This Week: Keeping Your Intranet Relevant + Web Experience Marches Forward

Getting Your Intranet Right
Good reminder this week — you need to design your intranet to suit how you work, not how someone else thinks you should.

Some good reads:

• Avoid the Intranet Info Architecture Trap
• Tricks for Keeping Your Intranet Relevant
• Developing Trust in the Digital Workplace

What Collaboration Means To You
People look at collaboration differently, that's one thing we learned from our #SocBizChat Tweet Jam this week. Another is the that best collaboration evolves organically — it's not forced. Read the full Tweet Jam recap.

Tools to Enhance Web Experience
This week Sitecore added a Social Starter Kit to its Web Experience Platform. And on the open source side, Acquia announced its new OpenWEM offering for marketers. 

Forrester: Reconsidering Open Source for Web Experience Management
Join Stephen Powers of Forrester Research for a discussion about
how open source tools can play a key role in multi-channel web
experience management (Oct 31st).
> Reserve Your Seat Here

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Most Popular

• Gartner Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Content Management: Mobile, Cloud & Composite Apps Take Priority
• Why SharePoint 2013 Isn't for You
• Apple iPad Mini vs. Microsoft Surface, Let Battle Commence
• Rethinking the Intranets: Teaching an Old Tool New Tricks
• Google's Nexus 3G and 10-Inch Models Revealed

Editor's Picks

• Struggling with B2B Social Marketing? Here's What to Do Now
• Developing Trust in the Digital Workplace
• Smart Data and the Fallacy That Lies Between
• Design Considerations For Enterprise Social Networks
• Google Report Looks at Content, Marketing Strategies in a Multi-Screen World

Around the Web

• When CIOs find their inner Felix Baumgartner
• Design Considerations For Enterprise Social Networks
• You're the (Social) Expert
• Your Customers Are Complaining. Do Something About It
• Yes, You Could Be Born to Be a CEO

Featured Events (all events | post your event)

• Oct 30 — (Webinar) Delivering Great Retail Customer Experiences
• Oct 31 — (Webinar) Forrester: Reconsidering Open Source for Web Experience Management
• Nov 06 — J. Boye Web & Intranet Conference Aarhus
• Nov 14 — Forrester's Customer Experience Forum West Los Angeles
• Nov 27 — Gilbane Conference in Boston

Featured Jobs (all jobs | post your job)

• Online Advertising Manager in San Francisco at Zendesk
• Delivery Project Manager in Chicago at Keste
• Business Consulting Analyst in Chicago at Cameleon Software
• Finance Project Manager in Charleston at Blackbaud
• International Copywriter in New York at Shutterstock

 

 

Source : cmswire[dot]com

Improve Your Search Ranking with New Google Disallow Links Tool, Use Carefully

Suppose someone, universally known for his bad character, went around saying nice things about you. You might wish for him to stop already. That’s the idea behind Google’s newest tool.

The Disallow Links Tool allows site owners to disavow links to their websites that may be damaging their standing in Google’s search results. Google said that, if a site believes its ranking is being damaged by “low-quality links you do not control, you can ask Google not to take them into account when assessing your site.”

Apply with Care

At the Pubcon search and social media conference taking place this week in Las Vegas, Google webspam team leader Matt Cutts warned webmasters to be careful in using the new tool. “Most sites shouldn’t use this tool,” he told the conference. “Start slow.”

Accompanying the tool is a more specific warning notice. “If used incorrectly,” Google wrote, the tool can “potentially harm your site’s performance in Google’s search results.” The technology giant added that it recommends sites “only disavow backlinks if you believe you have a considerable number of spammy, artificial, or low-quality links pointing to your site, and if you are confident that the links are causing issues for you.”

On Google’s Webmaster Central Blog, the company said that if a site hasn’t been notified of a “manual spam action based on ‘unnatural links’ pointing to your site,” then the tool is not something to use.

A Suggestion

If a site is convinced those links are causing problems, the procedure is to upload to the Tool a plain text file containing only the links to be disavowed, with one link per line. The tool will request that Google ignore specific links as it determines search results. However, the company said it is a “strong suggestion rather than a directive,” and that it reserves the right to trust its own judgment. The disavowal will take place after the next crawl and indexing by Google.

Links are a key determinant in how Google ranks websites in search results. From the company’s beginnings, the idea was that links between pages could be good indicators about the relevance of a given page to the search query. Google has noted that inbound links are only one of 200 factors used for ranking through its PageRank algorithms, but “linkspam” that uses “unnatural links” have become a major technique that some sites use to rig the process.

If Google detects evidence of paid links, link exchanges or other link schemes that violates its guidelines, it sends a warning message to the receiving site, recommending that as many spammy or low-quality links be removed as possible. The search giant said that the new tool should be used only after other efforts, such as contacting those offending sites pointing to yours, have failed.

 

 

Source : cmswire[dot]com

How Did They Know I Unfollowed Them On Twitter?

Ever unfollow someone on Twitter--then notice that they unfollowed you back? How did they notice you unfollowed them? Our Social Media Agony Aunt has answers.

I had the experience recently of unfollowing someone on Twitter. He has about 800 followers, is following 400. A few days later, he unfollowed me. (I've had this experience several times in the past as well, which is why I checked.) My question is this: how did he know it was me? Barring him visiting my profile and noticing specifically, which is always a possibility, is there a tool you can use that alerts you who unfollows you? Or do people like that keep a list and crosscheck every time they lose a follow? This is something I've been wondering about for a while... thanks for your time! - Amélie

Dear Amélie,

There are quite a tools that will help a user monitor who unfollows them on Twitter. Here are four I've tried, so I know they are reliable:

* Followerwonk
* Who Unfollowed Me
* Qwitter
* NutshellMail

For some people, Twitter is a place of enlightenment, where the joys, sorrows, and intelligence of the world arrive on our personal screens faster than seismic waves (literally), a place where we may even make meaningful professional connections who help us do our jobs better.

For other people, Twitter is simply another weapon in their selfishness arsenal, a place where relationships are only as valuable as the other person's ability to help them (or their career). I am being a little extreme, but only a little: case in point, #TeamFollowBack, the meaningless practice of promising to follow back all of one's followers.

I don't monitor my unfollows, so I don't unfollow people who unfollow me on Twitter--and probably wouldn't even if I knew they'd hit the unfollow button. I follow people because I find their tweets interesting or educational, not because I want them to follow me back and rack up my follower count. It turns out a great many people on Twitter share my approach:

If their content is valuable, keep following. Isn't that why you follow in the first place? #shouldbe

— Kristin Swartzlander (@kswartzlander) September 4, 2012

@anjalimullany if you unfollow back, I'd question why you followed in the first place? It goes against what #Twitter is

— DeeDee (@deedee173) September 4, 2012

@anjalimullany If you get value from their tweets, keep following. Don't take it personally. Everyone uses Twitter differently.

— Lynn Stevens (@peoplingplaces) September 4, 2012

@anjalimullany No I continue to follow them because I followed them for their tweets not to get a follow back.

— Chet Thaker (@chetthaker) September 4, 2012

@anjalimullany @fastcompany I follow people who can teach me things I don't know.I don't care whether they follow me or not.

— Jay M. Oza (@5ToolGroup) September 4, 2012

@anjalimullany I don't unfollow them. I follow people because I enjoy their tweets,not out of some social obligation like Facebook-friending

— Palu Esgla (@pcsegal) September 4, 2012

@anjalimullany All about what type of content they offer. Breaking twitter down to small-town politics is short-sighted.

— Daniel Regan (@jabbercreative) September 4, 2012

@anjalimullany I take little notice of who follows/unfollows. My stream is for me.Unfollowing can be for valid reason. Each to their own.

— Rebecca Smith (@becs355) September 4, 2012

@anjalimullany I keep following them, slightly hurt though:)

— sarah grossi (@sarahgrossi) September 4, 2012

That said, I suspect many people on Twitter who "unfollow back" did not want to out themselves to me in public, and that there are a many Tweeters who, as you have observed, engage in that practice. A few people did explain to me why they "unfollow back":

@anjalimullany Often I follow people out of politeness from them following me even if their content isn't relevant. If they unfollow, me too

— AJ Munafo (@AJ_Mufasa) September 4, 2012

@anjalimullany it depends. If I was only following out of courtesy, yes.If I like their tweets/ content, no.

— Freedom (@FreedomReeves) September 4, 2012

Okay, fair enough. I don't "courtesy follow" anyone, but I can imagine professional circumstances in which it's more awkward to not follow someone back--like a colleague, or a business contact--than it is to just follow them back out of politeness. I can also imagine circumstances under which one would not want to see one's ex's tweets in their stream:

@anjalimullany If it's someone who I know & am interested in what they have to say, I continue to follow. Unless it's a break up!

— Alan Adams (CIC) (@AlanCIC) September 4, 2012

Of course, unfollowing back because you realize the person who unfollowed you was annoying/mean/boring/overwhelming/offensive/etc, seems quite reasonable to me, as well:

@anjalimullany If I like your content, I'll follow. If your content is relentless or boring, I won't follow.

— Brandon Marshall (@TNBrando) September 4, 2012

@anjalimullany I'll keep following them if I benefit from their perspective, connections, etc. Gen'ly, I unfollow if they do 10 tweets n 30s

— Jimmy Locklear (@J5locklear) September 4, 2012

Some people take unfollows personally, which leads to them unfollowing back. I don't think they should, but far be it from me to dismiss the legitimacy of another person's feelings:

@anjalimullany I usually unfollow them as well. But I'm a bitter, spiteful Twitter-er.

— Alex J. Martin (@amartinmedia) September 4, 2012

@anjalimullany I usually unfollow out of spite, but only after I'm done crying into my "Why don't people like me?" journal.

— Jillian Sederholm (@JillianSed) September 4, 2012

It's worth noting that some people expect to be unfollowed back:

@anjalimullany I don't always follow back or unfollow back. It depends on who it is. I expect ppl to unfollow me if I unfollow though. :-/

— ro | c | o (@RoarCio) September 4, 2012

Nevertheless, take heed, Fast Company Twitterers: in general, your Agony Aunt finds the concept of serial unfollow back-ing silly and antithetical to the whole point and culture of the Twitterverse. Maybe it's like that saying, "An unfollow for an unfollow will make the whole world followerless." Or something like that.

Sincerely,

Anjali

P.S.: Whatever you do, don't do this (even though it's a good song):

@anjalimullany I park my car in front of their house and blast "in your eyes" until they decide to follow me again

— causerconsulting (@builditup) September 4, 2012

[ Image: Flickr user Kat Selvocki] Got a question for the Agony Aunt? Use the form below to submit your questions. And if you want us to protect your anonymity, don't use your real name.
Source : fastcompany[dot]com

My, That's Big Data (Or Is It Just a Big Pile of Data?)

There’s a difference between a big pile of data and Big Data.

It’s hard to believe that this needs to be said. But try this. Ask someone what Big Data is and see if you don’t hear words like petabyte, exabyte, zettabyte, yottabyte and the like dominate their answers. Most common definitions of Big Data revolve around quantity and data/information storage.

Now if the individual you’re talking to is someone who has done some reading, attended an O’Reilly Strata or Giga Om Structure Conference ( or their online equivalents), or read my articles on CMSWire or on the Big Data Geeks blog, then they’ll probably add terms like Volume, Velocity and Variability to their definitions.

Big Data Drives Action

Though that’s getting closer, it’s not likely to impress Facebook VP of Engineering Jay Parikh. Addressing a group of reporters touring the company’s new data center late last month, he explained, “Big data really is about having insights and making an impact on your business. If you aren’t taking advantage of the data you’re collecting, then you just have a pile of data, you don’t have big data.”

And drawing insights from the 2.5 billion pieces of content, 2.7 billion “likes,” 300 million photos, 70,000 queries and other information that the company processes each day is no small feat. Especially because Facebook strives to create new products, to deliver highly personalized user experiences and to target ads toward its members in (near) real time.

For Facebook’s engineers this, no doubt, presents a challenge because it’s not only historical data that their data scientists need to look at, but also a non-stop onslaught of continuous data streams and processes. In order for Facebook to be sticky and to win ad clicks, being current is what it may be all about.

The Need for Real-Time Response

Take, for example, you on the site — if you’re liking a friend’s new leather boots right now, for example, then serving up an ad for those boots in the next 60 seconds might be more beneficial for an advertiser (and for Facebook) than doing so the next time you sign-on. After all, by then you might be planning a trip to the Bahamas or joining PETA and therefore totally disinterested in the ad. Many of our decisions are made in short order. Striking while the iron is hot is key to business results.

And that’s why understanding users in real-time is so important, and such a great opportunity, for Facebook. After all, be it good or bad, users spend a lot of time on the site (Americans average just under eight hours per week) and the company not only tracks their every move but it also processes every piece of data it gets. This wouldn’t have been possible or financially feasible a decade ago, before servers became commoditized (and therefore less expensive), and before Hadoop’s open source framework for data intensive applications (or something like it) was created.

But having the technology to work with a large pile of data isn’t enough. According to Parikh’s definition of Big Data, data doesn’t become Big Data until you can draw insights from it that will impact business results. And I’d add to that, impact them in a big way.

And, with the exception of Google, Amazon and a few others, we may not be there just yet. We have the data, we have the technology, we glean insights, but are our insights producing big business results?

That’s the real Big Data challenge.

Editor's Note: This isn't the first time that Virginia has written about Big Data:

— Big Data Gets Nailed
 

 

 

Source : cmswire[dot]com