This latest report from comScore, Inc. not only shows the surging popularity of social networking on mobile devices, it also reinforces the idea that social is becoming more and more intertwined into our daily lives and activities. With the release of Apple’s iPhone 4, and an ever growing list of competing products, these numbers are sure to continue to grow. Continue reading to learn about the top activities these new internet devices are being used for everyday.

comScore, Inc. recently released a report on the fastest-growing mobile application and browser content categories based on data from its MobiLens service. The report found that social networking led as the top-gaining category for both application and browser access, confirming the surging popularity of this service on mobile devices. The study also found that accessing Bank Accounts was one of the fastest-gaining categories via both app and browser, as the convenience of mobile banking continues to appeal to a growing number of consumers.

“With mobile media consumption on the rise, the discussion of how consumers are accessing content — whether it is via application, browser or both — continues to be an important factor for companies looking to invest further in their mobile brands,” said Mark Donovan, comScore senior vice president of mobile. “Although application access is clearly on the rise, with several categories more than doubling their audience via this method, content consumption via browser continues to be the most popular method for Americans to access mobile media.”

Smartphone Users Post Triple-Digit Growth in App and Browser Access
In terms of penetration, 78 percent of smartphone users accessed their browser in April 2010, while 80 percent of smartphone users accessed applications. In comparison, just 19 percent of feature phone users accessed their browser, with 17 percent accessing applications. Although smartphone users are driving growth in browser (up 111 percent in the past year) and application (up 112 percent) access, feature phone users still make up nearly half of all users accessing mobile browsers and apps.

“Although growth in application usage on smartphones continues to grab the spotlight in the mobile market, the audience using their mobile browser remains larger and is growing just as quickly,” added Donovan. “Brands need to remember to take into consideration the user experience across both channels when building their mobile strategies.”

*comScore defines smartphones as a mobile device with the following operating systems: RIM, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Palm, Symbian

Social Networking App Audience More Than Triples in Past Year
In April 2010, 69.6 million mobile users accessed an application on their phone, an increase of 28 percent from the previous year. Several application categories experienced triple-digit growth in the past year, emphasizing the increasing popularity of this method as a form of mobile content access. Social Networking experienced the strongest growth in app access, increasing 240 percent to 14.5 million users. Accessing News apps followed, growing 124 percent to 9.3 million users, while Sports Information apps experienced a 113-percent surge to nearly 7.7 million users. Bank Accounts apps also more than doubled their audience, growing to nearly 5 million users in April.

More Americans Still Use their Browser versus Applications
Nearly 73 million mobile users accessed their browser in April, an increase of 31 percent from the previous year. Mirroring application category growth, Social Networking ranked as the fastest-growing category accessed via browser, growing 90 percent from the previous year to reach almost 30 million users, followed by Bank Accounts (69 percent to 13.2 million users). Online Retail sites also experienced a significant increase in audience usage via browser, increasing 47 percent to 7.3 million users, as Americans continued to show adoption of the mobile retail channel.

Donovan continued, “Social networking is by far the fastest-growing mobile activity right now. With 20 percent of mobile users now accessing social networking sites via their phone, we expect to see both application and browser usage continuing to drive future consumption of social media.”

Blake Cahill
Visible Technologies

Social media has exploded in recent years and many brands are realizing that this is business critical for many parts of their organization. While taking the initial ‘plunge’ into social media is not difficult, enterprise adoption, success and ROI calculation can only be achieved with proper planning, deployment, and careful measurement.

Today, Visible Technologies is proud to announce our road show series, “Achieving Enterprise Social Media Readiness and ROI.” Join us as we bring together enterprise 2.0 thought leaders to provide insights on how companies can leverage social media conversations to positively shift brand perception, increase sales and strengthen customer relationships.

We will also be taking this opportunity to present a new social media ROI calculator to help brands effectively achieve and measure success with social investments.

I will be joined by Esteban Kolsky, principal and founder of ThinkJar LLC and former Gartner Research director, as well as industry pundits and leading brands at each city location.

The road show kicks off in Los Angeles on Wednesday, June 2 and will be followed by stops in San Francisco, New York, Chicago and Atlanta. To register and see full schedule/specific locations, please visit our events page.

Take advantage of this opportunity to learn from fellow marketers and hear from leading experts on best practices and ways to more effectively measure social media success.

Space is limited, sign up today!

Blake Cahill
Visible Technologies

Last week at the SMASH Summit, Altimeter Group partner and friend of Visible Technologies Jeremiah Owyang delivered a compelling presentation: “Four Laws of Social Business.” While he introduced the four laws with the caveat that they are not the final word in social business, we believe he introduced helpful, actionable rules to the burgeoning social business frontier.

Before discussing Jeremiah’s exact rules of engagement, it’s important to remember why these rules have even come about and why it is increasingly important to incorporate social media into a sound enterprise strategy. More and more people are networking online – meaning many of their opinions, complements and concerns about brands are available for the public to see.

Businesses that have not yet taken advantage of the new media should enter the space thoughtfully, yet earnestly: discovering where customers spend time, listening to consumer feedback and joining in practical and transparent ways. For many companies that are new to social media, this task may seem daunting and confusing, however taking the time to understand how to implement can be well worth the investment. Organizations that embrace social media can positively impact business results and improve brand reputation. Jeremiah provides some well thought out rules of engagement for companies that are looking into making their business more social.

Here is a snapshot of Jeremiah’s list (which you can also find on the SMASH Summit SlideShare page) and a few thoughts on our perspective.

Four Laws of Social Business

“Don’t fondle the hammer – Build a sturdy house – isn’t that the goal? Jeremiah recommends starting off with a blueprint of the overall enterprise goals, not just the social networking platforms you or your CEO wants to have a presence on.”

Visible Technologies’ take: Understanding your social media objectives is essential to driving positive business results. Finding out where your target audience resides online and agreeing on your social media goals beyond ‘just being there,’ will help you achieve the social ROI you’re looking for.

“Live by the 80% rule – Jeremiah advises to spend the majority of your time (80%) getting your company ready to incorporate social into the greater business structure. Figure out where it will be situated within the company, who will be creating and implementing these strategies and what kind of resources they need to succeed with social – then use the remaining 20% of your time to research and implement social media tools.

Visible Technologies’ take: Social media solutions are important (after all, we do offer the truCAST suite – shameless plug) but creating a targeted, relevant social media strategy and figuring out stakeholders will guide your organization and deliver more business value in the long run.

Customers don’t care about your department – Different companies have social media interaction living in various departments, but at the end of the day, customers want to hear your united voice.

Visible Technologies’ take: Social media is an extension of your brand and our customers are seeing success by uniting social media at an enterprise level. It is about having a holistic social strategy across business divisions that are touching the same audience.

Real time is *not* fast enough – Jeremiah agrees that reactionary PR is important – especially in times of crisis – but incorporating social in your overall business plans gives your company the opportunity to think ahead, putting you one step ahead of the competition.

Visible Technologies’ take: Your audience is talking about you online – shouldn’t you be there? If you’re still not sure where to start, our team can help guide you through the wild world of social.

I would add one more to Jeremiah’s list  and that would be to understand the total cost of being a social business. By that I mean comprehending and calculating the cost of people, process, and technology investments to capture social insights, digest them and interact with those same consumers that are talking about your brand. Separating social noise from actionable insights requires good data, enriched data, and business intelligence that one’s organization can take action upon. If one is spending all their time drinking from a firehose of unstructured or non-actionable data then it can quickly overwhelm and denigrate the valuable insights and passionate customers that you should be interacting with. Plan and invest according to scale and generate success for the firm.

You can find more stellar social media advice on Jeremiah Owyang’s Web Strategy blog. Is anything missing from these five laws?

Blake Cahill
Visible Technologies

“A good name, like good will, is got by many actions and lost by one.” – Lord Jeffrey

Lord Jeffrey’s adage from the 19th century rings true today, particularly in the timely case of Tiger Woods, the golfing hero turned shamed adulterer. Since news broke of Tiger’s multiple extramarital affairs in the end of 2009, conversation about him has been almost universally disapproving and gossipy. With new content constantly churning out on Twitter, blogs and top newspapers and magazines, Tiger’s misdeeds continue to overshadow his successful golfing career – specifically his ‘Google juice,’ or search engine results. Even after his televised public apology, Tiger’s online reputation has been seriously damaged – leading to a potentially unalterable reputation crisis for the best golfer in the world.

Now more than ever, celebrities, public figures – and even brands – need to keep tabs on their online reputation, ensuring search engines have the most accurate information, whether it’s a fire drill or a regular Friday. Search is one of the most important ways to learn and discover online, and putting one’s best foot forward is a crucial part of online reputation.

To help brands, celebrities and high-profile individuals manage their online reputations, Visible Technologies today released truREPUTATION 2.0, an end-to-end solution that facilitates the proactive management of a brand or individual’s online reputation through search engine results tracking and analysis capabilities that deliver immediate insights within a single dashboard.

A full-service suite, truREPUTATION 2.0 enables marketers to get ahead of crisis situations and proactively manage search results that influence public perceptions of their brand. The key components of the truREPUTATION 2.0 suite include:

• truREPUTATION Manager: A comprehensive, proactive search result management service for domestic and international search engines that promotes positive content and provides access to truREPUTATION 2.0, dedicated customer support and advanced business intelligence.
• truREPUTATION Monitor: A hands-on service that includes access to truREPUTATION 2.0, weekly monitoring, tracking and reporting and advanced business intelligence.
• truREPUTATION Viewpoint: A deep-dive report of current search engine content collected and scored for sentiment using truREPUTATION 2.0, paired with specific recommendations on how to improve rankings.
• truREPUTATION Snapshot: A short summary and analysis of current search engine content, collected and scored for sentiment with truREPUTATION 2.0.

To learn more about truREPUTATION 2.0, please see today’s press release on the news here.

Blake Cahill

Visible Technologies

I have been part of the social media generation – professionally and personally – for a number of years, but last week was the first time I found myself social networking in the midst of a potential crisis situation – the Hawaiian Islands Tsunami Warning while vacationing in Maui.

Being jarred out of bed at 6 a.m. on a Saturday during vacation by the sound of emergency sirens blaring across the island is not something I will soon forget. The Tsunami Warning announcement slipped under our door from the Maui Westin Resort staff didn’t offer much comfort and advice either, especially given the hotel wasn’t even built the last time a major tsunami hit this island in 1960. To make matters even more concerning, our oceanfront room was roughly 1,000 feet from the pristine West Maui beach.

This was not the way I envisioned spending our last day of vacation.

The warning estimated the tsunami would strike Maui at 11:40 a.m., three hours before our scheduled flight back to Boston, a city where people would have trouble pronouncing the word tsunami let alone survive one. I wasn’t sure what to do at first, but I immediately flipped open my laptop and started searching for Hawaiian emergency sites before I even turned on the TV to see what local newscasters and CNN were reporting.

Working for a social media listening company over the years has taught me that the fastest way to find out the latest is from the wisdom and information-sharing of the online crowd. As Google loaded sites onto my laptop, I grabbed my Blackberry and headed for the hotel lobby to see what the in-person crowd had to say.

Maybe it was my previous background as a reporter for United Press International that kicked in, where you always put out snippets of breaking news as they occurred, but by the time the elevator reached the ground floor I posted my first update on Twitter.

The lobby was filling up fast with other information-seeking tourists and it was easy to see the hotel staff was ill-prepared for an event of this magnitude. Nervous-looking staff at the registration desk were telling people that the coastal highway leading inland and to the airport was closed by emergency officials at 7 a.m., something I found out later from people online was untrue. I thought it was pretty ironic that Maui was shutting down what they had designated to be one of the island’s main evacuation routes. Any thought about fleeing to higher ground or getting to the airport was now a moot point.

When the hotel broadcast an emergency announcement that all guests would be moved above the 4^th story of each tower in preparation for the first wave, I really got to thinking this could be the real deal. We’ve all seen the video of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

So while some people started heading to a nearby convenience store to stock up on supplies, I returned to my hotel room with the idea of riding out whatever the storm might bring and getting as much information as possible from others on Maui and across the other Hawaiian Islands. The first waves were scheduled to hit the Big Island 20 minutes prior to Maui, so finding live Web cams of that area seemed like the place to start, particularly ones on the west side near Keauhou Bay that matched up to our west side location in Lahaina, Maui.

As I sped through finding new sites to track – the Hawaiian Civil Defense, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, and The NY Times Live Twitter feed – local TV newscasters were having trouble reporting anything of substance. In the meantime, Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle looked like she was auditioning for ‘Amateur Hour’, apparently with technical broadcast issues before finally opting for a blurry-image address via Skype.

Over the next two hours leading up to the estimated arrival time of the first wave, I shared everything that seemed relevant from what I heard on-site or from other people in the same situation as us, including updates on road closures, businesses shutting down, planned emergency power outages, and unusual water conditions in other areas of the island. Like any emergency situation, there is always a ton of bad information put out by people, but I found the good far outweighed the bad. I was also surprised that Starwood Hotels, owners of the Maui Weston, did not leverage their Twitter presence at all to broadcast emergency information to guests at their multiple Hawaiian resorts.

When the deadline finally passed, people started to finally lighten up, but it wasn’t until an NOAA official announced that “Hawaii had dodged a bullet” that everyone really started to relax, an announcement shared online roughly 20 minutes before it was carried by CNN.

Within minutes of my first online update, I began to receive dozens of reactions from friends, family and many strangers too, wishing us the best of luck, offering safety tips, and thanks for the updates from the island. It was really comforting to know so many people were listening and cared enough to send a message. I’m hoping that was the first and last time I’ll be part of such an event.