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Archive for the ‘social media’ Category

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Facebook Marketing Gone Wrong

In marketing, media, social media on September 22, 2011 at 12:06 pm

You know a company isn’t doing Facebook marketing right when someone else clicks the “Like” button on your behalf. It’s actually surprisingly invasive and upsetting. Or at least that’s how it felt when it happened to me.

Earlier this summer, I had the chance to attend Identity Fest, an electronic music festival sponsored by a whole bunch of popular brands, among which Skullcandy, Rockstar Energy Drink and Heineken. These companies were trying to attract the attention of the audience in different ways–by giving out free stuff, displaying large posters near the stage and placing their logos all over the place.

There were also a lot of booths, but my friends and I were instantly drawn to one that was promoting the movie “Our Idiot Brother.” The two promo girls inside were busy. They were offering folks the opportunity to get their photo taken against, what I assume was, a movie-related backdrop. You could put some accessories on and make faces at the camera. It seemed fun! What is more, after the photo was taken, you could post it on Facebook, thus making sure all your absent friends regretted not being there. ;-)

So we went for it. After our picture was taken, and we laughed over our ridiculous poses and faces, we got a little bit upset. Using an iPad, we posted the picture on Facebook but were strictly guided by one of the girls (the other one was busy taking other people’s photos).

“So you can post it on your Wall,” she told me. “And then if you could just ‘Like’ our page, that would be great,” she added.

I had posted it on my Wall, which was my original intention, but I hesitated to “Like” their page. I hadn’t seen their movie. What if I didn’t actually like it? I am not going to lie to my friends, family and co-workers.

While these thoughts were running through my head, the lady rushed to press the “Like” button for me. It’s not a big deal, one would think, but for some reason I felt exploited. I knew that the first thing I was going to do once I got home was to un-Like their page. And guess what, I don’t want to watch their movie at all.

In this case, the border between creative and obtrusive marketing seemed pretty thin. Have you had similar experiences with Facebook?

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Start the Presses: From Content Management to Social Media

In facebook, journalism, media, new media technologies, newspapers, online content, social media, Twitter on February 25, 2011 at 3:06 pm

There is at least one place in Boston where you can immerse yourself in both journalistic terminology and engineering language—the Hacks/Hackers meetups. That is exactly what a roomful of new media enthusiasts did this week at the Boston Globe.

On Feb. 22, Hacks/Hackers Boston held a panel to discuss the future of news sites with some of the people building cutting-edge technologies. The panel participants included Dries Buytaert, Drupal’s creator, Adam Gaffin, founder of Universal Hub, Andrew Phelps, reporter for WBUR, and Austin Gardner-Smith of Pinyadda. Muckrock.com’s Michael Morisy was moderating the session.

Content Management Systems (CMS) and their evolution was the first topic the four entrepreneurs and journalists tackled. What has changed about CMS and how can it better address our needs? Gardner-Smith pointed out the importance of better distribution and integration of more social features in the content creation process. The panelists spent some time discussing the current CMS inability to manage ad-hoc content production before Buytaert took the conversation to another realm: mobile. He emphasized the importance of building your site for different viewing experiences. “If I was to start Drupal from scratch,” Dries said, “I would built it for mobile first.”

The question of mobile was on the table for a big portion of the panel. The consensus among the publishers was that one needs to first examine how viewers were accessing the content. While WBUR is making strides on the path of mobile content optimization, for instance, it is very aware of the fact that their audience is still very much visiting the site in the traditional way. The majority of WBUR’s traffic, Phelps noted, was not coming from smart phones and iPads yet. Their visitors were predominantly using computers and that was the reading experience WBUR would focus on improving.

Once that idea of how people access your content was brought up, it was hard not to mention one of the biggest referral sources for news organizations, Facebook. The discussion quickly jumped to social media and its usage not only for distribution purposes, but also for generating a conversation. The panelists agreed that Twitter was not great for threaded conversations between more than two people. Many mentions, retweets and no hashtags make it hard to follow an ever-evolving story. On Facebook, Phelps said, a story sticks around longer. If people “like” it or comment on it, it will surface to the top of the news feed and become relevant again. “People are likely to participate if they see someone else is participating,” he said. In that way, Facebook has become their preferred platform for building a dialogue based on shared stories.

Clearly, the panel tackled a range of topics, starting with CMS and shifting to mobile optimization and social media. But ultimately, there was one overarching question the panelists were trying to wrap their minds around. “It is all about keeping up with the Web,” Buytaert said. “And the Web as we know it is exploding.”

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European Tech StartUps Take On Crowdsourcing

In marketing, media, new media technologies, social media on November 27, 2010 at 7:22 pm

TechChrunch Europe recently reported that 16 startups were selected to compete at LeWeb’s competition in December 2010. As the biggest tech conference in Europe,  Le Web will definitely draw public attention to the 16 lucky sites. Four of them highlight well the element of crowdsourcing user content and making it meaningful.

Waze is a social mobile application that provides real-time traffic information. As written on the site itself, it offers up-to-date maps “based on the wisdom of the crowd.” It is run by a community of drivers from different countries. For example, when I selected to check out the traffic situation in Bulgaria, I saw the map of my home country and the following message appeared, “The driving community in Bulgaria has only recently begun developing, so it’ll take a bit of time until waze begins to deliver its full value in your area.”

TinyPay seems like a mix between Twitter & eBay. It is a web service that allows you to quickly sell items. You see a small thumbnail of the product for sale and when you click on it, you are able to share the listing on social networks, see where the seller is located, leave a comment and purchase the item with PayPal. The site also features “trending items.”

Paper.li allows users to turn Twitter feeds into a daily newspaper. From my academic research earlier this year, I found out that social media will increasingly be used for news exchanges, and this new platform reinforces my conclusion, emphasizing the importance of community-driven newsgathering.

Garmz was one of the start-ups that made me go, “Wow.” And not because it introduced a necessarily new idea–but because it introduced some form of social change, wrapped up in a beautifully designed site. It is a platform that allows you to start your own fashion label and participate in selecting the winning models by voting. “If a design is successful, Garmz handles the complete production, at zero cost and risk for the designers.” The mission and the platform seemed to have blended in an exquisite selection of fashion designs.

The notion of crowdsourcing and sharing is fueling tons of great community-driven projects and start-ups. Can’t wait to hear who the winner at Le Web’s is going to be!

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Three Google-backed Sites that Blew My Mind

In marketing, media, new media technologies, social media on September 26, 2010 at 7:50 pm

Have you ever wondered what types of start-ups Google would back up? Now is the time to satiate your curiosity and learn about some hidden gems in the new media landscape.

The industries represented in the Google Ventures portfolio come as no surprise. They range from software engineering and payment services to companies involved in scientific research and energy consumption. But three of the featured start-ups fascinated me the most:

English Central & the Power of Languages

English Central is language learning software that uses interactive (and current) video to teach English. As a non-native English speaker, I thought the platform was engaging and very intuitive to use. What is more, it makes the process of learning languages fun and enjoyable. I only wish they could develop it for other languages too.

Recorded Future & the Impulse for Predicting Trends

Recorded Future is an analytics engine that plays with the concept of predicting the future. It uses existing information online and creates a scientific approach to mapping trends. It is definitely a fun way to visualize data and rationalize the occurrence of certain events.

SCVNGR & the Fun of Games

SCVNGR is a gaming platform that invites people to visit places and perform certain tasks in order to win points. Recently, it drew tons of attention in the blogosphere as well as in mainstream media. I like it because it is based on the concept of games and entertainment, two activities people always want to be part of.

Did you see something else in the Google Ventures portfolio that grabbed your attention? Share it in the comments!

Photo credit: Jeremy Brooks

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The Times’ Scoop perpetuates gatekeeping power

In journalism, media, newspapers, social media on June 8, 2010 at 4:25 pm

We are made to believe that we are the gatekeepers of new media—the ones who blog, upload videos and share on social media. It is all up to us! Or at least until editorial power crawls in through the cracks of the wall separating old and new media.

Last week, The New York Times announced that it is launching The Scoop, a free iPhone application through which Times will recommend favorite restaurants and bars. Some argued that this application will create competition for Foursquare, the leader in location-based social media. “The New York Times Fights Back against Foursquare and Yelp,” read an article in The Next Web.

But can this Times product really compete with loose social platforms like Foursquare? No, I would argue. Innovative Web 2.0 environments open themselves to community judgement. You go to a place, you recommend it, you write the review, and thus you add a personal flavor to your network’s experiences. But who is going to write the recommendations for The Scoop? A New York Times restaurant critic and a dining editor.

I am not sure how people will react to the Times’ new tool. Loyal readers will probably dig it. Others might notice the gatekeeping element in the service and approach it with caution. Why caution?

Because it is a step backwards. The Times will let readers contribute to the application by submitting events to thescoop@nytimes.com. Sounds a lot like a letter to the editor. But why go through a gatekeeper when now you can make direct recommendations? How is this application leveraging the opportunity to better use feedback channels?

I am sure many will enjoy reading the well-written lines of The Scoop. But if you read between the lines, you might get the real scoop— gatekeeping will continue to be part of the new media realm.

Photo Credit: DaveAustria.com

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