Tag: social media apps

Mobile technology could play a central role in security efforts

| January 12, 2015

At the same time that consumers are being warned about their privacy over smartphones, those devices could also help.

A mobile technology trend involving the use of smartphones and tablets to help to improve local security among residents of a neighborhood and in tracking, through the combination of smartphones and social media apps.

These tools are becoming an increasing part of various types of community policing program.

The key is that smartphones are owned by the majority of adults, and among the owners of that mobile technology, most use social media apps. Moreover, they spend a great deal of time on those applications and they access them on a regular basis. This, as a result, is providing a useful tool in the help to fight crime. A new trend has started with private security companies as well as with the Community Policing Forum (CPF), where this tech and these mobile apps are combined in order to be able to raise awareness of issues and to alert residents when a problem may be present.

A growing number of specific instances of the use of mobile technology for crime fighting and safety has been occurring.

Mobile technology - SecurityOne example, among many, occurred on New Year’s Day, in Glenvista, South Africa. Just before opening at 8am, the Glenvista Shopping Centre Checkers store was robbed. This involved a situation in which an estimated seven suspects had stolen an undisclosed amount of money from the cash office. In this case, the robbery was discussed on the CPF Facebook page, where there were a number of important leads and connections made that brought about several advancements toward solving this crime. The good relationship between the CPF and the police has continued since then and they work closely.

Other CPFs within the community are also using mobile apps to be able to help in battling crime. Community Watch is one of the apps that is being used the most widely, as it brings together an instant messaging service with a direct connection to CPFs, private security companies, and even the police.

These are only a couple of examples of the important role that mobile technology is starting to play in the safety of individuals and entirely communities in South Africa, as regular everyday people and law enforcement officials work together to improve their own security using smartphones and apps.

Social media marketing app, Yelp, lets businesses respond to rants and kudos

| December 18, 2014

The latest upgrades to this application make it possible for merchants to tell their side of the story.

The social media marketing app from Yelp has now launched a new version of its application called Yelp for Business Owners, which makes it possible for merchants to be able to more effectively monitor their pages over the service, as well as to reply to the praise and concerns that are posted by their customers.

Many people are actually surprised that this feature didn’t already exist within the mobile app.

Though the consensus appears to be that it is a great idea to use this social media marketing, advertising, and reviewing site and app to be able to give businesses the chance to respond to what customers have said about their products, services, and location, many are also shocked that the option wasn’t already available. This suggests that this move by Yelp isn’t quite as revolutionary as it is simply about time that they did it.

The new social media marketing app for businesses is available for both Android and iOS based devices.

apps - social media marketingThe announcement of the availability of the mobile app was made on the company’s official blog. The release follows closely on the heels of another that had revealed that the service would be allowing anyone to be able to use the Yelp platform in order to communicate directly with a business through its profile, there.

According to Yelp, “Since launching in June of 2014, consumers are now sending an average of 55,000 messages each month to businesses through our free Message the Business tool.” The company also went on to say that mobile represents over 64 percent of the searches that are made over the platform. Moreover, it pointed out that every month, there are about 73 million unique visitors that use the service over their smartphones and tablets, as of the third quarter of this year.

The social media marketing, reference, and reviewing service shared that “it’s clear there’s a demand to conduct these conversations on the go.” This is becoming the case with an increasing number of services that provide consumers with business locations, details, and reviews.