Google+: Facebook Adversary, or Flash in the Pan?

With 1.8 million visits in less than a month since it’s beta release, Google+ is hardly busting down Facebook’s doors. In fact, those visits only represent less than 0.5% of Facebook’s traffic during the same time frame. So when and why should marketers start paying attention to it? The answer to the first question is now. Why? Because it’s growing. It’s important to understand that even though it’s only reached a small percent of Facebook’s traffic, that it is still in beta testing, and only reachable via invite. Once the general population gains access, site traffic can only go up. Marketers need to fish where the fish are, and if consumers are migrating over to Google+ (which they may very well do so, as it’s billed as being a much easier platform for users to share content), then it would be wise to start exploring now.

It will be interesting to see how much traction Google+ gains, especially once released into the wild. We should start paying attention now. We know Facebook will be.


Have you started playing with Google+ yet?

Are “Social Norms” to Blame?

From being an exclusive “college” network to letting the whole world in, Facebook has evolved astronomically these last few years. I remember looking back on my own experience and thinking, “What’s gonna happen to my profile when I graduate?” Well, I now have my answer, obviously.

But in the midst of this grand evolution, there still has to be some element of privacy. (Facebook recently amended its privacy settings.) We all know that Facebook has made once private information available to the public in recent months. Is Mark Zuckerberg’s argument that the ever-changing “social norms” of society are to blame, convincing enough? The author of this article doesn’t seem to think so; in fact, he believes that Zuckerberg is deviating from his past beliefs:

“I don't buy Zuckerberg's argument that Facebook is now only reflecting the changes that society is undergoing… ‘Privacy control, he told me less than 2 years ago, is "the vector around which Facebook operates” .’

However, Zuckerberg makes a good point: “"We view it as our role in the system to constantly be innovating and be updating what our system is to reflect what the current social norms are.”

I personally think the term “social norms” is a bit dated for this argument, but that’s a whole other discussion.

I can see both sides of the story. But either way, just have common sense. Figure out Facebook’s privacy settings. Don’t post stuff you wouldn’t want your grandmother or her Bingo friends to see.

it's about time

Finally, Facebook will be undergoing "drastic" changes in the next month or so. To quote this article, "Profile pages are getting a total makeover." It looks like the clutter is being put where it belongs: in FOUR separate tabs. The idea is to clean up and simplify users' profiles, allowing for more control (something of which Facebookers were likely fearing loss).

And we all know what this means: those not-relevant-to-life, malfunctioning, annoying applications will become...LESS visible! (They will reside in their own tab.) It's believed that the more "meaningful" applications will shine brighter under the spotlight (ala the new-and-improved mini-feed feature).

I truly hope these changes bring about nothing but success. The clutter, similar to many tacky (to say the least) MySpace profiles, is soon to incur the wrath of...organization? What a concept!

And as a reminder, MySpace is precisely what I moved AWAY from.

Have we no manners??

I've been violated. Or, at least that is how I see it with my latest run-in on FB. All along, my biggest concern about joining FB was the privacy, or lack thereof. After much persuasion, I ventured into social media-land regardless and to my surprise it's been amazing - just in the number of old friends I have been able to reconnect with. That is until today.

Today, I opened my inbox to a rash of messages from friends demanding to know who the hell "So and So" was, because this person had invited god knows how many of my friends to be his friends. 99.9% of these he has never met, knows not how I know them nor how they came to be my FB friends and his perception was that this is acceptable FB behavior. Now, I am sure we have all gotten the completely random FB friend request, and we accept it or ignore it, and it's no big deal. But suddenly, when one of your own friends does it, and it results in an influx of messages into your inbox, it is a completely different story. It's the online version of a party crasher, and I did not react well.

So, in an effort to determine whether or not my reaction was completely irrational, and whether I should block him and go hide my head in the sand after sending a note of apology to all my friends, I googled "Facebook Etiquette". We should all take note with this quick refresher on proper behaviour on FB, and use these Top 10 as our "Facebook Mantra":

1. One should NOT friend another with whom they have no association with, that is without a proper introduction. You don't want to be the creepy dude on FB, do you?? Oh, and for those of you who are still single, it is recommended that you wait 2 days before friending someone you hooked up with.

2. If you must "Poke", do so with moderation and caution.

3. In conversations with fellow FB members, be careful not to let on that you know everything about them, even if they have plastered their page with gory details about thier latest breakup or conquest. Stalk secretly all you want, but in conversation do respect some level of (dare I say) privacy, otherwise you are right back in the "creepy" category.

4. Keep a clean profile page - avoid abusive posted items, notes, information or wall posts. And post pictures that include clothing - lack thereof is just wrong, no matter how you slice it.

5. Treat FB friends with respect - respect their views, even if they are of lesser quality or you perceive them to be wrong.

6. RSVP'd event attendance must be respected and upheld.

7. Tell the truth. (this is worth multiple mentions)

8. Be gentle and patient with non-savvy FB users (like the elderly and small animals).

9. Help friends who seem to be in distress - reach out to them, share the love.

10. Lastly, FB is not an acceptable replacement for socializing offline. Make time for your friends outside FB.

Twitter and visualizing your social networks

Ok, most of us have fun with twitter, but this makes it that much cooler. Twittervision 3d let's you experience a globe with random twitters from people around the world. It's really interesting in that it really shows you the vastness of both twitter and also the web in general. If you like that, then there is also a Facebook app that seems pretty sweet too, it's basically a mash-up between twitter and google maps. It's all about visualizing your social network

Then there is the site called ... Twitter Browser. If you want to visualize your network in more of a site map view, this the place to go (actually even if you don't you should still check this out.)

New Facebook Chat: A Blessing or Annoyance?

There's AIM, MSN, iChat, Adium, Google Chat, and now...Facebook Chat? (Oh, I guess I should include MySpace chat, too.) The world's largest social networking site will stop at nothing! Conveniently, no buddy list is needed since users already have friends' lists from which to pick and choose who they'll converse with. Another difference: the mini-feeds will display in the chat windows so users can see who's been up to what and where and when!

A grad student seems to think, ""[Facebook Chat] looks like it's going to be an interesting and useful feature...My bet is that this will surpass [Google's] GChat as No. 2 behind AIM, because it's so universally used and logged into."

While that may be true, it can also pose as an annoyance. Yet another window to keep open! According to a computer programmer, "Not only do I need to keep each of the IM programs open now, but I also need to keep a copy of Gmail open in my browser, and now a copy of Facebook open in my browser...It's not like I need five different e-mail programs open to e-mail five different people."

Personally, I'm a fan of the clean, Google approach to chatting. I think I'll stick to it. My beloved Facebook has become such a smorgasbord of "impressive" eye candy over the past several months. Thus, yet another feature doesn't seem so appealing anymore.

Make a clickable facebook t-shirt. (What?)

Add to friends gear, it's a facebook/QR thing.

QR Codes Go Global

Here is a great article over at CScout on QR codes. It's pretty much everything you need to know (for now). QR codes are a really exciting marketing opportunity for interactive, retail and marketers in general. We're probably just ahead of the curve as far as implementing a true QR campaign, but hey -- it's good to dream and prepare, the day will be here very soon. QR Codes go global.

Please stop Facbooking me to death.

I don't want a beer, i don't want to grow an interactive plant with you. I don't want to score my music tastes, movies or hotness appeal with you.

Ummm, I just don't.

I've never been hit with so many useless applications at once, it's pretty remarkable. There seems to be no end in sight for these applications and it's driving me insane. A few of the applications that I like seem to be the more useful ones to me. For example, my Twitter app, LOVE IT. My Stumbled Upon app is nice also.

Is there a pop-account app out there? I'd love to check my email right there and i'd love to port over all my RSS feeds.

With so many applications that are forcing me to "forward to all my friends".. it's just getting old and I'm starting to question why i'm on facebook at all.

More later on this, i'm heading to FB to see if I've been friended by anyone new.