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.

The top 44 social music sites

Posted on November 9, 2007 by marc meyer

In no particular order, we present one of the fastest growing and extremely loyal aspects of social networks. That would be the networks that revolve around Music. Music being the social creature that it is, it is no surprise that this aspect of social networking is so attractive and so appealing to so many. So the fact that social networks, not the least being Myspace, which is the mother of all music social network sites, has evolved so quickly is no big surprise. Look for this sector to continue to explode and surprise as it straddles the hump between Web 2.0 and Web 2.5 within the next year. If not already. Feel free to add!

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.

How wired are you? Let me count the ways.

Posted on October 30, 2007 by marc meyer

Look around, what do you see in your house right now. Cell phone, home computer, ipod, laptop, PDA, wireless router, VOIP, Digital Cable, Digital Camera, DVR…

OK now look around aagain, who’s wired more? You? Your Friends, Your neighbor, their kids or your kids?

We now live in a world where 5 and 6 year olds are more computer savvy and accustomed to the computer than adults were 5 and 6 years ago! However, a sad thing is happening in the new digital universe. Actual parks and playgrounds that adults once enjoyed as children are being replaced by the virtual places like social networking sites like MySpace and FaceBook. Additionaly text messaging, instant messenging, video-music swapping sites and gaming have supplanted the outside world for the inside world.

So the questions is to many parents and educators puzzled by the social habits of this young and wired generation, do you go along? or do you stand on the sideline and worry and fret about how their child is going to turn out?

According to Anastasia Goodstein, author of “Totally Wired: What Teens and Tweens are Really Doing Online” and blogger for Ypulse.com, theirs is a virtual space wherein they play games, experiment with self-expression, and socialize with friends.

As an adult, you can do the same. As a parent and an adult, you shouldn’t let technology scare you into powerlessness, or intimidate you. There are many social networking sites that speak to your challenges and your niche, believe it or not. As well, there are many forums and BBS groups that are niche like in nature that can help you get a feel for the online world. Understanding how these groups interact, will help you in understanding the larger networks.

As an adult you should also try to balance the virtual world with the real world as well. being wired is not a bad thing, but remember there is no substitute for some type of physical activity or actual face to face encounters. Here’s an idea! Self Express face to face.

According to Donna Bogatin You are too wired if:

YOU PUT A BLUETOOTH HEADSET IN YOUR MOTORCYCLE HELMET

YOUR CELLPHONE IS YOUR MOST IMPORTANT BATHROOM ACCESSORY

YOU PREFER YOUR CELLPHONE OVER TOM CRUISE

YOU BELIEVE YOUR RIGHT TO A CELLPHONE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN A RIGHT TO A FAIR TRIAL

YOU BELIEVE YOUR RIGHT TO YAK IN PUBLIC IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN PUBLIC SAFETY

YOU LIVE BLOG A HOSPITAL PROCEDURE

YOU SUFFER FROM A WORK-INDUCED TECH ADDICTION

YOU INTERRUPT SEX TO ANSWER YOUR CELLPHONE

So remember, balance the gadgets, or just wait a little longer and all of the gadgets will be on one device. It sure does make you wonder how anything got done before computers and cell phones. By Balancing now you reduce the chance that you or your kids will lose any type of social people skills that you have cultivated up to this point. When you think about it, Isn’t the social network almost anti-social because it reduces the actual encounter down to your ability to type a coherent message? The coherent message resembling something like this: C U L8R, GTG. How is that social interaction? I can see it now, in 10 years our society will consist of text based face to face conversations where no one looks at each other. Hell they may even use their devices to speak for them as they stand next to each other at a function. Social gatherings will certainly take on new meaning.

Do you think we are too wired for our own good? Do we improve on it? How so?