Apple Event Social Reactions

So, Apple had a huge Special Event today. Did you tune in? Even if you didn’t, you probably heard all the Twitter chatter. Whether or not you had your eyes on the Twittesphere, we certainly were monitoring social media channels.

What were the biggest announcements in terms of share of voice for Tweets and Facebook comments mentioning “Apple” today?

Not the new iPods. It was Ping and Apple TV. What was the most unexpected? Ping, the Social Network for Music. We’ve seen other blog posts regarding the new Apple TV before today, but Ping? Nope. Barely a “ping” in the Twittosphere regarding Apple’s Ping.

Ping

Apple did a great job of keeping Ping under wraps. Steve Jobs unveiled iTunes 10 and the new Social Network for music he said was like Facebook and Twitter meet iTunes. He did clarify that it’s not Facebook and it’s not Twitter—it’s a Social Network for music.

Really, it is Apple’s way to address the issue of Discovery that was previously lacking in iTunes. Users would complain about the 30 second preview length, saying that was too short of a time to know if they wanted to pay for a song. So, they’d go elsewhere to hear the full song before deciding to download. Apple lost the first part of the funnel. Instead of changing the sample time on the preview, Apple is relying on Social Networking to do the job of selling the song. My friend likes this song? I listen to the snippet and it doesn’t suck, so I’m going to buy it and show my friend I’m as hip as he is.

But was discovery what users were talking about today in conjunction with “Ping?” Let’s find out…

Most of the conversation is not around discovery, as the term “discover” only made up <3% of the conversation. The above chart shows what the majority of the conversation was around: the Social Networking aspect of Ping.

What users were saying

Most of the conversation is around rivalry, as seen by the comment below. Or take this Tweet from a user: “Steve Jobs just kicked Mark Zuckerberg in the Nuts with iTunes Ping.”

The talk is also about comparisons like: “OMG! Apple is un-veiling its own social network for iTunes called: ‘Ping’ it’s like Facebook, Twitter, and iTunes all rolled into one.” Will it be exactly that?

What do you think about Ping and its traction with users? Do you see yourself taking time away from Twitter or Facebook and putting it into Ping? I might just pack more Social Networking into my daily roster of online fun.

• Posted on September 1, 2010 by Adam Schoenfeld
• Categories: Events, Social Media