Social media

Doctors Figure out Medical Mysteries with a Mobile App

By Paul B. Kaiser on April 22, 2017

The Figure 1 app has been labeled the “Instagram for doctors” and has hit 1 million subscribers. Figure 1 is used by doctors and healthcare students from a variety of specialties including medicine, nursing, and dentistry. Figure 1 said its free online mobile tool – used by medical practitioners around the world to share images of patient ailments and seek the opinions of others – has shared its medical images more than 1.5 billion times on its platform. The company estimates two-thirds of North American medical students now use the app, which is also used by institutions.

download Figure 1 on google play — *Click to download*

download figure 1 on itunes — *Click to download*

Doctors can now use direct messaging to their peers

Users typically share images of challenging or classic cases, and often seek help from the Figure1 community about how to treat patients, or even diagnose them. But now doctors can use peer to peer direct messaging for instant commentary and advice. This is a time saving measure and can be a valuable point of care situation.

What about Patient Privacy?

Figure 1 has to make sure patient privacy is a priority for healthcare professionals, and they have designed Figure 1 to maintain privacy.

In a Figure 1 profile, you can identify a name, workplace, and other information about yourself. However, you must remove identifying details related to patients from any case you post. (For example: faces and tattoos.) Click here for more information. There is also an automatic face-blocking feature detects faces and blocks them, and the manual block feature allows you to quickly and easily block anything else that might identify a patient.

Doctors can upload cases with comments and photos.

Once a case is uploaded, a medical officer and team of moderators at Figure 1 perform a review of each case to verify that all identifying information has been properly removed from it before it is shown on Figure 1. However, if you think that a case, comment, or description on Figure 1 may identify a patient (or supplies information that risks identifying the patient), you can report the case, and it will be immediately removed until our medical officer reviews it. Should a case be deemed to potentially identify a patient, Figure 1 will immediately and securely destroy it, and we will alert the healthcare professional who uploaded the case accordingly.

Whats the future for Figure 1?

Now its ambition is to become the dominant online platform for doctors, or “the operating system of health care,” said Boris Wertz, a Vancouver venture capitalist who has backed the company.

The app can be used for teaching, learning and for patient point of care.

Dr Joshua Landy, co-founder of Figure 1, said “you work in teams, you learn in teams, you study in groups and everything is about bouncing the ideas off, learning to see other people’s perspective and learning from your peers.” You will be able to share the knowledge of healthcare professionals through the network but also around the world.

He said that since they started the app in 2013, they have millions of healthcare professionals in 190 countries using it. “The ability to be able to reach out to someone in the moment that you need information and receive it means that you could access this worldwide network of healthcare professionals who are there to help you with your case.” All this provides better patient care, shorter wait times and hopefully lower costs in the healthcare system – in theory. It would be great if patients could share photos with a team of doctors to get insights and diagnosis. Check out the article on apps to connect with your doctor.

Technology in the Trump Era

By Paul B. Kaiser on November 10, 2016

As we head out of Obamaville and into the Trump 100 days soon, what is the future of the technology industry? Knowing Trump it could go either way but here is what I know. Please note that I’m more than willing to give Trump time to prove himself, but the signs and things he has said have not been promising.

During the Obama years, Silicon Valley has been an economic and social engine for the digital community. Smartphones and social networks have become as necessity to many and are as important to world business as oil is to the automobile. The big four (Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google) have become some of the most prosperous and valuable companies on the planet and have given the USA new hope for generating $$ in the USA.

Obama, has undeniably been a active supporter of these digital tools and his administration deferred to the tech industry for advice and consultation. Baring the recent Apple iPhone privacy debate, the tech industry and big government have worked well together. So how will Mr. Trump carry the baton?. “Mr. Trump had few kind words for tech giants during the campaign.”

He promised to “initiate antitrust actions against Amazon, repeatedly vowed to force Apple to make its products in the United States, and then called for a boycott of the company when it challenged the government’s order to unlock a terrorist’s iPhone.” And his immigration plans are dislike by about every company in tech.

Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft have not commented about Trump’s win, or how the new administration’s stated policy goals would affect their businesses, but it seems clear that a shift is in the wind. For instance, last year, Sundar Pichai, Google’s chief executive, wrote a rebuke to Trump’s plan to ban Muslims from immigrating to the United States. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s co-founder and chief executive, told an audience of developers in April that “instead of building walls, we can help people build bridges.”

Behind closed doors, during the campaign, many tech leaders were positive that their vision would prevail over Trump’s. But when asked about whether they were preparing a strategy to deal with a Trump victory, they did not have an answer. They like many other thought it would never happen.

Among the tech community, there is concern that social media giants, Facebook and Twitter, have helped advance the decline of good and accurate news media. Social media seems to have contributed into the rise of trolling, racism and misogyny that seemed to follow so much of Trump’s campaign.

At the end of the day, I have to imagine that a “mover and shaker” like Trump would want these businesses to succeed and prosper in America. It seems that Trumps business side would rise and squash his inner negativity. Nobody really knows his internet privacy, security positions or technology plans. He barely touched on the issues during the campaign. Privacy and cyber-security aren’t mentioned at all on his website’s positions pages. Everyone buckle up for the ride.

President Obama Stresses Importance of Science and Technology to the Nations Future

Snapchat Making a Spectacle

By Paul B. Kaiser on September 24, 2016

February 20 – Snapchat opens up the sale for Spectacles to the public for $129.99 – buy them here.

Snapchat readies for an IPO worth $25 Billion – 1/30/17 Update

ORIGINAL POST:

The messaging app Snapchat and company will reportedly release its IPO filing the first week of March. Originally it was expected to be valued at $20 billion, but now sources are saying it will be worth $25 billion.

Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel, who is only 26, will undoubtedly be a wealthy dude. Welcome to the American Dream. The filing will reportedly take place on the New York Stock Exchange.

11/12 – Update Hands on with Spectacles

Exciting Unboxing Video

11/10/16 – Snapchat releases the spectacles today for sale.

The king of quick chat is seeing things differently this fall. Capturing memories and life moments has proved to be quite lucrative for Snapchat. And they’re looking to extend the experience outside the app. Snapchat is shortening their name to just Snap, and is in the hardware business now.

The company will release video-recording sunglasses called Spectacles this fall. They contain a 115-degree-angle lens that will allow the wearer to record up to 30 seconds of video, a Snap Inc. representative said, and will cost $129.99. Supplies will be limited at first, and they’ll come in one-size-fits-all variants of black, teal or coral.

How will the Spectacles camera work: A click on a button at the corner of the sunglasses will record up to 10 seconds of video. The camera has a wide-angle lens – similar to a fish-eye lens on GoPro cameras. The glasses connect wirelessly to a smartphone.

While reminiscent of Google Glass, I think Spectacles will have a big impact initially but eventually suffer from the same demise as Google. Why? They are dorky looking. Why not make these look like any other glasses or at least not so funky? and making them sunglasses limits them to outdoor activities. But this dorky look makes a clear connection to the Snapchat app, and that may be the deciding factor.

Quick Spectacle Facts

How do I use Spectacles?
Tap the button on the top left-hand corner of the sunglasses to begin recording a snap. It will automatically stop recording after 10 seconds — but if you want additional recording time, you can tap again to add another 10-second increment.

What’s the longest video that I can record?
You can record up to 30 seconds at a time.

How do I get my snaps onto my phone?
If you have an Android device, you have to transfer them via Wi-Fi. If you have an iOS device, they will transfer by default via the glasses’ Bluetooth connection. Or, you can choose to can transfer them at a higher resolution over Wi-Fi.

How do I charge them?
Spectacles will come with a dedicated charging case and cable. Snap says that when fully charged, the case can recharge your Spectacles up to four times.

Millennials choose Snapchat over Instagram

By Paul B. Kaiser on April 29, 2016

Snapchat swapped places with Instagram and jumps in front.

In November of 2015, Snapchat was the Third Most Popular Social Network Among Millennials. Snapchat, which allows users to send photo messages that automatically delete themselves shortly after being viewed, shocked many when they turned down a $3 billion buyout offer from Facebook last November.

But it’s spring time and for the first time, the messaging app Snapchat is the preferred social network for teens, according to a survey from research firm Piper Jaffray. The survey, which polled 6,500 teens in the U.S., found Snapchat use surged with 28% of them claiming it’s the most important social network. Instagram app was at 27%.

“Snapchat is the preferred social network for teens”

How big is it?

Snapchat has about 60 million total installs, making it larger than Instagram when it sold to Facebook for $1 billion. Of those 60 million installs, Snapchat has about 30 million monthly active users. Fifty-five percent of monthly active users use Snapchat daily. That’s 16.5 million people.

faceswap — **Face swap filter is creepy**

How many snaps?

Snapchat now shares 400 million snaps each day, according to CEO Evan Spiegel, who confirmed the number to TechCrunch. In September, Evan Spiegel announced on the Disrupt stage that the disappearing photo-sharing service was seeing 350 million snaps sent per day, up from 200 million in June.

How much is Snapchat worth?

Snapchat’s $10 billion valuation in the round vaulted Spiegel, 24, and Murphy, 26–who each own an estimated 15% of Snapchat–to a net worth of about $1.5 billion each.

Whats next for Snapchat?

Always a lot of rumors with the stories not disappearing but I think they are just going to make money. NBC just worked a deal with Snapchat, letting them provide video updates of the olympics. Snapchat will present “unique perspectives” from the games via the service’s “live stories.” Snapchat will have an NBC Rio Olympic Discover channel, which are snippets of action with a touch of filters and twists from the service.

Marketing Campaigns

Snapchat and Taco Bell did funny filter today for Cinco de Mayo. They added a filter turning everyones face into a giant taco. While it is a little creepy, it creeped across the web today in large numbers.

Adweek said that Snapchat’s Cinco de Mayo face lens sponsored by Taco Bell today might be up your alley if you ever wondered what its like to put your head in a taco. And for those who plan to get sauced tonight, Taco Bell’s got you covered with a packet of Diablo that promises to “turn up the heat.”

Do you need the App? iOS or Android

Snapchat filters are one of the most popular aspects of the app.

Old People try Snapchat filters

Do Not Follow these Digital Trends or you will be Ahead of the Game

By Paul B. Kaiser on October 26, 2015

I never heard of the Mary Meeker Digital Trends Report, but when I came across it, I have to say it’s pretty impressive. If you’re in advertising/marketing and you have been hiding under a rock, then here is your wake up call from Mary Meeker. Or as Digital Intervention likes to say “buy stock in these company’s now.” Check out her full report here Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends. This is a global view of digital trends and encapsulates the mobile and social industry in

Meeker looks at how people around the world use the Internet, how many are on mobile, how they spend their time online, and which companies and industries stand to gain the most. Below is a segment of her slideshare presentation.

Here’s your to do list for next year in digital and mobile:

Mobile Internet use is growing faster than Internet usage in general: There are 2.8 billion Internet users, up 8 percent from 2014, and 2.1 billion mobile Internet users, an increase of 23 percent.
Mobile data usage rose 69 percent last year, and 55 percent of mobile data traffic is from video.
In 2008, Americans spent 20 minutes a day on average with the mobile Web. This year, they spend close to three hours, more time than they spend on laptops.
The mobile ad industry is still short $25 billion. Mobile commands 24 percent of time spent with media but accounts for only 8 percent of ad dollars spent.
Facebook and Twitter are growing but not like they used to. Revenue per user and monthly user growth is slowing. Facebook revenue per user is at $9.36, up 29 percent over last year, but growth neared 60 percent last year. Year-over-year user growth was 13 percent last quarter, the slowest growth ever.
Twitter revenue per user was $5.14, an increase of 45 percent over last year, whereas growth was 80 percent last year at this time. User growth was 18 percent, down from 25 percent a year ago.
The mobile ad industry as a whole grew 34 percent year over year, while desktop digital advertising only grew 11 percent.
Mobile ads are getting more motion but in short bursts. There are four new styles of ad: Pinterest’s Cinematic Pins, Vessel 5-second video ads, Facebook Carousel ads, Google Local Inventory Ads.
Buy buttons equal optimized for mobile, and they have popped up across Google, Facebook and Twitter.
Vertical screens and vertical content are a big deal now with 29 percent of people’s daily screen time spent looking at smartphones. Five years ago, time spent in front of such vertical-oriented screens was only 5 percent of overall viewing time.
Snapchat is all about vertical ads and says users watch them until the end nine times more frequently than they watch horizontal ads in its app.
Snapchat now has 100 million daily active users, and the app generates 2 billion video views a day. One event like Coachella can draw 40 million video views to Snapchat Live Stories.
Facebook gets 4 billion video views a day, 75 percent of which are from phones.
Pinterest is getting manlier with the number of men’s fashion pins up almost 100 percent over a year ago—car and motorcycle pins were up 120 percent.
Watching video games like it’s TV is becoming a top entertainment choice. Video game streaming site Twitch has 100 million monthly users now, an increase of or 122 percent.
Twitch can draw 1 million viewers at the same time.
Teens continue to be trendsetters. The five most important social networks for U.S. teens, in order, are Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat and Tumblr.
E-commerce is starting to pick up, with $300 billion in spending last year representing 9 percent of retail sales. E-sales accounted for less than 1 percent of retail revenue in 1998.
Alibaba, China’s e-commerce giant, has more than $350 billion worth of merchandise on its platform. Amazon has closer to $100 billion worth.
Online, on-demand platforms are growing. Airbnb, for instance, has booked 35 million guests—25 million of those were in the last year. Uber drivers are up sixfold to more than 1 million. Etsy has 1.4 million sellers, up 26 percent.
The average Etsy seller makes $1,400 a year. The average Airbnb host makes $7,700 a year in New York.
China is huge and can be big for content. A documentary about smog, Under the Dome, got 200 million views in three days, and 41 percent came from the messaging app WeChat.
WeChat can be used for government services, too, in China, where it has 550 million users.
India will be the next frontier, opening opportunities for Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn and Amazon.

Digital Eye Candy

Engage, Optimize and Convert: 3 Digital Marketing Tools for Marketers

By Paul B. Kaiser on October 14, 2015

You have a blog or a website your promoting and you want to make some real increases in traffic and engagement. If you only have 30 minutes a day to spend on digital marketing what should you do? These 3 areas I believe will be the best bang for your buck. It’s easy for marketers to just say “engage your customer”, “optimize” and build a “conversion strategy”. But it always seems to get lost in the mix of digital strategies. Six months after the digital strategy was developed, are marketers still following the plan? Or are they just trying to get something live. We’ve all been there. So go back to the basics. Look at the content you have developed or already have in your arsenal and then – Fine Tune!

1. Are your pages optimized for conversions

What do you want visitors to do when they land on your site? Your entire content strategy should be built with this question in mind. Once you know the action you want users to do then you can find the tools for initiating those actions. You have a Landing Page – right?
Capture a first name and an email. Thats all you need to extend the conversation. Then leverage affordable services like MailChimp or Constant Contact for drip campaigns.
Use free tools like Google Analytics to monitor visitor’s paths to the website and once they are on it, find opportunities to create a more user-friendly experience.
Optimize forms on your site to build a stronger inbound lead funnel. If the user has an easy form to fill out they will complete it. Measure what your content is worth agains the amount of info you are asking them to divulge.

2. Optimize Your SEO

SEO optimization might be the single best area you can focus on. The more you optimize, the more of your audience you reach. And not the masses, but the people who are your customers. We’re spear fishing here, not throwing out a net. Know your audience, where they live and go fishing.

The SEO specialist on your team should ensure your content is optimized with focus keywords, Google-friendly HTML formatting, and a URL structure that correlates with your product keywords. Use hyphens, not underscore. No caps in the url. Optimize images with alt tags. These are all things your SEO speialist (or you) should be focusing on when publishing.

The best way to track and measure SEO is predominately held in Google Analytics. But there are some easy tests you should be performing such as:

A/B testing for your home page and messaging
- Test different subject lines and calls to action to see what approach attracts the most clicks
- Test different creative to see what provides better engagement
Google analytics:
- Traffic – track the volume of traffic and break it down into categories like organic, paid, and referral
- Demographics – are you attracting the right audience – look at gender, age and location
Devices – what is your audience viewing your site on. Is it mobile? is your site optimized for mobile?

3. Engage with your followers

Social media is a way for your startup to interact with current and future customers. Leverage your followers and make them feel like valuable members of your brand. Find out which social platforms your customers are on and build out a content schedule – be frequent and consistent with your message. As you can imagine the big 6 are FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest. But it totally depends on your audience.

Lastly, nothing you try is a failure. Every attempt is a learning so do not hide from failures. Strategically approach these as opportunities to win over customers with good customer service and express your brand’s long-term vision as frequently as possible.

“Email is still the number one method of engagement”

The total number of worldwide email accounts is expected to increase to over 4.3 billion accounts by year-end 2016. (Radicati Group)

It’s projected that in 2014, 191.4 billion emails will be sent and received each day with about 108 billion of those being from the business sector. (Radicati Group)

78% of marketing emails are sent to a personal email account. (ChoozOn)

If you have a little money this may be for you.

Facebook is the world: Facebook is steadily becoming a pay-to-play platform, and if you want to see any engagement you will need to invest into promoting your Facebook posts.
Sponsored tweets: While Twitter still provides a good amount of organic engagement, the microblogging platform also has paid solutions for businesses, with one being sponsored tweet. By providing a sponsored tweet, higher engagement will most likely occur with followers (and others).
LinkedIn’s premium services: LinkedIn is a inexpensive way to increase your connections and promote your services in a professional manor. They collect a lot of data and can target audiences extremely well.

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