Social Networks cutting deals left and right with mobile carriers

Posted on December 13, 2007 by marc meyer

As was previously stated in earlier entries, something had to give in the wonderfully bloated world of social networks. It actually has been in play for awhile but, lo and behold, mobile carriers are realizing that the next big thing for their continued world dominance will be the melding of social networks with mobile carriers. Thus the following news doesn’t really surprise me:

MySpace Mobile to be Packaged with Sprint

Fox Interactive Media and Sprint have hooked up to offer MySpace and other FIM properties to mobile customers. Under the deal, MySpace will come as a default option on Sprint’s mobile portal, meaning that the site can be accessed directly as opposed to typing in a URL (in this case, mobile.myspace.com).

Currently in beta, MySpace Mobile will launch officially early next year. Other FIM properties included in the deal are IGN, FOXSports, Photobucket, Rotten Tomattoes, and AskMen.

Why is this important? Because the users of social networks use something even more frequently than their respective social network. Namely, their cell phone. So the thinking is; If you can pair the 2 digital beasts, then you have a match made in marketing heaven. A captive audience 24/7/365. Now this comes on the heels of the announcement in October that:

O2 Partners with MySpace and Facebook for Mobile access in the UK

O2, the UK mobile operator, announced partnerships with MySpace and Facebook, giving its users access to these social networks from their mobile devices.

This partnership provides MySpace and Facebook users, access to their profiles pages for viewing and editing via their cell phone or hand held device. Granting mobile access to the major social networks is another way in which consumers, especially in the teen and college demographic can stay engaged with not only their social groups but also with advertisers and marketers. Virgin, Nokia and Sprint have all gone this route as well. O2 already has a deal with Apple for exclusive sales of the iPhone in the UK.

And this comes in from the vapor trail of a July announcement in which:

Sprint Nextel had announced two new services which enabled users to access social networking sites, and let customers locate each other using GPS technology.

Providing better browsing options for access to social networking sites such as Xanga, Rabble and LiveJournal meant that users would now have more reason to use mobile browsing and stay better connected with friends. Partnering with Loopt, Sprint Nextel is also allowing users to geo-locate one another via GPS, within another private network of friends.

The only sticking point with all of these announcements is that there is still the speed issue that all of the carriers and the respective social networks seem to be ignoring. Granted the iphone seems to have all the speed you need with their Safari browser, but not everyone can go out and afford an iphone. Having said that, what is the 15-18 year old supposed to do with the free phone their parents got them that can only text 50 times a month, supposed to do?

It’s too soon to tell, but don’t think that we’re the only ones who have mentioned it, or have thought about it. The bottom line is this: That the social networks know that a key to their survival will be extending the social network beyond the confines of the home/bedroom. Until they do that, like I said, They’ll all eventually end up standing around staring at each other saying, “Now what?”

Do Boomers know the power of a social network?

Posted on December 12, 2007 by marc meyer

I just had read where uboomerutv.com was reinventing itself and making the leap, or so they say, from a second tier social network to a premier social network. My first thought was that a used car company could start selling caddies and a Lexus here and there, but at the end of the day, they are still a used car company.

Thats not to say uboomerutv.com is not goint to make the leap but it does beg 2 questions: 1) what is up with that name? and 2) If Boomers comprise the largest demographic in the world then theoretically your numbers for u-b-o-o-m-e-r-u-t-v.com should rival that right? So 20 million users should not be out of the question.

Ok so there is something wrong here. The first thing is and I’m not underestimating the tech knowledge of the Boomer but all I keep thinking is Homer Simpson reading aloud, “press any key to begin” and then stating, “where is the any key”?.

Boomers do adapt quickly I will give them that, but will they adapt to the previously named website above that I refuse to type any longer? I’m not so sure. They will however go to Facebook and even MySpace, to check out what they have read and heard from just about every major news source on the planet as of late. The problem is and maybe this is where the previously named website that I refuse to type any more comes into play. If they really like 10-30% for instance, of what they saw on Myspace and Facebook, but felt the demo was not just right for them, maybe they will embrace the other boomer sites.

The other question is, what are they doing on these networks. Are they exchanging their favorite music? Looking for “cool widgets”? Looking for Love? Are they into creating their “pages”? There’s where the disconnect is. Facebook and Myspace thrive because of the content managed aspect of their sites and the ownership and freedom that teens and college students take in “their pages”. That aspect does not have the same sex appeal to Boomers.

Boomers want info and want to share info that is relavant to their lives at that moment and beyond. But they also want to be able to share and learn without a huge learning curve. Hey it’s great to have all sorts of cool tools and widgets, but if you’re building it because it worked on MySpace and Facebook, then you have totally missed the boat. So do Boomers know the power of a social network? Yes and No. They know the power of Myspace and Facebook because they heard it so. They don’t know the power of a social network thats geared towards them because of a perceived learning curve and a lack of knowledge and understanding of what it can do for them.

S-Commerce, where the E meets the social network.

Posted on December 7, 2007 by marc meyer

A funny thing is happening to all of those builders of cool social networks. It’s the same thing that happened in the pre-dot com bust days. After their cool sites were built and they were all sittin’ around drinkin’ a microbrew, they all got the “South Park” look in their eyes and in unison said, “How do we make money”?

Again, in unison they said 2 things. “Well first we’ll make money off of advertisers and then, when we get so much traffic we can barely function, someone will buy us’. I got news for you, a 1000 visitors a day, let alone a week, ain’t gonna gitter done.

So lets flash back to the South Park image again as they all look around after seeing that their traffic aint hittin the millions. “Now what”?

Well here’s an idea. Since consumer visits to social sites are growing at an exponential rate, and since they’re becoming more comfortable with the model and more comfortable with the tools, controls and widgets of these sites, wouldn’t it make sense as a marketer to take advantage of this niche community? The answer is yes. But what about the owner/operator of the site what do they do?

So’s here how it goes down. Lets say I have this social network for the lovers of all things llama. Why can’t I blend the transactional and social aspects of this group by involving consumers in promoting and selling their offerings as they pertain to…”All things Llama”?

As these social sites become more and more “social”, and people find themselves spending more time on these sites, they become impervious to traditional media; That media being Tv, Radio, Newspapers and magazines. And what happens is that now all of a sudden your social network of peers and “friends” can now influence a buying decision. Because you trust them and they, you. Statistics show people join a social networking site to receive four benefits, 1) to meet people (78%); 2) to find entertainment (47%); 3) to learn something new (38%); and 4) influence others (23%) I tend to disagree with the 4th, but that just maybe a residual effect of a marketers desire to influence the social perception of their product.

Whats interesting to note though is that members of social networks have a higher disposable income than the general population – 20% more – and spend more of it online. So if they do and going back to our llama group analogy, we now present Joe, who is selling the most healthy llama snack ever made. You trust him because Joe is a llama lover like you. Wouldn’t you buy your llama snacks from Joe? Of course you would!

You now have seen the benefit of selling to your peeps. S-Commerce.

But the question will and does arise, how does a marketer get to Joe? How is Joe influenced to buy the best llama snacks? For starters maybe Joe went to a branded micro-site devoted to llamas and their snacks, saw that they were offereing a free trial, and jumps on it. Or maybe Joe read a review online somewhere about the latest in llama feed and someone mentioned Killer llama Snacks. Joe could have been in a llama forum where he saw a skyscraper? Perhaps he could have been on a competeing site and saw an add for the latest llama snack? See how many ways you can get to him?

Of course Joe might be a heavy blog reader and reads a couple of killer llama blogs everyday where he reads some posts by the author or readers about an amazing new llama snack. Better yet, Joe loves Youtube, so combining his love for llamas and video, Joe does a search and finds a cool 30 second spot on the llamas at the san diego zoo that are big and strong thanks to the killer llama snack.

So by combining all elements of branding, and marketing, and advertising along with the power of a social network. And the trust that only a niche group could have for someone within the group, S-Commerce can thrive. The best part about it is that if your product makes it into the group. No selling is required.

Furthermore, you’re probabally asking, how does the owner/operator make money? Well since he owns the niche site, wouldn’t it behoove the maker of the killer llama snack to come to the owners and see if they can cut some type of marketing deal to push their product? You betcha. So now the only advertisers on the social site are relavant to the niche aspect of the site. Everyone wins…

Lastly, taking this to the next level then would be a company like lemonade.com Where they literally provide you with the stand and all you have to do is supply the products. Just make sure they(the products) are relevant to your group and you are good to go! It would also help if you were actually part of the group. Trying to win over the group as a passing member of this group is a hard sell and could result in an instant loss of street cred. So tread lightly, stay long, grow some roots and sell some product. Can you name another seamless example of e-commerce in play in a social networking setting?

The top 10 social networking sites for October 2007

Posted on December 6, 2007 by marc meyer

I’d like to revisit this after the FB/Beacon fall out because I think the reality of it is that I don’t think Facebook is going to lose millions of users because of it. Having said that. here they are:

MySpace -58.8 million unique visitors
Facebook -19.5 milllion
Classmates Online -13.2 million
Wiindows Live Spaces -10.3 million
AOL Hometown -7.9 million
LinkedIn -4.9 million
AOL People Connection -4 million
Reunion.com -4 million
Club Penguin -3.8 million
Buzznet -2.3 million

Looking at the list from a growth standpoint and taking the same month from the previous year shows that Linkedin had the biggest percentage growth at 189%. The site experiencing the biggest loss from the previous year was AOL people connection. Other big gainers were #2 Club Penguin at 157% and #3 Facebook at 125%. MySpace only grew 19% and looks to be finally leveling off.

LinkedIn would appear to have the biggest value add as a “true” social network in which people actually “network” for busiiness reasons; whereas Facebook has the appeal to the college demo for example, for the sole purpose of “hooking up” or connecting with like-minded individuals. There are some other sites that are fast on the rise, and we would like to know from our readers if there is a site in particular that needs to be on everyone’s radar.

MySpace and Facebook users don’t care about their Privacy.

Posted on December 5, 2007 by marc meyer

Here’s a revelation to all of the folks that are fired up over the latest FaceBook fracas. This is also an FYI to all of those so-called critics of what MySpace and Facebook might be doing with a users information..

Guess what? The average user doesn’t care what an advertiser or social media marketer does with their data. Wanna know why? Because they’re in college or younger. They could care less about the implications of plastering their most intimate details all over the pages of Myspace and Facebook.

The only people that care are the Gen X, Gen Y and Boomers who are strolling or trolling, depending on your views of what a social network are.. into these 2 monolithic sites to kick the tires. They look around, think it’s kinda cool and decide to hang out awhile and see if they can “connect” with some peeps.

But wait! “Uh-oh, what do you mean you’re going to use my personal data?” For what? You mean you are going to share it? With who? Advertisers? OMG!!!!!

A voice behind a curtain: “Uhhhh well you’re sharing it with others…! ”

“Well yea that’s uhhhh different”.

The voice: It is? How is it? Tell me. You put it up there. All of it. And then some.

All of a sudden they want to take back what they said. Except that they knew going in what they were doing. They want their cake and they want to eat it too.

If you are in college, or younger. Do you really care what is happening to your data? Probably not. All you really care about is who you can hook up with( not all of you) But, the only way to do that is to supply more personal details. So why wouldn’t Facebook and MySpace and it’s partners not want to take advantage of this? And one more thing, has anyone ever asked a typical user how much of the info that he or she puts into these social networks is actually valid???

So before we, and I’m still trying to determine just what the demographic of “we” is, decide to grab torches and pitchforks, lets consider what the contract is between user and site owner of Facebook and MySpace. And not only those 2, but all social sites in general. If you’re willing to share the most amazingly intimate details to utter strangers, then what’s the difference, or why should you care if Kraft foods wants to know when you eat Mac and cheese?

The Top 25 most visited websites in the world

Posted on December 4, 2007 by marc meyer

Now before you start disputing these, these figures are according to Alexa. But beyond that, what trend do you see here? 2 things are painfully obvious. Ok 3, now it’s your turn to tell me what they are. Tell me what jumps out at you?

Facebook does a Faceplant

Posted on December 3, 2007 by marc meyer

Facebook announced in a statement posted on its website that it had made some changes to its Beacon online ad-system. The changes came after more than 50,000 users signed a petition, complaining that Beacon was too intrusive and too confusing to opt out of.

“According to PC World, a Computer Associates researcher claims that Beacon, when installed on participating sites, is sending data about users’ activity back to Facebook, even when a user is logged out of Facebook – despite Facebook’s claims to the contrary.”

Beacon is an advertising platform that tracks Facebook’s member transactions on third-party partner sites and transforms them into product/service endorsements. Beacon is a major part of the Facebook Ads platform that Facebook introduced with much fanfare several weeks ago. Beacon tracks certain activities of Facebook users on more than 40 participating Web sites, including those of Blockbuster and Fandango, and reports those activities to the users’ set of Facebook friends, unless told not to do so.

Since then, Users’ data on their activities at those participant websites has been flowing back to Facebook automatically without the option to block that information from being transmitted. Nice.

Users are able to opt out but only on case-by-case basis, which means that they must opt-out for each of the more than 44 participant websites. That’s right, 44. As a consequence, Facebook users are going ballistic. Facebook had to adjust Beacon to make it work more implicit and user friendly; and to make it easier to nix a broadcast message and opt out of having activities tracked on specific Web sites.

“Users must click on ‘OK’ in a new initial notification on their Facebook home page before the first Beacon story is published to their friends from each participating site,” the statement reads.”

Also, Facebook’s Beacon now offers to the users clear options in ongoing notifications to either delete or publish. If they delay in making this decision, the notification will hide and they can make a decision at a later time.

But Facebook didn’t go all the way to providing a general opt-out option for the entire Beacon program, as some had hoped. Expect the fallout to continue as Facebook scrambles to figure out how to play with the big boys before being black balled. If they don’t do some major damage repair and assure users that they are not abusing their data, folks will be leaving quicker than kids at a party that the cops show up at.

The only place for social networks to go is down. Or out.

Posted on November 30, 2007 by marc meyer

After posting several “top” social network lists over the past few weeks, I started thinking about what will happen when the early adopters tail off and all of these new and existing social networks fall in line with all of the other new and as of yet unknown social networks. What will they do? What will social media consultants do? Picture South Park: Blank stare.

So now what? What do we now? Do we wait to be bought? I thought our widget was so cool. etc etc. The reality is that at some point, and I don’t think it has happened yet, but social networking will become this bloated animal of a technology where you can only do so much with your network of friends. You see, there will come a time in which you will say, “I can only write about so much mundane trivial drivel.” To the extent that you are bored. Unmotivated. That finding the NBT in widgets won’t even get you excited. Then what? Now if your Mark Zuckerberg, it really doesn’t matter at this point, does it?. His 30 year vision notwithstanding, I just don’t see what the value add will be for most social networks. They have to give me more than just a snapshot of you and what you are doing and when you did it! Yeehawww…

Which leads me to what I think will be the NBT for social networks. Through a series of revelatory emails with one of the founders of introNetworks, Mark Sylvester. We both are in concurrence as to what will happen, we have found some common ground so to speak. See if you agree: Here are some snippets from those emails:

Mark Sylvester:

” Would like to call your attention to introNetworks, one of the first true B2B social networking platforms. introNetworks debuted at the TED Conference in 2003 and since has created gated communities for employees, partners, customers and events for hundreds of companies. The software specifically focuses on providing an easy to deploy and easy to configure system that delivers business intelligence that serves to help management improve their product, services and offerings to their various audiences”

Me:

Hi Mark, thanks for providing an addition to the list of business related social networking sites. Your site/company seems to have a valuable proposition. Although a thought came to me just yesterday that, at some point we are going to reach a saturation level with social networks, and then what? What happens next? There has to be some sort of pay-off here. Granted I can use a social network to meet people, co-workers, business contacts etc etc…But where do they go from here? I have a feeling that the next great app is going to take social networks to another level that we haven’t dreamt off yet. All I can think of at the moment is some sort of melding of a mobile app and social networks on a platform that will change the way people live and conduct their lives.

Mark Sylvester:

“Right now it looks like the early adopters and innovators (according to Crossing the Chasm) are embracing the technology and finding applications that extend beyond the obvious ones – like inside the corporation for succession planning, team building, managing a flexible workforce – etc. But that over time, we will start to see some definitive use cases that have shelf life. I agree that there has to be a compelling reason to ‘come back’ to the sites. Remember, we are appealing to business and professional users, not kids with a lot of free time. So, we have to deliver value immediately.”

“Regarding MoSoSo (mobile social software) market, I couldn’t agree more. That is why we have such a great relationship with Neighborhood America”

Thanks Mark for a great exchange. So what do you think? Where do social networks go from here? There needs to be more of a value add. The new ones on the block need to know that but of course that was and is always the premise of any new app or site. What is the value proposition? How will you drive traffic and make money? The bottom line is that social networks need to change the offer now. The ones that are thinking further down the line will survive. The others, will not make it beyond the next 18 months.

Back to South Park, Cut to the blank stare. Now what?

Social Retailing. Going to the mall with all my social networking friends.

Posted on November 12, 2007 by marc meyer

So you really thought that this social networking thing might not catch on in the mainstream? Well guess what? Why don’t we mash the mall with Facebook or Myspace and see what we get? Social Retailing.

A New York-based designer has come up with a mirror equipped with infrared technology that sends a live video feed to any cell phone, e-mail account or personal digital assistant device selected by a shopper. OMG u looook so goood!

Christopher Enright, chief technology officer for digital design company IconNicholson, said putting these mirrors outside store fitting rooms meant women could go shopping with their friends — remotely.

Essentially, you can be anywhere in the world and your friends or relatives can be elsewhere and yet you can all talk, and view what you are trying on.

Using the interactive mirror, a shopper’s friends can then text message back with comments about the outfit IconNicolson which has rolled out this “social retailing” vision, has mashed up social networking and bleeding edge communication technologies with youth shopping habits – to target young adult shoppers. In part, the interactive mirror can send a live video feed to any cell phone or e-mail account selected by the shopper.

Shopping will now take on new meaning. But the question is, isn’t part of the fun of shopping at the mall, travelling in large packs, hanging out in the food court, and essentially buying nothing? Time will tell, but at the least, we can add anew term to the ever-growing lexicon of social media terms.

VOIS, What do you know about it?

Posted on November 8, 2007 by marc meyer

Vois is one of the fastest growing, global social networking communities for people ages 18
and over today. And you’ve never heard of it. Go figure huh? Now let the word global sink in for a second, and then read the following stats. Social networking growth is quickly becoming a worldwide phenomenon. By the end of this year, Asia will account for 35% of the world’s social networking users, with 28% of users in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, 25% in
North America, and 12% in the Caribbean and Latin America, according to research firm Datamonitor Plc. That means that ASIA is the largest user of social networks in the world. That’s right, the world.

According to a Goldman Sachs report, the fastest growing economies in the world are Brazil, India, China and Russia or BRIC’s. The next 11 countries or the N-11, that are the next future important economies are Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Korea,
Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Turkey and Vietnam.

So follow me here because you’ll see why VOIS (pronounced voice) in particular could be bigger than Facebook and MySpace combined. Due to the incredible growth rates of the BRIC economies, their combined GDP is predicted to overtake the combined GDP of the major developed economies of the US, Western Europe, and Japan in the next 40 years or less.

Now here’s the skinny on VOIS. VOIS accordingly has made significant inroads in obtaining significant market share in many of the BRIC and N-11 nations. According to Alexa.com, VOIS ranks within the top 15,000 websites worldwide and within BRIC and N-11 nations VOIS is already within the top 5000 websites in Egypt (523) and Iran (4,575), within the top 10,000 websites in Indonesia (3,778) and within the top 20,000 websites in India (12,223) and Mexico (18,871).

VOIS.com’s goal is to become a top website within many of the BRIC and N-11 nations within the next year and plans to pursue more market share and expand global reach by launching localized language-specific content-specific versions of their website in each of the BRIC Countries and the N-11.

According to the CIA World Factbook, the BRIC countries collective presently possesses more mobile phones and Internet users than in the U.S., while the Internet News Agency reports that the BRIC middle class is expected to exceed 800 million in the next ten years, a demographic larger than the United States, Western Europe and Japan
combined.

So if you are a marketer, or advertiser, or a cell carrier, etc etc and you think you’re little world here in the United States is all about you and your social network, and your niche, well you better think again. it’s a big world out there and they are coming fast and they are coming hard.