It does however, do exactly what it sets out to do: explain social media in plain English.
It also makes me think of ice cream which is never a bad thing.
As all you Gmail users probably are aware, this morning Google launched a new leap into the Social Media space. They call it Google Buzz, and it works very similarly to Facebook’s “What’s on your mind?” sharing functionality:
You are able to share thoughts, links, photos, videos, RSS feeds etc. What sets it apart from Facebook, aside from one obvious thing, is that you are able to pull in content from your social networks or utilities such as Picasa, flickr, Google Reader and Twitter. This is a great functionality that facebook is lacking, and will probably do so due to equal lack of collaboration partners. All this is done straight through your Gmail account and is shared to your Gmail contacts. You are able to follow peoples’ Buzz feeds, or bring in random content from all your contacts.
Of course this has taken Twitter by storm (around 3,189 tweets over the last 6 minutes on ‘Google Buzz”) , and is the second highest ranking topic at the moment. However, even though it holds high share of buzz, it is not really received well:
According to me the biggest difference between Buzz and Facebook is also why I don’t think it will revolutionise the Social Media world: Gmail is not the forum where you want to share thoughts, party pictures or funny videos to everyone. My contacts in Gmail differ quite a lot from my friends in Facebook. Even Twitter gets around this problem due to a level of anonymity within the micro blog. As I have used my Gmail account for professional correspondence, I run the risk of sharing my content to unintended recipients.
Even though it could be considered a nice effort by Google to try to break into even another space, I don’t think they will succeed. I use my Gmail account for sending emails, for which it is great, but that’s what I will continue to do, nothing more. I’m not saying that Google hasn’t succeeded before in branching out, but this time they are moving in the wrong direction.
But an even more important question, what happened to Google Wave? I haven’t heard anything about it over the last months. This email system that was going to revolutionise the email world, did it flop?
What will it mean for Facebook? Well, there’ll probably be the compulsory whinge period whilst people get used to it, before everyone forgets how it used to be (check out my comment in MediaWeek in 2008 – it’s at the bottom of the page). Then there’ll be the changes that need to happen to apps and pages if they’ve been developed for a 760px wide tab.
Update: These updates will happen in February 2010.
In the mean time, here’s some pics (via PC INpact of course):
Facebook’s set to go through a few changes again over the coming months, so I thought I’d detail some of the plans for anyone with a presence on the social network.
Depending on whether you have a Profile, Page or App, there are some points worth bearing in mind in order to maintain or augment some of the functionality of your activity.
1. The user interface is getting a redesign. There’s going to be a left hand column through which users can navigate their feed, events, photos, games, apps etc. This’ll take up about 25% of the screen on the left, and gives app owners the opportunity to get a shortcut permanently on a user’s homepage.
However, app and page owners will have to rethink some of their functionality. This new column will replace where users currently have their “boxes” – so you’ll no longer be able to include app functionality or content here. In addition, it means that application tabs on profiles will now be about a third narrower (instead of 760px wide, they’ll be 520px wide). Of course, this means if your app or page makes full use of the 760px wide tab at the moment, it may well need a redesign.
Canvas pages (where users make use of a full application) are unaffected.
Timescale for implementation: Late ‘09 early ‘10
2. Facebook are going to implement Open Graph API (nice name…). Any website will be able to install a Fan widget, which will let visitors “fan” the site. This means you’ll be able to have a Facebook presence without having a Page on Facebook. You’ll then be able to publish stories to fans through the widget.
Timescale for implementation: Early ‘10
3. Facebook app owners should be getting access to their users’ email addresses (previously you’ve had to message users through Facebook’s inbox). It’s unclear how you’ll be able to email users (will it be through Facebook or through your own platforms?) but this has the potential to expand a brand’s eCRM activity. As with eCRM though, you’ll need to plan a decent strategy with reasonable frequencies, timings and messaging etc.
Timescale for implementation: November ‘09 (!)
4. More analytics. The insight tool’s going to be expanded to include more activity (such as feed distribution, which shows how many people saw the social actions your page/app generated) and also be given an accesible API. This should be great as you’ll be able to pull the data from your insight tool into other areas. The potential’s big here, especially for agencies to integrate into reporting software.
Timescale for implementation: Late ‘09 early ‘10
5. This is already implemented, but Facebook pages can now publish updates to specific regions and languages. There’s now an “Everyone” button next to “Share”; click on it and you’ll be able to customise your audience.
This week I will continue to talk within the theme of my Swedish origin. In Sweden, millions of people each year ignore paying the TV license, the fee you pay for the public channels. Radiotjänst, the Swedish organization in charge of annually collecting these fees, have since a few years back switched to a new strategy to get TV owners to pay up. Instead of attacking all bilkers they are officially thanking everyone who is paying the fees.
This week a new campaign was launched where Radiotjänst is personally thanking each and every responsible person out there. Through uploading your photo your face gets superimposed on a film, thanking the one person of the world, who is protecting freedom of speech through sponsoring open television broadcasting. You can now see your face being praised all over the world as people reach out and celebrate you as the Hero. You can then share this video with all your friends, showing that you are a giving and responsible person:
This campaign has faced a lot of criticism. It is not very likely that it will generate a lot of new TV registrations. I also think they could have expanded of the “virallability” of the campaign. It is however a very fun way to connect people to the cause and I can think of many ways of how this could be used for more suitable brands. I really enjoyed watching myself as the protector of freedom of speech… Now my next goal is to become the UN Secretary-General.
There always seems to be a celebrity tweeting about a brand they’re unhappy with – two weeks ago it was Rob Brydon with O2, and since then, Perez Hilton has been informing more than 13.5 million people about how T-Mobile and Danger and Microsoft have all failed.
But what’ s a company to do in a situation like this?
1. @reply to any celebrities talking about it (but only if they’re not overly angry)
You can generally tell what overly angry is based on word choice. The two examples above put Perez Hilton on the list of people to ignore. Chances are, if you respond to Perez Hilton and tell him you’re working on it and you’re very sorry, it will add more fuel to the fire.
2. @reply to all the customers with questions.
Be proactive about it; it’s okay to respond even if they haven’t tweeted directly at you. If you don’t know the answer, try to find it, and if you can’t, be honest.
3. Issue statements and updates as often as possible.
You might have nothing to say, but that’s okay. Just assure everyone that you’re still working on it.
4. If you can’t solve the problem right away, start giving away free stuff.
Free merchandise, gift certificates, contract releases, upgrades. Plan it out. If this problem persists longer, how big should the giveaways be? Pay attention to what your customers are saying and if they think it’s enough.
5. Make sure that when the problem is resolved, they are happier than before the problem started.
This might mean a free upgrade or extra services for extended period of time. Make people who ditched the brand think twice about it. Solve a problem well, and your customers will be more loyal to your brand and less likely to jump ship.
T-Mobile is doing rather well in this situation by using all of the above tools so far, but we’ll have to see if in a month’s time Perez Hilton is wishing he had been more patient.
I’ve always been a big fan of O2, they succeeded in turning Britain’s most famous white elephant into a trendy live music arena, they were the first to get the iPhone exclusivity contract and all in all, I have been a happy customer of theirs over the years, but when it comes to their social media, I think they are missing a trick.
So, ok, they do have some presence on Twitter (@O2) but it doesn’t have a clear purpose, one minute it’s advertising the PalmPre, the next it’s talking about its entrepreneur awards, now it’s moved onto customer service with a few @replies appearing on their page.
They obviously know it is important to be involved in social media, but they do not seem to have a clear purpose or strategy for their engagement with consumers on Twitter. If they did, they might have noticed that a certain star of Gavin and Stacey has been tweeting about O2’s 3G coverage (or rather, the lack of it) and responded to him in the public domain to resolve his issues.
So far, Rob Brydon has tweeted at least 5 times in the last 2 weeks about the coverage:
Rob Brydon currently has 75,169 followers, and counting. According to TwitterCounter.com his followers grow by an average of 153 per day, meaning that by the time Orange/Vodafone start selling the iPhone “later this year” (which I am taking to mean December), Rob Brydon will have an audience of approximately 85,821 followers who will hear about his troubles with O2 3G coverage. He has already had many @comments about his problems from his followers, including, rather cheekily:
Ok, not everyone will see his tweets, but as an influential and respected celebrity, his opinion is bound to start impacting his followers’ behaviour.
Word of web + word of mouth = consequences.
Will it stop people getting an iPhone? No. Will it encourage consumers to view other networks more favourably? I would say so, yes.
My advice to O2: get your customer services team onto @RobBrydon immediately! Ensure your response is in the public forum as an @reply. Now is your chance to make an impact.
It doesn’t seem so long ago that I posted a blog about tweeting being banned in the world of sport. In fact, it wasn’t long ago at all. It was two weeks ago.
Now, two weeks later, yet another sport organisation, the National Football League (American - a trend?), decides tweeting and other social networking will not be allowed before, during or after American football games. This policy applies to players, coaches, league officials and the media attending games. Really? The media too?
Policies like this (while their intent is easily understood) are very difficult, if not impossible, to enforce and generally make people upset.
Social media is taking over – it’s unstoppable! Learn a lesson from these sport organisations and try to use tweeting and social networking to your brand’s advantage rather than fighting against it.
Think Before You Tweet – 5 Things You Don’t Want To Mention On Twitter.
Twitter is an open social network, this means anyone can read your tweets (unless you protect them) including your friends, co-workers and also lovely lawyers. Obviously, we hope not everyone in the world is looking to sue you, but it’s good to think before you tweet.
1. Don’t say it if you can’t prove it. That’s the best way to not get sued. If you tweet something that would cause your followers to think less of the brand (or person) you have criticised, and ultimately damage their reputation, then you are liable for libel. However, if you can prove your point is true, or that your comment is fair and a matter of public interest, then go right ahead.
2. Remember your audience. Your boss or company follows you? Is it worth tweeting about how you didn’t do that report? The bloke you fancy in the office? The benefits you are illegally obtaining? If there are certain people that don’t need to know things, then keep your Tweets relevant to your audience.
3. Burglar Bill. Whilst you may not have your address on your Twitter Profile, can it be found on the internet? In this case, may be best not to tweet when you are going on that extended holiday minus all your worldly goods.
4. Harassment laws still apply on the internet. A bully recently was sentenced to 6 months in prison for threatening to kill someone on Facebook. We hope you aren’t bullies, but remember that everyone can see the comments you make, so that friendly jibe about beating your mate up at the weekend may be taken out of context by observers.
5. Copyright still applies, you can’t go around claiming you invented the Post-it note, Spencer Silver and Art Fry will be on to you!
Everyone can read your tweets, so make sure you are fair (and not malicious) to the brands you dislike (unless you have proof, that is) and don’t threaten to beat up your mate.
Christopher Cornell of Sci-Tech Today is writing an interesting piece on how employers must have social media policies. He starts out with reminiscing about the Domino’s Pizza case where two employees videoed themselves doing nasty stuff to food, and then uploading it to YouTube. I reckon it is self-explanatory that if you do something disgusting or illegal while wearing the brand’s uniform, displaying it through an open medium it will generate negative buzz and damage the brand. You don’t need any policies against that. It is like having policies against robbing banks while wearing your McDonald’s uniform.
However, Cornell also talks about how your own Social Media appearance reflects the brand. As many companies have Social Media profiles, their employees are the ones representing that profile online:
“I’ve found that social networking has blurred the line between one’s professional and personal life. For example, if I want a sales person to invite all of his professional contacts to our Facebook fan page, I need him to have a Facebook profile. Once, his profile appears on our corporate fan page, I may click on his profile.”
This of course means that as your personal on-line space is merging with your employers, you will more and more take your work with you home, and your ability to clock out will no longer be as apparent.
“I cannot control how he represents himself, but I can tell you that it isn’t the most professional representation of one’s self if his personal life is posted all over his profile.”
Social Media is making our lives a lot easier and gives us more freedom, but it is also limiting our autonomy. If my Facebook profile is linked to my employer’s, prospect customers will be able to in detail see what people are representing the brand, and the line between the professional and social person is becoming less defined.
You can generally tell what overly angry is based on word choice. The two examples above put Perez Hilton on the list of people to ignore. Chances are, if you respond to Perez Hilton and tell him you’re working on it and you’re very sorry, it will add more fuel to the fire.
Be proactive about it; it’s okay to respond even if they haven’t tweeted directly at you. If you don’t know the answer, try to find it, and if you can’t, be honest.
