Monah Mahmoud

By 2100 there could be 4.9bn dead users on Facebook. So who controls our digital legacy after we have gone? Esther Earl never meant to tweet after she died. On 25 August 2010, the 16-year-old internet vlogger died after a four-year battle with thyroid cancer. In her early teens, Esther had gained a loyal following online, where she posted about her love of Harry Potter, and her illness. Then, on 18 February 2011 – six months after her death – Esther posted a message on her Twitter account, @crazycrayon. “It’s currently Friday, January 14 of the year 2010. just wanted to say: I seriously hope that I’m alive when this posts,”  she wrote , adding an emoji of a smiling face in sunglasses. Her mother, Lori Earl from Massachusetts, tells me Esther’s online friends were “freaked out” by the tweet. “I’d say they found her tweet jarring because it was unexpected,” she says. Earl doesn’t know which service her daughter used to schedule the tweet a year in advance, but believes it was

Hashtags are possibly the most misunderstood tool on the social web. Some people confuse social mentions with hashtags; others use completely obscure hashtags because they see their friends using the pound sign and don't even know why; and worst of all, some use hashtags to spam their followers and friends. When private users make those mistakes, it is annoying, but when a business does it, it can be very damaging. It is time to make some sense of all the hashtag noise. What are hashtags and when should you use them to increase your business's social media footprint? Sometimes, it's just funny. Let's just get this type of hashtag out of the way. If you are eating a delicious slice of pizza, and you add the hashtag #Yum at the end of your tweet or Instagram photo, that has one goal and one goal only: to add a little humor to your content. The best business social media accounts are the ones that add some personality to their posts. You will notice peo

As time goes on, it feels like organic reach on social platforms continues to decline further and further, even when it already seems like you're only getting to a tiny fraction of your audience with each of your posts.  In this post, I’ve compiled 10 solid principles that will help you fight the decline of organic reach on social media, and maintain your referral traffic numbers. Hopefully these notes will help you negotiate the ongoing reductions, and improve your performance. 1. Know the algorithms The first part to getting over a decline in organic reach on social media is to learn about the algorithms of each social media networks that you’re currently using. In a generalized nutshell, social platform algorithms are based on three basic principles: Recency - How long ago you published a post Relevancy - How relevant your posts are to your audience Engagement - How your audience reacts to posts you’ve published (likes comments and shares) Each social me

As social media platforms have evolved into full-blown communication channels, more brands are relying on these platforms to reach their target audiences. Consumer attention is scattered across various social platforms, not to mention apps and other online diversions. Brands that hope to capture consumers’ attention and dollars need to keep in touch with how their audiences utilize these platforms. The bottom line is that, as trends evolve on social media, so must the corresponding marketing. With the start of a new year, it’s time to look into the crystal ball of emerging trends on social media. What is going to influence social media users? What does this mean for brand marketing? And what do we need to be aware of to stay current and relevant in 2019? Here are the top 10 social media trends to keep an eye on in the new year. 1. Rebuilding trust in social media platforms. Social media platforms continue to grow annually -- in fact, Facebook has more than 2 billio

For a few weeks now, KFC in France has been goading its loyal social media base with threats it was set to launch a new menu item – a bucket full of beef to rival its chicken mainstay. “We decided to make peace with lovers of #beef, so we’re launching the #BeefBucket soon!,” the company claimed on its Facebook and Twitter accounts. Apparently, KFC loyalists were so infuriated by the thought of a meaty interloper on their beloved chicken menu that an online petition was started amid threats of boycotts. However, the whole thing was revealed as a prank – albeit a rather bizarre one – with the company using Valentine’s Day to release an online video that reassured diners of the brand’s commitment to all things poultry as we see the fake Beef Bucket get dynamited. A voiceover guy – presumably the Colonel himself – reveals: “Today is Valentine’s Day, so I decided to tell the world that I refuse to cook anything else but chicken, “Even if cooking beef could have given me 34 per

After announcing it back in September, and rolling out an initial test with selected users last month, Twitter is now bringing it's new 'Sparkle' button to all users, which will enable everyone to easily opt out of the algorithm-defined feed and see the most recent tweets from those they follow first. As demonstrated here, the new button will be present in the top right of the app, where the tweet compose button used to be. When you tap on it, your timeline will switch to show the latest tweets, as opposed to those the algorithm defines as the most likely to be of interest. Tap it again, and you'll go back to "Top tweets" - the algorithm-determined feed. The option will begin rolling out to iOS users from today, with Android and web to follow soon. Twitter's algorithm has long been a cause of frustration for users, with some arguing from its initial implementation back in 2016 that an algorithm ranking of tweets runs totally in counter to wh

2018 has flown by, and we're now fast approaching the new year. In this post, I wanted to give you all a simple breakdown on how you can get ready for 2019 with six steps that you can take to strengthen your social media strategy.  It's important to update and upgrade your strategy in alignment with the latest trends and shifts. Hopefully these notes will help you stay on track, and in line with the evolving digital landscape. 1. Review How You Current Use Social Media The first step in strengthening your social media strategy, at any point, is to review how you’re currently using social media. Really take a step back here - remove yourself and get an outsiders perspective. You can ask yourself the following questions: Which social media networks are you currently on? Are they still relevant to your brand goals? Which social media networks are driving the most relevant traffic or conversions for you? Which social media networks are a time suck? As hard as