Mediaboss Marketing

CHICAGO, Oct. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --INXPO, the leading cloud platform for Social Business TV, Online Events and Webcasting, announces the availability of three new internal communications Social Widgets. With these Internal Communication Social Widgets, organizations can further foster conversation and community in their private Social Business TV programs, online events and webcasts.

The new internal communications social widgets are as follows:

All internal communications widgets can be useful for incorporating conversation around your internal communications broadcasts. The newly released Social Widgets for internal communications complement INXPO's pre-existing widgets for external communications:

"All of our Social Widgets are available to any Social Business TV, online event or webcasting customer. With the deepest level of integration in our space, we enable customers to connect their rich media events and live Social Business TV broadcasts to their ongoing activity streams," said Scott Kellner, INXPO CMO.

"This creates a complete content and conversation ecosystem, further enlivening private communities like Jive and Yammer, while promoting important external customer initiatives via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn," continued Kellner.

INXPO provides the most complete and easy-to-use widgets in the industry, and the widget architecture is extensible, allowing clients and partners to build their own widgets, social or otherwise, into online events, webcasts and Social Business TV broadcasts.

About INXPO

INXPO is changing the way businesses communicate with their constituents. With our industry-leading and award-winning Digital Communications Platform we deliver always on, Social Business TV, as well as episodic Online Events. To date, we have delivered more than 2,500 successful online events and Social Business TV experiences for global customers, including American Marketing Association (AMA), Autodesk, Cisco, Freeman, George P. Johnson, Hilton, HIMSS, P&G, PCMA, TechTarget, UBM and U.S. Department of State. We are headquartered in Chicago and on the Web. Visit us at http://www.INXPO.com and on Twitter at @INXPO.

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INXPO Announces Best in Class Social Networking Integration for Social Business TV, Online Events and Webcasting

Enterprise social networking is the new battleground for all enterprise collaboration vendors, according to Ovum analyst Richard Edwards.

Ovum estimated the current value of the market exceeds US$500 million and that 10 per cent of organisations in established IT markets have enterprise social networking services.

Merger and acquisition activity has increased markedly in the past few months, and this has led to new entrants appearing on the enterprise collaboration landscape, Edwards said.

Jive and Yammer are getting the most looks from organisations considering social networking, but other vendors are generating significant business and revenues from their offerings, he said. Microsoft recently acquired Yammer for US$1.2 billion.

Meanwhile, Salesforce.com recently launched a social media pilot program, while Google recently announced an attempt to bring social media to the enterprise.

As the business case for investment in enterprise social networking solutions has yet to be proven to business sceptics, some vendors are encouraging independent user adoption in the hope it will prove business value, Edwards said.

Ovum believes that the business potential offered by enterprise social networking will only be unlocked when necessity dictates a business change.

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Excerpt from:
Enterprise social networking market heats up: Ovum

The time has come to think seriously about enterprise social networking and consider its role within wider enterprise collaboration strategy, according to global analyst firm, Ovum.

In a new report- the global analyst firm says the enterprise social networking market is starting to mature and is moving from the introduction phase into the growth phase. Strategic acquisitions have already been made by start-ups and establish vendors alike.

Richard Edwards, Ovum analyst and author of the report, comments: "Ovums current assessment of the enterprise social networking market indicates that Jive and Yammer are the two vendors that organisations are most eager to compare and contrast, but other vendors are generating significant business and revenues from their offerings."

"Industry figures suggest IBM Connections brought in US$105.4m during 2011, and from this we believe the current value of the enterprise social networking market to be in excess of US$500m," Edwards says.

Enterprise social networking, from a market perspective, is well and truly in the adopter phase, with around 10 percent of organisations in established IT markets deploying solutions or subscribing to services. Mobile devices are increasingly being used to access the networks and this is extending the use case for such solutions to a broad audience.

Edwards notes: "As the business case for investment in enterprise social networking solutions has yet to be proven to business sceptics, some vendors are encouraging independent user adoption in the hope it will prove business value. Ovum believes that the business potential offered by enterprise social networking will only be unlocked when necessity dictates a business change."

Meanwhile, the enterprise collaborations technology landscape is awash with social software from a variety of different sources. Vendors offering pure-play enterprise social networking solutions are competing against established enterprise collaboration providers. On the other hand, vendors offering business automation social platforms are trying to gain traction in a market that is also assessing the merits of emerging offerings from companies specialising in enterprise applications.

"Merger and acquisition activity has increased markedly in the past few months, and this has led to new entrants appearing on the enterprise collaboration landscape. So, with a market potential of at least US$10bn, the enterprise social networking market is the new battleground for all enterprise collaboration vendors" concludes Edwards.

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Time for enterprise social networking is now - Ovum

01-10-2012 18:59 on-Profits use social networking to help domestic violence victims

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Non-Profits use social networking to help domestic violence victims - Video

America loves its Facebook. According to comScore, Inc., the social network had 158.01 million unique visitors in the U.S. in May 2012. Believe it or not, that represented a slight decline in the number of visitors. Despite its popularity, Facebook has some competitors out there, and they may just be stealing a bit of attention from the leader in social networking.

What if you want a social network that caters more to your specific interests? Facebook may be a great place to connect with friends on a more general level. But for athletes looking to connect with other athletes, or Game of Thrones fans looking for a network of compatriots they can discuss the latest episodes with, a more niche social network may be more up their alley. And some sites are finding success catering to smaller groups of people.

The list of social networks is ever-expanding, with a community for just about everyone, although the general interest social networks may never reach the ubiquity of Facebook. A February infographic from VentureBeat.com, for instance, says that the much-hyped Google+ has just 18 million unique visitors per month, less than the long-forgotten Myspace, and its visitors spend just 6 minutes per month on the site. Still, some less ambitious networks appear to be growing. Some analysts say these just might be a better place for companies to spend their ad dollars.

Ammon Brown, vice president of operations at the web-based media management platform TRAFFIQ, believes that, while the audience won't be on nearly the same scale, advertisers may find they get more value from ads placed on smaller, more niche social networks as the users are more likely to be there for a specific reason and may even be more open to engagement.

"It's nice to have those sorts of affinity-related communities, where you're there because other people with the same interest are still there," he says. And because these smaller, niche networks are more affinity-based, "people are going to be a little more open to discovery," Brown says, and, therefore, "advertisers are willing to pay more."

Of course, to attract advertisers, people first need to know about the network--which is something that may pose a bit of a problem for these up-and-coming networks that aren't exactly household names yet. That's why Brown says he feels the smaller, more niche social networks would be better served entering into an ad exchange.

Referencing the struggles of Google+, which he calls "a bit of a flop," Brown says, "If Google can't usurp Facebook as the next great social network, I don't think anyone can."

One just-launched social network that hopes to stick around is Chicisimo, which launched July 11. It describes itself as a "social website and worldwide community where fashionistas and fashion brands come together to share their personal style, inspire one another, and discover new styles, brands, and products." At Chicisimo, people can upload photos of their favorite outfits, provide and receive feedback from the community, and earn virtual "flower" awards, while interacting with their favorite fashion brands, the company says.

Chicisimo's co-founder, Gabriel Aldamiz-echevarra, says the site's target audience is "women interested in fashion." He says he doesn't feel his audience is being neglected by other social networking sites. Rather, he says, "It's just that social networking sites can't be everything to everyone. It would not make sense for a site to build functionalities, for example, for both fashion enthusiasts and music enthusiasts."

Nor is it expected. "You just don't want to go to Facebook for a fashion journey," he adds.

Originally posted here:
Social Butterflies: Facebook's Biggest Competitors