Session Blog Reviews

Posts Tagged ‘friends’

Facebook has announced that it is giving people a chance to tell their friends even more about what they like. With the introduction of a “Like” button that will appear on partner sites, Facebook users can easily share content that they find “valuable” with their Facebook friends. So we are now left to wonder if the new feature for Facebook will be a winner or like, a loser. The Wall Street Journal reports from the f8 Facebook developer conference A centerpiece of the changes involves a simple button, offered to other Web sites, that says “Like.” For free, other Web sites can install a Facebook “Like” button that users can click on to signal their interest in a piece of content, such as a band or an article. The user’s approval then shows up on his or her Facebook page, with a link back to the site. The idea is that other Web sites will drive traffic back to Facebook.com, and in turn receive traffic from Facebook. Other sites can also offer personalized modules, telling individual users what their Facebook friends have done on the site, such as review a restaurant. The new “Like” buttons transmit data about user activity back to Facebook. If they like a band, for example, a link to the band could appear in their interests. Since advertisers can already target ads to users’ interests, the new buttons could give advertisers more data to target ads to, but Facebook said it isn’t currently launching any new ad-targeting products in conjunction with the service. While the button itself is a big deal it will also be a big deal how Facebook and its partners address any privacy concerns. There are three instant personalization partners Docs, Yelp and Pandora. According to the Help Center these sites are required to show a Facebook box at the top of their site so you can get out of the instant part of personalization. I tried it on all three and the box did not appear on Pandora. Here’s Facebook’s version of notification of the new service to its users. From the leaders of Facebook comes this take on the privacy issues. In a news conference after his keynote address, Mr. Zuckerberg and other executives stressed that the new services would not loosen its privacy policies. They said that Facebook won’t share any individual user data with Web sites that implement the “Like” button, but may share aggregate data like how many people “Liked” an item. Whether Facebook would share that data with a user’s Facebook friends would depend on the user’s privacy settings. As with anything related to Facebook and privacy it will take a little while for people to look for the “likeholes” (that’s a Like button privacy loophole). Considering Facebook’s privacy track record you have to go in expecting that they will try to get over on their users regarding privacy concerns that could block revenue opportunities and backpedal if they need to. Maybe I’m wrong but if history is any indicator I’d be, like, surprised if there weren’t some privacy concerns raised. So do you like the idea? Pilgrim’s Partners: SponsoredReviews.com – Bloggers earn cash, Advertisers build buzz!

See original here:
Will Users Like the New Facebook Like Button?

Facebook is the most popular social network in the world, but that’s not quite enough for them. Finally ready to venture outside their walled garden, Facebook may be unveiling a decentralized version of their site that allows Facebook users to interact on on other sites around the web. But does this mean Facebook’s ready to cede control of its users, or is it just extending its greedy grasp further? Says the New York Times : Details of Facebook’s plans — which involve a variation on its “Share” button, already prevalent on many sites — are expected to be introduced by Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s chief executive, on Wednesday during its conference here for third-party developers. But even before Facebook makes its plans public, its aim to become a social networking force across the Web is facing competition. The NYT notes that Google and MySpace are part of a coalition led by Meebo to standardized data portability, and Twitter’s @anywhere platform shows a similar move to decentralization. The New York Times predicts more about Facebook’s coming changes (Facebook declines to comment): For instance, Facebook will introduce a universal “Like” button that Web publishers will be able to put on their pages. Similar to the Facebook “Share” buttons that are already popular with many Web sites, the “Like” buttons will make it easier for Web publishers to offer more social experiences, in essence allowing Facebook friends to enjoy those sites together. While “Share” buttons allow users to post links that their friends see on their Facebook pages, those links are fleeting. The Like button will allow Facebook to keep a record of what a user linked to, providing the company with ever more data about people’s preferences. Facebook, in turn, plans to share that data with Web publishers, so that a magazine Web site, for instance, may be able to show users all the articles that their friends like. A site like Yelp may show reviews from a user’s friends, rather than those from strangers. Facebook may also be planning to bring its toolbar to other sites as well—a potential bone of contention with the other major coalition, since Meebo’s main offering is also a toolbar. I like the idea of showing your friends’ reviews on Yelp above random strangers’, but the privacy concessions required to make the NYT’s predictions a reality are sure to be met with strong opposition. What do you think? Will Facebook try to take over the web this week? Or is that yet to come?

Read this article:
Facebook Taking Over the Internetz

A few months ago I started following Mona on Twitter. The best way to describe Mona is quite simply, fun. She has a ton of fun with social media and always seems to be “on”. Because of which, it wasn’t a huge surprise that MySpace signed her this week as their newest full time social media marketer. Prior to her work at MySpace, Mona, was a project manger at Oracle, then went on to freelance consulting up until MySpace snagged her up! I asked Mona if she wouldn’t mind answering a few questions about her new job at MySpace. For our benefit she graciously agreed! Joe: So you are working at MySpace that’s awesome! What exactly do you do there? Mona: Supplementing existing marketing initiatives with social media magic! Joe: You mentioned in your recent blog post that you are in charge of MySpace’s Facebook fan page. Are you crazy? Do people at Facebook hate you? Have you been FacePunched? But seriously, how are you using Facebook to promote MySpace and do you see any conflicts with this strategy? Mona: Since I am a nutjob, I more than welcome crazy! But on a serious note, teenagers — the MySpace demo even on our Facebook fan page — are people too. Even if I am insulted by the community (unprovoked) on a daily basis, there has been more positive than negative reactions. I am pleasantly surprised — or more caught off guard. My goal with the Facebook fan page is to reinvigorate our brand and turn the fan page into a community. As much as I would like to achieve that with only MySpace content, I did not think it was a good idea. When Sean and I took over, the fan page was not curated and the tone not set. My gut told me the the community would not react well to MySpace (a brand) suddenly coming in and treating the page like a billboard. The Internet has always been a medium where interaction and engagement is necessary. By increasing our presence with sharing meme items while subtly mixing our native content, the reactions have been excellent, enthusiastic even. The community members are not as vile as outsiders (adults?) assume. This is still the beginning so I am looking forward to how this page will evolve. As for conflicts, I say there are none. Social media is the best thing to happen to brands. I think general consensus of the public is that they are tired of companies megaphoning one-way content.  We are in an age where the Internet is a part of the mass’ daily routines. Simply: brand presence across all platforms is pertinent, and Facebook is only one outlet we are utilizing to tap into the conversation. With the backing of extremely progressive marketing leadership, we are taking full advantage of this opportunity –even if we are a social company. I think the folks over at Facebook are amused. A Facebook engineer friend has even called my efforts… cute. haha Joe: You are helping to promote one of the most well-known brands on the Internet. How are you and your colleagues engaging users in an authentic way while continuing to maximize ROI? Mona: Our current focus is on product — we have a lot of exciting things in the pipeline I cannot wait to share. One recent example is the MySpace music blog that recently moved to WordPress  — which even surprised me. But I have to constantly remind myself MySpace is a platform built playing catch-up to its growth. Fortunately we have sharp, tech savvy folks working as fast as they can to rectify rudimentary aspects on up. We still have an enormous amount of traffic that is begging to be leveraged differently, and better than before. ROI maximization is in alignment with the product timeline. That said, we are currently doing what we can with the available resources to market our brand. Joe: Here at Marketing Pilgrim we talk a lot about promoting products and services. While some may argue that social networking is a service, it seems that you are promoting more of an “experience” than a product or service. Does this require a different type of strategy? Or can we apply the same marketing methods that we use for products? Mona: Our message is an experience with the product: “Discover and be discovered.” Emphasis on product will be made as features and functions are ready for use. But do not hold me to that — we are a technology company and things change on a daily basis! As for strategy, my colleagues who most (if not all) have strong entertainment backgrounds. I am fortunate to work with them as a team to learn together and find ways to best collaborate old and new media. So essentially, we are paving the path for a new model which combines product and a service. As I write that out, I think to myself: Wow, I am so lucky. Joe: I think many folks have mentioned that MySpace’s central demographic is younger than most of the other social media sites. Are young adults using social media differently? And if so are you and your colleagues putting more emphasis on any one area of socal media while you promote MySpace? (i.e. real time data, social engagement, location based networks, content distribution) Mona: This is my personal observation, but I believe so. Wait. Let me back up. In general, there are three types of Internet users. Loosely, those who: 1. creators (sharers, broadcasters, content providers) 2. commenters (taggers — those who like, comment, favorite etc.) and 3. viewers (lurkers — those who none of the above and simply consume) The past year or two have been fascinating to watch as someone who has been online since I could speak. The growth and explosion of the Internet and user generated content is astounding. Data and content is democratizing. Twitter and Facebook have made it so easy for people of all ages to do one or all of the above. Facebook, also took social networking to the next level by personalizing content. For example photo tagging, liking and commenting which are genius ways to re-connect and connect people, as well as expanding your social graph. Now that the shininess of personal social networking is dwindling we are seeing social gaming peaking, which enables users to socialize in a different way. For teenagers, it’s a little different. Think back to when you were in middle, even high school. I don’t know about you, but when I was in my teens I did not want people — especially my friends — to know and see every detail of my life. I was afraid my family would find out my daily activities (not that I was doing anything illegal DISCLAIMER) but I was more self conscious about what my peers thought and my reputation. MySpace, gives teens — well people of all ages for that matter, an outlet to express themselves differently. Whether it be with pop culture, music, media or by profile customization, they are not required to share their real selves. So to answer your question do youths use social media differently? Definitely yes but the fundamental actions are the same: 1. create and broadcast 2. simple interactions — comment and like or 3. only consume. It’s no secret MySpace needs a lot of help but that is slowly but surely changing. We are rolling out one and all of the features you mentioned (real time, sharing, liking, etc.) but in a way that best fits our brand. This is a huge step since folks from entertainment backgrounds normally do not advocate content sharing. Needless to say, MySpace is fortunate to have such progressive leadership — Angela Courtin, Jason Kirk and Sean Percival, particularly. Separately, I am a believer in community. I will do all and everything it takes to turn MySpace into a brand that is known to engage with its users… who are our customers. Joe: Is there any MySpace koolaid left? And if so where can we get some? Mona: I guzzled it all and chased it with the iPad KoolAid.

See the original post here:
Cup of Joe: Exclusive Interview With MySpace’s Mona Nomura

In a move that went somewhat under the radar a month ago, Ning’s co-founder and CEO Gina Bianchini was replaced by COO Jason Rosenthal. This signaled the end of the of a few things: at the time, Bianchini’s long time influence on the platform. Then yesterday, the end of Ning’s free offering and the end of many jobs at Ning. TechCrunch reports One month after long-time Ning CEO Gina Bianchini was replaced by COO Jason Rosenthal , the company is making some major changes: It has just announced that it is killing off its free product, forcing existing free networks to either make the change to premium accounts or migrate their networks elsewhere. Rosenthal has also just announced that the company has cut nearly 70 people — over 40% of its staff. I have started my own Ning network on the free side so this news is not the best. I was getting ready to pay to have the ads removed from the network but not quite yet. I already pay to have my own domain used for the community. My concern is what will the fees be moving forward? Also, no one ever likes to get used to a certain way of doing things then have the rug yanked out from underneath them in one fell swoop. So until the fees are made known and a decision needs to be made there isn’t much to do. The company has said through its Creators network that the changes will be known in the next two weeks. To get the full scope of what Ning is doing here is the e-mail that was sent to the staff. On a side note, I wonder if these e-mails are written as more of a press release than an actual sentiment since it seems that they will not stay inside the corporate fence for very long. Here’s Ning’s version of the “Things Are Gonna Change But It’s Gonna Be Good” e-mail from CEO Jason Rosenthal. Team, When I became CEO 30 days ago, I told you I would take a hard look at our business. This process has brought real clarity to what’s working, what’s not, and what we need to do now to make Ning a big success. My main conclusion is that we need to double down on our premium services business. Our Premium Ning Networks like Friends or Enemies, Linkin Park, Shred or Die, Pickens Plan, and tens of thousands of others both drive 75% of our monthly US traffic, and those Network Creators need and will pay for many more services and features from us. So, we are going to change our strategy to devote 100% of our resources to building the winning product to capture this big opportunity. We will phase out our free service. Existing free networks will have the opportunity to either convert to paying for premium services, or transition off of Ning. We will judge ourselves by our ability to enable and power Premium Ning Networks at huge scale. And all of our product development capability will be devoted to making paying Network Creators extremely happy. As a consequence of this change, I have also made the very tough decision to reduce the size of our team from 167 people to 98 people. As hard as this is to do, I am confident that this is the right decision for our company, our business, and our customers. Marc and I will work diligently with everyone affected by this to help them find great opportunities at other companies. I’ve never seen a more talented and devoted team, and it has been my privilege to get to know and work with each and every one of you over the last 18 months. We’ll use today to say goodbye to our friends and teammates who will be leaving the company. Tomorrow, I will take you through, in detail, our plans for the next three months and our new focus. Thanks, Jason Rosenthal So it’s probably not a good day to be one of the Ning little guys that is not really driving much traffic is it? It’s a bad day to have a good idea that can bring specific groups together and enjoy many of the functions that small groups couldn’t have in the past. The days of free are looking like the days of the past for many things in the online space. Your take on this move?

Follow this link:
Ning Free Rides Coming to an End

Paid Search & Social Media : Can They Be Friends? Search Engine Land (blog) As a large-scale paid search marketer, you may believe social media marketing has little to do with your craft. After all, most marketers hold true to the … and more