Archive for the ‘facebook’ Category

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Facebook Trolls Still Pining for Dislike Button

Friday, October 7th, 2011

Since the dawn of time…the time spent on Facebook…people have wanted a dislike button. In fact, the official page for requesting a dislike button now has over 3.3 million likes. But, Facebook has continued to avoid this request, and they are actively trying to prevent app developers from including this functionality.

Why? Well, they want Facebook to be a positive place. A dislike button could theoretically be used properly. And could be used for comedy. But, it could also be used to hurt somebody’s feelings. Facebook could instantly become the instant bully platform. “Check out my new haircut!” (dislike)

There’s also some pragmatic reasons for not adding a dislike button. Let’s say you just watched a movie you don’t like. Wouldn’t it be nice to post your status update that says “Just watched Twilight…” and then thumbs down it? But here’s the problem. Do people thumbs up your post if they like your thumbs down? If there are 5 likes and 5 dislikes, should it show up as 0?

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Posted in Social Media, facebook | No Comments »

The Magic Has Died

Thursday, October 6th, 2011

Steve Jobs, Apple’s chairman of the board, and former CEO has passed away after a long bout with pancreatic cancer at the age of 56.

Not only does the death of a beloved figure remind us of our own mortality, but there is a real and present fear that Willy Wonka has died – that there’s no one else in the entire world who invents the beautiful future like him – and we’re terrified there’s no one else who can.

Apple has released the email that now CEO Tim Cook sent to the company’s staff alerting them of the news:

Team,

I have some very sad news to share with all of you. Steve passed away earlier today.

Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.

We are planning a celebration of Steve’s extraordinary life for Apple employees that will take place soon. If you would like to share your thoughts, memories and condolences in the interim, you can simply email rememberingsteve@apple.com.

No words can adequately express our sadness at Steve’s death or our gratitude for the opportunity to work with him. We will honor his memory by dedicating ourselves to continuing the work he loved so much.

Tim

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Posted in Apple, facebook | No Comments »

As Facebook Catches Up, Google Plus Goes Public

Monday, October 3rd, 2011

Last week, Facebook caught up with all of the innovations that were making Google Plus so interesting. In fact, one could argue they Facebook sped right past.

But, nearly simultaneously, Google Plus went public. (Did you even know it was still in an invite-only beta?) And in that first week Google+ went public, traffic to the network grew by 1269%, with 15 million total (non-mobile) U.S. visits.

Are these people just going to check out what all the no-longer fuss is about? Or more people looking to make an exodus? But from what – now that Facebook offers the features (social filtering and others) that made Google+ so tempting in the first place?

And just to compare, Google Plus’ traffic is not just far behind Facebook’s – it’s still behind MySpace’s.

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Posted in Google, Google Plus, Social Media, facebook | No Comments »

Does Facebook See Everything I Do?

Monday, October 3rd, 2011

The cool thing about the semantic Web is that Facebook can connect with everything you do.

The bad thing about the semantic Web is that you might not want Facebook to see everything you do.

For example, Facebook is set up to automatically reveal in the new ticker what you’re listening to on Spotify. Now, I’m going to have to censor myself. No more guilty pleasure MC Hammer on a Monday morning. Because people will see. And what else are they seeing? Every site I visit. Every blog I browse.

In fact, is it possible that, even while logged out, Facebook knows where I’m going?

Well, many sites have Facebook integration. So, even when you’re offline, you may not really be that. Because new tests have shown that even logged out requests still send cookies, which identify you as a Facebook user.

I am no longer anonymous. Perhaps I never was, but it felt like it.

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Posted in Internet Marketing, Social Media, facebook | No Comments »

Hulu Incorporates Social Commentary Integration

Friday, September 30th, 2011

Last month, we talked about how Facebook Movie Rentals had begun testing social integration, allowing users to add captions and comments to movie timelines for their friends to view when they watched the same show or movie.

Now, this Facebook integration has grown to include Hulu’s streaming media content. With this Hulu app, you will be able to provide similar commentary directly within Hulu (directly within Facebook).

Plus, Hulu Plus users get access to their entire library directly on Facebook. And you have easy control access over how private you want your viewing/commenting to be.

Expect this new feature to become extremely popular, extremely fast. I’m already excited for it.

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Posted in Social Media, facebook | No Comments »

Does New Facebook Hurt Google Plus?

Thursday, September 29th, 2011

People are already claiming the death of Google Plus. But, are these digital prophecies a bit premature?

Because Google Plus isn’t exactly a graveyard. It has more than 43 million users and counting. There was a desire for something different. Perhaps Google Plus’ Circles feature offered the wake-up call Facebook need to evolve. Now that they have, is Google Plus necessary any more?

Well, your mom’s not there. It’s a little better looking. It’s quieter. If Facebook evolves quick enough, perhaps they can quell the social exodus. And if they do, yeah, Google Plus might be in trouble.

Or it becomes something different. For instance, as both networks move to a profile-based experience – in the future, are you going to want future employers to see your Google Profile, or your Facebook profile?

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Facebook Catches Up and Moves Fast into the Future

Thursday, September 29th, 2011

Facebook has officially redeemed themselves.

I’ve been upset with Facebook for more than a year now. They just weren’t innovating. Twitter allowed you to follow people without friending, which ushered in a whole world of celebrities on the Twitter train.

Facebook didn’t change. And Twitter went mainstream.

Recently, Google Plus has come out with a whole new innovation of social media  filtering. The ability to share status updates, news and video with select circles of friends – without letting other friends see. They beat Facebook to this seemingly obvious evolution of social sharing.

But finally, Facebook is catching up, and it looks like they’re moving far ahead.

At the F8 conference last week, Mark Zuckerberg shared a world of Jobs’ian beauty. It’s exciting. It’s beautiful. It gives users more control. It takes the best features that Twitter and Google Plus have to offer (following & filtering). I’m proud of Facebook. I’m excited about Facebook once again.

But, here’s my one big concern, and it’s probably everyone’s. This “semantic Web” that Zuckerberg is so excited about, and the privacy issues that we’re so fearful of. Your interaction with Facebook apps now automatically ends up in, no longer your timeline, but your ticker (the new right sidebar feature).

You don’t get to opt-in to this. You don’t get to say no. This just isn’t smart. I’m going to be self conscious about the songs I choose to listen to on Spotify now. Do I want people to know I’m listening to the new Jay-Z album? Now I don’t get a choice. If I want to do something, I am forced to do it publicly. Sorry Zuckerberg. This ain’t going to fly. Fix this. Focus on making things easier while giving us more control. And you’ll stay in the lead for good this time.

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Posted in Google Plus, Internet Marketing, Social Media, Twitter, facebook | No Comments »

Facebook Fan Pages Can Now Become Facebook Profiles

Friday, September 23rd, 2011

With this latest Facebook change, many people have been asking whether they should take advantage of the option to turn their Facebook Fan Page into a Facebook Profile?

Well, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg apparently thinks so. Facebook has merged his Facebook Fan Page into his Facebook profile, and automatically accumulated more than 5 million new subscribers.

A huge benefit to Zuckerberg (and other celebrities who want to do this) is that, unlike with Fan Pages, you can mass message your “followers”, a huge marketing advantage. But, as of today, business fan pages (non individuals) can’t convert to profile pages and still long for this messaging feature.

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Posted in Social Media, facebook | No Comments »

Facebook Subscribe Button Only 3 Years Behind Twitter

Thursday, September 22nd, 2011

We at Windy City Strategies called for this a while back. After all, it was Twitter’s single greatest advantage. The fact that you could track celebrities and other thought leaders without being “friends” with them. In fact, we suggested that Facebook offer a “follow” feature.

But, the fact that it took Facebook this long to launch their Facebook Subscribe Button is really telling. It tells a story of arrogance as well as defeat. Worst of all, if they had copied Twitter a bit faster, it might have prevented their massive and ever-popular growth.

At least they’re copying Google Plus’ Circles filtering feature more quickly.

Here’s the big problem. Celebrities aren’t using Facebook to share publicly. After all, “that’s what Twitter is for.” And while I can now filter my friends list, and keep my church friends from seeing my questionable humor, it would take me going back and defining my 600+ Facebook relationships.

So, yes, you can follow celebrities and your industry thought leaders on Facebook now. The problem is, they’re not here.

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Posted in Google, Google Plus, Internet Marketing, Social Media, Twitter, facebook | No Comments »

The Future of Daily Deals

Wednesday, September 21st, 2011

We recently talked about why we prefer Living Social’s social incentives over Groupon’s, the slowly fading market leader. But is it even possible to predict what this daily deals market landscape will look like a year from now?

While Groupon was the real first-to-market leader, the truth is that Groupon’s retail partners aren’t thrilled with the results they’ve been getting. Not that they haven’t gotten foot traffic from their partnership with the daily deals leader. But, the fact that this traffic isn’t profitable. They usually take a hit on the deal itself, and aren’t retaining this swarm of new customers. Facebook is already discontinuing their deals offering, probably somewhat because their check-in service hasn’t truly taken off yet.

This isn’t to say that Daily Deals are dead in the water. But that they are likely to evolve into a better win-win situation over time. Google Instant‘s move to day-of deal delivery is probably closer to the winning strategy. Limited time offers to increase foot traffic immediately. The deals aren’t extravagant – which means they’re more profitable for the retailer. It’s just a nice little incentive to try a new local retail restaurant nearby, on a day when they’re looking to fill tables.

Groupon deserves credit for creating the formula, and for teaching their competitors some “what not to do” lessons. Unfortunately, they’re probably not going to be the company that reaps the rewards in the long run.

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Posted in Google, facebook, local advertising, mobile-marketing | No Comments »

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