Posts tagged ‘Web 2.0’
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn…Oh My
I recently wrote an article in Eagle Magazine on social media and the 3 major networks. This covers the basics of social media and the reason behind the phenomenon. I have reprinted the article below. Enjoy:
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn… Oh My: Social networking isn’t limited to coffee shops and cocktail parties anymore
There is an analogy I often use in my seminars to describe how social media has not only shaped the evolution of the Internet, it has changed how we interact as a society. When you go to any coffee shop in town, you will find small tribes of people gathered around tables and comfortable couches, favorite beverage in hand, simply chatting about everything from relationships to what was on TV last night. These bands of socialites have simply moved their discussion from a face to face interaction to what can only be described as the “Virtual Coffee Shop”.
The web has become simply one giant coffee shop, with groups huddled around computer monitors discussing everything from green living to cancer to cars. As these conversation technologies evolve and new tools emerge, the need to discuss important topics in our lives any time of the day or night becomes even more compelling. Social media technologies are just an extension of our daily interactions with those in our lives.
Take Twitter for instance. Three years ago this 10 million strong (and growing) social network was merely a gleam in some programmer’s eye. Today it is the fastest growing social network on the planet. According to Mashable.com, the social web’s source for news, Twitter grew 1382% in year-over-year growth as of February 20091. The media is replete with mentions of Twitter. Jimmy Fallon uses Twitter to solicit questions for guests on his new late night talk show. Shaquille O’neal uses Twitter to interact with fans and give away tickets to games. Major brands are searching the “Twitterverse” to monitor conversations about their brands in order to contribute to the discussion.
What is Twitter you ask? It was built on the notion that anyone could describe what he or she was doing at any moment in 140 characters or less. In practice, it has become a valuable tool for building deeper relationships through much more frequent contact and for aggregating content from many other sources on the web. Twitter can turn you into a mini “rock star” by creating your very own media channel to which anyone can subscribe.
Another network experiencing exponential growth right now is Facebook. A mere 5 years old, Facebook currently has 200 million users and is growing at a pace of approximately 1 million users per week. To put it into perspective, if Facebook were a country, it would be the 6th largest in the word based on population. When my 59 year old mother communicates with me regularly on Facebook, you know it has leapt from the land of geeks and bleeding-heart teens to mainstream.
While Twitter is like being in a busy coffee shop trying to hear your friend over many different conversations going on at once, Facebook takes a more segmented approach to online conversation. First of all, your home page is a news feed that shows only the changes that have been made to the profiles of those in your network. Second of all, you can join groups, become a fan of your favorite business or artist, and even play interactive games with those in your network. It can be both a time waster as well as a valuable business tool. In fact, most people will tell you it has even become one giant high school reunion for them.
Twitter and Facebook serve as that unique intersection between your social and professional lives. They can be valuable business tools or simply a way to stay in touch with family and friends. LinkedIn, however, is all business. In its simplest form, LinkedIn is an interactive resume and Rolodex. In practice, however, it is the online version of the business cocktail party, without the constraints of time or space. You can make introductions, provide a recommendation for those you have worked with in the past, and even ask for help from your network on a pressing question you may have. If you are a professional, own a business, or work in an field you would consider a “career” you should be on LinkedIn.
While the networks may come and go (MySpace is on the decline, for instance) one thing is true. Social media has brought the world together. No longer are we limited by time or space, but we can stay in constant contact with those that matter most to us. If you haven’t yet made the plunge, there is no better time to jump on the social media bandwagon. There is plenty of company.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=1fa7b07c-e1ff-4882-810d-795fdb822c06)
How Has Social Media Changed Your Life?
The other day, I was pontificating (as I often do) about how technology has changed our lives. If you think about it, our lives are completely different than there were a mere 5 years ago, not to mention 20 years ago. I remember the days before e-mail, but I can’t remember what it was like in the workplace without e-mail. I remember that cell phones started taking off right when I got my first traveling sales job, which made my life so much easier. Technology has fundamentally changed how we interact, build relationships, and do business.
Naturally, my thoughts migrated to social media and the underlying question, “how has social media changed our lives?” So, I decided to pose the question to my various networks out there on the social web. The answers varied, but were fascinating and very telling. I thought I would share a few with you:
Sarah Lewis of Findable Blogs, a Boise based blogging expert, said: “Social media helps me both professionally (leads & collaboration) and personally (reduces isolation, even as a new mom).”
Mike Diliberto, Sales Engineer at MindTouch and fellow T-Bird, said: “Social media has increased my cognitive breadth; pre-social media, maintaining connections with hundreds of people would be impossible.”
Norris Krueger, founder of Entrepreneurship Northwest and noted social entrepreneurship expert, said: “Getting less done but.. maybe just maybe… getting better things done!”
Martin Johncox, PR Director for Alexander and Associates, said: “It’s opened up new business opportunities in lean times; connected me with long-lost friends; re-connected me with colleagues.”
George Condit, Account Manager at Seybold Scientific and distinguished curmudgeon, said: “I can ask the world a question and get an answer.”
Donna Geisler, principal at FusionSet, said: “Social media makes me feel overwhelmed with opportunity and underwhelmed with time. Otherwise, it’s great!”
Tia Markland, Publisher of Eagle and Meridian Magazines, said “Increased sales and awareness for business.”
However, I would have to say that one of the most personal answers I received was from Chris Barger, who is the Director of Global Communications Technology for General Motors, who wrote me a fascinating and in-depth answer. Here is a snippet from his response: “Social media turned out to be the Acme Rocket Pack strapped to the back of my career, and made my American Dream a reality.”
I would have to say that I have found my experience to be in line with all of these wonderful answers. Social has made life more meaningful for me. It has helped me create deeper relationships, build my network, and has proven to be an invaluable business tool. However, I would have to say my answer most closely aligns with Chris Barger’s. It is because of social media that I have the career I do today.
How has social media changed your life?
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=17edcfb7-3663-4093-a783-cd81fa690983)
All Media is Social Media
I have been involved in social media for about the last 5 years, although it has gone by many names: grassroots, word of mouth, new media, Web 2.0, viral, social networking, etc. It seems like we have finally arrived at a term that everyone is comfortable with: social media. It appears that the reason why most are satisfied with social media to describe the blog/podcast/MySpace/Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn phenomenon is that what all these technologies have in common is that they are all about conversations. They encourage people to engage with each other.
I think that is a great way to describe the explosion of conversation technologies. However, I would argue that based on this definition, all media is social. All media encourages conversation, good or bad. However, social media simply captures that conversation in a nicely oraganized format online.
There are many who think of social media as a tactic only and fail to realize that it is, in fact, a cultural phenomenon. Much the same way that you feel frustration when you can’t fast forward through a commercial on a DVR because we have become accustomed to controlling our content, we feel frustrated when a brand does not have the proper tools for discussion online when we need to react to what they are doing. The conversation will take place, online or off. Wouldn’t you rather have take place in a way that you can faciliatate and participate in that conversation? This is what made shows like American Idol so popular is the ability for the audience to engage with the brand.
So while I praise the industry for arriving at a standard term for all of the online mumbo jumbo, let us remember that all media, when used correctly, should be social. So why not use social media to capture the conversation?
The Death of Spin
I talk a lot about transparency on this blog, especially when it comes to marketing and PR activities. With the unprecedented access we have to information today, the truth will come out (just ask Dan Rather).
That’s why I was impressed to read a story about the PR person for the Metrolink train system in California. If you have been watching the news lately, you have probably heard about the collision of a commuter train and a freight train which killed 25 people, at current count. In a horrific accident like this, the first thing most companies would do would be to hide the truth, skirt the issues, and “spin” the story. It all comes back to controlling the message.
However, in this case, the PR representative came right out and said after preliminary investigation that it appeared that the accident was the fault of the Metrolink engineer. This obviously didn’t make her bosses happy and they came out 2 days later and said the announcement was “premature”. The very next day, the PR representative, Denise Tyrell, resigned.
Now, the first rule in PR is to make sure you have a coordinated message and Ms. Tyrell may have acted without consensus, which simply makes you look bad. However, I have to give her major credit for not hiding the truth, but coming right out and stating the facts. The families of the victims deserved it, the people of California deserved it.
There is a verse of scripture that is often quoted that says, “and the truth shall set you free.” I never understood the philosophy behind politicians, athletes, and CEOs lying to the public and thinking that it will all just go away and they won’t be discovered. John Edwards and Roger Clemens are only the latest two victims of this practice.
The reality is that we all make mistakes. In out day and age, honesty is refreshing. I can tell you for a fact that the public is much quicker to forgive those who are honest up front than those who are forced to be honest. Though Bill Clinton may have been a pretty good president, he will always be remembered for his lesson on what the “definition of “is” is”. What?
The lesson: be honest up front, even if it hurts. Tell the public that your sorry and outline how you plan to resolve the issue. Forgiveness comes much quicker to those who reveal the truth themselves because, eventually, the truth will come out. We have too many citizen journalists today who will scoop it.
Any examples of honest “spin” that you have seen?
Web 2.0 Brings the World Together
As many of you know, I am in the Global MBA program through Thunderbird. This program has helped me to look at the world with a new global eye. Recently, I was reflecting on social media and the rise of Web 2.0 tools. I have been reading the book Web 2.0: A Strategy Guide and it sparked a thought. I know of no other technological advancement that has brought the world together like Web 2.0.
If you think about it, in the past we were limited by phone and face-to-face contact to build relationships internationally. The Internet, or Web 1.0, helped us to view online brochures from other people and companies from around the world. However, with blogging, social communities, and wikis, we can build relationships virtually and instantaneously.
There are people with whom I am connected on my LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter profiles who I have never met but who live in various countries around the world. I am fascinated by the depth of knowledge I have access to just in my own personal networks. Many of these people have blogs (that I try and read as often as I can) and when I have a cultural or subject matter question, they are more than accommodating.
Globalization has been painted with both positive and negative strokes. However, it is my belief that the advancements in Web 2.0 have done more to accelerate globalization than any government, organization, or treaty.
In the end, we are all just human beings sharing an existence. As I have had the chance to watch the Olympics with my kids and have them ask me why people from other countries wear or do certain things, I have had a chance to reflect on how small the world really is. I have been fortunate enough to visit several foreign places in my career and am amazed that no matter where I go, people are basically the same.
No matter what your opinion of globalization is, one thing is true: we can all benefit from greater tolerance, understanding, and simply growing closer together as a human race. Lest I begin to sound like the latest Al Gore documentary, my purpose in writing this post is to highlight the greater purpose and benefit of the social networking technologies available today. While social networking helps build collective knowledge and relationships, it also helps us expand beyond borders and beyond cultures.
How have you experienced greater international exposure and understanding through your Web 2.0 efforts?
Evolution of the Web
After my post on Web 3.0, I had a friend of mine forward me a chart produced by the market research firm, Yankee Group. I believe the chart below to be the best depiction of the evolution from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 to Web 3.0 that I have seen to date. (Thank you to Mike D.)
Evolution from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 to Web 3.0
As you can see from the chart, Web 1.0 was about connectivity, Web 2.0 is about interactivity, and Web 3.0 will be about personalization. As the web evolves, companies will need to evolve with it. In my last post, I shared the McKinsey on Web 2.0 study with you. There are still many companies struggling to adopt the new paradigm of Web 2.0. If it has taken this long for it to finally reach mainstream, how long will it take them to adopt Web 3.0?
It is my belief that the leap from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 is the largest. The simple reason is that it fundamentally changes the belief system upon which corporate America has operated for decades. Once a company understands that it is no longer in control and that the web is the ultimate choice vehicle, Web 3.0 is an easy transition. It simply requires implementing the tools to give customers options based on their preferences and based on a permission marketing model. Web 3.0 is simply giving consumers greater choice.
Where have you seen Web 3.0 application beginning to rear their little heads?
McKinsey Agrees: Web 2.0 is Not a Marketing Tactic
I have been involved in selling and marketing technology products for many years. Regardless of the technology, there is always one fatal error that too many companies make. They think that implementing new technology will solve problems when, in reality, processes and strategies solve problems – technology just speeds it up. Technology is meant to make processes, strategies, and cultures more efficient, not to take their place.
I have mentioned before in my blog that Web 2.0 technologies are not merely marketing tactics. Like many other technologies, Web 2.0 is simply a collection of tools that are meant to improve transparency and interaction. However, if you maintain a “closed-door” approach where you continue to think you are in control and play the “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain” game, Web 2.0 can hurt you more than it can help.
A friend of mine (who will remain anonymous to protect the guilty) forwarded to me a recent study done by McKinsey and Co. of over 2,000 companies worldwide who have implemented Web 2.0 technologies. McKinsey dissected the information between those satisfied and unsatisfied with their Web 2.0 efforts as well as by region of the world. You can read the study here: McKinsey on Web 2.0.
It is a fascinating read and I highly recommend it, however, I would like to point out a couple of the findings. First, those who were the most unhappy with their Web 2.0 results were those who had these tools forced upon them by the IT department. Those most happy with their Web 2.0 results were those who implemented the tools themselves with little to no involvement from IT. In other words, they believed in the philosophy first and then found the tools to help them deliver on their vision. (As a side note, this may also be a result of the fact that IT enjoys over-engineering everything while there are many free or low-cost tools out there for Web 2.0.)
The final factoid I would point out is that those companies who were most satisfied with their Web 2.0 results were those who made the internal organization changes to match the tools. Not only did it create major new roles or functions in the organization, it fundamentally changed the organizational structure. This plugs directly into the Navel Model – make the internal changes first and then find ways to communicate them.
Take a read and let me know what other gems you think are important to point out (besides the fact that McKinsey should take it easy on me for posting this report).
What is Web 3.0?
I have heard this term rolling around for a little bit. At first, I thought it was another guy trying to make a name for himself by coining a phrase (and not a very creative one at that) and then trying to get it to stick. I mean, people are just starting to figure out how to use Web 2.0, but then you heap 3.0 on top of us and we are drowning in a sea of 1s and 0s (OK, let’s not be dramatic here).
The reality is that, although Web 3.0 is still being formulated, one thing is for sure – Web 3.0 will take advantage of artificial intelligence to create a more productive and intuitive user experience. You can read the Wikipedia definition here. Basically, this simply means that Web 3.0 will better understand what you want and need and will automatically serve it up to you. Pretty cool, huh?
There is still a lot of theory behind Web 3.0 and a lot of buzz words being thrown around like semantic web, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence, however, we have recently seen actual applications in this space that cause one to think that Web 3.0 may not be far away.
One such company is Certona Corporation. While the company has bee around for a few years, it is finally establishing a customer base with solid results to showcase. The company produces software that turns your eCommerce website into an artificial intelligence engine that will serve up content, product recommendations, or even coupons based on your browsing behavior. Picture a retail sales rep that knows exactly what you will want next and gives you a recommendation for it or even a coupon. Bet you would go back to that store again.
One of their more prominent case studies is with Personal Creations which, according to a press release, it the “top provider of personalized gifts in the United States.” Personal Creations is attributing 20% of its sales revenue to the system created by Certona. That is pretty impressive.
Not to sound like a Certona ad here, there are several other companies popping up now that are taking advantage of Web 3.0 technologies to create highly customized user experiences, beyond anything we have seen before. While Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Flickr, Wikipedia, and YouTube have taken ownership of Web 2.0, we have yet to see who will emerge as the reigning champions of Web 3.0. Will it be you?
(**Author’s note – this post was NOT sponsored by Certona. I just thought it was cool)
What should I blog about?
This seems to be one of the most oft asked questions I receive. It typically comes right after, “I want to start a blog.” Most often this comes from the fact that this person has heard the term “blog” so many times, they feel like they are missing the bandwagon and need to get on board. “Bobby has a blog so that means I need one too.” Well Bobby may just be more interesting than you!
Having a blog is one of the easiest things to do, but one of the hardest things to do well. The first shocker I give people is to tell them it is not a marketing tactic. Blogging is a way to create transparency and, most importantly, start a dialog. It would be like asking someone ” would you like to chat” and then after they say yes proceeding to give a long lecture about how so dang cool you are. Simply maddening.
So why have a blog and how do you do it right? The first step is to first have a cause – a compelling reason to write. As I have often said to clients, customers buy products but evangelists buy causes. They buy into something. And no, selling more stuff is not a cause. Come up with a higher, holier calling about what you do.
Step 2 is to explore the cause. Make it conversational. Explore the different opinions on the topic. Ask for input and feedback. Make it stream of consciousness.
Also, remember the key rule of blogging – make it compelling. That means you need to piss them off, make them laugh, tug on their heart strings, or spark their interest in some way.
Don’t blog just because some marketing guy told you to. Blog because you are passionate about something. Blog because you have some expertise in a particular area. Blog because you want to change the world in some small way.
There are a lot of bloggers out there with some great success. What do you find makes a good blog?
Are you LinkedIn?
I have been a user of the online business community, LinkedIn, for a couple of years now. Yet it is only recently that I have started to discover the power of a networking site for business users that is truly global.
For one of my clients, I generate business from international clients looking to launch technology products into the US. Now where do you find a group of those guys hanging around? As I mentioned previously, the web has become a collection of “coffee shop” communities. So I thought I would try my own theory out and utilize a powerful tool that I am already using to find this particular coffee shop.
With the recent re-design of LinkedIn, groups became a much more prominent part of the community. In the past, it was almost as if the powers that be at LinkedIn wanted to obscure the groups from view so that nobody would find them. However, with the power of groups, you now have a group of people who self select as those interested in a certain topic (i.e. Mac Users, Friends of Italy, French Consulting Group, you-name-it). Granted, you have the (what I fondly refer to as) “link whores” who are in this prize-less contest to see who dies with the most contacts in LinkedIn. They tend to join every group imaginable and link to anyone and their hamster. However, linking with them can give you good exposure as well.
However, these groups are an excellent way to meet and greet. It gives you an excuse to drop someone a line (i.e. “I saw you were on the Friends of Italy group and was wondering what type of business you have in Italy”).
One of the biggest advantages to using LinkedIn to contact people, however, is the amount of information available to the person you are contacting about you. Before responding to your message, they can look at your work history, your education, your list of recommendations from other users what groups you are involved in, and what your list of hobbies are. They can even see what you look like. I have found it to be a much more effective way of contacting someone than just a standard e-mail.
Heck, I will even browse the local network in Boise and find people in targeted organizations who have backgrounds that interest me and invite them to meet for lunch or coffee (OJ for me). I have never once been turned down.
There is a constant debate raging over who will win out in the end. Will it be Facebook, LinkedIn, OpenSocial, or even some upstart business community. Even Plaxo has made a resurgence. However, I have discovered it is all in how you use these tools to meet your networking needs. LinkeIn is a powerful tool for networking with business people all over the world. I now have business contacts in distant places with which I have begun to build relationships. I also have business contacts right here in my own backyard that I had never met before. If you are not LinkedIn, I would highly recommend it. If nothing else, it is great for your search engine optimization.
H ow have you used LinkedIn to further your business?
