Amazon steps up social media efforts
September 7, 2011 by admin
Filed under Lingerie Events
SAN FRANCISCO |
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) is stepping up social media efforts after the largest Internet retailer partially missed one of the hottest technology trends of recent years.
Amazon hired a director of social media, John Yurcisin, from WPP’s (WPP.L) Ogilvy Mather earlier this year to help the company come up with social strategies. He is the brother of Jeff Yurcisin, the general manager of Shopbop.com, an apparel retail website owned by Amazon.
The company is also building a Social Games Group to take on Zynga, the leader in the space which is preparing for an initial public offering.
Amazon is hiring developers and engineers for the effort. A poster in a kitchen area on Amazon’s new Seattle campus unveiled the Social Games Group as “Worldwide Breaking News.”
“The Group is growing fast!” Amazon said on the poster. “We’re actively looking.”
The company poster expresses most interest in software development engineers and Flash developers, the latter likely referring to Adobe System’s (ADBE.O) Flash, which is used to add video, animation and other interactive content to websites.
Amazon has also posted social games jobs on LinkedIn (LNKD.N) and tech jobs website Dice.com. One August 15 LinkedIn posting for a Senior Social Games engineer said the group is “working on a cutting edge initiative within Amazon.”
Amazon was a pioneer in e-commerce, electronic books and reading devices and cloud computing. But it has lagged in social networking and social media, leaving Facebook and Zynga as leaders in the area.
This occurred even as Amazon’s main shopping website sported several social aspects that could have been exploited.
One long-time feature that has helped Amazon become the largest Internet retailer is the customer review section that occupies the bottom of most product pages. This was an early way to harness personal opinions on products, preceding such innovations as Facebook’s popular “like” button.
When a purchase is made on Amazon’s website, the company shows what other products were bought by people who made the same purchase.
Still, such information is sent to shoppers by Amazon. There is currently little ability for customers who have purchased similar items in the past to connect directly with each other. It is also difficult to find out automatically what friends have recently bought on Amazon.
It is not clear what John Yurcisin is working on at Amazon and a company spokesman declined to comment on Amazon’s social plans.
Yurcisin’s LinkedIn page lists him as “Director, Social” at Amazon and says he has been in the position since May.
Before that, he was Vice President, Marketing Analytics at OgilvyOne, a big direct and interactive marketing business owned by Ogilvy Mather.
Yurcisin’s Twitter page lists him as “Director, Social Media” for Amazon with a focus on strategy, customer relationship management, digital and mobile.
Amazon is dipping its toes in social waters. The company added Twitter and Facebook social networking features to its popular Kindle electronic book offering.
Kindle e-book readers can send public notes about sections of the book they are reading. This is now integrated with people’s Twitter and Facebook contacts. (Reporting by Alistair Barr, editing by Matthew Lewis)
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New Kids’ Social Network Rocket21 Joining With WY5 to Help Students Build …
September 7, 2011 by admin
Filed under Lingerie Events
Rocket21 (the new social network where kids explore amazing possibilities for their lives and futures) is partnering with WY5 (a social networking platform that helps students connect with mentors and resources) to give tweens and teens the tools that will help them follow their dreams and achieve their goals.
San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) September 07, 2011
Rocket21 (the new social network where kids explore amazing possibilities for their lives and futures) is partnering with WY5 (a social networking platform that helps students connect with mentors and resources) to give tweens and teens the tools that will help them follow their dreams and achieve their goals.
WY5 (Who are Your Five?) was developed by Pivot Learning Partners to empower students in taking charge of their education by building a team of adult mentors who will help them find a dream and make it real.
“Rocket21 members are already connecting daily with hundreds of R21 PROs who do the amazing things kids dream of,” said Jodell Seagrave, President and COO. “Our mission of helping these students discover how to reach wherever they want to go in life makes Rocket21 a natural platform to further WY5′s goal of promoting the networking and planning skills required for success.”
“We believe Rocket21 will be an invaluable resource for developing WY5,” added Anya Hurwitz, Pivot Learning Partner’s Project Director for WY5. “We can reach R21 members who are already discovering how to best utilize mentors and the insights they can provide. Such access will enhance WY5′s development as we work with schools and organizations in providing students with the skills for effective collaboration.”
Some WY5 team members will also be Rocket21 PROs – joining experts from countless fields who have been invited to interact with kids. These include explorers, artists, ecologists, business executives, entertainers, scientists, activists, engineers, nurses, doctors, educators, and much more – people who do some of the amazing things kids dream of doing.
About Rocket21: Rocket21 provides unprecedented access to world-class experts and organizations while protecting them with a combination of state-of-the-art, real-time filtering and human moderation, extensive safety and security precautions, and a specialized infrastructure designed to keep kids safe. Like Rocket21 on Facebook or follow @Rocket21 on Twitter.
About WY5: WY5, a project of Pivot Learning Partners, is a web-based social networking platform that helps young people build their social capital by connecting under-resourced students to a team of adults who support their educational, career and life interests, augmenting the capacity of organizations and schools by creating self-organizing networks of interested adults, and providing students with the means to collaborate with them effectively over the key transitional years of adolescence and early adulthood. Like Pivot Learning Partners on Facebook or follow@PivotLearning on Twitter.
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For the original version on PRWeb visit: www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2011/9/prweb8775411.htm