How much for a week without...

How much money would it take for you to give up Facebook for 1 week? That's basically what one study asked, and the results kind of surprised me. Why? Because Facebook ranked last, or least valuable for communication, behind email, texts, and voice calls.
How would you rank them? Do you think that will change as more people adopt Facebook's new email feature?

Facebook Opens Up Its Server and Data Center Designs

Facebook had designed stripped-down servers that were 38 percent more efficient and 24 percent cheaper than those sold by major server makers. He also said that Facebook’s new data center, which is in Prineville, Ore., is being cooled entirely with air, helping to reduce both its energy bills and carbon footprint. The data center is expected to open this month. Read this article for more information.

Women and their Facebook friends!

Today Mashable posted two really cool infographics about how women feel about their Facebook friends. I know that I have definitely felt the same way about some of my friends. It then begs to question why am I friends with them in the first place? I think a lot of it has to do with the awkwardness of deleting them as a friend. The proximity of being at school with them and possibly running into them has a certain weight. I also think it depends on how closer you are with them, are they friends with your friends? Are you actually friends with them and they just post somethings that annoy you? I'm curious to see more about this study in the future!

Proof of Facebook's domination?

Here's possible proof that Facebook gives a better ROI than Twitter. However - I take this with a grain of salt, since I think companies are still gaining a lot indirectly from the reach and credibility they can create via Twitter.
Do you think Facebook is worth more, monetarily, than Twitter, and will it stay that way?

Mommy bloggers

I thought this was an interesting article discussing new disclosure rules for bloggers (not just traditional journalists anymore!), and how companies are actively seeking out strong, existing communities to promote their brands - specifically the mom blogger communities. Here's one quote from the article:

"Even as many campaigns have found that Twitter is a great word-of-mouth strategy, other avenues of social media like Facebook are becoming more important, Ms. Calhoun said. Also, video blogs, display ads and online surveys are all integral parts of promotions on the sites.

“Brands are really mixed on Twitter,” Ms. Calhoun said, partly because of the 140-character limit on posts. “Facebook is much safer for brands because it gives them a lot of control,” she said."

Do you think they're right? Is Twitter too limited to really shape and share your brand with these (or any other) communities? And are there other dangers that come with connecting yourself to mommy-blogging communities?

Revolutions and New media

Really interesting to think about the implication of Social Media in the latest Middle East revolutions ! To balance the Slate's article published by Kaitlin, have a look at this article "Did Facebook bring down Mubarak?"
quotation:
"The role of the internet in Egypt's revolution has definitely been overstated. If you look at the available data on the degree of internet penetration in the country as well as the number of mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 people, the percentage of population under age 15 and the degree of urbanization, some intriguing facts jump out."

Yesterday another article reacts on the same site: "why not call it a Facebook Revolution ?"

Social Media Values

I love Slate, and obviously some of this piece is postulation, but it's a fascinating, short look at some of the stances taken by Google, Facebook, and Twitter amidst revolutions and censured information. All of these platforms have played parts (even if Malcom Gladwell doesn't agree) in the rapid spread of information and uprisings we've been witnessing. However, it hadn't occurred to me to analyze this from the role of the founders of these various organizations. Do you think that Zuckerburg is out for the profit more than Google is? Or maybe just playing it safer, politically?

Take that, Malcom Gladwell

This is a great, short piece about how the internet (in general) has fueled democratic movements in the Middle East & North Africa and how some of the protesters are showing their thanks to Google, Twitter, and Facebook.
One young man in Egypt named his daughter Facebook Jamal Ibrahim. Yes, he named her Facebook. Here's a quote:

"A young man in his twenties wanted to express his gratitude about the victories the youth of 25th of January have achieved and chose to express it in the form of naming his firstborn girl “Facebook” Jamal Ibrahim (his name.) The girl’s family, friends, and neighbors in the Ibrahimya region gathered around the new born to express their continuing support for the revolution that started on Facebook. “Facebook” received many gifts from the youth who were overjoyed by her arrival and the new name. A name [Facebook] that shocked the entire world."

I have to agree with the author here - the only internet company whose name might sound acceptable for a child is "Quora."

Barbie & Ken: A Love Affair

It’s a little late for a Valentine’s post, but I thought I’d bring this creative digital marketing campaign to your attention. Mattel has embarked on a mission to bring Ken & Barbie back together via social media. Ken has turned to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Foursquare and even Match.com! He also took out some billboard space in New York and Los Angeles in hopes of winning back his true love.

It’s actually pretty cute, very interactive and the messaging seems to be consistent across all platforms. Check out this Mashable article that has links to Ken's various profiles.

Majority of people have abandonned brands on Facebook and Twitter

Not easy for companies to keep in touch with their customers on Facebook or Twitter: just see !

AU in the Washington Post

American University was in yesterday's Washington Post for its use of social media during the most recent snowstorm.

Professor Zaharna's International Public Relations class has a Facebook page in which they use to communicate about certain events happening around the world and since the article has hit, requests to join the group and emails about the group have been pouring in. When the snow hit and school was canceled, Professor Zaharna held a "snow class."

Status Updates turned “Sponsored Stories”

Facebook is at it again! They’ve recently rolled out a new product allowing advertisers to pull content from users’ status updates, “likes” and check-ins, and repurpose it as an advertisement appearing in that right rail (where we’re all oh-so-familiar with ads already).

Get this: you can’t opt out. Facebook’s justification for this is that only your friends will be able to see these “sponsored stories,” and they would see them in their news feed anyway. This article explains a little bit more and also offers a great quote from David Berkowitz in an op-ed for Mashable:

"Facebook's latest advertising offering, Sponsored Stories, is characteristic of the company: bold, clever and lacking empathy."

Do you guys agree or disagree with Berkowitz?

ps – At the time of this posting, 3,403 people “liked” this CNNMoney article via Facebook!

Piperlime's Mean Social Media

I'm a fan of the online shoe and clothing company Piperlime on Facebook. I've bought a ton of shoes from them and became a fan because I thought they might post messages about sales, new styles, etc. Lately, their messages have been pretty strange.

Every day they post messages like "Yoga pants are not pants," "Every time you wear sweatpants in public a single guy leaves New York," and "No more pajamas in public." Every time they post a message like this they start a giant war between their apparent sweat pants loving and sweat pants hating fans.

I don't know what their strategy is, but the messages are pretty annoying. They have a new ad campaign with similar themes, but it seems worse here. The first rule of social media campaigns should be "Don't insult your fans."

Booshaka!

Just like you can view trending topics on Twitter, now you can follow trending topics on the largest social media platform in the world, Facebook. Booshaka aims to be the source of trending news and communications discovery for Facebook. I think it could use some design help, but the overall concept is long overdue in the social media world and it should do well.

Also, here's a map demonstrating each social media platform's relative dominance.

Facebook + Media

Facebook just recently launched a "Facebook + Media" page to show journalists and media outlets how to get active on Facebook.

The idea is to educate media outlets to use the site to drive traffic and increase consumer engagement. In addition, the page points users to successful journalists already using Facebook, and directions for how top media outlets can use the Facebook tools on their sites. There's a tab for journalists and another for developers giving tips and best practices to make the integration easier.

Facebook says:
We're excited to begin a dialogue with media companies on how we best can deliver value. Media companies are great at creating content and delivering it to the right people at the right time. We think Facebook can add a social dimension, to show users the content that friends most care about and most recommend.

It's always important for PR professionals to know what journalists are up to and maintain relationships with them, so this site may prove significant for that industry as well. It's no surprise that Facebook is trying to drive media outlets to use Facebook more, since that will drive more users to Facebook. Facebook's over-arching plan seems to be to get everyone to go to Facebook to get all their media, so this is a smart step on their part.

http://tinyurl.com/2975q3u

Washington Post Facebook Article

The Washington Post had a cover story today about Facebook getting its 500 millionth user: Status symbol: Facebook is ubiquitous, but is it really an antisocial network?

In my opinion, this article is very poorly researched and reported. Focusing only on how annoying the site can be, the author mocks those who haven't joined yet ("I don't gettttt it, they say. What does it dooooo?"), makes blanket statements on how users want Facebook to stop changing their privacy settings (without any explanation of actual policy or details) and makes vague remarks about how our relationships have changed. There is no mention of how businesses or non-profits are using facebook, how other social media is working differently, or what the author really wants to happen. Does this really belong on the front page of the post?

Scientists use social media

Kenya is considering using social media to disseminate scientific information and findings. Kenya's National Council of Science and Technology, which advises the government on science and technology matters has created a strategic plan to spread scientific to younger generations by using Facebook and Twitter.

In many countries, scientists have already begun using social media to broadcast their findings. In Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Parks Canada have established departments to manage their Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr and LinkedIn accounts. Scientists are able to share text based updates, pictures, and videos of findings, ongoing projects etc.

There are concerns among some that by using social media, the National Council will lose control of their information. Others, however, are certain that social media will provide a direct portal for communication and will provide the appropriate channel to spread continually evolving information .

http://bit.ly/dkCnKT

Get your virtual wallet out

Hey, remember when our whole class was ridiculed for not playing games on Facebook? Well, here's why. A new study of 600 teens age 13-17 shows that gaming on Facebook is growing.

More than 75 percent of online teens play games online, and they spend twice as much time playing on social networks as on the web. Also, more than a third of Facebook gamers spend at least 50 percent of their time on the site playing games. Long story short: Facebook games are addicting online teens everywhere.

Although we may not fit the teenage game-playing demographic, it's not surprising that marketers are starting to look to social networking games to get their brands out there. Teens do control a large portion of the market, whether it's through their parents' money or the influence that they hold over their parents' buying decisions.

Not to mention the money actually spent on games. In fact, games bring in the majority of teenage social network spending. According to the study, 15 percent had spent money to purchase "currency in a game to buy virtual items," 14 percent had purchased "accessories for their avatar in a game," and only half that (7 percent) reported buying a "virtual gift."

Nearly half (49%) of those who had purchased said they had allowances for online spending. Would you want an allowance for online gaming? Would you allow your kids to have one?

OMG, a CMS for Facebook? I need to lie down.

If you've ever managed one of those fancy-schmancy CMS (content management systems) for a web site, you probably know all the fun work-arounds and glitches that those systems have. Nothing ever works perfectly and you hardly ever want just the out-of-the-box functionality. With that in mind, consider a CMS for Facebook.

Nicole Landguth at Ogilvy 360 introduced this idea in her post on June 18th: TGIF: CMS for Facebook with some clear pros and cons:

• Scale over multiple platforms or Facebook Pages in one dashboard so instead of posting a video several different places you can do so once
• These systems are constantly updating but there will still be lag tag for any new features Facebook adds.

She also mentions something that was my biggest concern when reading this post:

• The same pitfalls of linking Facebook and Twitter still apply- messages could get cut off, hashtags could end up where they don’t belong, and the nuances that make each platform sing can be lost.

Essentially, different tools for different audiences, with different messages and objectives, all funneled from one single source.

I'm taking a break from our marketing & pr team retreat today and all we have been talking about are the different reasons students use our various social media sites. Facebook Group members come for support and we may be wasting time giving them news stories but Twitter members like to re-tweet the news stories about successful GED students.

My point is, I love the idea of a better way to organize all the social media schtuff, but maybe one single messaging engine like this CMS isn't the best way to do it. Or, maybe they just shouldn't brand it as a "CMS" since there are too many negative connotations with that known product and system.

Idea - awesome
Functionality - mediocre, at best
Name - dealbreaker