h/t: @socialmediaweek @EntMagazine

It's that time of year again...no, March Madness is another few weeks away. And it’s clearly not spring. It's time for the annual Social Media Week. In advance of the formal unveilings at next week's conference in New York, Entrepreneur.com has released a sneak peak of 10 Promising Startups Poised to Change the Way You Live, Work and Play, which, they claim, are "re-engineering the ways in which humans interact with the Internet." Included in the list are several new apps that I would love to see reused for the good of public health:

Affectiva - "With software that reads facial expressions, Affectiva can analyze and track the emotional response a viewer is having to a piece of digital content." If the app can provide feedback on online information for product marketers, imagine what public health could learn about its health messaging. Signs of high engagement, confusion and even fear could help health communicators design more effective messages and refine our communication strategies altogether.
Cognotion – This app "designs software specifically focused on training the millennial generation - in a language, format and speed that they are very likely to be fluent in - with the skills necessary to succeed at entry-level jobs in hotels, coffee shops and retail restaurants." Because Cognotion uses story narratives and gamification to engage millennial employees, it's developing a set of highly-tailored communication strategies for reaching this key demographic. Teaming up with this app would be a great public/private partnership for public health organizations that are trying to reach and engage youth.
Beautified – “This mobile application aims to be the easiest way for people to find and book last-minute beauty and fitness appointments ranging from blowouts and haircuts to massages, facials and waxing.” It would be great if this same technology was applied to health services. Users could find last minute appointments for non-urgent or preventive services – eliminating the long wait time between the decision to visit a healthcare professional and the actual appointment date and, instead, driving them to take action at the exact moment when they are most motivated to do so.

I’m looking forward to hearing more from next week’s event. If you, like me, plan to lurk…I mean, join remotely via social media…follow the #SMWNYC hashtag on Twitter.