Spokeo

I wonder how many people hate me right now. Just tested Spokeo (pretty impressive, now I can continue my journey as an online stalker) and for some reason the site sent out invites to my complete address book. Thanks for nothing. Highly doubtful I will return.

As to the wrath of my friends: I will spend the night in an undisclosed location.

Martin Luther King Day

"In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."

A few years ago, a co-worker explained the black experience to me: How he felt like a suspect every time he entered a department store. How people became suspicious when he looked at products more than a few seconds. How he was followed by security throughout almost every store.

We see many signs of hope: Obama having a realistic chance to become the next president. A new leadership emerging in the black community.

But there are many troubling signs: Incarceration of black youths are horrendously high, societal changes have not translated into economic equality. We have a long way to go.

"Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think."

Living in Los Angeles feels like an isolated pod experience: From your home pod to your work pod, back to your home pod and ending at the entertainment pod.
Social networks help us leaving the pod and experiencing other experiences:
Black experience. Hispanic experience. Korean experience.

Social networks are about embracing people. Embracing diversity. Humanity. Let's make sure we stay on this path.

"All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem."

Pale Blue Dot

Carl Sagan narrates this video, destined to make us all feel more humble and, in some ways, even more lost. The pale blue dot he is referring to is the image that the Voyager 1 took of earth as it was passing Saturn, ~4 billion miles away.

As Carl Sagan says: "No sign that there's someone out there that will come to save us from ourselves."

I might be an optimist but I believe that the advent of Social Networking in combination with Wikinomics will help to save us from ourselves. Humans tend to look for answers by attaching themselves to religions and institutions. This age is coming to an end because these institutions are not capable of providing answers. Instead, we start to rely on each other and the human spirit. Technology allows us to build the infrastructure that changes the age of institutions to the age of humans.

When thinking about extraterrestrial life, I always believed that the only thing scarier than discovering that we are not alone is realizing that we actually are.
Social Networking might help us understand that we're not as alone as we believe.

3.5 Billion Conversations daily

MediaPost reported Tuesday that there are 3.5 billion brand-related conversations per day in the US.

Spending on word-of-mouth (WoM) marketing jumped 35.9 percent in 2006 to $981.0 million and is expected to top $1 billion in 2007, making it one of the fastest growing alternative media segments.

Driving the growth is the continued consumer shift to alternative media and the marketer's need for increased brand engagement and ROI. These are some of the findings of the first in-depth analysis of the emerging word-of-mouth (WoM) marketing industry by PQ Media.

PQ Media defines Word-of-Mouth (WoM) marketing as an alternative marketing strategy supported by research and technology that encourages consumers to dialogue about products and services.

Word-of-Mouth (WoM) Marketing is the fastest-growing segment of the $254 billion marketing services sector of the media industry, which includes among others, branded entertainment, direct marketing and public relations.

Think about it: 3.5 billion brand-related conversations daily. Many of these conversations will take place tomorrow at the turkey table. We're just in the baby stages of conversational/WOM marketing and will see dramatic changes in the near future how to connect with people. The opportunities are endless.

One of my hope is that Black Friday will be a laughable chapter of American business history when I sit at the Thanksgiving table of my kid in 20 years. (And Cyber Monday won't even be a footnote.) As an immigrant, that ritual of getting up at the crack of dawn to get a good deal is just strange and very foreign to me. And I hope that the new world of marketing will allow these people to stay in bed, enjoy breakfast with their family and get some needed family/friend time.

Together as one

When I discovered electronic music years ago, it wasn't really the music at first that excited me. It was more of that sweaty, human masses, unique, thank-God-I'm here experience. Sasha & Digweed at the Mayan in LA come to mind, Coachella at sunset with Bjork, Carl Cox at Giant, Roger Sanchez on a rooftop in Miami. We all crave these events. It might be an NFL game, NASCAR racing, Burning Man, Pamplona bull running - whatever strikes your fancy.

These events have become more valuable since many of our other experiences can be time-shifted, paused and re-started whenever you have time for it. Events are different: You can consume 24 hours of media in 8 hours but you have only so many weekends available where you indulge in 8 hours of music/sports/arts communality.
No wonder brands are craving to attach themselves to events.

Digital Marketing will only advance to the next stage if we find innovative ways to develop spectacles that create this community feeling. Facebook and Second Life have their limitations and they can't replicate this sweaty, mass feeling when you're one with the crowd. But social media is the key in developing, creating and spreading the word about these events. You can only create amazing events if you know what connects with people. And only events that create this 'Together as one' moment will ensure that the audience will spread the word for you.

The Facebook (R)evolution

Connie Bensen writes about the newly introduced advertising opportunities on Facebook and she's very skeptical about the overall user experience.
And Seth Godin compares Hotmail to Facebook. Not a flattering comparison.

My take? Something reaks. Rather awful.

It's almost feels like Facebook was the pot dealer in the school yard, giving away free joints and, after we all got hooked and shared our personal information, they are trying to sell the real drugs to us. Needles in the arm, baby. And the advertisers are waiting around the corner to provide the dealers with more stuff to support the addiction and reap the benefits.

Now, the big questions is: Can Facebook turn their new advertising model into Google's AdSense? My answer: No way. I smell a bit of desperation here. Facebook was developed with the user in mind and they never thought about a real advertising model, a model that could make Mark Zuckerberg a real billionaire, instead of a paper billionaire.

Nick Carr says it best:

"Facebook, which distinguished itself by being the anti-MySpace, is now determined to out-MySpace MySpace. It's a nifty system: First you get your users to entrust their personal data to you, and then you not only sell that data to advertisers but you get the users to be the vector for the ads. And what do the users get in return? An animated Sprite Sips character to interact with."

Is it time to write off Facebook? Not quite yet. But they are one of those boxers that win decisively the first round, already pronounced the winner until the opening bell of the second round rings and they get hit hard in the head.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Can they come back? I wouldn't bet on it. There are many young fighters out there, waiting for their chance. They are hungrier, will learn from this mistake and don't get sucked in by reading and believing their own clippings.

The new world of social networking

This is how the world of social networking looks like: Facebook is a very strong international contender, but hi5.com is the most global network. Friendster, as reported before in the LA Times, is the leader in Southeast Asia.

Since we are still trying to find ways to integrate marketing into these new sites, it will be fascinating how marketers will connect with global cultures on these networks. Becoming part of the community might work in country A, could be detrimental to the marketers in country B.
For example, shall there be a global Facebook approach to marketing or shall it be adjusted from country to country?

My recommendation: everything is local. In order for bigger networks not to become irrelevant by the onslaught of niche networks, the big boys need to stay close to the ground and understand what each cohort/culture/group desires. Each affinity group could wants to be marketed to in different ways.

There are no golden rules. Just don't use the sledgehammer approach.

Via Valleywag and psfk.

Social Networks might cure cancer

Gina Kolata wrote an interesting piece in Sunday's New York Times, reflecting upon the on the power of social networks.
My favorite quote:

"Now, scientists believe that social networks not only can spread diseases, like the common cold, but also may influence many types of behavior — negative and positive — which then affect an individual’s health, as well as a community’s.

“In the past few years we have been seeing a network revolution,” says Albert-Laszlo Barabasi, a physics professor at the University of Notre Dame. “People sensed that networks were out there, but they never had large enough data sets to start understanding them in a quantitative fashion.”

We've known this all along haven't we? That's why our parents tried to keep us away from the 'bad kids'. That's why we had the first cigarette, the first drink.

Human beings are social creatures and everybody influences everybody. And these social networks not only exist between people but also on a cellular level:

"The challenge in medicine now is to map out complex dynamic networks, Dr. Barabasi said, and he does not just mean networks of people. The proteins and enzymes in a cell also form a closely connected network, Dr. Barabasi says. And when you tweak one protein, the whole web is affected. “That is why drugs have side effects,” Dr. Barabasi said.

And, he adds, “we will not have cures for obesity or cancer until we understand those networks.”

But he’s an optimist, believing that these cellular networks will be mapped sooner or later. “Right now, this is a work in progress,” Dr. Barabasi says, “but I believe we will get there in 10 years.”

Social Networks as the cure-all? Why not?

Duh - Word-of-Mouth works

Most of us have known this for a while and eMarketer gives us new ammunition when making our point: Word-of-Mouth Marketing is the most efficient way to communicate with prospective consumers.

"More and more, consumers are relying on advice from friends, family and even strangers to make purchase decisions, select physicians, choose travel destinations and pick politicians to vote for. And many of them are giving — and getting — that advice online."

eMarketers estimates over 25 million US adults regularly share advice on products or services online.

I believe eMarketer should have included communities as well. Social Networks/Groups/Communities/Whatever you want to call them are increasingly more important for all 2.0 people. Often it's not the friend or the funny uncle that will give you advice: It's the guy you've never met but you share a hobby with that will give you insightful advice. These people can be found on major sites (MySpace, Facebook, etc.), on private messageboards, niche sites. They are as trusted (or even more) than friends or family with good but limited knowledge about your specific issue

Addictive

Havent' heard of Twitter yet? You should because all of us will be part of this new social network soon.
What is Twitter?

According to Wikipedia:

Twitter is a social networking service that allows members to inform each other about what they are doing and what they think. It allows users to send messages via phone, instant messaging or the Twitter website.

Basically, it's a Micro-Blogging platform.

Fans say they are a good way to keep in touch with busy friends. But some users are starting to feel "too" connected, as they grapple with check-in messages at odd hours, higher cellphone bills and the need to tell acquaintances to stop announcing what they're having for dinner."

There are tons of mashups out there: One of the more popular one is Twittermap.

But nothing beats Twittervision, a Google Maps mashup. It shows you in real-world what's happening in the Twitterworld. It's like an entertaining Internet show, visualizing the 'connected consciousness' as Joseph Jaffe calls it.

Started my Twitter Addiction today - find me under username uwe hook.
Will you join?

Too early for an eulogy

Piper Jaffray's lead Internet analyst Safa Rashtchy discusses in an Adweek interview his outlook on Yahoo! and other portals:
"In an earlier report you said Yahoo risks an "AOL-like decline." Why do you think Web portals are yesterday's news?
Early on people didn't know what this medium was, and they had to rely on portals to guide them through. They didn't know how to navigate easily, they wanted the convenience of having everything in one place, and they didn't really trust any other brands. All those things gave portals a tremendous advantage but now, as I mentioned, people are fairly savvy, sophisticated and confident. Online has proven to be a relatively safe and very efficient medium. People basically are saying, "I can find my way around here and I'll make my own choices on my interests very easily—if I don't I go to Google and find it." I think in some ways people don't realize this but search has helped diminish the role of portals.

How would you transform Yahoo?
Yahoo still has a good franchise in its brand name and the reach of its properties. I think it has to forgo the strategy of putting everything under the Yahoo brand. They have to own properties and services that users want. Yahoo has to think of five, 10 years from now, when there won't be much of a position for a pure online company. If you're going to be a media company then be a global media company, and think of ways to help people get things done and help advertisers get in touch with the community. It's kind of a long way to describe it, but I think Yahoo has to rethink its strategy of just relying on the Yahoo brand and instead look at smaller but deeper relationships with groups of people."

I agree wholeheartedly with Rashtchy. Yahoo! should leverage its acquisitions to make itself the king of social networks. Yes, YouTube and MySpace were picked up by competitors but that doesn't mean it's too late. Yahoo should either develop their own social network solutions (Yahoo! Answers was a good start) but, in addition, they need to snatch up smaller social properties. We're heading towards a major fragmentation of social networks and Yahoo could play the role of an aggregator. Let's face it: Panama was a great step but it came years too late. Google has won that fight and Yahoo has to develop a new niche. They have the cash and people to do it.