Microsoft is among the first companies to join the RocketSpace Corporate Ambassador Program. The two companies aim to give startups advice and education.
“We know the startup scene is changing – capital requirements are lower, entrepreneurs abound, and open APIs and services can reduce development times,” Microsoft said in a blog post. “The days of heavy infrastructure requirements and massive overhead to create world-changing tech are behind us.”
Aim high. It’s a worthy goal for credit scores, SATs and now, Klout scores. These days, more and more social networkers are looking to boost their Klout rating and show others the power of their social influence.
Klout — which provides social media analytics to measure a user’s influence across social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn – has received much criticism since its inception in 2009 not only for its business model but also for its operating principle. However, more people are turning to the service to see where their influence stacks up against others.
The analysis is executed using data taken from sites such as Twitter and Facebook and measures the size of a person’s network, the content created and how other people interact with that content. Those who sign up for Klout or are connected to those who do are each given a “Klout score” that ranges from one to 100, with higher scores corresponding to a greater strength of their online influence.
“I wouldn’t say Klout is the ‘standard of influence’ as their tagline boldly proclaims, but they can measure one thing, and increasingly well: how content moves through an online network and how people react to it,” Mark W. Schaefer, the author of the upcoming book “Return On Influence: The Revolutionary Power of Klout, Social Scoring, and Influence Marketing” (McGraw Hill 2012), told Mashable. “That may seem simple but it’s extremely complex and is an indicator of influence.”
Schaefer — a marketing professor at Rutgers University — also noted that Klout is even becoming a measurement for job performance and status: “If you’re in that situation, most consider a score over 30 to be pretty reputable and a score over 50 to be elite.”
Are you below your target Klout score? Schaefer reveals seven simple ways to climb up the ranks:
1. Build a network. The key to increasing a Klout score is similar to finding success on the social web in general: Build a targeted, engaged network of people who would be legitimately interested in you and your content.
2. Create meaningful content. Adopt a strategy to create or aggregate meaningful content that your network loves to share with others. Provide links!
3. Engage. Actively engage with others in a helpful and authentic way. Ask questions, answer questions and create a dialogue with your followers.
4. Don’t scheme. Any gaming behaviors that fall outside the basic strategies will eventually catch up to you. For example, specifically targeting conversations with high Klout influencers will probably be more annoying than successful. If you keep focused on your network strategy and your content strategy, you’ll succeed.
5. Interact with everyone. Don’t be afraid to interact with Klout users with lower scores – it won’t hurt your own score. In fact, it helps build their score and in turn makes you more of an influencer.
6. Publish. Remember, you don’t have to make a movie or be elected to office to have power now. All you need to do is publish. Access to free publishing tools such as blogs, video and Twitter have provided users with an opportunity to have a real voice, so take advantage of these many platforms.
7. Keep at it. Don’t be discouraged by your score. It’s more important to just enjoy your social media experience and let the chips fall where they may.
Do you think Klout scores really matter? Why or not? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
The 2012 Super Bowl will stream live online and to mobile devices.
In a move that bolsters the importance of non-traditional markets, the NFL and NBC announced Tuesday that the wild card Saturday, the Pro Bowl and the Super Bowl will all be available online. Additionally, Verizon’s NFL Mobile app will also stream the games.
The NFL has offered access to live out-of-market games via NFL.com for several years. Additionally, since 2009, NBCSports.com has offered live telecasts of Sunday Night Football.
The Associated Press report doesn’t indicate that any payment will be required to watch the Super Bowl online, nor does it detail whether non-Verizon devices will have access to the game. We’ve reached out to the NFL and NBC Sports for further comment.
This is a huge move for major sports. The Super Bowl is consistently one of the most-watched television programs of the year. In fact, last season’s matchup between the Packers-Steelers drew a record 111 million viewers in the U.S. – a record for U.S. television.
Offering a simulcast online opens up the game to fans who may have decided to cut the cord (or who don’t even have TVs anymore). This is great news for advertisers, who get additional eyeballs as well.
Will you tune into the big game online or via traditional means? Let us know.
Brad Bird was walking the red carpet Monday night for the premiere of his first live-action feature, Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol, starring Tom Cruise. Yet most movie goers will likely forever associate him with his memorable Pixar films: The Incredibles and Ratatouille.
The 54-year-old director, who also worked on Up, Toy Story 3 and delivered the under-appreciated Iron Giant for Warner Bros. did some of his best work at the CGI-animation studio, which also happened to be owned by the late Steve Jobs.
Jobs bought Pixar in 1986 and ultimately guided it to the powerhouse animation studio it is today. This included a string of unprecedented hits, including those by Bird and a relationship with Disney that, though occasionally acrimonious, finally turned into a marriage in 2006.
The late Apple CEO and founder was no animator, but, as always, he knew what audiences wanted and often worked closely with Pixar directors like Bird to ensure quality and entertaining product. So, when we caught up with Bird at the premier of his new Tom Cruise actioner, it was only natural that we asked the still-boyish-looking director to reflect on Jobs, who died this year at the age of 56.
Bird, who had been joking with us about our use of an iPhone to record the interview, immediately turned serious and noted that he had many memories, but mostly recalled how Jobs “didn’t settle.”
“He wasn’t about making something that was going to be cool next week, he was about making something that was going to be cool 100 years from now,” said Bird.
The full interview, which also covers some of Bird’s own tech habits, is in the video.
Google announced a major investment in four solar photovoltaic (PV) projects Tuesday, bringing the company’s portfolio of clean energy projects to almost $1 billion.
The latest investment of $94 million is the first money the search giant has put toward generating energy into the U.S. grid. Past projects brought solar panels to 10,000 homeowners through the rooftop installations.
“We believe investing in the renewable energy sector makes business sense and hope clean energy projects continue to attract new sources of capital to help the world move towards a more sustainable energy future,” Axel Martinez, assistant treasure of Google Treasury, wrote in a blog post.
The Sacramento Municipal Utility District has contracted energies from these projects for 20 years.
Google has invested more than $880 million in 2011 in a variety of renewable energy projects, including wind, solar and transmission solutions.
For the solar PV projects, Google is partnering with global investment firm KKR and solar developer Recurrent Energy. In addition to Google’s $94 million, SunTap Energy, a KKR venture formed to focus on U.S. solar projects, will contribute the remaining equity as part of the firm’s first U.S. investment.
BONUS: 16 Sustainable Gifts for the Eco-Minded Techie
The latest trend in fashion? E-waste. Instead of tossing computers into landfills, Etsy vendors (and others) have rebirthed the PC's innards as geek chic accessories. From collars and charms to rings and bracelets, there's no shortage of circuit board gems.
