Delta Airlines Facebook Check-In

As more and more interesting applications are developed for the Facebook platform, companies are realizing the massive potential which lies in applications and pages. The latest innovation is from Delta Airlines, their new app allows Facebook users to check-in to flights and print off boarding passes. Also, users can share their flight information with friends. 

This seems like a pretty interesting extension of their iPhone app which essentially did the same thing, but with the added value of interaction with friends and family. I imagine this would be pretty useful for people a couple years older than me who are at the stage in their career where they are constantly travelling. Friends would be able to keep up to date with where they are and when they’ll be coming home. This would be just another extension of the interaction value offered by Facebook, something which they seem to focus heavily on in order to stay on top of the social media industry. 

Another similarity which this service draws on is that of Foursquare, these applications seem to be pretty popular as people are generally interested in letting their friends know what they’re up to. This interest can be seen through the popularity of just about every type of social media, especially Twitter.

 

Another interesting aspect of the article was a comment by Delta Airlines themselves.

Thanks for sharing our news. Many of the updates that occurred came at the request of our customers. We will be following the commentary here closely for any additional feedback!

Susan Elliott, Delta Air Lines

The website I found the article on is Mashable.com, which has been discussed in class a couple times. Clearly companies find this website to be a good channel of discussion for social media and having such a service talked about offers a lot of possibilities in terms of CRM. It will be interesting to see if there are any negative comments and to see how the company responds.

Egypt's Social Media Revolution

One of the hot topics in international politics lately has been the revolution or protests going on in Egypt. Several cities have experienced daily protests, mostly peaceful but occasionally violent. For those who haven’t been following the news, the movement in Egypt actually stems from a successful revolution in Tunisia which was sparked after a man burned himself alive due to the repressive police force which used frequent intimidation techniques. The main difference in the two revolutions is the fact that Tunisia’s was based around the unions and organized Islamic movements. Egypt on the other hand is solely based on the people, who refuse to accept a leader on the basis that choosing a leader should be a democratic process and they are not at that point yet.

This ground up approach is a quite amazing when taking into consideration previous revolutions throughout the last 2000 years. Through the use of social media, people have been able to mobilize on an unseen level. Initial protests were organized through Facebook events (which Egypt has now blocked), popular journalists and activists routinely release information on what’s happening in the cities via Twitter (despite similar attempts at blocking the service) and videos of the protests are released hourly for those who are interested enough to watch.

The social media aspect is most definitely the most interesting part to me. I like to keep up to date with most international politics, but the level of activity going on right now is simply amazing. In terms of Twitter, I’ve been following an award winning journalist named Wael Abbas (@waelabbas) who tweets pictures, videos and general information (in English and Arabic) a couple times an hour. For me, this is a refreshing way of getting reliable information from sources that aren’t tied to specific governments. Additionally, the Youtube channel which I’ve found to have regular updates and unbiased information, as well as extremely intense videos, is RussiaToday (http://www.youtube.com/russiatoday).

These methods not only supply interested viewers everywhere with in depth information, but they also completely undermine most government’s attempts to control their populations. While Egypt has attempted to shut down the internet and block social media websites, locals have been setting up independent infrastructure in order to organize protesters and release information to the world. As a result, the Egyptian Presidents attempts to ruin the legitimacy of protesters have backfired and popular support has continued to grow throughout the world.

 

Starbucks releases mobile payment option

It’s been an interesting year so far for Starbucks. With their new logo and all the surrounding controversy, then it’s latest “Trenta” size (I’m still not sure how anyone can drink that much coffee) and now a new innovative payment method utilizing iPhone and Blackberry apps. 

The app is available to anyone who owns an iPhone or Blackberry for free and is currently being implemented in 6,800 stores throughout the US after being piloted in Seattle, LA, and New York. Users found the card to have the fastest transaction speed and lowest customer wait time, according to Brady Brewer, VP of the Starbucks card and brand loyalty.  

This seems to me like a great way to speed up the process of coffee runs for people in plenty of situations. Whether it be running to the local Starbucks in your 10 minute break from work, or just heading out for a coffee with friends. You won’t even need to bring your wallet with you anymore.

The app works by scanning a barcode connected to your Starbucks cards and also allows people to track their reward points; Starbucks cards can also be easily refilled directly from your phone via Paypal or credit cards. 

My only concern with this method of payment would be the possible privacy issues surrounding such a simple process. Although, considering the amount of different app’s people already have on their phones and the security available (password locks) it seems like it would be pretty safe. Despite the fact you might buy twice the amount of coffee with the simplicity of the process and lack of line ups.

Welcome to 2011..