Social Networking in Review

After blogging and exploring the world of social networking and product promotion for the past few months, I rest assured that this catch-all craze is more than just a passing trend. People everywhere are not just concerned with sharing what they are doing, these people logging in are just as concerned (if not more) with learning what everyone else is doing. As more networks open up daily, aggregators emerge, and web browsers with integrated social networking capabilities become more readily available, it is clear that social networking plays a large role in many peoples lives, and that this role will only continue to grow.

Through my research, in just these past few months I have found myself growing fonder of social networking. Previously, I held one account: Facebook, and decided that was enough to fuel what in my mind I considered an already "unhealthy" addiction. Since then I have become much more enthralled by so-called "niche" social networks that cater to my various interests and have discovered that aggregators are a great way to organize networks and help people understand your core interests according to the communities to which you belong. I have become particularly involved in one social networking community that I believe to be one of the most genuine "communities" on the web: Newsvine. On this network I get to post articles of my own while reading and discussing news and issues of debate--being a politics minor, this really piques my interest--and I accordingly gain stature among the community when my contributions are voted up "The Vine" by other members.

The role that online communities play has already been noticed by many corporations. They have discovered that while social networks can serve as a valuable tool in tracking audience feedback and buzz about their brands, they can also be a medium for promotion and viral communication. A lot of the time it's not about how your brand is there, it's simply about just being there. So much awareness is generated through simple images and dialogue. Second Life is a great example of just that. However, creating a way for people to interact with your brand on a consistent basis is really the best method of promotion and building brand image.

That's why communities that are hosted by the brands themselves are not entirely a bad idea. Politicians like Barack Obama have caught onto the benefits of such communities, and corporations like NBC will be reaping the rewards not just in promotion, but audience research as well when it launches its community-based project in June.

However, some consumers take brand interaction one step further. The influence and importance of consumer-generated content has never been more important. Websites like YouTube, Revver, Ziddio, Panjea, and numerous others have quickly grown in popularity and the proliferation of content has exploded. While obviously not all consumer content is branded, we're seeing a growing amount of content that is, and some corporations that are even soliciting this type of content. Success stories related to consumer-generated work are not rare either. The guys at EepyBird have even forged their successes to build a successful company!

And of course, let's not forget about the promotional power of the blogosphere and podcasting. Bloggers have the power to say whatever they want, and oftentimes have influence over a sizeable number of people. I don't think it's rare for viral, word-of-mouth marketing campaigns to begin at this level of Internet communication. That is why it is so important for corporations to figure out just how to get their brand or product out there to be talked about, and more importantly to be talked about in a positive manner consistent with the image they want to present.

So, how do they go about telling bloggers about themselves? Is it okay for members of a company to enter the blogosphere and social networking communities themselves? What are the perogatives?

While I will not claim to be an expert on this entirely, I have run across a few opportunities and become familiar with some of the guidelines for corporations taking social networking into their own hands. First of all, there are services that send press releases to influencers communicating in the world of Internet 2.0. There are also websites that help users build story "trails" to direct interested parties toward particular research or commentary concerning their brand. Obviously social bookmarking sites are also a great way to keep people up-to-date about your brand or company. Sometimes companies also feel the need to comment on their brand or product themselves. When speaking to Google, Seth Godin gave some great advice about not only the importance of following a permission marketing philosophy in all tactics, but also how to talk about your brand to bloggers and consumers in social networks. Basically, the just of his commentary said this: If people are talking about your brand or product, it's okay for you to respond and say something, but always identify yourself first. It's important to use integrity in whatever you do, otherwise if you're "found out" you'll have lost much more than you ever gained.

As I stated before, social networking is no where near its full potential. The communities themselves and the concepts behind them will only continue to grow and influence other aspects of our lives as time progresses. Some communities track what people are doing all the time: Slifeshare is an extreme example, Twitter another. I honestly don't think it will be long before these features become numerical and we begin to get statistics on how many people are doing what and how often are they doing it. Eventually, features like these will be integrated into the stores we shop, and the places we visit: for example Wal-Mart tracking the top items sold in the store vs. the nation for the day, the month, the year, ect. The opportunities for expansion are endless. The sooner corporations learn how to use these media to their advantage the better.

Twittervision: A Mesmerizing Revolution

It's no secret that Twitter has become a hot new trend in the world of social networking 2.0. Haven't heard of Twitter before? Well, according to it's creators, it's a social network that connects and informs people on the basis of one question: "What are you doing?" Users continually update or "twitter" whenever they do something else.

Well, twittering aside, there is a new application on the web that takes the experience of connecting with those around the globe to a whole new level. Meet Twittervision. It's Google Maps meets Twitter, and it updates continually, letting you know when and where users are updating their activity from around the world.


I have to credit the 8hands blog for bringing this new social web experience to my attention.

I have to admit, I'm still trying to figure out just where Twitter figures into the social networking equation, and what it's role really means. Will there one day be applications in place that track mentions of certain products and activities, keeping a running toll of top "twitterings"? I could definitely see it moving in that direction. In that case, it could start to play a larger role in product promotion--and could force companies into paying more attention to what general consumers are saying in social networking communities. I can see it now, corporate-sponsored contests asking people to mention them on Twitter..."If we see you mention us, you could win ____!" In this constantly expanding medium, anything is possible.

Speaking of Aggregates: There's More!

The world of aggregates continues to grow, and not surprisingly it keeps getting better! The idea of aggregates has not caught on in mainstream social networking communities yet, so there is still time for other competitors to enter the marketplace and compete for the top spot.

One of the new guys on the block, Tabber is quite sophisticated in both its layout and content design. An online address book, Tabber integrates other features as well that allow you to keep track of what your friends are doing online--whether it be updating their MySpace profile, adding new photos, or digging a news story. In order to get friends content online, Tabber allows users to import contact information from a variety of social networks and other sources such as AIM, Yahoo!, and Hotmail to name a few. It's a nice service that integrates and updates information more effectively than other sites. As Mashable describes, the update service is a lot like the news feed you find on the social networking website, Facebook.


Another aggregator just launched for download looks really intriguing as well. This alternative is called 8hands. Basically, it is AIM for social networking. It integrates all your content and contacts into a desktop application that looks a lot like Instant Messenger. From this, you can open additional windows to view content more fully. 8hands allows you to keep track of your top 8 friends (which it determines through those that "interact" most with you), along with your friends that are most active on your social networks. Right now 8hands supports MySpace, Twitter, YouTube, and Flickr among others. However, it is in the process of integrating other networks and features as well. I feel like once this site is fully developed it will be one of the best available. I wanted to try it out for myself, but unfortunately it is so new that they do not have a Mac version yet, though they claim it is in production.


It's interesting to watch the growth of this segment of social networking. I think within a year we will begin to see aggregators emerge as key players in web 2.0. Until then, let the competition continue!

Made a Pitch Lately? PR Web 2.0

I've been hinting a lot lately at the necessity for companies to promote their products to the blogosphere and it's influential authors. Slowly but surely I am discovering just how this phenomenon is continuing to develop. While the tools for promoting products over the internet are still being changed and implemented, PR Professional Todd Defren has some great insight on current tactics being used.

Tagging is the obvious way to keep people in the loop. Technorati, del.icio.us, and RSS feeds offer great opportunities for just that. However, sometimes companies want to be more explicit than that. So, what are their options?

In an earlier post, Todd talks about Trailfire, a service that allows users to create a "trail" to help reporters interested in their story find "relevant research" to their "pitch." However, the latest service available that is really intriguing is that of PitchWire. This is the first community set up to purposely connect "Influencers" and "Publicists" (We all knew this couldn't be far away). The key thing to watch is whether or not this will actually catch on in the blogosphere community.


In addition to mainstream companies promoting themselves, there are also increasing resources for smaller companies, organizations, and even individuals to distribute social media press releases to the general public. Posting on this earlier in the week, Todd points us to PRNN, a press release distributor that makes it affordable for anyone (just $25 per release). In addition, they make their services available one time for free in Second Life!

Regardless of how these services continue to expand and develop, I think it's going to be essential for companies to utilize them. The blogosphere and social networks are powerful tools for product promotion, and if one company doesn't take advantage of the opportunities there, you can be sure another will.

Video Entertainment: For Consumers, By Consumers

It's no secret that for an advertisement to be effective, it has to catch people's attention and feel entertaining rather than boring and/or calculated (i.e. like an advertisement). That's why the presence of consumer-generated branded content is on the rise.

Stephen Voltz and Fritz Grobe became famous when they used Mentos and Diet Coke to recreate the image of the Bellagio fountains on national television.



Since the creation of that video, they have made appearances on mainstream media outlets, have been recognized by Time magazine and Advertising Age, and have even been featured in a music video. However, what's more impressive is the fact that all this time, they have been promoting the Coke and Mentos brands...and getting paid for it.

All these guys did to start was set up their own online video entertainment site: EepyBird.com. In an interview with Brad Berens on iMedia Connection the two talked about their experience working with brands, and how their true purpose was to entertain--but they figured, why not make some money too?

I think this is the reality of online product promotion through viral video. More online content will continue to come from consumers themselves. The question is, what will companies do to make sure these consumers are promoting their products?

Blogger Code of Conduct?

A hot topic of discussion in the blogosphere this week is the proposition of developing and adopting a code of conduct for bloggers, advanced in a Monday article of the New York Times. The measure was called for by Tim O'Reilly, in response to reports of blogger death threats.

Lot's of uncouth comments and articles pop up in the blogosphere. It's not hard to see why some would want to subscribe by a set of ethical standards. What O'Reilly purports is that users choose to abide by the code, and then represent their subscription by the presence of a logo on their website. As part of the code, bloggers are in charge of all content on their website (including comments) and have the ability to delete comments as they choose.

This isn't a first amendment issue, people do have a right to do what they want to do--and put whatever content they choose on their website or blog. However, since subscription to the code would be voluntary, I don't see it solving any of the problems bloggers are facing anyway. Bloggers have the ability to do most of the things outlined in the code, without putting pressure on themselves to moderate every single comment that finds its way to their website.

Many bloggers are quite upset about this proposal. Check out the BuzzFeed to see more of what others are saying.

From a product promotion perspective, I'm not sure if the presence of "moderated" blogs would have an effect on a site's traffic or not. I think depending on how well such a code was received by users, advertisers would either pull advertising or increase advertising. Perhaps if the code resulted in less "noise," advertisers would see an opportunity to have more effective reach by advertising on sites that endorsed it. However, looking at company-run blogs and similar things, I think the presence of using a code could be problematic. The last thing companies want to be associated with is controlling the conversation in order to unfairly promote their products.

Measuring Brand Buzz

Measuring online buzz about your brand? Is that possible? According to the folks at iMediaConnection that's just what Neilsen BuzzMetrics has developed technology to do. Their software creates "Brand Association Maps" according to what's being said and posted about brands online.

This technology takes online marketing research to a whole new level. This kind of information will make it possible for marketers to find out what consumers truly think and feel about their brand.

After hearing about this new innovation from Neilsen BuzzMetrics, I checked out CEO Jonathan Carson's blog, Mouthpiece, a very good read by the way. He talked about how marketers will not only change the way they retrieve information from the web, they will also change the way they send messages through the web. There are going to be opportunities to develop "next generation" targeting systems that will optimize advertising and message capabilities across the web, whether it be through social networks, blogs, online forums, or anything else.

Aggregates and the Future of Social Networking

With the launch of yet another social networking aggregator, it's worth pondering whether one aggregator will emerge among the field, and what this will mean for the future of social networking.

Right now people are trying out a bunch of different setups for compiling and keeping track of social networking content. Profilefly, launched just a day ago, allows users to have a profile and link to all of their social networks and blogs. The service then notifies their friends whenever they update any of their networks.


In another approach, OtherEgo allows users to upload each of their personal webpages to their profile. This website sharing site was launched on Tuesday.


Launched two weeks ago, Zoolit may offer the most simplistic layout. It has a simple profile and links to all of your social networking and bookmarking sites. It is very similar to Profilefly, and similarly offers plenty of widgets and tags for users to place on their various webpages.


However, my favorite aggregator of the ones I have looked at is ProfileLinker. Not only does it offer what I believe to be the best layout for an aggregator, it also allows its users to create "portable profiles" that they can share on any of their webpages. It's more than just a widget, it's a creative tool that will make users want to promote their "profile."



Right now, it's obvious that aggregators are the hot commodity in the world of social networking. Everyone is trying to get into the game, but I think it won't be too long before one emerges from the pack. I think the winner will be determined based on who can generate the most buzz and viral, word-of-mouth popularity. I think it will also be important that the various aggregators not only support mainstream social networks, but niche networks as well. As aggregators gain popularity among users, I think we will begin to see increased traffic to social networks (as if there wasn't already a lot), and more advertising dollars being spent there.

Please Read My Blog...

Getting people to read your blog is one thing, getting them to comment, and coming back to keep reading it are quite different.

Where I think the battle begins is with content. Without fresh, new content on a steady-basis, you're not going to gain any credibility, and you certainly won't obtain subscribers. In order to get people to discuss your blog, you need to be part of the discussion as well, especially as you continue to build your credibility.

So, I've been immersing myself in the blogosphere. I've been commenting on some related blogs and I'm getting ready to step up my efforts and start commenting on a daily basis, while making an effort to post on my own blog more often.

In addition, since I talk so much about the permission marketing concept, I've started to do a bit of permission marketing myself. What better place to attract people to read a blog about social networks than social networks? I've been messaging both friends and strangers who are really into social networking to tell them about my blog and attract them to my URL.

These efforts combined over time should start generating some credibility, hits, and eventually commentary as well. Until then, please read my blog and let's keep the conversation going!

Wanna Get Away?

I know I do! Finally, a niche social network that get's it! Matador is a great online community for people across the globe that are passionate about culture and travel. It incorporates all the basic features: profiles, blogs, photos, and articles, while also providing users with travel classifieds, Google maps, tips, and user recommendations. As one article points out, there are ways the site could be improved, but overall it seems to be a great community--and it definitely has me excited for my upcoming trips abroad.


However, what I think is most important to think about with this is the fact that Matador is a niche social network. This makes targeting users with advertisements and promotions much easier. As I was looking at some of the advertising on the site I noticed that a lot of it did not even feel like business promotions as much as site-friendly suggestions.

Ta-da, it's the permission marketing concept in action once again!

In niche communities it is much easier to implement a permission-marketing scheme. That's why I feel niche web-based communities are the future of social networking, especially those like Matador that encourage impassioned discussion among users. Perhaps these niche communities will all one day be integrated through one service so they are easier to keep track of, but they will still be the communities of the future--and I believe they will help generate more promotional success than other social networks.