Where do you turn for insight and analysis regarding social media trends and technological advances? Top blogs such as Convince and Convert from Jay Baer or The BrandBuilder Blog from Olivier Blanchard are great sources for social media strategy and marketing insights. Or, perhaps you’re an avid reader of the invaluable research from Jeremiah Owyang, or of the great content from knowledge sharing communities such as Toolbox.com.
The Drunk Hulk
While these are all great options, it’s hard to beat the wisdom of a Superhero. For that reason, I sat down (virtually, anyway) with one of the strongest, most entertaining — and yes, most inebriated — heroes in the world: the Drunk Hulk. If you’re not familiar with the Drunk Hulk, then you’ve been missing out. On an almost daily basis, our favorite green hero provides his intoxicated insights into the politics, memes and news that captivate the world’s attention. With nearly 59,000 Twitter followers and over 900 Facebook fans, he has become an Internet phenomenon. Here is the transcript of our interview:
DRUNK HULK HAPPY BE HERE!
SORRY FOR TAKE SO LONG TO ANSWER QUESTION! DRUNK HULK LIFE COMPLICATE NOW! EVERY MORNING FEEL LIKE DRUNK HULK IN EPISODE OF QUANTUM LEAP! WHERE DRUNK HULK! WHO DRUNK HULK! OH BOY!
SEEM TO DRUNK HULK IT WAS HIM BE SOCIAL THAT GOT FAVRE INTO TROUBLE BEGIN WITH!
IF THEY NO MAKE HALLMARK CARD FOR SENTIMENT! NO DO IT! LAST TIME DRUNK HULK CHECK! THERE NO HALLMARK CARD THAT INVOLVE UNZIP YOU PANT!
DRUNK HULK GOT NO IDEA!
IF DRUNK HULK GOT GUESS! DRUNK HULK SAY NO WANT IT! THEN IT HAPPEN! LIKE LOVE! OR BRISTOL PALIN DANCE!
WOW! DRUNK HULK NO EVER BEEN ASK QUESTION ABOUT DUNE BEFORE!
DRUNK HULK NO EVER BUY ANYTHING BECAUSE OF DUNE! BUT MOVIE DID ENCOURAGE DRUNK HULK TO WANT BUY ACT LESSON FOR STING!
GOT NO INTEREST IN LET ALL PEOPLES KNOW WHERE DRUNK HULK IS ALL TIME! DRUNK HULK THINK IT INTEREST THAT PEOPLES WHO COMPLAIN ABOUT PRIVACY MOST! ARE SAME WHO POST THEY LOCATION EVERY TWO MINUTE!
FOR SERIOUSLY! UNLESS YOU NAME WALDO OR BEEF! DRUNK HULK NO WANT KNOW WHERE YOU IS!
GOOGLE NO MAKE MISSTEP! PEOPLES NO UNDERSTAND GOOGLE!
GOOGLE WAVE MASTERPIECE! DRUNK HULK TAKE COMFORT IN FACT THAT WAVE BE DELIVER TO FRIEND WITHIN TWO TO THREE DAY! OR SOMETIME WAVE NO BE DELIVER AT ALL! JUST LIKE REAL LIFE! THAT MAKE CORRESPOND EXCITE! AND UNPREDICT!
GOOGLE BUZZ BRILLIANT! BACK IN OLD DAY! IF DRUNK HULK WANT KNOW WHAT FRIEND ADDRESS BOOK LIKE! OR IF FRIEND GOT SECRET! DRUNK HULK GOT BREAK IN HOUSE AND ACCESS COMPUTER WHEN THEY SLEEP! BUT THANK TO BUZZ! IT ALL JUST ONE CLICK OF BUTTON AWAY!
GOOGLE WAVE TEACH DRUNK HULK PATIENCE! GOOGLE BUZZ TEACH DRUNK HULK OPEN UP MORE!
THANK GOOGLE!
A Drunk Hulk Tweet
Did you see the movie, “The Social Network,” and if so, what did you think of it?
So there you have it — analysis of some of this year’s top social media and technology topics from one of the strongest beings on the planet. Will these insights help you manage your social media campaigns more effectively? Hopefully so. But keep in mind, as Jermemiah Owyang notes, “Social media superhero powers don’t come from radioactive spiders or falling meteors or hammers from demigods, they come from within. Remember, you get as much as you put into social media, so building great content, connecting with others, and sharing what you know will yield YOUR path to greatness.”
What do you think of the Drunk Hulk’s thoughts above? Let me know by providing your comments below!
Photo sharing web applications are nothing new. Established sites as Flickr, Picasa and Facebook (which maintains its position the world’s largest photo sharing site) have been around for years. And yet, over the past couple of weeks there has been a palpable buzz around socially-integrated, mobile-based photo sharing services.
The venture capital firm Andreesen Horowitz, for example, made a splash last week by publicly switching its ongoing investment focus from the popular iPhone app Instagram, to rival Picplz (prompting Marc Andreesen himself to post an explanation to Quora). Meanwhile, Instagram — which like Picplz allows its users to apply filters and share mobile photos — continues to add 100,000 users per week. And most recently, Path launched amid much fanfare as a closed social system for photo sharing and social networking.
My first Picplz photo: "One Happy, One Mad."
All the recent hype over these social photo sharing services has caused some to ask, “So What’s With All the Photo Sharing Apps?” Well, these new services are poised to not only siphon away users from more established photo sharing players, but to also add incremental value to the experience of photo sharing. For that reason, I recently when “hands on” with Picplz, one of the hotter new entrants to the highly competitive (but as yet not monetized) photo sharing space. Feel free to check out my Picplz profile.
In a nutshell, here is what I’ve found: PicPlz is a lot of fun. Because Picplz is geared mainly toward mobile devices (though photos can be shared via the Picplz website), its mobile app relies on a minimalist, intuitive design. There really is no learning curve. The application makes it simple to snap a photo, apply one of several filters, add comments and post them with the photo to both Twitter and Facebook. Picplz even recognizes your location, displays it on a Google Map and provides an option to check in on Foursquare.
While these social sharing and check in features are useful and critical for PicPlz’s growth, the tool’s filters really are its incremental value. With filter effects such as “Instant Film,” “High Contrast Monochrome,” and “the 70s,” simple snapshots are instantly transformed into artsy photos worthy of sharing across social networks. In total, six filter effects are currently available on Picplz, compared with eleven for Instagram.
In summary, Picplz is a great option for mobile smartphone users who want to add style to photos and share them both within Picplz and across social networks. Instagram may offer more filters and an option to publish photos to Flickr (something that Picplz lacks). However, unlike popular iPhone-only apps such as Instagram and Hipstamatic, Picplz is available for both iPhone and Android users – which has helped fuel over 130,000-plus downloads to date. And while the path to monetization remains elusive for these services, the value that they add to the photo sharing experience makes them a must-have for smartphone users.
What do you think? Have you tried Picplz? If so, let me know what you think of it.
