The Social Path

Google HotPot: The best app you didn't know existed

Toward the end of 2010, Google quietly launched a great new review application called HotPot. It's sleek, user friendly and thorough. You can search and rate everything from restaurants to toy stores to parks, all from one easy application. 

In order to vote, all you have to do is sign in to Google (so if you're on Gmail right now, you're already logged on). You also must create a username. The voting has a few easy, fun steps to complete, all without leaving the main page. When you select the star rating for the item you'd like to review, the selection flips like a baseball card. Then you can fill in your stats, write a description if you'd like and submit.

In addition to submissions from HotPot, Google aggregates reviews from all over the Web - so instead of nine crummy reviews from one application, you get a true measure of the place's value. 

HotPot is built into the Google Places iPhone and Android applications (without the HotPot name attached at all, which is weird) and is every bit as simple as the Web application. Google recently announced Twitter integration of HotPot in its Google Maps for Android app, but Twitter sharing is noticeably absent on the Web-based and iPhone applications.

This is one of Google's best ventures into social applications, and in time I believe it will become the most reputable and popular. So be sure to step up and claim your business to get into the game early.

The Social Path's vote is five stars! Great service, atmosphere and value - but now we're starving.

Kammie Avant is a social media planner for Luckie & Company. You can contact her by e-mail or follow @KammieAvant on Twitter.

Heavily used but rarely discussed: It's time to revisit Yelp.

With so much buzz around location-based services like Foursquare these days, it's easy to forget about the power, reach and of copious content of Yelp.com.

Launched in San Francisco almost exactly six years ago, Yelp is a combination of business review site, location search engine and social network. While many competitors have arisen in recent years, Yelp remains my go-to iPhone app for finding great places for coffee, lunch, used books or imported beer when I'm traveling.

And I'm not alone. Yelp gets more than 31 million unique visitors a month, according to estimates from earlier this year. In late 2009, the site's executives reportedly walked away from a $500 million buyout offer from Google, which shows they've got their sights set pretty high.

Even if you've been using Yelp for a while now, you might be surprised to see how comprehensive of a tool it is now. That's why I wanted to share the presentation below from my friend Michael Bertoldi (Twitter, blog), a social media marketing consultant based in Huntsville, Ala. 

It's a quick, clean walkthrough that definitely left me wanting to use Yelp for more than just finding the occasional pint or pumpkin latte. Check it out:

Yelp

View more presentations from Michael Bertoldi.

Are you a Yelp user? If so, how do you use it for yourself or for your business? If not, which similar tools do you use most often?

David Griner is a social media strategist for Luckie and Company and contributing editor for Adweek’s blog, AdFreak.com. You can reach him by e-mail or on Twitter.

Day 11: Review 3 things you've owned 3 months.

 

Throughout January, The Social Path is running daily tips on how to improve your social life — online, at least. Click here to learn more. 

 How many product reviews did you read when you were making your holiday purchases last year? Dozens? Hundreds even?

Now riddle me this: How many product reviews did you write in all of 2009?

Unless you're one of the very few, very prolific reviewers on the Web, chances are that you don't contribute much to sites like Amazon, Overstock.com, CNET, etc. When we do write reviews, most of us are making snap judgments — often negative — based on our first experiences with a product. ("I found the box overly difficult to open! Thumbs down!")

But what about the trusty products that stick with us for months or even years at a time? We rarely re-visit the sites where we bought them and share our opinions.

So today, we're going to try something easy and fun to get you in the habit of reviewing things you've put to the test.

First, just pick three items that you've had for three months or more. Not a Christmas gift or impulse buy from last week. Go for things that you've started to take for granted because they've been consistently useful, even if they're not that sexy.

For my three, I picked a random mix of gadgety goodness: my modest Acer Aspire One Netbook, an Oxo digital kitchen scale and a silicone sleeve for my iPhone.

Admittedly, I gave each one a five-star review on Amazon, mostly because I think they're each great at what they do, even if what they do isn't all that exciting. But more important than the star rating is the actual feedback you write into the review. Be honest about how the product has met your expectations and about any shortcomings you've experienced. 

Chances are, you'll also learn a few things about the item you're reviewing when you browse through other people's opinions. I've found some pretty cool new ways to use old gadgets just by reading reviews.

That's it for today! Three reviews. I'm sure you can swing that, even on a busy Monday. We'd love it if you shared the items you reviewed in the comments section.

Estimated time needed: 30-60 minutes.

Benefits: Contributing to the global well of information that you drink from every day.

Coming tomorrow: One simple Twitter Lists tip that will make you say, "How did I not know about that?"

Photoshop on the iPhone: A pro and a casual user weigh in.

When Adobe recently announced it was launching a Photoshop iPhone app — a free one, at that — millions of photo enthusiasts were both excited and skeptical. So we decided to put this hot new toy through the ringer with a two-part review.

First, we turn to Adweek Photo Editor Manuela Oprea, a woman who clearly knows her way around a camera. Then you'll get the skinny from me, Kammie Avant, Luckie's social media planner and run-of-the-mill, 20-something iPhone addict.

Manuela Oprea
Adweek Photo Editor

I hesitated before deciding to download the new Photoshop Mobile App. No, it wasn't the price; the app is free. Instead, I thought about the limited memory I have left on my 8GB iPhone and wondered if I really needed the app or if I would use it.

As a photographer, I use Photoshop on a daily basis, and I'm always astonished by the program's capabilities. So I was skeptical of the "mini-me" Mobile version and assumed that it would be clumsy or gimmicky.

To my surprise, I found the Photoshop Mobile App easy to use and useful. The basic functions, like cropping and exposure, came in handy, especially after snapping a photo on a overcast day. I also had fun with the sketch filter, though I could do without the jarring rainbow effects.

Overall, I was enjoying the experience and didn't regret the download until I tried to register, a process that's supposed to help you share the photos you've edited on your iPhone. After multiple attempts to create a Photoshop.com account and two different error messages, my frustration built up and I gave up. The App is still on my phone, for the time being.

Manuela's before-and-after shots from the Photoshop app:

    

After the jump, we get down to the details with my take: