Oh. I remember when I had this idea! It's still ready to happen, isn't it? I bet in another couple years social workgroups will be spinning off and acquiring other socos (social companies). You'll see.
(that is if we're not all hovering next to a barrel full of wood kindling looking for scraps of food on the street post economic meltdown. I'm pretty sure it will go one way or the other. Stay tuned for details.)
Two years ago I thought it might simplify projects to work from social workgroups - something we'd been wanting to do with the gonzo engaged group since 2001. We're not quite there yet, are we guys? ;-)
--
Showing posts with label social software. Show all posts
Showing posts with label social software. Show all posts
April 14, 2008
September 04, 2007
Quechup Can't Cut the Mustard
I got my invite to Quechup today from Euen, who says the newbie-social-site spammed his address book AFTER he deleted his account. Been reading several folks who had bad-quechup-spam experiences today. Which leads me to this question:
Is there a dumber move than for a social network to use the uber-anti-social approach of spamming users' address books to get folks signed on?
Can you think of a stupider PR approach than to steal a play out of plaxo's old playbook and bug the shit out of busy people?
I mean, other than perhaps using a seizure-invoking "join us" logo?
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Is there a dumber move than for a social network to use the uber-anti-social approach of spamming users' address books to get folks signed on?
Can you think of a stupider PR approach than to steal a play out of plaxo's old playbook and bug the shit out of busy people?
I mean, other than perhaps using a seizure-invoking "join us" logo?
---
July 06, 2007
Move over SEO, It's Time for SAO
Before Search, and its cousin Search Engine Optimization, became the multi-billion-dollar industry of today, we spent our time surfing the Web, mostly amazed to find any sites that we could make use of, and especially surprised when search results returned a site that was actually something we were looking for.
Although the value and the "game" of getting companies nearest the top of first-page search results began several years ago in earnest, the Twitters and Pownces and YouTubes and FaceBooks of the world were still mere strings of code in their creators' loins at that time.
Ewww. Okay. That was uncalled for.
Nonetheless, in looking across the social software landscape, the sites and widgets and tools, the companies and indie soloists, the nomads and pirates, we can see the opportunity for companies to engage in social spaces -- to find new ways to interact with their customers, partners, and the watching world -- without making a pain of themselves. The strategy and programs around creating an integrated presence across social sites, using social tools, and interacting in positive ways with constituents, is something I'm calling Social Application Optimization (SAO).
A year ago, among online marketers' clients' top requests was a desire to engage with key demographics on MySpace, to spread to Friendster, and perhaps to participate in Second Life by hosting an event there.
Today, the opportunity for gaining visibility in gathering places across the web has increased as quickly as the number and sorts of places people are tending to gather. When it was just websites and blogs, things were easy. Now we have King MySpace, Queen FaceBook, YouTube, Friendster, Pownce, Bebo, LinkedIn, BuzzNet, Twitter, Flickr, Orkut, StumbleUpon, Tribe, various virtual worlds like Second Life, hybrid platforms like Kaneva, and more nearly every day.
Nearly every company is chomping at the bit to leverage marketing and PR opportunities on these sites that are aggregating so many people.
However:
Add to that busted myth the fact that most of these social sites have a large population of indie web solists, technology developers, and entrepreneurs who act as small businesses themselves, and we can do away with the "individuals only" notion of social spaces. Commerce is part of the social fabric. It's all in the how.
So how should companies use social spaces to increase visibility and touchpoints with customers and potential customers, with partners and potential new hires? What is enough visibility without becoming obnoxious? Which sites are right for which kind of businesses and activities?
There is no single right answer, and that's where SAO comes in. Simply put, Social Application Optimization is making the most of a company's presence across social applications in concert with tools, technology and social participants themselves. It is giving businesses maximum visibility and brand exposure through positive interactions with social participants.
Okay it's late. And I'm writing this on the fly. Can you tell? In keeping with that theme, let's say there's a party and people are standing around talking and laughing and drinking punch, an analog variation of a digital gathering.
Let's say there are also three flies on the wall at this party. The first fly on the wall gets wind of the desert tray and is buzzing all in the face of the party goers trying to eat some cake. Everyone is swatting at this fly, and when someone finally nails it with a towel, there's a collective, "Yeah!"
There's another fly on the wall and he stays on the wall. He doesn't move, and no one notices him much, but that fly learns a lot about people.
Then there's another fly on the wall. It sees a group of women having an animated, joyous conversation, until a tipsy barely-grown man, who has obviously hit hard on the punch, wanders into the group and tries to take over the conversation, stumbling into two of the members. The third fly buzzes over and dive bombs the guy's finely coiffed hair until it drives him away swatting at his head. The group lets out a collective, "Yeah!"
You get it. There are different "yeah"s online, and the one that reflects a positive connection between two entities is the point of opportunity where the businesses can help/enable/empower (there I said it!) people to do something they wanted to get done anyway, whether or not they were thinking about getting it done ten minutes prior.
Of course another way for busineses to help social participants is to simply not get in their way. Watch and learn. Participate but Wait. Then offer soft goods -- offer humor, or offer entertainment, or offer to continue to stay out of the way.
Like I said, it's late and I'm going on. I can do that sometimes.
So instead of winding this up with more paragraphs about insects, I'll shut up and let the flies have the floor.
---
Although the value and the "game" of getting companies nearest the top of first-page search results began several years ago in earnest, the Twitters and Pownces and YouTubes and FaceBooks of the world were still mere strings of code in their creators' loins at that time.
Ewww. Okay. That was uncalled for.
Nonetheless, in looking across the social software landscape, the sites and widgets and tools, the companies and indie soloists, the nomads and pirates, we can see the opportunity for companies to engage in social spaces -- to find new ways to interact with their customers, partners, and the watching world -- without making a pain of themselves. The strategy and programs around creating an integrated presence across social sites, using social tools, and interacting in positive ways with constituents, is something I'm calling Social Application Optimization (SAO).
A year ago, among online marketers' clients' top requests was a desire to engage with key demographics on MySpace, to spread to Friendster, and perhaps to participate in Second Life by hosting an event there.
Today, the opportunity for gaining visibility in gathering places across the web has increased as quickly as the number and sorts of places people are tending to gather. When it was just websites and blogs, things were easy. Now we have King MySpace, Queen FaceBook, YouTube, Friendster, Pownce, Bebo, LinkedIn, BuzzNet, Twitter, Flickr, Orkut, StumbleUpon, Tribe, various virtual worlds like Second Life, hybrid platforms like Kaneva, and more nearly every day.
Nearly every company is chomping at the bit to leverage marketing and PR opportunities on these sites that are aggregating so many people.
However:
- Most of these spaces don't want businesses there.
- Many have rules against businesses creating profiles.
- Social participants don't want to be bothered or spammed--and the ramifications of businesses jumping in the wrong way (just as we saw with blogs) are long-lasting and costly.
- How can you be "everywhere"? Should you be "everywhere"?
- If not, which sites are the best fit?
- How does a company interact with customers, partners, and the watching world without pissing them off? In ways that actually HELP?
Add to that busted myth the fact that most of these social sites have a large population of indie web solists, technology developers, and entrepreneurs who act as small businesses themselves, and we can do away with the "individuals only" notion of social spaces. Commerce is part of the social fabric. It's all in the how.
So how should companies use social spaces to increase visibility and touchpoints with customers and potential customers, with partners and potential new hires? What is enough visibility without becoming obnoxious? Which sites are right for which kind of businesses and activities?
There is no single right answer, and that's where SAO comes in. Simply put, Social Application Optimization is making the most of a company's presence across social applications in concert with tools, technology and social participants themselves. It is giving businesses maximum visibility and brand exposure through positive interactions with social participants.
Okay it's late. And I'm writing this on the fly. Can you tell? In keeping with that theme, let's say there's a party and people are standing around talking and laughing and drinking punch, an analog variation of a digital gathering.
Let's say there are also three flies on the wall at this party. The first fly on the wall gets wind of the desert tray and is buzzing all in the face of the party goers trying to eat some cake. Everyone is swatting at this fly, and when someone finally nails it with a towel, there's a collective, "Yeah!"
There's another fly on the wall and he stays on the wall. He doesn't move, and no one notices him much, but that fly learns a lot about people.
Then there's another fly on the wall. It sees a group of women having an animated, joyous conversation, until a tipsy barely-grown man, who has obviously hit hard on the punch, wanders into the group and tries to take over the conversation, stumbling into two of the members. The third fly buzzes over and dive bombs the guy's finely coiffed hair until it drives him away swatting at his head. The group lets out a collective, "Yeah!"
You get it. There are different "yeah"s online, and the one that reflects a positive connection between two entities is the point of opportunity where the businesses can help/enable/empower (there I said it!) people to do something they wanted to get done anyway, whether or not they were thinking about getting it done ten minutes prior.
Of course another way for busineses to help social participants is to simply not get in their way. Watch and learn. Participate but Wait. Then offer soft goods -- offer humor, or offer entertainment, or offer to continue to stay out of the way.
Like I said, it's late and I'm going on. I can do that sometimes.
So instead of winding this up with more paragraphs about insects, I'll shut up and let the flies have the floor.
---
Tags: Web 2.0, Tech, PR, Marketing, Advertising, Internet, Social Software, Social Tools, Social Media, Blogging, FaceBook, MySpace, Friendster, Twitter, Bebo, Flickr, Orkut, Buzznet, Kaneva, Second Life, StumbleUpon, Tribe.Net, YouTube, SEO, Social Application Optimization, SAO
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June 09, 2007
mid-birthday
good birthday finds:
no pasa nada - loving her.
Found her through Neil who gave me a piece of birthday cake on facebook. And i just gotta say teehee to this.
You know, facebook has just outdone the other popular social spaces by a mile -- except that they don't integrate the music-band component as successfully as, say, MySpace. They don't need to though. The NEW facebookers - the people joining and accelerating their use in the last month -- are heavy social web users who will play with facebook regardless of its lack of social music stuff. The open apps will keep it interesting.
Maybe apps will be added on that let us attend virtual concerts in facebook--the kind that will beat the crap out of second life's avatar-based shows AND MySpace's "events" which are nothing more than announcements (when they could be.. well... events!) Anyway - kudos to facebook. I'm having fun there.
I haven't opened my aggregator in a month. I'm on strike. I don't think i'll be using RSS to keep up with folks. I'd rather follow my nose through summer. See who leads me to whom. Spend time on my favorites and my brand news. Update my blogroll.
Jenna made me the most precious pillow for my birthday. She hand stitched and stuffed it. it is SOOOOO BEAUTIFUL I CANNOT EVEN TELL YOU! soon i will have my own computer and i'll take pix again.
I lost all of my pix that aren't on fickr except for about 40. I mean I think I lost 500 or more pix that were on that hard drive. I try hard not to think of that.
George and Jenna are taking me out to dinner later. I think I will have steak. I will pepper it with Echinachea to try to make this stinking incision heal.
Yes, I will see the doctor Monday.
Thank you all again. I will keep saying that.
peaceout.
--
no pasa nada - loving her.
Found her through Neil who gave me a piece of birthday cake on facebook. And i just gotta say teehee to this.
You know, facebook has just outdone the other popular social spaces by a mile -- except that they don't integrate the music-band component as successfully as, say, MySpace. They don't need to though. The NEW facebookers - the people joining and accelerating their use in the last month -- are heavy social web users who will play with facebook regardless of its lack of social music stuff. The open apps will keep it interesting.
Maybe apps will be added on that let us attend virtual concerts in facebook--the kind that will beat the crap out of second life's avatar-based shows AND MySpace's "events" which are nothing more than announcements (when they could be.. well... events!) Anyway - kudos to facebook. I'm having fun there.
I haven't opened my aggregator in a month. I'm on strike. I don't think i'll be using RSS to keep up with folks. I'd rather follow my nose through summer. See who leads me to whom. Spend time on my favorites and my brand news. Update my blogroll.
Jenna made me the most precious pillow for my birthday. She hand stitched and stuffed it. it is SOOOOO BEAUTIFUL I CANNOT EVEN TELL YOU! soon i will have my own computer and i'll take pix again.
I lost all of my pix that aren't on fickr except for about 40. I mean I think I lost 500 or more pix that were on that hard drive. I try hard not to think of that.
George and Jenna are taking me out to dinner later. I think I will have steak. I will pepper it with Echinachea to try to make this stinking incision heal.
Yes, I will see the doctor Monday.
Thank you all again. I will keep saying that.
peaceout.
--
February 24, 2007
my money, my mouth.
Over the next week or so I'm going to be updating my blogroll, which has been a living organism (with some decaying parts) for five years. I have to fix links -- i mean the very first one is out of date--ray's on wordpress now. I have to add new and remove folks who've gone away.
We should have to do this. To not do it is like dying Italian without food at the wake.
There are reasons we cull and refresh. There are reasons my house needs tending - and there is a reason for you to watch and help me do it. We are more than bold lines in an aggregator. I will never stop saying that.
CALL FOR NEW VOICES - please leave me links in comments to folks you've started reading recently who make it worth turning on the computer.
Thank you for your assistance.
We should have to do this. To not do it is like dying Italian without food at the wake.
There are reasons we cull and refresh. There are reasons my house needs tending - and there is a reason for you to watch and help me do it. We are more than bold lines in an aggregator. I will never stop saying that.
CALL FOR NEW VOICES - please leave me links in comments to folks you've started reading recently who make it worth turning on the computer.
Thank you for your assistance.
February 22, 2007
community guy on community stuff
community guy's got a ton of info on:
badumpbump, crash!
Okay, even if i don't like the UGC lingo, the tips in the post are worth a read for those establishing or running moderated communities--or any kind for that matter. Jake points to a whitepaper that goes into detail: Six Techniques for Safer User Generated Content (UGC) Campaigns, focusing on six key, and often under appreciated techniques. I like the tip to enlist users of a community in moderating it.
As the community lives a hopefully long and healthy life, the natural evolution is for the participants to define levels of moderation, and to ignore or oust the assholes, to create and enforce what's acceptable and what gets you shot behind the barn.
(if only!) ;-)
Safer User Generated Content Campaigns
If you are of the safe-sex school, that means you should comdomize yourself before writing a politician.badumpbump, crash!
Okay, even if i don't like the UGC lingo, the tips in the post are worth a read for those establishing or running moderated communities--or any kind for that matter. Jake points to a whitepaper that goes into detail: Six Techniques for Safer User Generated Content (UGC) Campaigns, focusing on six key, and often under appreciated techniques. I like the tip to enlist users of a community in moderating it.
4. Enlist your users – most site users want a positive experience. Given the opportunity, many of them will help to protect the safety and quality of a project. Enlisting users can not only help moderators, but can engage users in the site itself. Make sure to develop tools and processes that make it easy and rewarding for "good" behaviors to help protect against the "bad" behaviors.
As the community lives a hopefully long and healthy life, the natural evolution is for the participants to define levels of moderation, and to ignore or oust the assholes, to create and enforce what's acceptable and what gets you shot behind the barn.
(if only!) ;-)
February 21, 2007
Blurb: Book Sluper's "Bummer" Is Not Cute.
Rule 1 for web 2.1 software: cut it with the cute.
"Bummer" is not an okay way to tell me your software doesn't work. Bummer is not an error message intro. Bummer is what a surfer might say when the waves aren't extreme enough for a good ride. Bummer is what a middle schooler might mutter when a field trip to the Braves game gets canceled due to budgetary cuts.
Do not, not ever, mistake me for a surfer or a middle schooler.
The more time we invest as an unpaid QA department in more and more companies' non-working products, the more 'social software' enthusiasts become anti-social.
Obviously I jumped enthusiastically into Blurb's Book Slurper. (Hey, I didn't get the "Like the Linux people without Linux" moniker for nothin'.)
Initial grade: D -.
Here's how it went:
1. what will your book be? (expensive, really expensive, or outfuckingrageous?)
2. Choose your basic page layout -- blog to book. (Wow that looks cool! -- that's why I didn't give it an F.)
3. This is me logging into Blogger with my NEW BLOGGER GMAIL login, as is required.
4. This is me going, "Bummer?" Did you just crap out on me and call it a "bummer"? You can't what? I USED my new blogger account login. Nice try. Why not say, "No one with more than 3 posts can play."
5. This is me saying "Hiccup. Hiccup"? And this is me blinking: "The 'fabled' CTRL+ALT+DELETE key?" Who told them they could talk like this. This is not conversation. This is bullshit. P.S.: Like CTRL+ALT+DEL is some minor deal?
6. This is me saying, "No I will not help you."
Dissapointing.
I'll wait another five years I guess.
.
"Bummer" is not an okay way to tell me your software doesn't work. Bummer is not an error message intro. Bummer is what a surfer might say when the waves aren't extreme enough for a good ride. Bummer is what a middle schooler might mutter when a field trip to the Braves game gets canceled due to budgetary cuts.
Do not, not ever, mistake me for a surfer or a middle schooler.
The more time we invest as an unpaid QA department in more and more companies' non-working products, the more 'social software' enthusiasts become anti-social.
Obviously I jumped enthusiastically into Blurb's Book Slurper. (Hey, I didn't get the "Like the Linux people without Linux" moniker for nothin'.)
Initial grade: D -.
Here's how it went:
1. what will your book be? (expensive, really expensive, or outfuckingrageous?)
2. Choose your basic page layout -- blog to book. (Wow that looks cool! -- that's why I didn't give it an F.)
3. This is me logging into Blogger with my NEW BLOGGER GMAIL login, as is required.
4. This is me going, "Bummer?" Did you just crap out on me and call it a "bummer"? You can't what? I USED my new blogger account login. Nice try. Why not say, "No one with more than 3 posts can play."
5. This is me saying "Hiccup. Hiccup"? And this is me blinking: "The 'fabled' CTRL+ALT+DELETE key?" Who told them they could talk like this. This is not conversation. This is bullshit. P.S.: Like CTRL+ALT+DEL is some minor deal?
6. This is me saying, "No I will not help you."
Dissapointing.
I'll wait another five years I guess.
.
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