Welcome to the 35th episode of “The Mediatwits,” the weekly audio podcast from MediaShift. The co-hosts are MediaShift’s Mark Glaser and Dorian Benkoil, who is filling in for Rafat Ali. Once again, Apple dominates the headlines, this time for quarterly earnings that blew away Wall Street — and everyone else. The company made $13.1 billion in profits in the quarter, more than Google made in revenues that same quarter. Apple was driven by the popular iPhone 4S as well as the iPad, and seemed it could do no wrong. But at the same time, the tech juggernaut found itself the subject of a series in the New York Times about horrendous working conditions at the factories that make iProducts.
Our special guest this week was Dan Zarrella, the “social media scientist,” who gave us tips on how to get more clicks per tweet we send out. Zarrella is known for doing more than just spouting off-the-cuff advice for social media marketing, but actually putting numbers behind his tips. And finally, we looked at the East Coast vs. West Coast battle playing out in media + tech, as New York adds more of these jobs as the financial business shrinks there. Plus, Cornell got a massive donation to help build a new science and tech school on Roosevelt Island that will include a venture fund to incubate more tech companies in the Big Apple.
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Intro and outro music by 3 Feet Up; mid-podcast music by Autumn Eyes via Mevio’s Music Alley.
Here are some highlighted topics from the show:
Intro
1:10: Special co-host Dorian Benkoil filling in for Rafat Ali
2:10: Rundown of topics on the podcast
Apple’s boffo earnings
3:30: Amazing, incredible, mind-blowing earnings from Apple
5:20: What will Apple do with $97 billion in cash?
7:20: Credit goes to Steve Jobs for keeping Apple focused
9:40: iPod sales going down, Mac not as huge
11:10: Will factory conditions get better in China for Apple products?
Get more clicks per tweet
12:45: Special guest Dan Zarrella
13:40: Zarrella puts science behind “unicorns and rainbows” advice on social media
18:40: Zarrella: You get more clicks with tweets at 120 to 130 characters
20:20: More attention for tweets on weekends and nights when there’s less noise
22:30: Zarrella plans to do more research on e-books in the future
NYC vs. Silicon Valley
23:10: New York pushing for more tech startups, and media + tech workers
26:20: Mayor Michael Bloomberg pushing for more tech education, startups with new campus at Roosevelt Island
29:05: More office space now in NYC going to media and tech jobs and not finance
More Reading
Apple Reports First Quarter Results at Apple.com
In China, Human Costs Are Built Into an iPad at NY Times
Lesser-known facts from Apple’s earnings statement at TUAW
Things Apple Is Worth More, a Tumblr blog
Apple’s Not So Secret War at Mac Observer
How to Get More Clicks on Twitter at DanZarrella.com
How To Use Contra-Competitive Timing for More ReTweets, Likes, Comments and Clicks at DanZarrella.com
Cornell Alumnus Is Behind $350 Million Gift to Build Science School in City at NY Times
Report: Tech, media companies will rule New York in 2012 at Cresa Blog
Weekly Poll
Don’t forget to vote in our weekly poll, this time about the success of Apple:
Mark Glaser is executive editor of MediaShift and Idea Lab. He also writes the bi-weekly OPA Intelligence Report email newsletter for the Online Publishers Association. He lives in San Francisco with his son Julian. You can follow him on Twitter @mediatwit. and Circle him on Google+
