» social media

Anonymity is the Enemy

shawn — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 21:43:01 +0000

I am restating some ideas already expressed by Seth Godin, David Kirkpatrick and Mark Zuckerburg, but I believe the current greatest enemy to online privacy, copyrighting, legal, libel, and simple self-governance, is the issue of user anonymity.

The motion of many organizations, including the social media leader, Facebook, is towards an internet that requires identification and validation of the user.

The method currently used is very primitive: validation through registered email, placing verification code onto a personal website or blog, and early steps into universal profile connections such as Google’s Friend Connect, OpenSocial, and Facebook Connect.

The leaders in this are obviously Google and Facebook, both racing to become “The Internet,” essentially being everywhere and touching everything, the most recent play by Facebook of putting the “Like” button everywhere. But here is where the move toward a user-identified web is affecting the world of online gaming:

Bye-bye trolls? Blizzard forums to use real names

July 7th, 2010 @ 12:49pm

By BARBARA ORTUTAY
AP Technology Writer

NEW YORK (AP) – Activision Blizzard Inc.’s move to require people to use their real names if they want to post messages in online forums for games is the latest sign that online anonymity is falling out of favor with many companies.

The upcoming change has upset many gamers who prize anonymity and don’t necessarily want their gamer personas associated with their real identities.

Blizzard, the maker of “World of Warcraft,” said Tuesday that the new rule will go into effect later this month. It will apply first to forums about the highly anticipated “StarCraft II,” out July 27; other games are to follow.

Blizzard hopes that making people use their real names will cut down on nasty behavior in the forums and create a more positive environment. Players will have the option _ but not a requirement _ to display the name of their main game character alongside their real name.

Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said Blizzard is the latest company to require real identities. But he added businesses have “a lot of freedom” in doing so.

Facebook, the world’s most popular online social network, asks users to sign up with their real names. The company tries to delete fake profiles it comes across. A growing number of blogs and news sites are also abandoning anonymity. The Buffalo News said last month it will start requiring commenters on its website to give their real names and the towns they live in, just as they would do in a printed letter to the editor…

Article continued here: http://bit.ly/beMaK4

World Cup Means Selling More Coke… Subliminally!

shawn — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 00:44:19 +0000

The 2010 FIFA World Cup Celebration Mix of Wavin’ Flag by K’naan

With the World Cup starting today, the world’s attention is focusing on the number one most popular sport in the world, soccer. And there are many people who are trying to capitalize on that attention. Not least among them is a mostly-unknown Somalian musician named K’naan.

K’naan’s 2009 single Wavin’ Flag was selected as the 2010 FIFA World Cup’s official anthem. But who selected the song and where did it come from? It was not selected by FIFA, instead it was chosen by Coca-Cola International. And it underwent a fairly intense “change” before it could receive this honor, including revision of most of the song’s lyrics, complete removal of entire verses, and most notably, the addition of Coke’s Audio Signature, (The “Oh, oh, oh, oh-oh” from their current “Open Happiness” campaign).

Compare the original album version of the song to the Coca-Cola approved revamp posted above:

The artist, K’naan, had this to say about the world’s largest beverage company and the world’s largest brand asking him to change his song,

“I saw it as an opportunity to reach more people. I don’t work for Coke or anything; what I do is my music. This was a really great opportunity for them to use my song, without compromising my integrity as a musician.

It sounds nice. And as far as “a really great opportunity for them,” I’m not sure, but it is definitely “a really great opportunity” for K’naan to break out onto the international music scene, as one of the most listened to songs in the world and the top downloaded on iTunes today.

Social Networking Existed Before LinkedIn and Facebook

shawn — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:52:37 +0000

The other day I had someone ask me, “Hey, I saw that you know thousands of people on your LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter pages, could you ask one of them to get me a job?”

I felt utterly stunned at having to state the obvious, “I don’t actually know most of those people.”

I love social media sites. I spend entirely too much time on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter… especially Twitter, but I want to establish a clear distinction between social media sites and social networking.

“Social Media” is the term that generally groups together websites where the majority of content is created by the users. Typically they use log-ins, account names and personal profiles to connect people and focus on the “interactive” elements that have been key to the web 2.0 progression. We think of sites like Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Flickr. But “Social Networking” existed long before Web 2.0.

Mankind is a social animal with a long tradition of societal interdependence. Ashton Kutcher, the self-appointed champion of the Social Web, recently said:

“[H]uman beings are born not able to even sustain themselves, so at the end of the day, if you ultimately did something in your life that was great, you at least owe your mom.” –Ashton Kutcher from AK FTW, SKY Magazine, Feb. 2010.

Social Networking is the normal and timeless practice of making connections and helping people out. Using technology to facilitate these contacts makes it easier and more efficient, but just as in the past, “It’s not about the number of contacts you have; it’s how you use them.”

Another great quote about the effectiveness of this new tool today and its potential in the future comes from one of the all time greats in peer-to-peer marketing, Seth Godin:

“Social media is either a time-wasting, wool-gathering, yak-shaving waste of effort or, perhaps, just maybe, it’s a crack in the wall between you and the rest of the world. It’s a choice” –Seth Godin

Make your choice. Use your tools wisely.

Tony Hawk Wants to be Your Friend

shawn — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 12:04:00 +0000

Are you lonely? Unpopular? Looking for a world-famous, professional athlete to hang out with? Do you have a couple of extra grand you’re willing to spend for a friend? Then Keep Reading!

For $2,000, professional skateboarder and videogame character Tony Hawk will call you, answer any question you have or change the outgoing message on your voicemail. For a little more, he will go Go-Kart racing with you, play mini golf, escort you to Disneyland, or even show up at your school.

From his website
“For the first time ever, you can spend the day with Tony Hawk and his friends in some of the most unique places. The Tony Hawk Experience is your exclusive opportunity to have a personal experience with you and your friends with the world’s most famous action sports figure and to benefit the Tony Hawk Foundation while you do it.”

This is Genius! Professional athletes and celebrities have been doing things like this for years. It is typically labeled under something foggy like “Guest Appearance,” includes a hefty appearance fee, and is trafficked through their agent. But most people don’t know about it or think of it. The brilliance behind what Tony Hawk is doing is that it is posted as a prominent link on his website. He is putting it right out in front of his audience! Hawk recognizes that fame is directly tied to having fans, and he is offering himself up to those fans in the places they spend the most time – the internet.

Tony Hawk’s online popularity, augmented by the release of his 11th video game title, is evidenced by his more than 1.4 million Twitter followers, ranking him 24th most popular on the site. It is the old maxim of “Go Where Your Fans Are” and he is using his fame to augment his fame. The more kids that can afford his phone calls and Go Kart races, the more people will be buzzing about him online, the more video games he will sell, and the more kids will pay for his phone calls and Go Kart races. It’s a vicious circle.

My favorite is this for $75,000 – “I will pick you up at LAX in my 620hp Jeep SRT and we will visit cliché tourist spots” around L.A. That’s a bargain, folks. I would charge you at least twice that and I’d pick you up in a Honda Accord.

26% of People Don't Know What Twitter Is

shawn — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 12:51:00 +0000

I joined Twitter on 27 June 2007. When I first got there, it was a fairly empty place and I left after just a few minutes. My first tweet, like so many other noobs’ before me, was something like:

Since that fateful day, I have watched as many others jumped on board the Twitter Train and made it “mainstream.” People like Robert Scoble and Guy Kawasaki and Oprah. Here I made a chart:

So with all this new press, the internet is becoming full of articles touting “why Twitter is a great new social media site.” But I want to draw attention to what Twitter REALLY is.

“Social Media Site” is the term invented for MySpace, Facebook, Bebo, Orkut and others to describe online networks where you create a profile and fill it with pictures and quotes and articles and friends. Social Media Sites were built on the idea of mutual friendship and willingness to exchange information. They are the most recent step away from the long-held traditional media pattern of broadcast communication of the few to the many. Now, with Social Media Sites, people, including bands, brands, and companies, are communicating one-to-one.

Well, Twitter is not a Social Media Site. It is not a static page consisting of a user-defined profile stocked with photos, quotes, links, and lists of friends. The very protocol defies the Social Media standard. You do not “Friend” or “Add” on Twitter. You “Follow.” There is no implied reciprocation. The list of people that you follow on Twitter is much more akin to the traditional media measurement of viewers or “eyeballs.” And we are again using a broadcast medium, the few to the many. If this were MySpace or Facebook, the numbers for “Following” and “Followers” would all be equal. (i.e. – “Friends follow each other”). Instead they look like this:

Those ratios defy the one-to-one idea of Social Media and are akin to the one-to-many target numbers of several forms of traditional media. So what is Twitter?

Twitter is the fastest form of user-generated broadcast media.

I found this last week by Stan Schroeder on Mashable: “Yes, we all know that Twitter is great for tracking conversations. [However, there’s also] been a lot of talk that its biggest strength is precisely its search. But sometimes it’s hard to fathom just how important this is. Google is the biggest entity on the Internet. It is synonymous with “search”. It feels like it’s been around forever. It is also not able to compete with Twitter.”

He does not say that Google can’t compete with MySpace or Facebook. Google owns a Social Media Site. What Schroeder says is that people are using Twitter as an ALTERNATIVE to Google. A peer-to-peer, unmonetized, predominantly unarbitrated search alternative in order to quickly gather information. This is not a new Social Media Site. This is a passing-of-power in the broadcast media field.

Sports Marketing Interns Wanted

shawn — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 02:40:00 +0000

Our firm is producing the most exclusive and elite sporting event series ever held – the ultimate sports fantasy come true. We are seeking individuals with skill in online social networking websites and a passion for professional sports.

Expertise with MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Google, Flickr, and other Social Networking Tools
Passion for Sports, Professional Athletes, Sporting Events, and Competitive Poker
Strong time management skills and personal accountability
Availability to start immediately and commitment to succeed at this project

If you feel you fit this description, please send us a copy of your resume and links to your social networking profiles at sbutler@sportslegendschallenge.com. Please do not call about this position. After reviewing your resume and social media experience, we will contact you for an interview if we believe there is the potential fit. Thank you for your interest, and we look forward to hearing from you.

A True Universal Profile

shawn — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 03:24:00 +0000

Uh-oh for the King and Queen of Social Media Sites, now Google is looking for a non-proprietary way for people to join and create social networks. In the article Google Wants To Be Your Universal Profile Too…, Stan Schroeder explains how Google’s “Friend Connect” service will make online profiles completely portable.

Here’s Google’s own explanatory video and Schroeder’s definition:

“Friend Connect is a tool which enables any website owner to add some code to their site and get a number of social features. You know, all that stuff you usually can’t be bothered to install plugins for: user registration, invites, members gallery, reviews, message posting, and – most importantly – third party OpenSocial apps.

In practice, this means that anyone will be able to log in, for example, with their OpenID on some blog, and converse with their Gtalk, Facbeook, or Plaxo friends. The web as a platform, it’s finally happening, folks.”

The idea of an Open Web is not without opposition. Zuckerburg’s Facebook again shows its monopolistic bent by obstructing Google’s initial launch of the service. So, in the battle to control the newest online medium, while Facebook and MySpace square-off over proprietary profile info, Google leaps both by creating a universal profile open app. The future of social media may be in another Google mashup. To truly achieve the effect of rubbing their noses in it, I think they should call it “MyFace” or “SpaceBook“.

The Future of Social Networking Sites

shawn — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 20:03:00 +0000

The Future of Social Networking Sites is that most of the Social Networking Sites Have No Future. MySpace and Facebook have battled for new users, climbing up the demographic food chain. MySpace has struggled to hide the migration of their user-base over to Zuckerburg’s much more hip interactive site. All the while, the giants of online have been eyeing the now-established online phenom and have plotted their own fast-track into the social media cash pool.

VS.

Much like XM and Sirius, this will become a market where only one can survive. Social media users have watched as the two majors, MySpace and Facebook, each reporting over 65 million U.S. monthly viewers, revamped their user profiles and interactive applications into a strikingly similar format. Both now incorporate FriendFeeds, both incorporate (limited) customizable layout options, and both feature a Twitter-like status update.

Facebook boldly steps towards the next obvious plateau in social media networks, the Universal Profile. Rather than creating multiple individual profiles or even cutting and pasting your favorite quotes, pictures, and About Me’s from one site to the next, you will be able to create one profile and export it across platforms. Right now, Facebook only offers this feature with “partner sites” (see highlight), but soon it will have to expand the service to their top competitors, like MySpace, Bebo and Google’s Orkut.

What Facebook says about its new Exportable Profile:
Real Identity
Facebook users represent themselves with their real names and real identities. With Facebook Connect, users can bring their real identity information with them wherever they go on the Web, including: basic profile information, profile picture, name, friends, photos, events, groups, and more.

Friend Linking
People count on Facebook to stay connected to their friends and family. With Facebook Connect, they can take their friends with them wherever they go on the Web. Developers can add rich social context to their sites. Developers even can dynamically show which of their Facebook friends already have accounts on their sites.