Social networks don’t talk with each other. They fight with each other. They’re not connecting to each other because they want to. They’re connecting with the bare minimum because they have to. With customers at the center of the product you think social networks would keep them in mind.
Let’s face it: you’re not leaving Twitter for Facebook or Facebook for LinkedIn. We all already did the social network solidification dance from Friendster to Myspace to Facebook. Now social networks each serve a very distinct purpose. In the near future they won’t. That’s exactly what social networks are afraid of and why they won’t talk with each other – solidification and redundancy.
I’m not concerned with that right now. As a consumer I’m concerned about time and efficiency, which I’m not getting. I need social networks to understand that I am @db on Twitter and /damienbasile on Facebook. Mainly what I need is for Facebook to be able to parse users Twitter @names into real linked Facebook names automatically. This is why I use Yakket on Facebook to filter out all Twitter messages with @names in them when sending them to Facebook.
People are sharing across multiple social networks at once nowadays. I can send a message from Foursquare to Twitter to Facebook & Linkedin. That’s just one message. I may be on multiple networks but if I’m optimizing my time to post across them all then these networks need to recognize who I am across every one.
Another way how they’re not speaking with each other: rich multimedia. I often post messages in Facebook that I’ve already shared in Twitter simply because links don’t expand to show an image with a blurb like they do natively in Facebook. Facebook is all about the experience. If I see an update with some words and just a plain link I’m most likely going to ‘next’ it. No, in fact I AM going to ‘next’ it.
Eventually I see one thing happening. The social web will become more of a web. You, your identity and your relationships and how they translate & relate will move to front and center. Social networks will feel more like channels that you can change to see what’s playing on another one. I could be wrong but I already am seeing more and more cross network chatter. It’s only a matter of time before this issue comes to a head.
For branding and social media insights check out my Posterous.
Click on “Settings”, scroll down to the bottom to “Linked Accounts”. Click on crap. Boom. You’re now able to access Facebook when you’re signed in to other services. You’re welcome.
Is Facebook promoting Google’s Gmail Connect service as a way to get more users onto Facebook? Or is Google taking out ad space to promote their connect tool? More than likely it’s an internal Facebook effort as the logos of Yahoo, AOL, Windows Live and Gmail are all represented in the ad. So why now?
As Mashable and GigaOm both report Facebook’s growth is slowing. As they both point out Facebook has refocused their strategy by eliminating regional networks in place of a global focus and added new products such as Facebook Lite and Facebook Touch Mobile. One thing is for sure – the users Facebook already has aren’t going anywhere, as there are no clear alternatives to the social network behemoth (at least in the US).
The question on my mind is this – will Facebook start creating ads to start pulling in your Twitter and LinkedIn friends to your Facebook network? They’ve created a fan page post to Twitter tool so it’s not that far of a stretch, especially concerning the strength of their network. Only time will tell but this is a move that Facebook would clearly benefit from if they implemented it.
What do you want out of social media? If you’re looking for fun then it doesn’t really matter where you begin. If you are looking to utilize it to network professionally in some capacity then there is a very specific place to start with it.
Of course social media can and should be used as a reflection of your offline life, so more than likely you will have a good mixture of both pleasure and professional. That being said, here’s a great place to start if you’re looking to grow your professional network:
Sign up to Facebook, Twitter and Linked-in. Add relevant profile/bio info on all of them. Use your universal avatar on all of them. Since these are my three main social networks I generally change my avatar on all three to show an updated recent acceptable photo. All of my other networks have the same exact photo of me that isn’t the most recent one.
The most important thing to add to social networks is a clear, close photo that people can relate to. This isn’t the time to be creative or artistic. You can do that in other photos that are not your avatar. This is the photo that draws them in. Any other photos show your personality.
If you function online professionally you must have a professional link. Whether it be your website, blog or even JUST your Linked-in or visual cv link, you MUST have a link that allows the viewer to find more information about you.
Once you’ve put all your information in your social network bios I would double check it for grammar, cadence and keywords. Keywords are important- ESPECIALLY on Twitter- because this is how people find you in searches on these sites. For example, if you’re in construction management you would put those two words plus any major relevant words in your bio. In your Twitter bio you only have 160 words to tell people who you are so it’s EXTREMELY important to get to the point and just list the major things you do with the specific keywords.
On Twitter it’s also important to talk about these topics often but not in a robotic manner. Be aware of your conversations and how you are saying something. There are people out there monitoring keywords in search.twitter.com for real-time mention of them so they can connect with like minds. There are also people who automatically add anyone who mentions certain keywords. There are many tools to monitor keywords mentioned in real time but I would start with a simple search.twitter.com search to add people who are talking about what you’re interested in.
Join groups on Facebook and LinkedIn and become active in them. Once you meet new people in Twitter add them on Facebook and LinkedIn to further extend your relationships. Also, be sure to build your local connections (or connections where you travel often to) because nothing is more important than extending online relationships offline. Also, besides just extending online relationships offline, extend offline relationships online. Find out people’s social network information and add them right away if you can.
This is a beginning. You’ll learn more as you go. Just remember that your social networks are only as valuable as the time and effort you put into them. Every network changes as your relationships blossom. Cultivate them and soon enough you’ll begin to prosper.
For branding and social media insights check out my Posterous.
Facebook recently released a touchscreen optimized interface for phones such as the iPhone and android models. It’s interesting that even though Facebook is one of the most downloaded social networking iPhone apps that Facebook is still continuing to optimize the mobile web on many different fronts.
Considering they just launched their newly redesigned homepage in a more streamlined newsfeed focused way it makes me wonder if this addition is within their overall brand vision for their user interface and user experience.
One thing I DO like about the new Touch interface is the Phone section (Also notice the new notifications red icon in the upper left corner). It focuses on who you can call, as opposed to the mobile interface which focuses on all your friends and pointing out who has their phone number listed with a phone icon.
What do you think about the differences? Not enough? Too much? What other changes should be made?
Checking my Facebook fanpage updates I came across this update:
It basically says fans aren’t actually allowed to have fanpages anymore. Essentially what has happened is that fanpages have been cannibalized by brands as an official outlet for them over groups.
Why is this important?
It takes away your right to create, share and enjoy something socially with others
It enables a brand economy over a social economy
It adds a layer of authenticity for brands allowing them to protect their interests
It shows Facebook’s commitment to monetizing by looking out for brands
So if you want to make a fanpage for an established brand (personal or professional) the party’s over. Unless it’s an officially sanctioned fanclub run by the brand you’re out of luck.
Also important, there’s a three week authentication grace period.
P.S. If you look in the upper right corner I find it pretty apropos that Facebook is asking me if I know about Slash and want to be his fan, therefore I dub this technique of Facebook cutting fan fanpages as being ‘Slashed’.
#ChatPack P.S. This one’s for you Brett, as I know you’ve run into a similar situation with Mr. Easton Ellis’ people.
This is what the Web 2.0 world looks like if it were laid out back to back in just icons. A more in-depth look at what the websites are can be seen at my Flickr set Web 2.0. You can also find all of these websites at http://go2web20.net
For branding and social media insights check out my Posterous.
While most of you were obsessing over the Kanye West meme taking the internet by storm, Twitter quietly rolled out an update to their brand image. They killed off the Spam Owl and replaced him with their happy-go-lucky mascot Twitter bird. This comes right on the heels of an update to their TOS many of you have already received by now.
This most recent change is just an extension of their homepage image revamp that focuses more on search and trending topics now.
One thing we know for sure with Twitter is that most of what they implement is done without fanfare in stages. Just as the TOS has been implemented over the course of the last week, the default avatar isn’t changing all at once. In fact, it’s changing over time into many different flavors: purple, dark blue, baby blue, lime green, dark green, orange, dark red so far.
Even with the staggered rollout, established users with their own custom avatars are already having issues:
We’ve already seen the Fail Whale go the way of the dodo in place of a generic 503-error page. Only time will tell what images will replace the other now iconic characters of Technically Wrong Robot, and Maintenance Caterpillar & Chill Ice Cream Cone. What other image changes and default avatar colors have you spotted?
For branding and social media insights check out my Posterous.
Social media has swung the pendulum back from traditional media’s focus solely on the brand as king. The peasants are fed up with their tyrranical ruler and demand to be heard. These followers and friends are storming the social media castle of web 2.0. They’re not standing for anything less than full court with the King of the land. What the King has to say depends on how long he’ll stay on his throne.
Today’s landscape is a volatile one at best with the economy in an upheaval, jobs in question, and general unsureness all across the land. People want to feel security from somewhere. This is when they look to what they love and trust: your brand.
The unsettled state of the world coupled with the proliferation of real-time social tools have now given the peasants their pitchforks and torches they need to be heard. The unsureness of your customer’s environment plus new technological tools to communicate directly faster equals the perfect storm.
Your customer today doesn’t just want instant access answers, they DEMAND it. With all of the old ways failing them each and every day, they are increasingly latching on to new ways of communicating, thinking and purchasing. You don’t tell them what to do, they tell you.
History is littered with the corpses of Kings who forgot what makes them Kings: their subjects. Without a kingdom you can not be a king. Likewise, without customers you will not have a product or brand to sell – you’ll just go out of business.
This is why your customer is king. That’s ALWAYS been a given. The only thing that’s changed is that now your customer has access to tools through social media to feel empowered to affect the change they’ve always wanted but have felt discouraged to do so.
Keeping this in consideration, I have a panel on Social Customer Relationship Management (sCRM) in the South by Southwest (SXSW) panelpicker that you can vote on. Brian Solis has been kind enough to collaborate with me in crafting this panel & gathering some of the top minds in this area , including himself.
An in-depth discussion of how social media networks & tools like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and blogs are important to brand customer relationship management. Who should be heading up these efforts, what rules they need to abide by and what companies are getting it right/wrong will be looked into. In the social Web, a brand’s perception reputation is in the hands of the new influencers – those customers, peers, and prospects who leverage social media to voice their views, opinions, and questions. It’s how you discover and engage in these discussions that determine the brand’s resonance.
What is Social CRM and how is it different than CRM or CRM 2.0?
Who owns the conversation? Who is responsible for sCRM if Social Media is cluttering the internal marketing landscape (PR, Marketing, Interactive)?
How is the infrastructure of CRM adapting to incorporate the “now” or real-time web?
What are the new roles required for sCRM?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of offshoring vs. nearshoring?
How does an organization justify the less costly form of inbound-focused customer service to outbound CRM and ORM?
Is there value in engaging everyone on the social web?
How can companies change and adapt internally to reduce the negative chatter, thus reducing required responses?
How should a brand manage a crisis about them in social media?
How much transparency does a brand need to have in social media in respect to government agency regulations?
For branding and social media insights check out my Posterous.
The world is a changing place. Tools may come and go but you'll always have your toolbox.
What you do with it is up to you.
Damien Basile
Who:
Damien is a communications strategy consultant and entrepreneur. He currently is working on a stealth startup so don't ask him what it is. He won't tell you.
While most of you were obsessing over the Kanye West meme taking the internet by storm, Twitter quietly rolled out an update to their brand image. They killed off the 
