Welcome to the June 15th edition of “What We’re Reading,” a weekly series where the social media nerds at Dukky round up the most interesting industry news of the week to share with our readers. We have a riddle for you this week: what do Iceland’s Constitution and the NBA Playoffs have in common? Other than the fact that they both were in social media news this week…we’re stumped. Have a better answer than that? Leave it in the comments and maybe we will send you a giant super duck for being more creative than us.
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Social Media Statistics 2011
Social media is about ______. We’re sure you can think of a wide range of descriptors to fill that blank, but according to this video by socialnomics, social media is about people. Containing all sorts of interesting statistics on social media use (How many couples blame divorce on Facebook? Social gamers will spend how much on virtual goods by 2013?) the short video is definitely worth a watch, if only just for a mid-day dance party at your desk to the inspirational Lion King-esque music in the background.
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The Small Business Happiness Index
Who says no one is interested in great news? Are we crazy for thinking there should be a news channel devoted solely to reporting the good news in the world? Well, we know at least the people at Vistaprint would agree with us, their small business happiness index infographic this month reveals that small and micro business owners are very happy with the decision to run their own business and are seeing great results from their hard work. Check out the great news here.
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Intel’s Museum of Me App Makes it About You
Unless you see yourself as the next Monét, chances are the idea of your life being turned into a museum exhibit hasn’t even crossed your mind. But now, thanks to Intel, you don’t have to be a famous [dead] painter to get a museum in your honor! The Museum of Me compiles all your information from your Facebook profile and creates a three minute expose about you. Creepy? Shameless marketing promotion? The author of the PR Geek Speak blog doesn’t think so. In fact, she sees it fascinating digital experience. Read her take on Intel’s Museum of Me here.
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Iceland Crowdsources its Constitution
Iceland, a.k.a. Transparentest Place On Earth, just one-upped every government in the world, social media style, by crowdsourcing the writing of its new Constitution. As the country drafts its new governing document, it has turned to social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr to make the process more transparent and collect input from the public. The country only has a population of about 319,000 people (similar to St. Louis, MO) but allowing “wisdom” from such a “crowd” definitely has its drawbacks. However, we think this is a giant social media #win, hopefully inspiring more transparency worldwide. Read more about it here.
