Posts tagged social networks
Time’s top 50 websites champion the smaller players
Aug 26th
Time magazine has released its annual Top 50 websites feature and this year - unlike last year’s list - isn’t as predictable as you think.
In a sometimes strained bid to remove itself from the predictability of last year’s list - which included Google, YouTube, Facebook and Skype - Time magazine’s Top 50 Website’s of 2010 has opted to give some of the smaller hitters a boost in 2010.
By a boost we mean that the likes of Google, YouTube and Facebook didn’t even make the list.
YouTube rival Vimeo - a “respectful” community website of creative people who are passionate about sharing the videos - made the number one spot -for being more intuitive than YouTube.
Gowalla was dubbed more fun than Foursquare and LinkedIn was rated as “informative without being intrusive, for opening the channels of communication without veering too casual or random, LinkedIn is the forum we still believe in,” according to the magazine.
WikiLeaks has made the top five News and Info list, but then again, so has The Onion.
The list is accompanied by the magazine’s own complementary piece, “The Five Most Overratted Websites”.
News Corp’s MySpace gets its regular pasting for not being innovative enough, while Craigslist is too boring, even for a classifieds listing.
The real interest is the vote against news aggregator slash social network Digg, criticised again for not keeping up with the likes of social networking heavyweight Facebook.
Here’s the full Top 50 list: Read the rest of this entry »
Can marketers benefit from being in the right Facebook Places?
Aug 20th
Facebook has been very publicly battered when it comes to privacy, so why launch a feature that tells users where you are at all times? It must be about money and ad dollars…
Facebook is finally turning into a business. It’s recognising where others have a monopoly in the market and then it is coming in all huffing and buffing and blowing those businesses down. In this case, it was Foursquare.
The launch of Facebook Places comes as a surprise to some but for many others, it seems the next logical step.
Here’s the sell by Facebook:
“If you’re like me, when you find a place you really like, you want to tell your friends you’re there. Maybe it’s a new restaurant, a beautiful hiking trail or an amazing live show.
Starting today, you can immediately tell people about that favourite spot with Facebook Places. You can share where you are and the friends you’re with in real time from your mobile device.”
Places might eventually open new financial opportunities for Facebook through partnerships with retailers and restaurants, and location-specific advertising. But what are the possibilities for marketers?
The feature primarily works as a iPhone application. So people have to be on the go to use it. It is proven that people are more willing to share information when they are already in a social environment. All marketers have to do is cash in on that.
I can see this Places feature working like text when it first became apparent to marketers as a medium.
Remember brands were always trying to get you to text a photo to this “number and you could win” or sign up for more details and various other things.
Now marketers can entice their consumers to direct their friends to sales, events, ‘places’, or even just get more people through the doors.
It’ll have to be done right though, and be seen as rewarding by the consumers spreading the word.
Facebook launching new broadcast feature - is it just one big ad though?
Aug 16th
Facebook is launching a new live video channel called Facebook Live that will allow the social network to dip its toes in the world of broadcasting.
Facebook Live will provide a deeper, more interactive look into what’s happening at Facebook.
The video is powered by Livestream. The video player itself comes with options to share on Facebook or Twitter, as well as an embed option.
Users will be able submit questions to those featured in videos, which can also be used by celebrities to connect with audiences. America Ferrera and Wilmer Valderrama have already used the video feature last week to engage with viewers. There is also a chat option.
It appears that while there isn’t a live event going on, the channel just shows past broadcasts, while providing the following message scrolling across the bottom: “Facebook Live is currently off-air, but please feel free to explore our archived videos! Our most recent episode will be available shortly.”
It will be very interesting to see what kind of guests stop by the Facebook HQ to do interview and Q&As. It could be a great tool for celebrities in terms of PR, but getting the celebs involved cold prove difficult.
All of the content featured on Facebook Live will tie back to Facebook products, features or how people are using Facebook.
This could be a pretty useful feature for the site, so long as it doesn’t end up being one big ad for the site with a celeb face.
Facebook’s new ad format might just work
Jul 9th
Facebook is pitching its latest series of ad formats to big name advertisers such as Ford Motor and PepsiCo, but it needs you and your friends, too.
The latest ad format that the social network has come up with is a platform that tells users which of their Facebook friends have expressed interest in a brand or product featured in an ad.
The social-context ads, which Facebook actually started rolling out over a year ago, are based on data it collects on the likes and friends of its users.
The ads appear on the right side of a user’s homepage, with an image and headline from the advertiser.
Alongside the ads are the names of any of the user’s friends who have clicked on a button indicating they like the brand or ad. The user is also offered a chance to indicate he likes the ad via the ‘Like’ button.
Facebook says it is starting to see results with major marketers, such as a recent deal with Nike to buy ads on users’ homepages across 20 countries. The ads are reportedly selling for around US$100,000.
Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer, told the Wall Street Journal that, “Marketers have always known that the best way to sell something is to get your friends to sell it. That is what people do all day on Facebook. We enable effective word-of-mouth advertising at scale for the first time.”
As part of its bid for a bigger slice of the online-advertising pie, Facebook opened four international sales offices last year and another one this year in Hamburg, Germany – doubling its ad-sales staff since 2009. Read the rest of this entry »
This is Mark Zuckerberg, I’m listening
May 25th
Facebook is the very tool that has allowed marketers, brands, CEOs, managers etc to talk and listen organically to customers…so shouldn’t it be listening too? And reacting sooner rather than later.
Mark Zuckerberg’s decision to take on the views of his users yesterday was well received, but it is one in a long string of changes and re-changes by the young CEO. But has it really damaged the social network…or perhaps made it more popular?
Let’s face it, Facebook’s numbers have only ever grown, despite a number of gaffes.
Since its start, Facebook has be broiled in many a privacy debate, many an investigation and many a backlash. But it’s always stood up for itself…not apologised, stood up.
Think of Facebook as a country (after all, Zuckerberg regularly reminds us that Facebook’s user base is actually bigger than the population of the US). Zuckerberg is the Prime Minister…or the President.
Not everything he does is well received, and being a democracy (as it seems to be, freedom of speech and all that) civilians are allowed to voice their concern, protest and revolt.
With that many users, like a country with vast amounts of people, there are always bound to be some that aren’t going to be catered for the way they should. But the government, and Zuckerberg, can never please everyone. Why? Then we’d have world peace and secretly no body actually wants that. We love to revel in chaos and calamity, it what makes life interesting and why shows like Neighbours remain popular across several continents for decades.
There doesn’t seem to be a week go by when Facebook and its fearless (sometime naïve) leader are not making headlines. Maybe Facebook wants it that way…perhaps they’re using PR tactics similar to that of Apple…stealth tactic, marketing to us, encouraging us and we don’t even know that they’re mostly not just the catalyst.
In Facebook listening to its users’ concerns over privacy and then acting upon it, it is sending out the message similar to what Frasier Krane “we’re listening”.
And perhaps that was the intent all along…to restore consumer confidence as a government would. Create a problem in the public eye, fix it, win confidence. It’s an easy formula…perhaps a little cynical of me but you can ignore the fact that it’s slightly usually for a company that is yet to make a profit give up the chance to please its consumers. Can you think of any government or corporate who’d do the same?
There’s more to this story than meets the eye and sooner or later, it’ll be in the headlines again.
Will advertisers really pay for Twitter?
Apr 14th
Twitter co-founder has this week unveiled the details of how the micro-blogging site will make money from advertising on Twitter – Promoted Tweets.
It’s no secret that Twitter ranks as one of the most popular sites on the internet. Over the years since its launch, the site claims it has actually resisted introducing a traditional web advertising model because it first wanted to “optimize for value before profit”.
The truth, more like, is probably something to do with the fact the site couldn’t figure out the ‘how’ and still maintain its integrity.
But, the open exchange of information creates opportunities for individuals, organizations, and businesses alike.
Twitter, on its blog, said that it has now recognized value in this exchange and planned to amplify it in a meaningful and relevant manner.
“Stubborn insistence on a slow and thoughtful approach to monetization—one which puts users first, amplifies existing value, and generates profit has frustrated some Twitter watchers. “
Hence the new advertising model – Promoted Tweets.
The social networking site describes the model as “non-traditional, easy, and it makes a ton of sense for Twitter”. But does it make sense for advertisers? Read the rest of this entry »
Facebook unveils global safety strategy to protect kids online
Apr 14th
After years of controversy over its privacy controls, Facebook has finally stepped up to the plate and is launching the UK’s largest ever online safety campaign.
The initiative is designed to better protect Facebook’s 23 million UK users and give them greater control over their own safety online.
The campaign consists of a number of elements including a redesigned abuse reporting system, a £5 million investment in education and awareness and improved cooperation with police.
The social network has also called on the government to consider new ways in which information about registered sex offenders can be securely shared with social networks – a model widely deployed by the US States which has effectively removed dangerous individuals from access to such services.
Children’s Charities’ Coalition on Internet Safety (CHIS) and the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) will be included in the group of organisations using Facebook to communicate important information about online protection. Read the rest of this entry »
Twitter’s secret to (growth) success
Apr 12th
Twitter’s first users may have been the sites early employees and their friends, but today the micro-blogging site is global, and coincidently has more users outside of its home country.
Over 60% of Twitter users are outside the US. The “geographically diverse” social network boasts users in the large countries you’d expect, some smaller countries you might not expect (like the Vatican City) and even one in outer space.
And while media and marketing commentators continue to try and put a value on Twitter and see an enduring future, the sites growth continues.
The site is now available in six languages and when it launched in Spanish in November 2009, users increased by 50%.
Twitter has become famous for breaking some of the world’s biggest news stories immediately after they happen. In the days following the tragic Chilean earthquake people turned to Twitter to establish much-needed lines of communication.
In Colombia, signups are up 300% after politicians like Piedad Córdoba Ruíz began using Twitter as a platform to speak to constituents. Signups in India have increased nearly 100% since the beginning of 2010 due in part to politicians like Shashi Tharoor and Bollywood mega-stars Sharukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra and Abhishek Bachchan.
Matt Sanford, lead engineer for Twitter’s International team, says that such developments are just the tip of the iceberg.
“Twitter’s realtime information network gets more useful as our users grow more diverse and we’re continually impressed with the results,” he said. “We look forward to seeing what happens as we make it easier for the whole world to communicate over Twitter.
Absolut caught out by ‘I’m Here’ online film fans
Apr 9th
Vodka company Absolut had an idea. That brainwave may have come in the sauna (with the company being Swedish). Or perhaps during a roll in the snow.
But it was a very good idea. The idea was to work with acclaimed film director, Spike Jonze, and the result was a 30-minute robot love story film entitled, ‘I’m Here’.
It was released in January 2010, at imheremovie.com but unfortunately – or perhaps more fortunately – has been an overwhelming success.
According to the vodka folks ‘I’m Here’ is screened every two hours on imheremovie.com, limited to just 5,000 viewers per day, the capacity of the site is now to be expanded to 12,000 a day.
In it’s first weekend of release the online movie theatre apparently clocked up 230,000 unique visitors alone.
“’I’m Here’ marks an evolution of our commitment to creativity, and I’m very happy about the great interest in this film. It is a beautiful story and a fantastic piece of art,” said Vice President Global Marketing at The Absolut Company, Anna Malmhake.
Seen in the worst light, it could be just a load of spin from Absolut. But there are widen implications.
It’s a reflection of just how viewing habits online are growing. In fact as we’ve already reported on UTalkMarketing, Online video is medium of choice for marketers in 2010
Why? Well it’s all down to the growth of broadband across the UK.
Absolut obviously knew the film was going to be popular. Otherwise they’d never have commissioned it in the first place.
They’ve also been driving traffic by integrating the project on Facebook, making it possible for social networkers to see the film together with friends.
But it looks like they underestimated just how popular it might be.
Lessons to be learnt?
Marketers should never underestimate the potential appeal of online video
Get it right and 230,000 unique visitors could be engaging with your brand over just one weekend too.
With the costs of video production falling too, there are no excuses for not making the leap into digital celluloid.
We’ve even got some top tips on How to produce video that delivers on a tight marketing budget here
Can MySpace really pull off a re-launch?
Apr 9th
News Corp is attempting to re-launch its ailing social network MySpace. After a management shake-up and brand rethink, can it be done?
A re-launch is about to happen which MySpace execs hope will claw back some of the ground the site has lost to Facebook in the last two years, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
MySpace co-president Mike Jones said: “I know that when that relaunch comes I’ve got a great product, I’ve got a global audience that at one point used MySpace… I think I can make the old new again for them.”
There is one clear fact that is on the side of News Corp – eight in ten Brits use and are a member of one or more social networks. In the US, the percentage of Americans age 12 and older who have a profile on one or more social networking sites has reached almost half (48%) of the population in 2010. And in Asia-Pacific, social networking penetration has reach 90%.
However, when it comes to social networks, Facebook is king with more than 400 million users worldwide. MySpace memberships sit at around 200 million – but the site has been going much longer.
The social media space is somewhat dominated by Facebook. It has almost forced FreindsReunited out of the market and this week we heard that Bebo is to shut down due to declining numbers.
MySpace is up against a fierce competitor. But then again, it has one of the most powerful media moguls on its side – Rupert Murdoch.
Earlier this year I saw the Adam Sandler film Funny People. MySpace also starred and I thought to myself, ‘How did MySpace score that gig?’ Easy, Murdoch owns 2oth Century Fox, the film studio which produced it. Read the rest of this entry »
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