I saw a tweet by a well-known blogger and technology executive that he was spending far less time on Facebook. When I asked what was doing online instead, he quickly replied “Twitter! More engagement, realtime discussions, feedbacks. Facebook is becoming (for me) a stream of useless stuff”.
It struck me as an interesting comment because it reflects my approach to Facebook as well. As I wrote in yesterday’s post, Facebook serves as a professional utility and personal branding tool. It is not a place where I spend much time looking at my News Feed and getting updates on what my “friends” are doing.
Twitter, however, is a resource tool (It has mostly replaced Google Reader as the way to discover new content), a research tool to ask answers to just about...
I saw a tweet by a well-known blogger and technology executive that he was spending far less time on Facebook. When I asked what was doing online instead, he quickly replied “Twitter! More engagement, realtime discussions, feedbacks. Facebook is becoming (for me) a stream of useless stuff”.
It struck me as an interesting comment because it reflects my approach to Facebook as well. As I wrote in yesterday’s post, Facebook serves as a professional utility and personal branding tool. It is not a place where I spend much time looking at my News Feed and getting updates on what my “friends” are doing.
Twitter, however, is a resource tool (It has mostly replaced Google Reader as the way to discover new content), a research tool to ask answers to just about...
Today is Social Media Day around the world as initiated by the top social media resource (and most influential Twitter account on the planet) Mashable.
While Vancouver hasn’t officially declared today “Social Media Day in Vancouver” like they did in Victoria, the social media community is hosting a meetup to get together and celebrate.
It’s on this day that I would like to take some time to reflect on the changes social media has made in my life. There’s so much more to “blogging” and being a web-based business owner than sitting behind a computer screen. Social media allows you to connect with people on and offline, and I truly believe it helps you get out and about – meeting real people, making real connections.
Through social media my...
Today is Social Media Day around the world as initiated by the top social media resource (and most influential Twitter account on the planet) Mashable.
While Vancouver hasn’t officially declared today “Social Media Day in Vancouver” like they did in Victoria, the social media community is hosting a meetup to get together and celebrate.
It’s on this day that I would like to take some time to reflect on the changes social media has made in my life. There’s so much more to “blogging” and being a web-based business owner than sitting behind a computer screen. Social media allows you to connect with people on and offline, and I truly believe it helps you get out and about – meeting real people, making real connections.
Through social media my...
While social media attracts a lot of attention, it is still early days. Many companies aren’t even looking at social media, while many others are cautiously exploring their options.
This will probably change over the next few years as social media becomes a part of the corporate communications, marketing and sales arsenal. It will be interesting to see when that happens because social media will no longer be a novelty. Companies that have differentiated themselves by embracing social media will no stand out from the crowd.
It begs this question: what happens when everyone has embraced social media? What happens when every company has a Facebook Page, tweets, posts videos on a YouTube channel, and offers discounts to Foursquare users?
Then, what?
You can already see some marketers...
While social media attracts a lot of attention, it is still early days. Many companies aren’t even looking at social media, while many others are cautiously exploring their options.
This will probably change over the next few years as social media becomes a part of the corporate communications, marketing and sales arsenal. It will be interesting to see when that happens because social media will no longer be a novelty. Companies that have differentiated themselves by embracing social media will no stand out from the crowd.
It begs this question: what happens when everyone has embraced social media? What happens when every company has a Facebook Page, tweets, posts videos on a YouTube channel, and offers discounts to Foursquare users?
Then, what?
You can already see some marketers...
Did you know that May 31 was “Quit Facebook Day”? If you happened to miss it, you’re far from alone as QFD came and went quickly with only 36,000 people actually quitting Facebook.
The fact QFD flopped is not a surprise. With the Gulf of Mexico awash in oil from BP’s environmental disaster, there are far more important things to worry about than saying goodbye to Facebook.
While the people behind QFD probably had good intentions, their efforts were doomed to fail. While there are real concerns about Facebook’s ever-evolving privacy policies, people aren’t mad enough to walk away from Facebook.
The reality is despite Facebook’s strategic stumble, most people like using Facebook because it’s an easy way to keep in touch with friends and...
Did you know that May 31 was “Quit Facebook Day”? If you happened to miss it, you’re far from alone as QFD came and went quickly with only 36,000 people actually quitting Facebook.
The fact QFD flopped is not a surprise. With the Gulf of Mexico awash in oil from BP’s environmental disaster, there are far more important things to worry about than saying goodbye to Facebook.
While the people behind QFD probably had good intentions, their efforts were doomed to fail. While there are real concerns about Facebook’s ever-evolving privacy policies, people aren’t mad enough to walk away from Facebook.
The reality is despite Facebook’s strategic stumble, most people like using Facebook because it’s an easy way to keep in touch with friends and...
Everyone’s jumping on the social media bandwagon. Just as a Web site quickly became a must-have for nearly every company, the same corporate rules now apply to Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, blogs, Flickr, etc.
Or do they?
As someone immersed professional and personally in social media, it’s somewhat sacrosanct to suggest that social media may not be for everyone. But it’s a question that should be explored because the reality is that social media isn’t a good fit for some companies.
What if having public conversations with your customers isn’t a good thing? What if these conversations should be kept behind closed doors? What if relationships with customers are driven by personal relationships, newsletters, or word of mouth as opposed to public dialog? What if a...
Everyone’s jumping on the social media bandwagon. Just as a Web site quickly became a must-have for nearly every company, the same corporate rules now apply to Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, blogs, Flickr, etc.
Or do they?
As someone immersed professional and personally in social media, it’s somewhat sacrosanct to suggest that social media may not be for everyone. But it’s a question that should be explored because the reality is that social media isn’t a good fit for some companies.
What if having public conversations with your customers isn’t a good thing? What if these conversations should be kept behind closed doors? What if relationships with customers are driven by personal relationships, newsletters, or word of mouth as opposed to public dialog? What if a...
It should not come as any surprise that Facebook has made some changes to how its privacy policies given the backlash to its everything-is-now-public announcement at the F8 conference.
In response, Facebook has introduced "simpler and more powerful controls for sharing personal information." The idea is that Facebook's confusing and ever-changing private setting are now easier to use, which should appease the politicians and critics who caused such a fuss.
Before anyone gets too excited, it is important to keep in mind that Facebook's philosophical approach to making more information public as opposed to private still seems to be intact. To boost traffic and generate more traffic, Facebook needs more of its content to be public as opposed to...
It should not come as any surprise that Facebook has made some changes to how its privacy policies given the backlash to its everything-is-now-public announcement at the F8 conference.
In response, Facebook has introduced "simpler and more powerful controls for sharing personal information." The idea is that Facebook's confusing and ever-changing private setting are now easier to use, which should appease the politicians and critics who caused such a fuss.
Before anyone gets too excited, it is important to keep in mind that Facebook's philosophical approach to making more information public as opposed to private still seems to be intact. To boost traffic and generate more traffic, Facebook needs more of its content to be public as opposed to...
Like anyone should be surprised but Facebook is sorry – really, really sorry – that it caused such a fuss by changing its privacy policies so dramatically recently.
But after “listening to recent concerns”, Facebook is “responding” with plans to add “privacy controls that are much simpler”, as well as making it easy to turn off all third-party services. And Facebook has published the “principles” under which it operates.
Zuckerberg cleared the air in an op-ed in the Washington Post. It’s a public “my bad”, which demonstrates that Facebook took notice of the critics raging against its plan to make pretty much everything public on Facebook.
And although Facebook is still the monster of social networks with more...
Like anyone should be surprised but Facebook is sorry – really, really sorry – that it caused such a fuss by changing its privacy policies so dramatically recently.
But after “listening to recent concerns”, Facebook is “responding” with plans to add “privacy controls that are much simpler”, as well as making it easy to turn off all third-party services. And Facebook has published the “principles” under which it operates.
Zuckerberg cleared the air in an op-ed in the Washington Post. It’s a public “my bad”, which demonstrates that Facebook took notice of the critics raging against its plan to make pretty much everything public on Facebook.
And although Facebook is still the monster of social networks with more...
Since introducing the privacy-killing Graph API recently, Facebook has been under the gun. In addition to the concerns about its disdain for privacy, there’s also been growing chatter about people leaving the social networking service, as well as suggestions that MySpace or start-ups (Diaspora, anyone?) may have discovered a chink in Facebook’s armour.
But as Business Insider makes clear, the harsh reality is Facebook isn’t going anywhere. The company is too big, too aggressive and far too popular to see it pull a Friendster (and everyone remembers how Friendster was the king of the social networking world at one time, right?).
Facebook may be the elephant in the room but it’s a gigantic elephant. As much as the digital elite may be wailing away at Facebook’s...
Since introducing the privacy-killing Graph API recently, Facebook has been under the gun. In addition to the concerns about its disdain for privacy, there’s also been growing chatter about people leaving the social networking service, as well as suggestions that MySpace or start-ups (Diaspora, anyone?) may have discovered a chink in Facebook’s armour.
But as Business Insider makes clear, the harsh reality is Facebook isn’t going anywhere. The company is too big, too aggressive and far too popular to see it pull a Friendster (and everyone remembers how Friendster was the king of the social networking world at one time, right?).
Facebook may be the elephant in the room but it’s a gigantic elephant. As much as the digital elite may be wailing away at Facebook’s...
Photo by: John Bollwitt
To many people, Facebook is the internet. It’s open in a browser throughout the day, it could be their home screen, and on average users are connected to 130 “friends” at a time [Facebook: Stats]. However, even with close to 400 million users (11 million in Canada alone) Facebook isn’t on everyone’s friend’s list.
Recent changes from everything to layout, policies, and terms of use have some people wanting to quit the platform. This has prompted the creation of “Quit Facebook Day” which will be coming up May 31, 2010.
For a bit of background as to why the extraordinarily popular site is seemingly losing momentum, here’s a brief history of Facebook:
Facebook Timeline
2004
February: Mark Zuckerberg and...
Photo by: John Bollwitt
To many people, Facebook is the internet. It’s open in a browser throughout the day, it could be their home screen, and on average users are connected to 130 “friends” at a time [Facebook: Stats]. However, even with close to 400 million users (11 million in Canada alone) Facebook isn’t on everyone’s friend’s list.
Recent changes from everything to layout, policies, and terms of use have some people wanting to quit the platform. This has prompted the creation of “Quit Facebook Day” which will be coming up May 31, 2010.
For a bit of background as to why the extraordinarily popular site is seemingly losing momentum, here’s a brief history of Facebook:
Facebook Timeline
2004
February: Mark Zuckerberg and...
Legend has it that Bill Gates used to say the biggest threat to Microsoft was a developer working away in his basement – a premonition that was realized with two guys named Larry Page and Sergey Brin created Google.
It’s a lesson that Facebook wunderkind Mark Zuckerberg should take to heart even as Facebook surges towards 500 million users. While not to suggest Facebook is going to disappear any time soon, it’s becoming increasingly obvious that Facebook is losing its youthful innocence, and that a small, but growing, number of people are beginning to explore alternatives.
Truth be told, Facebook has been getting into trouble for the past couple of years with things such as Beacon, a steady series of puzzling interface changes, security leaks, constant changes in its...
Legend has it that Bill Gates used to say the biggest threat to Microsoft was a developer working away in his basement – a premonition that was realized with two guys named Larry Page and Sergey Brin created Google.
It’s a lesson that Facebook wunderkind Mark Zuckerberg should take to heart even as Facebook surges towards 500 million users. While not to suggest Facebook is going to disappear any time soon, it’s becoming increasingly obvious that Facebook is losing its youthful innocence, and that a small, but growing, number of people are beginning to explore alternatives.
Truth be told, Facebook has been getting into trouble for the past couple of years with things such as Beacon, a steady series of puzzling interface changes, security leaks, constant changes in its...
Wired.com’s Epicenter is asking a question that many people have been whispering recently: Has Facebook gone rogue, and should we be looking for an alternative?
In the wake of Facebook’s new everything-is-public approach and its Graph API, it is difficult not feel Facebook is a different and less friendly social network that it used to be once.
As Epicenter notes, Facebook used to be a happy place to share updates and photos with friends and family, and perhaps play a few games. No matter how Facebook wants to position it, the changes it has implemented are all about the business and driving more revenue as opposed to serving its users better.
Of course, when you get down to brass tacks, a business is about revenue and profits, and if consumers are happy, that’s a bonus....
Wired.com’s Epicenter is asking a question that many people have been whispering recently: Has Facebook gone rogue, and should we be looking for an alternative?
In the wake of Facebook’s new everything-is-public approach and its Graph API, it is difficult not feel Facebook is a different and less friendly social network that it used to be once.
As Epicenter notes, Facebook used to be a happy place to share updates and photos with friends and family, and perhaps play a few games. No matter how Facebook wants to position it, the changes it has implemented are all about the business and driving more revenue as opposed to serving its users better.
Of course, when you get down to brass tacks, a business is about revenue and profits, and if consumers are happy, that’s a bonus....
Joshua Errett had a good column in Now Magazine about Facebook’s latest strategic salvos for Web domination. A comment that resonated was the reality that even if you oppose Facebook’s everything-is-public approach, it is difficult, if not impossible, to avoid playing along.
With more than 400 million users, Facebook is an online “David”, and even though David may not be behaving particularly well, he’s still the biggest guy around so you better play nice.
It’s one of the reasons why thousands of Web sites have already embraced Facebook’s new Graph API, which means that if you’re logged in to Facebook and then visit a third-party Web site using the Graph API, your experience will be magically personalized. By “magically”, the Web...
Joshua Errett had a good column in Now Magazine about Facebook’s latest strategic salvos for Web domination. A comment that resonated was the reality that even if you oppose Facebook’s everything-is-public approach, it is difficult, if not impossible, to avoid playing along.
With more than 400 million users, Facebook is an online “David”, and even though David may not be behaving particularly well, he’s still the biggest guy around so you better play nice.
It’s one of the reasons why thousands of Web sites have already embraced Facebook’s new Graph API, which means that if you’re logged in to Facebook and then visit a third-party Web site using the Graph API, your experience will be magically personalized. By “magically”, the Web...
Apologies for beating a dead horse but it has been more than a week since Facebook launched several major changes in which it operates, highlighted by a huge move in making more data public, and how third-party Web sites are able to personalize content based on information they call pull from Facebook.
To be honest, the reaction has been far less muted than I expected. Even though Facebook introduced significant changes in how the data of its 400 million users can be leveraged by Facebook and Web sites taking advantage of the new API, one of the only groups with major concerns is Canada’s Office of the Privacy Commissioner.
It’s shocking because if you’re a Facebook user that visits another Web site, they’ll already have information about you. Sure, it means a...
Apologies for beating a dead horse but it has been more than a week since Facebook launched several major changes in which it operates, highlighted by a huge move in making more data public, and how third-party Web sites are able to personalize content based on information they call pull from Facebook.
To be honest, the reaction has been far less muted than I expected. Even though Facebook introduced significant changes in how the data of its 400 million users can be leveraged by Facebook and Web sites taking advantage of the new API, one of the only groups with major concerns is Canada’s Office of the Privacy Commissioner.
It’s shocking because if you’re a Facebook user that visits another Web site, they’ll already have information about you. Sure, it means a...
A friend of mine has a theory about why social media has been embraced so enthusiastically as a “tell-out” medium in which people voluntarily and happily disclose incredible amounts of details about their personal and professional lives.
He believes a lot of social media activity – tweets, updates, check-ins, blog posts, photos, videos, etc. – is driven by anxiety. Many people are simply anxious about not being heard, recognized or acknowledged. As a result, they turn to social media to tell the world what they’re doing, thinking, eating and feeling to ease this anxiousness.
It explains why so much social media activity is “me, me, me”, which, in turn, goes a long way in explaining why people feel the need to disclose so many personal and...
A friend of mine has a theory about why social media has been embraced so enthusiastically as a “tell-out” medium in which people voluntarily and happily disclose incredible amounts of details about their personal and professional lives.
He believes a lot of social media activity – tweets, updates, check-ins, blog posts, photos, videos, etc. – is driven by anxiety. Many people are simply anxious about not being heard, recognized or acknowledged. As a result, they turn to social media to tell the world what they’re doing, thinking, eating and feeling to ease this anxiousness.
It explains why so much social media activity is “me, me, me”, which, in turn, goes a long way in explaining why people feel the need to disclose so many personal and...
