Tretakoff Musings
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
When Brands Become People
One of the interesting side effects of brands using social networking to communicate with their customers are the humanization of the formerly faceless brands. As NASA found by using Twitter to let the Mars Rover communicate with interested parties, people form an emotional attachment to what were formerly cold and lifeless objects. But what happens when those are brands, come to life?
The results are fascinating. Take a look at the "tweets" today, left. That's a conversation between, ostensibly, Southwest Airlines and JetBlue. Both are active on Twitter, letting folks know of new routes, delays, and new features. Both are typical of Twitter, representing themselves as the brand, not as individuals of that brand. Thus, to the follower, while you "know" there's a human behind it, the brand is the voice. For that reason, the voice tends to be reflective of the brand: SouthwestAir is fun loving, chipper, and relentlessly upbeat; JetBlue is suave, slightly amusingly snarky, and very much emphasizing on new features.
In this case, and it's the first I have seen, we have one "brand" directly talking to another. And not just another company; a direct competitor! And it's a public discussion for all who follow either to enjoy. This completely breaks down the walls around corporate communication and adds a whole fascinating new dynamic.
Imagine a customer who misses their JetBlue flight: they tweet to @JetBlue, asking for help. @JetBlue, replies, getting some details, finds the customer is in a market that they know Southwest Air services more regularly. @JetBlue tweets to @SouthwestAir, asking for some help to get the customer rebooked. @SouthwestAir finds it, makes it happen, and replies to both @JetBlue and the customer. Boom, the customer is rebooked on Southwest Air, having a GREAT impression of both airlines, before they even get to the airport.
There are other companies who take a different approach, allowing individual faces on their brands. Comcast Frank is one of the most famous, having been profiled multiple times in mainstream news. Frank's approach is very different: his Twitter usage is proactive, and his manner is very much different than either Comcast's brand marketing or the customer's expectations of customer service. In this case, because he's Frank, you think of him as an individual first, and a representative of the company second; as a result, personal interactions are far better and have more civil tones.
Both are great examples of how social media is transforming the corporate to customer communication landscape. It's fascinating to see the unexpected and delightful evolution. Part of me never wants to see the folks behind @JetBlue and @SouthwestAir. I actually would prefer a picture of two individuals meeting in an airport bar, with a big logo of each brand over their faces; it's how I want to think of them from now on.
One of the interesting side effects of brands using social networking to communicate with their customers are the humanization of the formerly faceless brands. As NASA found by using Twitter to let the Mars Rover communicate with interested parties, people form an emotional attachment to what were formerly cold and lifeless objects. But what happens when those are brands, come to life?The results are fascinating. Take a look at the "tweets" today, left. That's a conversation between, ostensibly, Southwest Airlines and JetBlue. Both are active on Twitter, letting folks know of new routes, delays, and new features. Both are typical of Twitter, representing themselves as the brand, not as individuals of that brand. Thus, to the follower, while you "know" there's a human behind it, the brand is the voice. For that reason, the voice tends to be reflective of the brand: SouthwestAir is fun loving, chipper, and relentlessly upbeat; JetBlue is suave, slightly amusingly snarky, and very much emphasizing on new features.
In this case, and it's the first I have seen, we have one "brand" directly talking to another. And not just another company; a direct competitor! And it's a public discussion for all who follow either to enjoy. This completely breaks down the walls around corporate communication and adds a whole fascinating new dynamic.
Imagine a customer who misses their JetBlue flight: they tweet to @JetBlue, asking for help. @JetBlue, replies, getting some details, finds the customer is in a market that they know Southwest Air services more regularly. @JetBlue tweets to @SouthwestAir, asking for some help to get the customer rebooked. @SouthwestAir finds it, makes it happen, and replies to both @JetBlue and the customer. Boom, the customer is rebooked on Southwest Air, having a GREAT impression of both airlines, before they even get to the airport.
There are other companies who take a different approach, allowing individual faces on their brands. Comcast Frank is one of the most famous, having been profiled multiple times in mainstream news. Frank's approach is very different: his Twitter usage is proactive, and his manner is very much different than either Comcast's brand marketing or the customer's expectations of customer service. In this case, because he's Frank, you think of him as an individual first, and a representative of the company second; as a result, personal interactions are far better and have more civil tones.Both are great examples of how social media is transforming the corporate to customer communication landscape. It's fascinating to see the unexpected and delightful evolution. Part of me never wants to see the folks behind @JetBlue and @SouthwestAir. I actually would prefer a picture of two individuals meeting in an airport bar, with a big logo of each brand over their faces; it's how I want to think of them from now on.
Labels: business, social networks, Twitter
Saturday, January 10, 2009
What do Palm and Doug Flutie Have In Common?
I've always been a huge fan of Doug Flutie. I grew up right down the street from the very stadium he played his college ball (and made his legend). I followed him through both the CFL and the NFL. In fact, I even flew hundreds of miles, just for the chance to see him play. No matter how successful as a pro he was, everyone always remembers Doug Flutie for the play that put him on the national stage: the Hail Mary pass that won the Bowl.
I've always been a huge fan of Doug Flutie. I grew up right down the street from the very stadium he played his college ball (and made his legend). I followed him through both the CFL and the NFL. In fact, I even flew hundreds of miles, just for the chance to see him play. No matter how successful as a pro he was, everyone always remembers Doug Flutie for the play that put him on the national stage: the Hail Mary pass that won the Bowl.Years later, while he was setting record after record in Canada, his team even brought the recipient of that pass, Gerard Phelan, to the team. Was Phelan that great? Not at all. Did Flutie need a great receiver? Absolutely not. But the team wanted the public to recapture their sense of awe and wonder at this display that changed the world by evoking the connection of that Hail Mary.
This week, another former champion, known for taking the world by storm, took the stage again for one last Hail Mary pass: Palm. Similarly, it was a desperate situation: Palm had practically owned the smartphone game with the Treo, but in recent years, the brand, company, and products faltered, and desperation set in. With all of the gravitas of that last second chance, Palm staged their Hail Mary this week at the Consumer Electronics Show. The lights came down, the stage lit up, and the pass was launched high over the heads of the curious, anxious spectators...and, like Flutie, it delivered the score when it needed to.
This is the last, desperate hope of a company that introduced the world to the smartphone, a concept we take for granted now. At this year's CES, the CEO of Palm, Ed Colligan, pointed out some of the innovations Palm was once known for. For instance, when the Palm Pilot was first introduced, the competition was not a laptop or other smartphone; it was pen and paper. The near-legendary story goes that, when designing the perfect interface and form factor for the Palm Pilot, Ed and the other team members carried around a block of wood, pretending it was the perfect device. From that, the UI became intuitive, and the PDA was born. Similarly, when getting into the smartphone space, others tried to shrink the laptop; Palm tried to instead expand the range of the PDA, and it worked.
With all of that, Palm's Hail Mary is the Palm Pre: a completely new smartphone. The market has changed, so Palm's approach with the Pre has changed. Today, we have the iPhone, Blackberry, and Windows Mobile phones, as well as Google's Android platform just launching. Palm hired Jon Rubenstein away from Apple and focused on building an innovative product to take back the space that Apple had claimed, and the Pre does just that. It innovates in several excellent ways, and builds on both Palm's expertise and experience, in a way that is unique.
If you think of it, today's smartphone market is actually a selection of Frankensteins: each of the popular phones was an evolution of a solution to a specific problem. The iPhone is the mobile communication expression of the iPod: a device who's roots are in music, media, and smooth interaction with the Apple application universe. The Blackberry is the ultimate expression of an e-mail-only device, with media and web functions bolted on. Windows Mobile tries to be the familiar desktop operating system, on a smaller screen, for those who need that level of comfort. Android is..well, very raw and powerful, much like all of Google's great apps. But all of these are evolutions from a specific set of roots; the Pre is not. Here's some examples:
- In almost every popular mobile smartphone platform, the interface is modal: whatever you are doing completely takes over the screen at all times. Part of this is a result of programming for small screens, but mostly it's familiar. The Pre is not: alerts, emails, alarms, SMS...they all flow neatly into the edge of the screen, allowing you to expand their focus when you want, but not distracting you from finishing that e-mail or watching that video. In a mobile platform, that is incredibly powerful, and much more useful; only Google's Android even comes close to this.
- Apple innovated the touchscreen incredibly well with the iPhone. The Pre does better, simultaneously introducing intuitive gesture based navigation, while hearkening back to Palm's touchscreen/input area roots. No Save buttons; the Pre assumes everything is saved, always, and gives you access to all of your data or apps with a single finger flick.
- In every other platform, Search is an option. In the Pre, it's the default. Start typing, anywhere, and it immediately gives you the things that match. Application names, contacts, emails, songs, or web searches...no separate searches or even a search application; it just looks, and gives you the options. I have over 3000 contacts alone; being able to simply type whatever I am thinking, whether it be to settle a bet or make a phone call, and have the Pre do the work of finding it, is far, far better than having to bring up a phone app, scroll through the list, find the right number...
- Palm knows sync; in fact, they brought the concept to the world. As they point out in the keynote, the world's sync problems are different now. When the Palm Pilot came around, it was about digitizing your rolodex and syncing with your PC. Now, it's about keeping your social web in sync with your address book. The Pre assumes your data is "in the cloud;" it focuses on seamlessly, intuitively syncing your address book with Facebook, or Gmail, with little to no effort from you. To me, this is the most powerful feature: it's like Plaxo and Xobni in the UI of a phone. It makes the phone the central hub, not an add on, which reflects more and more the truth of smartphone users.
- The Pre does a lot of what they are calling "synergy." This means, for instance, if I get an SMS, the Pre shows me, but it also shows me if the person is on IM or e-mail. I can choose to carry on the same conversation, platform to platform, regardless; it focuses on the conversation, not the medium. This means if I get an IM, but the person signs off, I can continue the same conversation, in the same screen, over SMS or e-mail.
- The hardware is very well thought out. 3.1" screen (about .4" smaller than the iPhone) gives plenty of real estate. Slide out keyboard is a real winner and an iPhone killer, especially for those business users for e-mail. Form factor focuses on compact but not crowded: very elegant use of space, and very slim. Standards abound, from the headphone jack to Micro USB expansion slots. A removable battery, allowing the user to never be without. And, to my mind, best of all, wireless induction charging, allowing you to simply rest the phone on a small paperweight and it charges: no cables to plug in, no contacts to line up.
This device needed to be all that it is, and Palm delivered. It takes a radically different approach to the smartphone, and pays off in a revolutionary way, one that will yield dividends. As we felt when we saw the iPhone, this device changes everything. Ironically, it came the same week as the most lackluster Apple keynote since Steve returned to Apple, and the similarities of this keynote were startling. It was like the reality distortion field dissipated in Cupertino and reformed in Las Vegas: Ed Colligan did a great Steve Jobs, and Jon Rubenstein was a fantastic Jonathan Ives.
So, the $1,000,000 question: having been a true iPhone fanatic since the launch, and having completely come over to the Apple world, would I be willing to chuck the iPhone for a Palm Pre? The answer is a very surprising, but highly conditional, yes. Yep, I like what I see, and I can see this device answering a slew of problems I have. So why conditional?
- No one knows how much this device will cost. Rumors range from $99 to $399. Given that they are going after the iPhone and Android, it should cost about $199-$249. However, Palm has a shaky history on pricing: the new model Treos have routinely been at the $499 range, before they have lowered the price to something normal. To hit it out of the park, I'd say $199 is the magic number.
- Sprint is the only carrier, to start with. To be fair, I have little recent info on them, but Amy's Kindle uses Sprint's data network for it's connection, and that's been pretty poor where we live. I'm sure it's far better in the city, and, like my iPhone, I mostly use WiFi at home and the office. However, switching carriers is a big question mark for me, and I'd have to be seriously convinced of the reliability. Gotta say, I love the idea of having access to the NFL's exclusive mobile content to Sprint, though.
- In all of the cool demos, there was not a single shot I could find of the device's ability to play video. Honestly, this is one of the killer apps of the iPhone: watching movies or video podcasts is a no-brainer, and they look great. I find the lack of video demo suspicious, and makes me concerned about using the Pre as a media player.
- Likewise, the music player looks good, but the iPhone/iTunes sync is really what sets it apart. All I can think of, based on their insistence that this device is meant to be it's own stand alone, and the presence of a big internal memory, as well as expandability to other storage, means that there is no "music sync;" you just put it on the device, and manage your music there. Given their stress on "all Pre applications will have internet connectivity," I can only hope a native podcast client will also be part of it. With those, I could see freeing myself from iTunes.
- When does this thing come out? First half of 2009; um...huh? This is one area Apple excels at: they announce the device, and set the date. Between now and "then," we could have a whole new firmware revision to the iPhone (vastly increasing its capabilities); a slew of new Android phones (with a wealth of new applications), and more. This should have been ready to buy Feb. 1.
There are still lots more questions. How well will it support Exchange? I saw Chapura prominently listed as a partner up there; that makes me concerned that Exchange support will not be native. How powerful will the apps be? The iPhone has some serious hardware to take on even gaming consoles, but the Pre looks to be more lightweight, but easier to develop for. Given it's power to be the hub, how effectively does it back up? I lose or break my iPhone, and I can just plug in a new one, and it restores it perfectly. What will the PC/Mac interaction be? Or will there really need to be, given that you can mount it as a USB drive? Like I said, still lots more...
The Palm Pre looks to be a touchdown pass. It's focus on truly intuitive use, full seamless anticipatory integration of multiple social and personal sources of data, it's purported ease of development, and it's hardware all make it look like the Hail Mary we hoped for. But the lack of details I've outlined here will determine where Gerard Phelan lands with that ball cradled in his arms: the endzone, or out of bounds. I'm hoping, desperately, that this returns Palm to the forefront and adds to the legend.
For those of you that would like to see the actual CES hour long unveiling and full demo of the Pre, here you go, courtesy of Engadget. It's as enjoyable as any Apple keynote, and fascinating to see the real deal.
With all of that, Palm's Hail Mary is the Palm Pre: a completely new smartphone. The market has changed, so Palm's approach with the Pre has changed. Today, we have the iPhone, Blackberry, and Windows Mobile phones, as well as Google's Android platform just launching. Palm hired Jon Rubenstein away from Apple and focused on building an innovative product to take back the space that Apple had claimed, and the Pre does just that. It innovates in several excellent ways, and builds on both Palm's expertise and experience, in a way that is unique.If you think of it, today's smartphone market is actually a selection of Frankensteins: each of the popular phones was an evolution of a solution to a specific problem. The iPhone is the mobile communication expression of the iPod: a device who's roots are in music, media, and smooth interaction with the Apple application universe. The Blackberry is the ultimate expression of an e-mail-only device, with media and web functions bolted on. Windows Mobile tries to be the familiar desktop operating system, on a smaller screen, for those who need that level of comfort. Android is..well, very raw and powerful, much like all of Google's great apps. But all of these are evolutions from a specific set of roots; the Pre is not. Here's some examples:
- In almost every popular mobile smartphone platform, the interface is modal: whatever you are doing completely takes over the screen at all times. Part of this is a result of programming for small screens, but mostly it's familiar. The Pre is not: alerts, emails, alarms, SMS...they all flow neatly into the edge of the screen, allowing you to expand their focus when you want, but not distracting you from finishing that e-mail or watching that video. In a mobile platform, that is incredibly powerful, and much more useful; only Google's Android even comes close to this.
- Apple innovated the touchscreen incredibly well with the iPhone. The Pre does better, simultaneously introducing intuitive gesture based navigation, while hearkening back to Palm's touchscreen/input area roots. No Save buttons; the Pre assumes everything is saved, always, and gives you access to all of your data or apps with a single finger flick.
- In every other platform, Search is an option. In the Pre, it's the default. Start typing, anywhere, and it immediately gives you the things that match. Application names, contacts, emails, songs, or web searches...no separate searches or even a search application; it just looks, and gives you the options. I have over 3000 contacts alone; being able to simply type whatever I am thinking, whether it be to settle a bet or make a phone call, and have the Pre do the work of finding it, is far, far better than having to bring up a phone app, scroll through the list, find the right number...
- Palm knows sync; in fact, they brought the concept to the world. As they point out in the keynote, the world's sync problems are different now. When the Palm Pilot came around, it was about digitizing your rolodex and syncing with your PC. Now, it's about keeping your social web in sync with your address book. The Pre assumes your data is "in the cloud;" it focuses on seamlessly, intuitively syncing your address book with Facebook, or Gmail, with little to no effort from you. To me, this is the most powerful feature: it's like Plaxo and Xobni in the UI of a phone. It makes the phone the central hub, not an add on, which reflects more and more the truth of smartphone users.
- The Pre does a lot of what they are calling "synergy." This means, for instance, if I get an SMS, the Pre shows me, but it also shows me if the person is on IM or e-mail. I can choose to carry on the same conversation, platform to platform, regardless; it focuses on the conversation, not the medium. This means if I get an IM, but the person signs off, I can continue the same conversation, in the same screen, over SMS or e-mail.
- The hardware is very well thought out. 3.1" screen (about .4" smaller than the iPhone) gives plenty of real estate. Slide out keyboard is a real winner and an iPhone killer, especially for those business users for e-mail. Form factor focuses on compact but not crowded: very elegant use of space, and very slim. Standards abound, from the headphone jack to Micro USB expansion slots. A removable battery, allowing the user to never be without. And, to my mind, best of all, wireless induction charging, allowing you to simply rest the phone on a small paperweight and it charges: no cables to plug in, no contacts to line up.
This device needed to be all that it is, and Palm delivered. It takes a radically different approach to the smartphone, and pays off in a revolutionary way, one that will yield dividends. As we felt when we saw the iPhone, this device changes everything. Ironically, it came the same week as the most lackluster Apple keynote since Steve returned to Apple, and the similarities of this keynote were startling. It was like the reality distortion field dissipated in Cupertino and reformed in Las Vegas: Ed Colligan did a great Steve Jobs, and Jon Rubenstein was a fantastic Jonathan Ives.So, the $1,000,000 question: having been a true iPhone fanatic since the launch, and having completely come over to the Apple world, would I be willing to chuck the iPhone for a Palm Pre? The answer is a very surprising, but highly conditional, yes. Yep, I like what I see, and I can see this device answering a slew of problems I have. So why conditional?
- No one knows how much this device will cost. Rumors range from $99 to $399. Given that they are going after the iPhone and Android, it should cost about $199-$249. However, Palm has a shaky history on pricing: the new model Treos have routinely been at the $499 range, before they have lowered the price to something normal. To hit it out of the park, I'd say $199 is the magic number.
- Sprint is the only carrier, to start with. To be fair, I have little recent info on them, but Amy's Kindle uses Sprint's data network for it's connection, and that's been pretty poor where we live. I'm sure it's far better in the city, and, like my iPhone, I mostly use WiFi at home and the office. However, switching carriers is a big question mark for me, and I'd have to be seriously convinced of the reliability. Gotta say, I love the idea of having access to the NFL's exclusive mobile content to Sprint, though.
- In all of the cool demos, there was not a single shot I could find of the device's ability to play video. Honestly, this is one of the killer apps of the iPhone: watching movies or video podcasts is a no-brainer, and they look great. I find the lack of video demo suspicious, and makes me concerned about using the Pre as a media player.
- Likewise, the music player looks good, but the iPhone/iTunes sync is really what sets it apart. All I can think of, based on their insistence that this device is meant to be it's own stand alone, and the presence of a big internal memory, as well as expandability to other storage, means that there is no "music sync;" you just put it on the device, and manage your music there. Given their stress on "all Pre applications will have internet connectivity," I can only hope a native podcast client will also be part of it. With those, I could see freeing myself from iTunes.
- When does this thing come out? First half of 2009; um...huh? This is one area Apple excels at: they announce the device, and set the date. Between now and "then," we could have a whole new firmware revision to the iPhone (vastly increasing its capabilities); a slew of new Android phones (with a wealth of new applications), and more. This should have been ready to buy Feb. 1.
There are still lots more questions. How well will it support Exchange? I saw Chapura prominently listed as a partner up there; that makes me concerned that Exchange support will not be native. How powerful will the apps be? The iPhone has some serious hardware to take on even gaming consoles, but the Pre looks to be more lightweight, but easier to develop for. Given it's power to be the hub, how effectively does it back up? I lose or break my iPhone, and I can just plug in a new one, and it restores it perfectly. What will the PC/Mac interaction be? Or will there really need to be, given that you can mount it as a USB drive? Like I said, still lots more...
The Palm Pre looks to be a touchdown pass. It's focus on truly intuitive use, full seamless anticipatory integration of multiple social and personal sources of data, it's purported ease of development, and it's hardware all make it look like the Hail Mary we hoped for. But the lack of details I've outlined here will determine where Gerard Phelan lands with that ball cradled in his arms: the endzone, or out of bounds. I'm hoping, desperately, that this returns Palm to the forefront and adds to the legend.
For those of you that would like to see the actual CES hour long unveiling and full demo of the Pre, here you go, courtesy of Engadget. It's as enjoyable as any Apple keynote, and fascinating to see the real deal.
Labels: cell phones, Facebook, gadgets, GPS, hardware, iPhone, Palm, social networks, Treo
Monday, October 27, 2008
Sharing is NOT Social Networking
An article in today's Boston Globe caught my eye: Barnes & Noble announced they would launch a site for customers to track their interests and favorite authors, and "share information with Facebook and other social networks." The headline of said article? "Barnes & Noble goes social networking."
Intrigued, as the article was picked up by a few retail-centric newsletters I read, I signed up. The results were disappointing, to say the least: it's not much more than a "build my library" feature. The "social networking?" It consists of a "Share" button that allows you to post an article to Digg or Facebook. You're kidding, right? That's not social networking; that's ShareThis, the same type of widget I put on the end of my posts to allow you to share my thoughts with others.
To be fair, I don't put the blame on this embarrassment on B&N; I put this squarely at the feet of the AP reporter, who's lead in the article started with "Barnes & Noble is playing the social network game." That's just poor reporting; my guess is the reporter simply read the press release, and rather than check out the site and report on it, they simply went with a hot lead. Of course, I could be completely wrong: the "social networking" features of My BN may be so hard to find that they were not apparent to me after 10 minutes, in which case they deserve the blame.
In any case, someone deserves to be called out for this, so consider yourself called out. Don't dress an elephant in pink chiffon and call it a ballerina; many retailers are using social networking in an interesting and creative way. This is hardly worthy of the title.
An article in today's Boston Globe caught my eye: Barnes & Noble announced they would launch a site for customers to track their interests and favorite authors, and "share information with Facebook and other social networks." The headline of said article? "Barnes & Noble goes social networking."Intrigued, as the article was picked up by a few retail-centric newsletters I read, I signed up. The results were disappointing, to say the least: it's not much more than a "build my library" feature. The "social networking?" It consists of a "Share" button that allows you to post an article to Digg or Facebook. You're kidding, right? That's not social networking; that's ShareThis, the same type of widget I put on the end of my posts to allow you to share my thoughts with others.
To be fair, I don't put the blame on this embarrassment on B&N; I put this squarely at the feet of the AP reporter, who's lead in the article started with "Barnes & Noble is playing the social network game." That's just poor reporting; my guess is the reporter simply read the press release, and rather than check out the site and report on it, they simply went with a hot lead. Of course, I could be completely wrong: the "social networking" features of My BN may be so hard to find that they were not apparent to me after 10 minutes, in which case they deserve the blame.
In any case, someone deserves to be called out for this, so consider yourself called out. Don't dress an elephant in pink chiffon and call it a ballerina; many retailers are using social networking in an interesting and creative way. This is hardly worthy of the title.
Labels: bullshit, business, social networks
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Gettin' Social With It
Nice move by Virgin America to append the ways to reach them on common social media platforms on the base of their emails. I've seen this on the web, with the "Add This" functions (see this end of this post, for instance), but great move to include this type of alternative communication to e-mail. I'd love to see this trend expand, much like RSS with web pages, to allow automatic detection and aggregation of social network presences from an e-mail sender. Maybe an Outlook plugin?
That's today's million dollar idea.
Nice move by Virgin America to append the ways to reach them on common social media platforms on the base of their emails. I've seen this on the web, with the "Add This" functions (see this end of this post, for instance), but great move to include this type of alternative communication to e-mail. I'd love to see this trend expand, much like RSS with web pages, to allow automatic detection and aggregation of social network presences from an e-mail sender. Maybe an Outlook plugin?That's today's million dollar idea.
Labels: business, social networks, travel
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Pulse...Yahoo Style?
I've bitched about how I don't really like Facebook here before, as well as embracing Twitter and Plaxo. The latter is really great to me, as I can see a consolidated view of my friends' updates, sparing me from having to log into separate sites. Although Plaxo has an iPhone-enabled web version, it has not been quite as easy to catch up on the road, though.
Yahoo, of all people, has actually taken a pretty good first step, with Yahoo oneConnect for the iPhone. Simple, actually: download the app from iTunes, and it scans your iPhone's address book. Then, enter your credentials on sites like Flickr, Twitter and Facebook, and it pulls all of the updates from those sites into a single consolidated view. Nice.
My only complaint? The consolidated view is called "Pulse." Um...this is clearly the trademark that Plaxo has claimed, so we are headed for some legal wrangling. Worse, this naming puts Yahoo in an adversarial position with Plaxo, so I won't see Plaxo Pulse updates on oneConnect anytime soon. C'mon, Yahoo: I know you've lost a ton of execs lately, but you couldn't come up with a new word? Flow? Stream? Even Lifeline? Sheesh. Glad the technology exceeds the poor imagination.
Yahoo, of all people, has actually taken a pretty good first step, with Yahoo oneConnect for the iPhone. Simple, actually: download the app from iTunes, and it scans your iPhone's address book. Then, enter your credentials on sites like Flickr, Twitter and Facebook, and it pulls all of the updates from those sites into a single consolidated view. Nice.My only complaint? The consolidated view is called "Pulse." Um...this is clearly the trademark that Plaxo has claimed, so we are headed for some legal wrangling. Worse, this naming puts Yahoo in an adversarial position with Plaxo, so I won't see Plaxo Pulse updates on oneConnect anytime soon. C'mon, Yahoo: I know you've lost a ton of execs lately, but you couldn't come up with a new word? Flow? Stream? Even Lifeline? Sheesh. Glad the technology exceeds the poor imagination.
Labels: iPhone, social networks, Yahoo
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Harnessing Social Media
I'm cautiously optimistic about the approach that businesses are taking with harnessing social media to extend their brands and connect with their customers. Unlike the ham handed ways they have used before (uh...pavilions in Second Life?), They seem to be showing a surprisingly open and organic approach to this new medium. Peter Kim has put together a fairly comprehensive list of what many companies are doing, and the various forms that has already, for me, yielded great results. For instance, here are some of the highlights for me:
- Comcast. Frank from Comcast is a one-man good PR campaign for this much maligned company. Got a problem with an installer? Twitter Frank. Bitching about your reception on Twitter? He's there to direct message you. Want proof? At my company, we recently received scattered reports that Comcast customers were unable to see the sites we host. I pinged Frank, and within minutes, he responded that he was unable to duplicate the problem, but offered to do more research if I sent him more specific info. WOW. Compare that to waiting endlessly on hold. Nice.
- OpenTable. Add their Facebook app, and you can make reservations right where you are usually thinking of them.
- Best Buy. Yep, even this increasingly resented behemoth has figured it out, as the CMO Twitters and blogs. Both were invaluable in the recent "Premier Black" e-mail disaster.
The list goes on, but more and more, I see the blending of the fluidity of social networking putting a face on the traditionally stolid and staid corporate visage. And I have to say, it immediately means more transparency. Hell, even the government is getting the idea: the TSA, one of the most challenging agencies, has been remarkably open in their blog, even to the point of changing policies because of comments made in the blog.
It's a brave new world, and I am thrilled to be livin' in it.
I'm cautiously optimistic about the approach that businesses are taking with harnessing social media to extend their brands and connect with their customers. Unlike the ham handed ways they have used before (uh...pavilions in Second Life?), They seem to be showing a surprisingly open and organic approach to this new medium. Peter Kim has put together a fairly comprehensive list of what many companies are doing, and the various forms that has already, for me, yielded great results. For instance, here are some of the highlights for me:- Comcast. Frank from Comcast is a one-man good PR campaign for this much maligned company. Got a problem with an installer? Twitter Frank. Bitching about your reception on Twitter? He's there to direct message you. Want proof? At my company, we recently received scattered reports that Comcast customers were unable to see the sites we host. I pinged Frank, and within minutes, he responded that he was unable to duplicate the problem, but offered to do more research if I sent him more specific info. WOW. Compare that to waiting endlessly on hold. Nice.
- OpenTable. Add their Facebook app, and you can make reservations right where you are usually thinking of them.
- Best Buy. Yep, even this increasingly resented behemoth has figured it out, as the CMO Twitters and blogs. Both were invaluable in the recent "Premier Black" e-mail disaster.
The list goes on, but more and more, I see the blending of the fluidity of social networking putting a face on the traditionally stolid and staid corporate visage. And I have to say, it immediately means more transparency. Hell, even the government is getting the idea: the TSA, one of the most challenging agencies, has been remarkably open in their blog, even to the point of changing policies because of comments made in the blog.
It's a brave new world, and I am thrilled to be livin' in it.
Labels: business, Comcast, Facebook, social networks
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Evolution Of An Icon
Just installed Tapulous' Twinkle, which is an amazing location-aware Twitter client, on my iPhone. Of course, as expected, Twitter was having access issues. If you have ever encountered these issues on Twitter itself, they usually put up a cartoony picture of a whale, which has inevitably lead to the name "fail whale." So imagine my amusement at seeing this clever icon in Twinkle:
Yep, the fail whale is now a slick looking icon. Bravo, Tapulous. Bravo.
Thanks to Pete for pointing out the new way to take an iPhone screenshot!
Yep, the fail whale is now a slick looking icon. Bravo, Tapulous. Bravo.
Thanks to Pete for pointing out the new way to take an iPhone screenshot!
Labels: iPhone, social networks, Software
Thursday, March 06, 2008
One Site To Rule Them All
All right, I'll admit it: I'm confused. In this last week, I have watch the "new media" bubble uncontrollably about two things:
- Sites that can monitor you and your friends' activities on all of the "cool" sites, like Flickr, Twitter, etc., and publish them in a feed.
- Google Calendar sync with Outlook.
In all of the mentions, barely a word was spoken about Plaxo. Why? Plaxo has been doing both of these things for quite some time, and has an important advantage over Netvibes, Spokeo, etc.: it already integrates with your address book, and gives users ancillary benefits of keeping their address books up to date.
Maybe it's the desperate air of "for sale" that was the reason; maybe it's Plaxo's old "bac'n" problem, but whatever it is, it's unreal. Why would you want to set up all of these additional sites, then convince your contacts to join them, then convince them to sync their online social life, when you can offer them one membership, with Google Calendar sync, and so much more?
Man, I hope whomever pumped the $ into Plaxo can see the goldmine they have.
All right, I'll admit it: I'm confused. In this last week, I have watch the "new media" bubble uncontrollably about two things:- Sites that can monitor you and your friends' activities on all of the "cool" sites, like Flickr, Twitter, etc., and publish them in a feed.
- Google Calendar sync with Outlook.
In all of the mentions, barely a word was spoken about Plaxo. Why? Plaxo has been doing both of these things for quite some time, and has an important advantage over Netvibes, Spokeo, etc.: it already integrates with your address book, and gives users ancillary benefits of keeping their address books up to date.
Maybe it's the desperate air of "for sale" that was the reason; maybe it's Plaxo's old "bac'n" problem, but whatever it is, it's unreal. Why would you want to set up all of these additional sites, then convince your contacts to join them, then convince them to sync their online social life, when you can offer them one membership, with Google Calendar sync, and so much more?
Man, I hope whomever pumped the $ into Plaxo can see the goldmine they have.
Labels: Plaxo, social networks, Twitter, Web 2.0
Friday, February 29, 2008
Outlook Help, Via Twitter
I've written many a time about how I hate Outlook. Today, I struggled for hours to get Outlook even to start. I vented my frustration on Twitter, and, much to my surprise and delight, a Twitter person decided to point me to a great set of tips: Arrow Tips. Now THAT is the power of the Web to deliver solutions!
Now, excuse me, I'm back to figuring out how to reduce a 4GB Outlook Archive file...
I've written many a time about how I hate Outlook. Today, I struggled for hours to get Outlook even to start. I vented my frustration on Twitter, and, much to my surprise and delight, a Twitter person decided to point me to a great set of tips: Arrow Tips. Now THAT is the power of the Web to deliver solutions!Now, excuse me, I'm back to figuring out how to reduce a 4GB Outlook Archive file...
Labels: social networks, Software, Twitter
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Pulse Goes Public
Plaxo's Pulse continues to get better and better. Today, they became the first to use Google's Social Graph API. The result? A public "pulse" page, that you can control the content of, available to anyone, not just Plaxo users. Mine is up. Another perk? Pulse status updates now link with your Twitter account and vice versa: update one, the other is automatically updated.
The article I link to above actually does the best job yet of stating why Pulse is not a Facebook "me-too:"
Gotta say, I hope Plaxo continues their trend, missteps and all, cause it's the way I believe social networking was meant to be. Catch me there...
Plaxo's Pulse continues to get better and better. Today, they became the first to use Google's Social Graph API. The result? A public "pulse" page, that you can control the content of, available to anyone, not just Plaxo users. Mine is up. Another perk? Pulse status updates now link with your Twitter account and vice versa: update one, the other is automatically updated.The article I link to above actually does the best job yet of stating why Pulse is not a Facebook "me-too:"
"Plaxo's Pulse platform, mistakenly thought of by some as just another social network, is actually an attempt at an open version of the social web where sites inter-operate with each other. Currently Pulse supports integration with flickr, YouTube, digg, LiveJournal, Windows Live, del.icio.us, yelp, MySpace, webshots, last.fm, Pownce, xanga, tumblr, jaiku, twitter, smugmug, Yahoo 360, Picasa, and Amazon."
Gotta say, I hope Plaxo continues their trend, missteps and all, cause it's the way I believe social networking was meant to be. Catch me there...
Labels: Plaxo, social networks
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Spokeo: Pulse, without Plaxo
As you may have noticed, I've been become more and more fascinated with the evolution of Web 2.0 to harness the "cloud" of the Web to make the online world more relevant. In other words, using the web to enhance the social nature of interactions. This hearkens back to my early days as a BBS sysop, and actually has the potential to make the web ubiquitous. I've been quite congratulatory towards Plaxo for recognizing one of the key tenets of this, the ability to automatically discover interactions, and display and classify them, in the form of Plaxo's Pulse, which gives you a "news feed" of what your connections are doing, all over the web. I've also mentioned that Plaxo sometimes, rightly or wrongly, gets a bad rap as being a Facebook imitator or worse, but I have to tell you, the Pulse is addictive: like all good "push" applications, it keeps you up to date on everything. But what if you could have Pulse, without Plaxo?
Enter Spokeo, which does exactly that. Enter your GMail, Yahoo, or other major mail service credentials, and it will scan your online address book, pull it down, and create a news feed of all of your contacts actions on the popular networks. Your college roommate posts some images to Flickr? Bam, there they are. Your old girlfriend Twitters on her canceled flight? Now you share her pain. That guy you went to high school with creates a new mix to listen to on Pandora? Tune in, and hear how Travis Tritt has invaded his taste. And so on.
Before you go all George Orwell, hang on: Spokeo only finds publicly accessible info on your friends. If your friend doesn't publicly publish their Twitter feed, for instance (ahem...Carlos???), you will have to authenticate before it can appear in your feed. If your Flickr account is inactive, for instance, it will denote as such. It uses a slick interface that neatly arranges your list of friends on the left, divided into those that have active and inactive accounts, and on the right is the latest activity from them all. You can drill down to the individual or service you want to see. The image to the right here is from my feed, today.
I've played around with it for a couple of days, and here's some observations:
- It's free.
- It's slow. They got slammed with a Techcrunch story that is pegging their servers, but hey, it's free.
- They seem to have a 1001 limit of friends, and it goes alphabetically by first name. For folks with over 8000+ contacts like me, that's a drag, since I get as far as friends with first names starting with "C," and that's it (sorry, Vasska; guess I'll just pick you up on Pulse). Pulse has that completely beat, with up to 10K.
- Their "spidering" of your Yahoo contacts seems flawed: it loses the first name of the contact, giving your contacts a fabulouso Hollywood "Madonna" one word name. ;-)
- Did I mention it's slow? Took almost 15 minutes to handle 1001 contacts, and pegged my CPU while it did it.
- It has one killer feature Pulse is missing: the ability to manually add any RSS feed to any contact. For instance, I could add the RSS feed for my corporate blog to my contact, and see new posts in that blog associated with me.
Overall, Spokeo, like Pulse, offers a glimpse into an entirely new way of perceiving the web: a personal feed. In many ways, this is a rudimentary first step to what my fellow high school alumnus, Nova Spivack, calls the "semantic web:" the ability to perceive not just data, but meaningful data. Overall, I still very much prefer Pulse, but if you are turned off by Plaxo for some strange reason, I encourage you to try Spokeo, and get hooked on what your friends are up to.
Enter Spokeo, which does exactly that. Enter your GMail, Yahoo, or other major mail service credentials, and it will scan your online address book, pull it down, and create a news feed of all of your contacts actions on the popular networks. Your college roommate posts some images to Flickr? Bam, there they are. Your old girlfriend Twitters on her canceled flight? Now you share her pain. That guy you went to high school with creates a new mix to listen to on Pandora? Tune in, and hear how Travis Tritt has invaded his taste. And so on.
Before you go all George Orwell, hang on: Spokeo only finds publicly accessible info on your friends. If your friend doesn't publicly publish their Twitter feed, for instance (ahem...Carlos???), you will have to authenticate before it can appear in your feed. If your Flickr account is inactive, for instance, it will denote as such. It uses a slick interface that neatly arranges your list of friends on the left, divided into those that have active and inactive accounts, and on the right is the latest activity from them all. You can drill down to the individual or service you want to see. The image to the right here is from my feed, today.I've played around with it for a couple of days, and here's some observations:
- It's free.
- It's slow. They got slammed with a Techcrunch story that is pegging their servers, but hey, it's free.
- They seem to have a 1001 limit of friends, and it goes alphabetically by first name. For folks with over 8000+ contacts like me, that's a drag, since I get as far as friends with first names starting with "C," and that's it (sorry, Vasska; guess I'll just pick you up on Pulse). Pulse has that completely beat, with up to 10K.
- Their "spidering" of your Yahoo contacts seems flawed: it loses the first name of the contact, giving your contacts a fabulouso Hollywood "Madonna" one word name. ;-)
- Did I mention it's slow? Took almost 15 minutes to handle 1001 contacts, and pegged my CPU while it did it.
- It has one killer feature Pulse is missing: the ability to manually add any RSS feed to any contact. For instance, I could add the RSS feed for my corporate blog to my contact, and see new posts in that blog associated with me.
Overall, Spokeo, like Pulse, offers a glimpse into an entirely new way of perceiving the web: a personal feed. In many ways, this is a rudimentary first step to what my fellow high school alumnus, Nova Spivack, calls the "semantic web:" the ability to perceive not just data, but meaningful data. Overall, I still very much prefer Pulse, but if you are turned off by Plaxo for some strange reason, I encourage you to try Spokeo, and get hooked on what your friends are up to.
Labels: beta, lifehacks, Plaxo, reviews, social networks, Twitter, Web 2.0
Saturday, December 01, 2007
Netiquette 2.0
Back in the pre-Web 2.0, pre-Web 1.0, pre-World Wide Web, and even pre-AOL, there were Bulletin Board Systems (BBS): isolated archipelagos of folks who shared their interests in forums and chat rooms to the point of obsessiveness. Like any isolated culture, each BBS evolves its own feel, with folks naturally gravitating to a certain form of behavior. And all was good in the world.
In the late 80's/early 90's, BBS operators started to connect their BBS'. Suddenly, you had an influx of new users participating in forums, violating unspoken rules and taboos, and the first "flame wars" erupted. Longtime BBS users were turned off: their vibrant forums were descending into annoyance, and their primary goals of connecting with like-minded folks were being thwarted. BBS participation started to drop. What to do?
BBS system operators ("Sysops") saw the threat to their nascent network, precursors of today's Web, and decided to take action. They drafted a set of guidelines for participation, to help new users ("newbies"), as well as establishing a clear set of rules that sysops could enforce. This BBS etiquette, or "netiquette," usually governed personal contact or posting rules, and sysops warned and booted repeated violators. And all was well in the world...at least until that pesky Web sprung up and crushed those BBS' out of existence. ;-)
Fast forward to today's hottest Web properties, social networks, and you can see the exact same issues developing. Each of the major social networks evolved to address a particular niche:
- MySpace for music lovers and young teens
- Facebook for alumni and shared interest groups
- LinkedIn for business networking
- Plaxo Pulse for people you actually know
Each of these networks has seen their growth skyrocket when they open the service up and it drives hordes of new users to join. As those new users eclipse the old-timers, the unwritten rules get trampled. Facebook becomes a site for people to prospect for jobs. LinkedIn becomes a haven for recruiters. Plaxo becomes a bac'n generator (some would argue it already was). At this rate, folks will get turned off and stop using the system. Less usage=less eyeballs=less ad revenue, which leads to the end of the network, and the bubble bursts.
The other day, I received invites to connect from one person on Plaxo, Facebook, and LinkedIn, in a 24 hour period. I did not know this person, nor did I seem to have any affiliation with her. I made the error of accepting her Plaxo request. In looking at her Pulse, I saw she was connecting with dozens of people an hour, all unrelated. Because her background was excellent, and seemed a pro, I emailed her, to tell her the negative effect she was having on me, in case others felt the same. She replied with offense and hostility, and, in a huff, told me she wouldn't want to connect to me anyway. I responded back, with a short comment, explaining again that I respected her background, and simply wanted her to understand the potential detrimental effect she was having for employment prospects. Mollified, she explained that my "old school" attitude was simply out of date, and I could simply decline her invite. And you know what? She was right: my unwritten understanding was not the same as hers, and the social networks do very little to enforce it.
Another example: I have been using Twitter for some time now for communicating my status. Because of the rise of the popularity of Facebook, with it's status updates, I decided to consolidate my updates: start at Facebook, and have them automatically syndicate to Twitter. About a month later, I received a note from a coworker who is also on Facebook, suggesting I should tone down the frequency of my status updates, since there were so many business contacts on Facebook who might be overwhelmed. Sure, I could have pointed out that they could simply turn off the status updates, but he's right: again, my "old school" understanding of the purpose of Facebook belies what it may have evolved into. The direct result? I participate far less on Facebook than before, keeping to Twitter, and relying on Plaxo to pick up and syndicate my info to people I actually want to communicate with. Less Facebook visits means less ads, less eyeballs...
It's time for Netiquette 2.0. Each network needs to clearly outline the goals and objectives for the participants, and start to police the adherence of the members. Stalkers on MySpace? Terminate with extreme prejudice. Recruiters on Facebook? You're fired. Unknowns on Plaxo? Exiled. You get the idea. The key is that Sysops need to be recruited and unleashed to identify, and then let the population decide the fate.
When the Wall St. Journal advocates mining Facebook for employment, we know the network is at risk. Let's use history to help save it.
In the late 80's/early 90's, BBS operators started to connect their BBS'. Suddenly, you had an influx of new users participating in forums, violating unspoken rules and taboos, and the first "flame wars" erupted. Longtime BBS users were turned off: their vibrant forums were descending into annoyance, and their primary goals of connecting with like-minded folks were being thwarted. BBS participation started to drop. What to do?
BBS system operators ("Sysops") saw the threat to their nascent network, precursors of today's Web, and decided to take action. They drafted a set of guidelines for participation, to help new users ("newbies"), as well as establishing a clear set of rules that sysops could enforce. This BBS etiquette, or "netiquette," usually governed personal contact or posting rules, and sysops warned and booted repeated violators. And all was well in the world...at least until that pesky Web sprung up and crushed those BBS' out of existence. ;-)Fast forward to today's hottest Web properties, social networks, and you can see the exact same issues developing. Each of the major social networks evolved to address a particular niche:
- MySpace for music lovers and young teens
- Facebook for alumni and shared interest groups
- LinkedIn for business networking
- Plaxo Pulse for people you actually know
Each of these networks has seen their growth skyrocket when they open the service up and it drives hordes of new users to join. As those new users eclipse the old-timers, the unwritten rules get trampled. Facebook becomes a site for people to prospect for jobs. LinkedIn becomes a haven for recruiters. Plaxo becomes a bac'n generator (some would argue it already was). At this rate, folks will get turned off and stop using the system. Less usage=less eyeballs=less ad revenue, which leads to the end of the network, and the bubble bursts.
The other day, I received invites to connect from one person on Plaxo, Facebook, and LinkedIn, in a 24 hour period. I did not know this person, nor did I seem to have any affiliation with her. I made the error of accepting her Plaxo request. In looking at her Pulse, I saw she was connecting with dozens of people an hour, all unrelated. Because her background was excellent, and seemed a pro, I emailed her, to tell her the negative effect she was having on me, in case others felt the same. She replied with offense and hostility, and, in a huff, told me she wouldn't want to connect to me anyway. I responded back, with a short comment, explaining again that I respected her background, and simply wanted her to understand the potential detrimental effect she was having for employment prospects. Mollified, she explained that my "old school" attitude was simply out of date, and I could simply decline her invite. And you know what? She was right: my unwritten understanding was not the same as hers, and the social networks do very little to enforce it.
Another example: I have been using Twitter for some time now for communicating my status. Because of the rise of the popularity of Facebook, with it's status updates, I decided to consolidate my updates: start at Facebook, and have them automatically syndicate to Twitter. About a month later, I received a note from a coworker who is also on Facebook, suggesting I should tone down the frequency of my status updates, since there were so many business contacts on Facebook who might be overwhelmed. Sure, I could have pointed out that they could simply turn off the status updates, but he's right: again, my "old school" understanding of the purpose of Facebook belies what it may have evolved into. The direct result? I participate far less on Facebook than before, keeping to Twitter, and relying on Plaxo to pick up and syndicate my info to people I actually want to communicate with. Less Facebook visits means less ads, less eyeballs...
It's time for Netiquette 2.0. Each network needs to clearly outline the goals and objectives for the participants, and start to police the adherence of the members. Stalkers on MySpace? Terminate with extreme prejudice. Recruiters on Facebook? You're fired. Unknowns on Plaxo? Exiled. You get the idea. The key is that Sysops need to be recruited and unleashed to identify, and then let the population decide the fate.
When the Wall St. Journal advocates mining Facebook for employment, we know the network is at risk. Let's use history to help save it.
Labels: Facebook, Plaxo, social networks, Web 2.0
