I recently received an invitation to the most exclusive group in town; a Cool Kids Club, if you will. The fact that this tight-knit group is comprised of 100,000+ cool kids is of no concern to me. The way I see it, the world is now separated into two groups of people: those who been invited to preview Google Wave and those who haven’t. Whether or not you have been chosen, I invite you to read this enlightening overview of the platform.
Google Wave is a brand new, real-time communication service that three Australian masterminds created, all of whom were previously involved in Google Maps. It is a conglomerate of different aspects of email, instant messaging, and wikis. Web chat, social networking, and project management are also featured in the platform. These functions all work together to build what Mashable Online has dubbed “one elegant, in-browser communication client.”
A wave is a threaded conversation that can include one other user, a group of users, or even robots. A robot is an automated participant inside a specific wave that can interact with waves and converse with other users. These robots can offer information from external sources, such as Twitter, and are considered extensions.
Extensions are mini-applications that function within a wave. Along with robots, gadgets also exist as primary extensions. Gadgets are like Facebook apps and many of them are built on Google’s OpenSocial platform. Google Wave gives developers the opportunity to build applications and these extensions within waves, like with a Facebook application or an iGoogle gadget. These can consist of anything from bots to intricate, real-time games. To encourage innovation among developers, the Google Wave code is open source.
Another attractive function that Google Wave offers is real-time chat. This chat allows the user, most times, to see what another member of the wave is typing, character-by-character. Google Wave also has a playback function so you can review any piece of the wave’s conversation. Since all conversations within a platform are shared, any user within a developing conversation can edit information or add commentary. This feature is especially helpful in keeping one’s waves focused and concise. Initial reactions to real-time chatting can result in messages like, “OMG!!! I can see you typing!!!!! This is so cool!” The wiki functionality allows you to tidy up this enthusiasm.
As if it’s not enough that Google Wave is good-looking and popular, it also knows natural language. It can autocorrect your spelling and knows the difference between similar words, such as “red” and “read.” Google Wave can also auto-translate at the drop of a hat.
To those of you longingly watching this dance party from outside the discotech, don’t lose hope. Google Wave awards those who obsessively update their waves with a slew of invites to extend to friends. So, ask around and find that one friend who will welcome you in to the clique.
As 2009 nears its end, bloggers are busy posting their predictions about the future of social media. Three of the most prevalent predictions regarding social media’s potential developments in 2010 are: social media functioning as a corporate marketing tool, the rise of new location based applications and networks, and a marked shift from trend to standard in business communication.
As companies wade through the economic recession, social media will continue to grow. In search of new marketing strategies, businesses will realize that social networking can serve as an economically sound marketing tool. In order to reap the greatest benefit from social media, companies will need to regard social media as a relationship rather than a marketing campaign. Companies already reach vast audiences through Twitter feeds and Facebook fan pages. This fluid social environment empowers companies and consumers to distribute, receive, and share information on these social networks. A progressive business will strive to create a symbiotic relationship with its consumer base. A corporate social media presence that can effectively adapt to consumers’ ever-changing needs, wants, and desires will enable both parties to thrive.
In 2010, location based applications and networks may take the lead in the social media movement. This summer, Mashable Online announced that Foursquare showed potential to become the next Twitter. This location-based social network helps connect friends using GPS via a mobile device, as well as an added layer of social gameplay. Earlier this year, Foursquare saw its first major web success at SXSW. Foursquare does have a growing user base, but remains a misunderstood service. Foursquare’s current situation is markedly reminiscent of Twitter’s own situation two years ago. Considering the incredible growth that Twitter has experienced since then, this bodes well for Foursquare.
In addition to specifically location based services, existing successful social networks like Twitter are expanding their location capabilities. iPhone users can find Twitter apps with a “nearby” mode to help them locate people in the area. Businesses can capitalize on the advantage to more effectively target their consumer base.
The final major shift that we may see in 2010 is social media’s transformation into a solid aspect of business communication. Amidst the recent speculation about Twitter’s possible demise, bloggers predict that the shift in Twitter’s user base may not be a negative one. Twitter should become an everyday communication tool, rather than a new marketing toy. “The technology will begin to fade into the background so that people can focus on the relationships that are created because of the technologies, not the technologies themselves” (@charleneli). In any case, the web environment should see a subtle yet important shift in social media’s importance and legitimacy in the business world.
Predictions are an aggregate of ideas of people in “the know.” In social media, however, we are the ones who create the experience. So, Tweet this if you wish, and know that ultimately you will create these shifts in our web environment.
It’s official. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3 have now both received the biggest friend request in social gaming history – from THE friend of friends, Facebook. The Facebook Blog shares a wealth of details it’s new 360 availability, and in a PS3 firmware v3.10 preview post on Tuesday, the PlayStation Blog officially stated what rumors predicted last week (me too!)
But Facebook isn’t the only social service seeking friends – Twitter is also part of the game console social update bonanza, for both 360 and PS3. There are over 2 million concurrent users on Xbox Live, and now they can all tweet, poke, snoop and share to their hearts content. Please excuse me while I go purchase stock in console keyboards.
Facebook’s Blog talks social-console integration: “Games are more fun when played with friends, which is why they are among the most popular activities on Facebook. We’re excited that beginning today the social game experience is coming to Xbox Live, so now you can play Xbox games with your Facebook friends.
More and more services are integrating with Facebook to make it easy for you to connect with friends wherever you are — including websites like Digg, devices like the iPhone and desktop applications like iPhoto.
The Xbox Facebook integration allows you to take part in some of the most popular activities on Facebook directly from your living room on your television. With Facebook for Xbox, you can update your status, browse updates from your friends and view photos on the big screen. You also can link your Facebook profile to your Xbox Gamertag to find your Facebook friends and connect with them on Xbox Live. It’s never been easier to discover friends you never even knew played Xbox.”
Image by http://www.flickr.com/photos/carrotcreative/
From the CNN/Ashton Kutcher race to one million followers to Oprah’s on-air “first tweet”, the hype surrounding Twitter reached a fever pitch earlier this year. It seemed like everyone was jumping on the Twitter bandwagon. But amongst all the publicity, there was very little information about how Twitter is useful to non-celebrities. After all, we can’t all have the same appeal as Britney Spears or Barack Obama.
Should business owners get on the bandwagon too?
Twitter by the Numbers
Before investing in business Twitter account, it is important to take a step back from the hype and take a look at the hard numbers. Despite Twitter’s meteoric rises in traffic in 2008 and early 2009, there are indications that Twitter is hitting a growth ceiling. Twitter’s growth has been hampered by poor retention rates. According to Nielsen Online research, “more than 60 percent of Twitter users stopped using the free social networking site a month after joining.” And Facebook is still growing twice as fast as Twitter.
A cursory analysis of the most followed Twitter accounts by TwitterHolic shows that around 80% of the most followed people on Twitter are celebrities. The rest are news outlets like CNN and NPR, a handful of tech business like Google and Twitter and then standouts like Zappos.com CEO, JetBlue and WholeFoods. It is also worth noting that the followings of the top 100 Twitter accounts ranges from 1.3 to 4 million followers, meaning even celebrities are unable reach more than a small percentage of the total online population.
As for the content of tweets, Pear Analytics released a study in August 2009 using a random sample of tweets taken from the public time line. The study found that over 40% of tweets were “pointless babble”, with “news” and “pass-along value” making up less than 4% and 9% of tweets, respectively.
These statistics demonstrate the pitfalls of buying into the hype that Twitter is the next “big thing.” Twitter can be a valuable tool in a company’s arsenal, not the answer to all marketing and public relations needs. Businesses should consider carefully before allocating significant resources to a Twitter account. Used correctly, Twitter can complement current business goals, from marketing to customer service.
Business Lessons from the 140 Twitter Conference
In March 2009, the first Twitter conference took place in Mountain View, CA. While primarily attended by company social media, marketing and public relations executives, the topics included everything from Twitter app development to real-world strategies from a wide variety of speakers like Twitter’s Alex Payne, Robert Scoble and iJustine. Below is a summary of the primary takeaways from the conference regarding how to use Twitter in business.
1. Protecting Brand and Company Names
The most important advice came from ZDNet writer Jennifer Leggio regarding protection of brand names. Leggio shared her personal experience about her personal brand getting hijacked. Someone registered a Twitter account in her name and then began sending tweets falsely attributed to her. Even family and friends thought it was her account. It took her several months of time consuming back and forth with Twitter to get the imposter removed and get her identity back. This important lesson applies to business as well. Twitter is a private service; it publicly governed like domain names, where companies can appeal to ICANN to get their brand names back. Unless someone is violating copyright or trademark law on the twitter account, Twitter is not obligated to remove his or her account. For example, a private person is using @bmw because their initials are BMW; they beat the famous motor company to the registration. Twitter is currently overwhelmed with the volume of removal requests, so getting back a twitter name may take much longer than expected even if a company has a legitimate claim to the name.
Key Takeaway: Regardless your company plans for twitter, register your brand and company names (and variations) now to keep them away from squatters.
Businesses should carefully consider their target market and compare it to the current demographics of Twitter. If your consumers aren’t tech-savvy, or fall outside Twitter’s age range, Twitter might not be the best use of resources.
Key Takeaway: Evaluate your customer base and find out if they are on Twitter. A Twitter account is useless if your target market isn’t there.
In his excellent keynote, Jeremiah Owyang outlined five primary ways for business to use Twitter:
Listening – Use Twitter search for instant feedback. Understand your customers in real time. Track what’s being said about competitors.
Talking – Give out information to users, such as news and discounts. Keep content relevant and interesting for users, and deliver what you promise.
Energizing – Find your advocates (those who tweet most about you) and engage with them. Keep tweets short, interesting and informative so users are more inclined to retweet. (See http://twitter.zappos.com/ for an example of a company engaging Twitter users.)
Supporting – Use twitter as a CRM to support customers in real time. (See @ComcastCares)
Embracing – Ask users for feedback and properly prioritize integrating feedback into your company.
Not all of the above uses for Twitter will fit the needs of all businesses, nor should they all be implemented at once. However, it is important to identify which of these goals a business wants to pursue and move forward with a clear plan.
Evan Williams of Justin.tv also shared some insight into creating a successful company twitter account. First, make yourself easy to find by adding keywords related to your business in your profile description. This description is indexed by services like Google as well as in Twitter People Find. Second, create transparency by letting followers know who is running the account. A personal touch goes a long way to adding credibility and gaining user trust. Lastly, act as an expert in your field. Demonstrate your knowledge and competence by sharing not only your own company news, but also the latest news and trends in the industry.
Several services will sell you a few hundred twitter followers or let you automatically add new random followers on a weekly basis. The consensus at the conference was unanimous: while seemingly the easy way out, these methods don’t work long term. The former will increase your twitter followers temporarily; however most will drop off after the required week or two follow period. The latter will create an imbalance on your Twitter following to follower ratio; this a red flag to most legitimate Twitter users. In all cases, these new follower acquisition methods don’t address the core reason to have a Twitter account: the ability to communicate with people interested in your company.
Instead, seek out people on Twitter who will pay attention to your tweets. There are several methods to finding legitimate followers:
Take a look at who your competitors are following and who is following them back
Use the Twitter Find People search for users with keywords in their name or profile related to your business
Look through user-generated twitter directories in relevant tags
Subscribe to Mr. Tweet and receive weekly direct messages with suggested followers
Search conversations (http://search.twitter.com/) in Twitter and follow people taking about your company, or topics related to your business. Don’t forget to engage with them as well.
Key Takeaway: High follower numbers don’t mean anything if no one is listening. Better to seek out and build a smaller, relevant list of followers who care about your message.
Where to go next
There are several excellent resources available online to help you learn more about Twitter and how to use it. Below are some recommended resources:
Professional Twitter Account Management Tools CoTweet – used by major brands such as JetBlue, Southwest, Pepsi, Starbucks and even Twitter itself. Hootsuite – also used by major brands such as Disney, Dell, InStyle and MSNBC.
Useful tools Bit.ly – a service that shortens links posted to twitter and provides click-through rates and tracking information Tweetbeep – receive alerts whenever your specified keywords are mentioned on twitter (similar to Google Alerts) TwitterFeed – send RSS feeds to your twitter account, such as your newsfeed or your blog postsTweetmeme http://tweetmeme.com/ – listing of the hottest links on twitter TweetStats – analyze your Twitter behavior, such as average tweets per day, timing of tweets, accounts you often retweet, etc.
Last week, the social media world was taken hostage by Kanye West. Yes, the Chicago-native rapper, music producer, and singer managed to not only become the topic of conversation around water coolers everywhere, but more importantly, Mr. West seized complete control over social networks, and in particular, Twitter.
Whether or not you tuned in to the MTV Video Music Awards (we all know he did), many of you are familiar with the media-sensationalized Kanye tirade in which “The College Dropout” interrupted pop singer Taylor Swift during her acceptance speech for “Best Female Video.” What you may not be familiar with is social media explosion that subsequently occurred as a result of Mr. West’s profession of love for Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” video.
I, along with the rest of the TriplePoint team, have spent a good deal of time figuring out the best way to utilize social media to spread client and industry news. In order to adapt to the changing landscape of media, we “PR folk” are constantly seeking the best methods for distributing such news and having it reach the masses. Over the last year, Twitter has emerged as a leading source of news information, and the @TriplePoint feed continues to deliver the latest news on not only our clients, but the gaming industry on the whole, as well as other social media trends, insights, etc. From my observations, the opportunity to reach audiences on Twitter was greatly inhibited last week by the eloquent phrase, “I’ma let you finish, but…”
Some of digital media’s brightest and most passionate branding minds were at Emerge Memphis yesterday for an event from LaunchMemphis and Southern Growth Studios, “Masters of the New Modes: Insights and Innovations from the Blending Worlds of Tech, Marketing and Culture.” Adrian Ho and C.C. Chapman, two leaders in innovation, interactive marketing and user experience gave a private workshop in the afternoon and a public panel at TechFuel yesterday evening.
Up first was Adrian Ho, Founding Partner of Zeus Jones (greater Minneapolis-St. Paul area), who discussed “Modern” vs. “Classic” Branding. Ho said “everything a company does is marketing,” so it should be a more closely-integrated role within companies, with marketing teams working together with teams such as customer service and product development to provide a cohesive user experience. In fact, Ho mentioned that his agency recently created a “User Experience” position, which focuses on the way people (end-users) actually interact with the product or service. That’s opposed to, say a communications or marketing expert.
Vivity Scenes allows users to create a 3-D virtual scene “experience” to embed on any blog, brand or site. Vivaty created services for Facebook and AIM in May 2008.
To sum up in response to my original question – are social networks (SNs) and virtual worlds (VWs) merging into one medium? In my opinion, not only are they converging, rather social networks are, at the core, just more user-friendly versions of virtual worlds.
The only real differences are user interface (UI), visual presentation, text opposed to graphics/pizzazz, and most of all, the idea of escape from- versus extension of- real life. In other words, either it’s an “escape” – as in an MMOG, where players create an avatar and explore a fictional world and/or storyline, or it’s an “extension” of the real world – as in a social network.
The 2008 VW Report shows that adult and teen VW development numbers are on a steady decline, while kids VWs are more rampant than ever. I firmly believe this is because adults today aren’t generally interested in treading the confusing and often complicated waters of a VW user interface. Our lives are increasingly busy as it is, and most adults don’t have time to build and maintain a “second life”, or for that matter even bother trying to figure out the technology. But we sure as hell have time, and eagerly welcome a SN where we can easily keep up with friends, family, professional colleagues and a million and one other things in-between. I think it’s safe to say that an “extension” must be more important than an “escape” to adults and teens in today’s society…
