Posts Tagged ‘Facebook’

I know a technology has reached maturity when my mom starts using it. I remember, my mother was always fairly familiar with technology. However she has always been behind the curve compared to my generation and people more familiar with technology.

My parents started using e-mail in the mid 90’s. They didn’t really start taking advantage of smart phones and PDAs until 2002-2003. They’re both in their fifties now, err, I mean mom is 38. And when they do adopt new technologies, they usually end up using them fairly regularly, even though my dad does have trouble getting around a computer.

Yesterday morning I woke up, checked my email, and found that my mom had requested me as a friend on Facebook. As I approved her request, I realized that social networks have nearly reached complete market saturation. If my mom is using a technology, it’s not a niche product anymore, it has become a commodity.

Up until then I had thought that maybe, just maybe online social networking utilities could be just a fad, something like eight track cassettes, Tamagotchis, or Furbies. For better or for worse it seems to me that this is not the case. Facebook, Myspace, or some version of them are here and they’ll probably be around for quite some time now that the mothers of the world are taking advantage.

-MW

pic used w/permission of Wm. Marc Salsberry of TechZulu (more pics & videos can be found at their site)

I had the pleasure of attending the LA Social Media Club event at Mahola’s headquarters here in LA this past Monday night.

Approximately 200 people in and outside of the social media realm attended the event which included dinner, drinks, networking, and a panel discussion emceed by Jackie Peters of HeavyBag Media and including Nicole Jordan from Rubicon Project, Michael Dorausch a chiropractor who’s use social media as a pioneer in his industry, Robert Richman a social media strategist, and Brian Solis, a social media guru, co-founder of Social Media Club, and principle of FutureWorks.

You can follow Social Media Club on twitter by clicking here and I urge you to visit Social Media Club’s site here for an event in your area and if you’re in LA it’s time to join the group on Facebook and start coming to the events!

I enjoyed enlightening discussions with many of the attendees including Devlyn Steele, CEO of ToolsToLife.com about the value of content and his value-driven social network, with Francisco Dao, founder of TheKillerPitch and blogger for FastCompany about PR in the social media realm, Kyra Reed and Marjorie Kase, co-founders of Markyr Media, an LA social media PR agency about the value of authenticity in social media, and enjoyed a thoughtful discussion on the evolution of web design with Andy Dugan of C/D Entertainment. I definitely can’t forget Tiffany Weller of Done! SEO who so graciously turned a dry event into a party with her wine and bartending services and TechZulu’s presence with Jennifer Stavros, Efren Toscano, and Cristina Cinque and though I didn’t get a chance to speak with him, I could see Hayden Black of GoodnightBurbank and AbigailsTeenDiary cracking everyone up.

I can’t forget Tim Street’s hilarious and poignant tweets throughout the evening, Edwin Duterte of OneKeyAway fame, John Noland Marchesini, Omar Foshizzi of WhoopTonez.net, Salvador Medrano, and last, but certainly not least, photographer Wm. Marc Salsberry of TechZulu and owner of WMSProductions for the great event pictures available on Facebook and TechZulu and for permission to use them on this post.

Some interesting points of discussion and a few of my takeaways/thoughts from the event:

• Care must be taken to remember that if you’re in this industry (”the left”) it seems like everyone and their Mom is on Twitter and is networked on Facebook. Yet, their is still a vast ocean of individuals who’ve never experienced social media (Wikipedia’s entry was showcased during the event) and its grandeur and who have no idea what web 2.0 even means. Additionally, if you’re in this industry it’s easy to fall prey to the overwhelming sensation that everything in the realm of social media and social networking is so fast-paced and saturated that you should give up on launching anything without heavy competition and earlier-to-market entrants. We must remember it takes the rest of the world time to catch on to new trends, so if you’re ahead of the curve or riding the curve, don’t become overwhelmed. Even 37Signals, with their uber-popular blog Signal vs. Noise recently wrote about how when they launched their blog they thought it was too little too late, what with the thousands of blogs cropping up before theirs hit cyberspace. Yet, their blog is now incredibly popular and widely regarded in the tech and design communities and proved to be an invaluable marketing channel helping to propel their products to success. Lesson: if you create content worth talking about, people will talk about it. Give them no choice and don’t fear the clutter. Clutter only makes you look better.
• There was some talk about social network “cultures” and how Fortune 1000s and companies in general aim to enter the social fray without context. Facebook has a culture. mySpace has a culture. Bebo and Twitter and Digg and Squidoo have cultures. I see similarities between entering social media spaces and entering foreign markets: before entering a foreign market you must understand the culture and if you don’t, you must find someone who does. I think Facebook and mySpace and other social networking channels can have cultures within cultures, in the form of groups and such. McDonalds didn’t go into India serving meat burgers and a company shouldn’t go into the social networking realm blindly ignoring existing cultures. Immerse yourself (or find others who are immersed) and give value to gain recognition.
• Corporate social media endeavors are often successful when bridging corporate with humanity. In my opinion, the best marketers aren’t marketers; they’re customers, other departments, and fans in general. Corporations that have experienced success often experience success as the result of social media being attached to an individual or group of individuals or sometimes simply a passionate fan. It’s 2008 and it’s time to bring personality and humanity to your business if you’re entering the social sphere.

Other memorable quotes included:

• “once you know where to look, you know where to be”
• “…the Internet has experienced several waves including a wave of static websites, a wave of interactive websites, and the current wave of social websites…”
• “social media is a conversation, not a campaign”
• “people make it viral”
• “there’s nothing that succeeds like success”

Can’t forget some more pics courtesy of Wm. Marc Salsberry of TechZulu (more pics & videos can be found at their site):

Last of all, I want to hear your thoughts on the event! If I left you out or if you thought a discussion point was particularly thought-provoking, please post a comment… I’ll review each comment and will incorporate them into the post as pertinent. What did you gain from SMC LA? Will you go to the next event? How would you improve it? Also, can someone post the link to the “Social Media Guide” mentioned during the evening? What other social media events in LA and beyond are worth attending?

If you want to hear about upcoming social media / social networking posts and other riffs and rants, follow this blog and join me on twitter! Until next time…!

1. Eat Breakfast
The list of good reasons to eat breakfast are long (here are some reasons, and then some more, and then one more), and the benefits are enticing (a full stomach is always a good thing). The “I don’t usually feel like eating in the morning” excuse is flimsy, and it is possible to eat a healthy breakfast on the go.

No more excuses, please!

2. Learn something new
If Newton could learn from something as ordinary as an apple (as legend has it), finding something to learn from shouldn’t be much of a problem.

Why don’t you learn Korean, a computer language, or better yet, volunteer?

3. Write a manifesto
“At its most base level, a manifesto is a written declaration of your principles and intentions. However, they can be a blast! Not only do you get to set forth what you believe, without justifying it, but you can also denounce everything you don’t like! You can use it focus your passion and fill yourself with a sense of purpose.” (from Creative Creativity)

Then share your’s at ChangeThis (aka Manifesto Central).

4. Make a Bucketlist
The only way to tell good stories is to live an interesting life. You probably have more than enough time on your hands anyway, so why not live an interesting life?

Tip: Remind your future self to live with 43 Things.

5. Be Useful

6. Sweat the Little Stuff (but only after sweating the big stuff).

7. Keep in touch
We all have friends who live in different cities, and sometimes all over the world. College ended, better (or worse) jobs come along, or the cold became unbearable, etc… There a million reasons people end up drifting apart.

Back in the day, that would have been a good enough to lose touch with old friends. Not anymore: today you have Facebook, Myspace, Flickr, bebo, GolfingMyWay, FriendFeeder, Skype, Youtube, and a million other ways to stay in touch.

8. Share good blog posts with 2 people you give a rats tail about (you can start with this one).

Xing Adds Google Maps for Visual Representation of Your Contacts
“Both Xing and LinkedIn have been layering in more and more social and resource-oriented features into their professional networking sites, for the purpose of providing more helpful information about a personal contact list in an immediate fashion. The latest move by Xing is the inclusion of Google maps, which displays your friends’ designated location.

Mobile Social Networks To See Sky High Ad Revenues By 2012?
“If you were to believe mobile social networks about their advertising predictions, they will by 2012 be raking in between $28 to $52 billion dollars in ad revenue. Given that normal online ad revenue only broke $27 billion for the first time in 2007, and with predicted drops in ad budgets due to the economic recession, the mobile predictions seem a bit hard to swallow.”

Six Impossible Things You Can Do To Improve Your Blog
“This week, I’m proposing to you, six impossible things that will make your blog more interesting, more appealing, or just that little important bit more popular.”

When Will Facebook Be Ready For Business?
“For awhile we’ve been pushing the idea of Facebook evolving to support business social networking alongside the “social” social networking. But in order for that to work, the site needs to find a way to shed its image as a beacon of college hooliganism — Facebook is a place to post party pictures, not product pitches. But even so, the appeal of leveraging Facebook’s social graph for business is too good to pass up. As we’ve noted in the past, there are already huge business networks on Facebook — 30,000 Microsoft employees, 8,500 Googlers, etc. Those relationships are ripe for exploiting for business networking, but there is a prevailing feeling that that’s not what Facebook is for.”

No Facebook?  No Thanks.  No Job.
“Stop the press! It would appear that modern man, if given the choice between the lure of monetary gain or the comfort of online communication would rather pass over the former if the latter is not also included.

What’s new and notable in the social networking realm?

• David Kirkpatrick, Senior Editor of Fortune, did an interesting write-up entitled “Geography, social media and breakfast“: “Combining social networks with geographic information was one of the big ideas at a gathering this week of uber-techies and media digirati in New York.”…”The next big thing is the integration of location-based information with social networking applications. At least that’s one conclusion I took from a high-energy “social media” breakfast for 100 techies in New York this week.”…”Not only will you see what someone is doing online, but you will know where they are doing it. That might significantly change how you relate to people in the real world.”…”Not merely entertainment, it is supposed to let you use Google maps to get things done with other people, as well as play games. Aktihanoglu says it will allow you to, among other things, in effect combine Craigslist with Google Earth. His motto: “Never be lonely again!” (It’s pretty hard to use so far, though.)”…”Geography is likely to get more important on the Net.”My Response: A very interesting and relevant article about the state of social networking and the integration of geography into the fray. I agree with Mr. Kirkpatrick and this is evidenced by several of our current social networking projects utilizing Google Mapping technology and geo-based functionalities. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: the next phase in social networking will be a “shakeout” of the social networks that aren’t relevant, aren’t adding value, and aren’t fulfilling a need or want in a simple, innovative way. People don’t want “just another social network.” No one wants to have to join and maintain presences on 10 social networks, especially if none are adding value and all are focused simply on trivial conversations and “pokes.” My belief is that in the future, one “broad” social networking is certainly needed (e.g. Facebook, or when a social platform succesfully connects ALL networks and gets broad appeal, so if you have a presence out there on one site, you have a presence on this main site). Several career (or student based, for younger people) based social networks would be valuable and additional sites will have to fulfill a want or need so well, and be so focused on adding direct value to their audience, that interested users will have no choice. Geo-based functionalities is simply an example of this new breed of valuable features that combine function with form in an innovative way.
• Esther Dyson of the Wall Street Journal wrote “The Coming Ad Revolution“: “The current online-advertising model will become less effective, even as it gets increasingly sophisticated. New players are emerging to devalue the spaces that the ad giants are currently fighting over. Companies you’ve never heard of called NebuAd, Project Rialto, Phorm, Frontporch and Adzilla are pitching tools to Internet service providers that will enable them to track users and show them relevant ads. This approach (called behavioral targeting and already in service by ad networks that track users through so-called tracking cookies) undercuts traditional online publishers, who employ content to lure users and to sell adjacent ads. Now, the ISPs can sell advertisers direct access to the same users.”…”This market will get more competitive, and users will be barraged by ads to which they will pay less and less attention. Call that public space, a world of billboards and cacophony. Even though the ads will be more “relevant” than ever, users will increasingly tune them out.”…”This does not mean that traditional online advertising will go away, just that it will become less effective. Value is being created in users’ own walled gardens, which they will cultivate for themselves in real estate owned by the social networks. The new value creators are companies — like Facebook and Dopplr — that know how to build and support online communities.”My Response: Key point here: when you’re serving a visitor with a relevant product, link, or company (note my omission of the word “ad”) at a time when they need or want this information, it’s not annoying. It’s helpful, valuable, and liked. Examples: Google’s Sponsored Search Results and Amazon’s Recommends. Except, too much of a good thing is a bad thing. So even more relevant ads isn’t necessarily wanted, either. On the other hand, any other method of approach in this day and age simply will not work that well anymore. With more and more clutter comes more and more selective vision and hearing. It’s exciting indeed to see the new technology on the horizon continue to evolve into more and more useful as mass advertising winds down.

Other notable articles:

• Presidential Hopefuls Spending Little On Web Ads. Why? Social Networking.
  “…We can all recognize collectively that modern social frameworks on the Web are remarkably efficient platforms and means with/by which messages can be relayed. And if we are to take into account the reality that many millions of Americans are connected in one way or another to online networks - if one should look at the growth of social networks over the last few years, one can see quite clearly that a very significant percentage of Internet users in the U.S. are connected to a social framework of some sort - it then must come as little surprise that advertisement spending by the present set of presidential campaigns has been, well, exceedingly small. Especially given the very momentous circumstances we find ourselves in.”
  
• Facebook on top of social networking tree, but you won’t find new friends or a job.
  “Facebook is still the most popular social networking site among students and graduates, and clearly ahead of Bebo and MySpace when put head-to-head according to Milkround.com’s student and graduate database. But users claim none of the major three offer enough help finding new friends or a job.”

P.S. Facebook, if you’re reading this, I’m SO tired of Facebook Application-originated SPAM! I understand things spread virally and that the current methods ensure the Facebook Platform grows and that Facebook app developers have an easy, viral method of transmitting their work and spreading their tools. It’s simply that when it becomes a nuisance/annoyance every time I log in to my account to have to clear tons of invitations and junk from my account, something is wrong. Am I not supposed to enjoy my logged-in time on Facebook? Because it’s starting to feel more like taking out the trash every week. To me, it’s the social networking version of e-mail forwards. Yes, the e-mail forward is originating from my friend, but with too many non-relevant forwards, pretty soon you block them all out and eventually set your spam filter to “kill mode.” To add insult to injury, it appears the mySpace is following the same path. Go figure. That is, go figure out how your social network can add value and spread ideas without becoming annoying, intrusive, and cluttered.

-RB