to finalise crowdfunding norms. In the case of larger firms, the SEBI is considering exempting crowdfunding activities from the private placement norms under the Companies Act.

Around the same time, the board formed a Committee on Financial and Regulatory Technologies (CFRT) to examine ongoing and medium-term trends related to fintech in the securities and financial markets worldwide. The 10-member CERT committee is being headed by T.V. Mohandas Pai. The committee has been created to advise the market regulator on opportunities and challenges for new solutions and its impact on the countrys securities market.

In a separate development, between July 2017 and August 2017, the Securities and Exchange Board of India sent notices to a dozen angel networks, asking them to reveal details of their fundraising business. The aim, according to a SEBI official, was to know the persons running these platforms, and whether these platforms are operating like exchanges; whether public issue norms are being sidestepped.

As revealed by sources close to the development, LinkedIn is currently working with the SEBI to address concerns surrounding the Companies Act. How it will affect its reach among angel investors and startup founders will likely become clear in the coming months.

(The development was reported by Livemint)

See the rest here:
SEBI Concerned About Fundraising Via Social Networking Firm ... - Inc42 Media

Theres a new social networking platform for professionals, and its taking a really cool and unique approach. Connecting with others in your career field is vital, but so many of the existing platforms for that are full of spammers, scammers, and just riffraff in general. Silo, new to the game, looks to be changing the rules of social networking. Those rules insist on spam-free and ad-free social networking.

A social networking app with a clean interface and no ads is precisely what professionals want and need

Thats what Facebook and LinkedIn alike have become to me, distractions. There are so many advertisements, fake accounts, and spammers on both of them. Its often challenging to separate the wheat from the chaff. Ive all but given up, in some ways, of doing any serious networking with my peers. That applies to both of them, Facebook and LinkedIn alike.

Ill be honest. Id despaired of ever finding a social media outlet to network with my colleagues without being inundated with ads. There are advertisements for just about everything under the sun. After all, I fully recognize that it costs money to run such a platform. There are costs for development, hosting the website, and then the profit question. How can a social networking platform reduce the interference from spam and scams?

That question leads to what I think is the coolest feature of Silo. The community grows organically, and tries to maintain that type of growth without letting in those who would just destroy the virtual environment with their scams, trolling, and spammy comments.

To accomplish this, Silo utilizes a screening mechanism to keep the quality of people getting in as high as possible. When you sign up for Silo, the platform evaluates what contacts you have who are already registered on the service. Whether those contacts are from LinkedIn or Facebook, Silo evaluates whether or not you can be trusted on the site.

If someone signs up without enough contacts, or with no contacts at all, their application is manually screened before theyre granted access to the platform. That way, the folks behind the Silo community can make sure advertisers, spammers, and scammers dont infiltrate the discussions and detract from the value of the social platform.

Currently, Silo is 100 percent free to use. As long as you dont violate the terms of service for the platform, you can read and post to your hearts content. Theres absolutely no cost, either direct or indirect. It really is ad-free social networking. Eventually, though, Silo will be looking to turn a profit, so there may be some concern about the service turning to advertisements like many of its predecessors.

To avoid that outcome, Silo CEO and founder Moshik Raccah says the platform will revolve around two business models. One will involve recruiting, like someone posting that they are seeking to hire a product manager. The second will deal with connecting people with service and product providers, like when a person is looking for an app growth expert.

This is the kind of business model I can get behind. Rather than relying upon advertising revenue, the platform gets sponsorship from individuals and companies. These are folks looking to recruit or engage with a specific type of company, product, service, or person. The communities within Silo can thrive, people can post and connect, and all can be done without the intrusion of advertisements for the 1TB Minecraft Xbox bundle or AT&Ts internet for business plans.

If you want to check out Silo for yourself, simply download the iPhone or Mac app from their respective App Stores.

Read more from the original source:
Silo Demonstrates Spam-Free and Ad-free Social Networking - The Mac Observer

A second Big Pharma player has reached into the retail ranks to find someone to take the top digital job for the company.

Novartis today said that it is bringing on Bertrand Bodson, currently chief digital and marketing officer for Argos, the online and catalogoperation that grocery retailer Sainsbury acquired last year. His hire comes just weeks after GlaxoSmithKline announced it had hired a formerWalmart executive for top IT position.

Bodson, who starts Jan. 1 and will report to Novartis CEO Joseph Jimenez, is taking on a new role at the company, chief digital officer. His charge is to help the drugmaker do better with data, from R&Dthrough interactions with doctors and patients, and make the companys business operations more efficient.

"Bertrand has a proven track record of creating and implementing successful digital strategies across global companies, and leading cultural change in order to make this happen at scale," Jimenez said in a statement. "This is not just about digital helping the business. Bertrand will help us transform our business model using digital technologies."

RELATED: Merck aims to put Amazon's Alexa to work on voice-enabled diabetes tools

The Belgian citizen and Harvard MBA comes with some street cred in digital, having co-founded Bragster, a video-sharing website where users dare each other to perform stunts or tasks. It was acquired in 2010 by Guinness World Records. Bodson started his career in 1998 at Boston Consulting Group and has held positions at Amazon and EMI Music.

With cell phones, social networking and big data creating so-called digital disruptions in a number of industries, Big Pharma is tryingto catch up to retailing and other industries that have been tapping that potential. Companies are doing more with digital in clinical trials and creating apps for tracking a variety of health conditions.

RELATED: Novartis expands Vivinda TV, offering docs digital access to medical conferences

Novartis is already trying on some new digital technologies, having started Vivinda TV, a virtual conference platform that delivers on-demand medical content for healthcare providers.

Some newer biotechs can form with digital wired into their DNA, but the big players are looking for experts to help them integrate it faster and effectively.

RELATED: GlaxoSmithKline partners with Alibaba for China HPV vaccine market grab

Last month, GSK CEO Emma Walmsley, who comes from a consumer health background, named former Walmart Stores executive Karenann Terrell to the new senior position of chief digital and technology officer to help the company harness data and digital to push forward. Terrell, who left Walmart in March, has also done stints at Baxter International and DaimlerChrysler.

Like other drugmakers, GSK is experimenting with new digital approaches. It recently worked out a deal with Chinas e-commerce giant Alibaba to push vaccinations in China.

See original here:
Novartis names e-commerce, social networking expert as chief digital honcho - FiercePharma

Social networking is all the rage. Kids these days have mostly moved to Instagram and Snapchat rather than Facebook, but many have profiles and access on all of the above and then some. Various websites continue to sprng up for the sole purpose of providing a place for users to express themselves, share with like-minded individuals, discover new things, and communicate with others. Theres a good chance there are some cutting edge social network platforms youre not even aware of, but your kids areand so are the predators that want to target your kids.

There have been numerous instances of sexual predators and child molesters posing as children to network with young victims on Facebook. The concept of social networking extends to other areas as well. For example, Youtube provides users with the ability to express their creativity, network, rate their favorite video clips, etc. While not directly related to a social network, Craigslist, the popular regional classified listings site, has used by a predators to lure victims.

Some sites like Flickr, Tumblr, or PhotoBucket provide users with the ability to post and share photos and family videos. It is possible to restrict access and only let users you identify view the pictures, but many users are proud of their kids and their photographic skills and allow the general public to view the photos as well. Child molesters and sexual deviants can search through these sites as well, though, and bookmark their favorite photos of young boys and girls.

The bottom line is that social networking is hugely popular and it is big business. Unfortunately, child molesters, sexual predators, and scam artists have discovered that these sites can also be exploited to find victims. Anywhere online that allows for commenting and communication can also be exploited by predators and bullies.

Follow these steps to use social networking sites responsibly and avoid becoming a victim:

Go here to see the original:
5 Ways to Protect Against Predators and Bullies on Social Networks - TechSpective