Welcome to the August edition of the Vizeum digital newsletter where it’s all about user generated content and social networking; the tools that are at the forefront of digital media, capability and expression. From consumer power to Cathartic confession, the digital world is building around us. This edition will illustrate the current trends in our digital environment.

Consumer Reviews Freak Businesses Out

Consumer Reviews Freak Businesses Out

Yelp is a consumer review site that provides a social networking function. Why is this helpful? CNN says, “When we discover something wonderful, we love to tell our friends about it. We also turn to people we trust when we need a good recommendation. Yelp is enabling those conversations to happen on a massive scale.”

People are making a lot of money from it. Anita Lau wrote about the salon at Yelp.com. Lau has posted 2,036 reviews and 1,340 photos, has collected 790 compliments on her work from fellow Yelpers, and has grown her consumer review voice on the site.

80% of shoppers have more trust in brands that feature reviews and that 75% of shoppers say it’s extremely or very important to read customer reviews before making a purchase.

Stick this in the back of your mind and take a trot around the internet. More companies these days are welcoming customer feedback and creating online platforms for user reviews. Web browsers are looking for convenience online as well as off. If a site can provide information as well as community, then it’s good to go; or at least live on someone’s toolbar for a while.

“Your customers are out there saying things about you, whether it’s on Yelp or on some blog. The faster you can fix problems, the better you’re going to do. Customer service is the new marketing.”

New Services Promises Cheap WiFi Calling On The iPhone

New Services Promises Cheap WiFi Calling On The iPhone

A new service called “SkypeForiPhone” connects a Skype subscribers account to their iPhone through a web page on the phone’s Safari browser.

Theoretically, an iPhone user could avoid AT&T charges by using this service when in an area provided by WiFI (this service would be available in an Edge area too).

We tried out the service and although we got the system to load on our phone - and even place a call, we couldn’t hear or speak. A slight problem, no?

Nevertheless, a very interesting development allowing users to choose the way they make their calls.

UK Youth Spend A Work Week Online

UK Youth Spend A Work Week Online

Research released by MTV and Microsoft suggests that young folk in the UK are spending up to 34 hours online each week (16 - 24 years in age). Eight in ten log on each day and say “they can’t live without their computer, over and above their mobile phone.”

Are they sure about the last bit?

More stats on the average 16-24 year old in the UK:

> Has a total of 49 friends, of which 7 are close friends, 26 are acquaintances and 16 are online friends whom they have never met in person

> Has 75 phone numbers in their mobile but only 14% use it to call friends, and tend to text or listen to music on their handset instead

> Has 86 buddies on their instant messenger list

> Is a member of up to three social networks and connected to 86 people (with 56% visiting a social networking site every week)

Camfession

“CAMFESSION”

CAMfess is a new video hosting

site that is billed as,

“the world’s first website that allows users to confess secrets through video blogs.”

The idea is simple enough: confess your secrets, fears or admit mistakes to anyone who would care to listen, or to friends.

Users can confess to the world and remain anonymous. CAMfess contains features which allow users to automatically disguise their voice or face on a submitted video

This is where is becomes perhaps more amusing, because the folks at CAMfess cite religion as a marketing angle

“The act of confession - widely encouraged by religion and psychology alike — makes people better. Admitting to mistakes, expressing a regret, and giving apology to people they may have hurt, is now available through the web.”

Camfess is like a poor man’s blog with a touch of Jerry Springer. In the age of reality television, an age where voyeurism has reached a height never seen before, there will undoubtedly be a place in the market for CAMfess.

Mobile Social Networking

MOSH by Nokia

Mobile Social Networking

MOSH by Nokia has just gone beta, which means it’s now open to users interested in giving the new mobile SNS and media sharing service a try. According to the site, MOSH is “a user-generated content platform designed specifically for use with any mobile device. Create, upload, collect and share applications (like games, software mashups, videos, blogs, music and photos) all from your mobile.”

The app has the requisite PC client but is also optimized for handheld users (like those with the Nokia N95) to share their media and messages with others. On MOSH, users will be able to create and upload profiles, applications, games, and other media and share them with other in the MOSH mobile community via SMS or email, through the web or on their Nokia phones.

Hit the Dance Floor

Hit the Dance Floor

Want the chance to upload your picture

onto a frantically dancing robot?

Look no further than Heineken’s DraughtKeg

To demonstrate how the DraughtKeg allows consumers to enjoy a “new way” of drinking chilled draught beer, Heineken has developed an entertaining destination site where users can upload pictures of themselves and their friends onto a series of dancing robots.

Experiential agency Blackjack has provided the staff for the campaign, who will hand out 100m serves of the beer at key locations across the UK including major train stations and shopping centres. The Heineken DraughtKeg is already a huge hit in more than forty countries around the world.

Battle for blogosphere ballot box heats up

Battle for blogosphere ballot box heats up

Barack Obama may be trailing Hillary Clinton in most polls, but the Illinois senator appears to be winning at least one race: the battle for friends on the internet. .

On Facebook alone, Mr Obama has attracted more than 120,000 supporters – nearly four times the number of Mrs Clinton, his next-closest Democratic rival.

Some strategists say candidates stand to reap huge dividends if they can figure out ways to take advantage of the close connections between users of social networks.