I think?! While checking out the full version of Facebook, my (targeted) sponsored ad section on the right looked like this.
Umm, yeah… a recommendation from NEENZ, kids at Disney Aulani, a Playboy subscription, and a request from the Cardioqueen. Yeah, I guess Facebook ads have me pegged.
On Facebook, I’ve been seeing these ads repeatedly over on the right sidebar. What are these ads telling me about my tastes and shopping habits?
You remember that game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon where any actor can be linked to Kevin Bacon within 6 connections? The game is now real thanks to Yahoo and Facebook. But now instead of Kevin Bacon, the modern day Small World Experiment is attempting to link anyone in the world within 6 connections. Can it be done? Try it now.
http://smallworld.sandbox.yahoo.com/
Are you on Google’s new social startup simply called “Google+“? It’s basically similar to Facebook and Twitter, combining elements from each and also implementing its own feature set. With the popularity of Twitter and Facebook, is there room for yet another social network? Surprisingly, yes.
Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve seen a recent disruption in the social media circles that coincides with the launch of Google+. I never thought any service could supplant Facebook and Twitter, and I’m not yet saying Google+ has, but it has definitely made an impact.
Being a Google service, people took notice with a flurry of signups and activity, but how does it differ from Facebook and Twitter? On Twitter, I’m following over 1000 users and my Timeline is constantly updating. I learned a long time ago that Twitter is NOT email and don’t try to read unread tweets – ain’t gonna work. But with this flood of tweets, finding the “good stuff” isn’t easy. I get personal stuff, business stuff, tips, sales, articles, you name it.
For me, Facebook is somewhat similar to Twitter though I follow much less users. I still “like” pages for businesses and organizations so I do get duplicate content from Twitter. There’s more person-to-person interactions on Facebook, mainly since I know the people I friended on Facebook.
Now here comes Google+. This is a fresh start, a clean slate, a blank piece of paper. Of course, you see the same early adopters you met on other social networks. But with Google+ circles, you have a better way of managing people, personas, and content. And like Facebook, the use of real names dictates more civil behavior online (in general). With these new mechanics in play, users can more easily see and acknowledge the shortcomings of Facebook and Twitter.
So really, what has Google+ done? It’s caused a rift, a pause, and it’s made you think. Google has finally broken the hold of Facebook and Twitter and created a fissure that gives opportunities to Google+ or the next big thing.
The connectedness provided by social media continues to amaze me. I’ve mentioned our kitchen and bathroom renovation here and there, and I’ve already gotten several suggestions and recommendations.
From Namesake, I got feedback about flooring for kitchens. Â On Facebook, I got a message from a classmate who’s a talented architect who offered some suggestions.
Most recently, this tweet fed into my Facebook timeline, and I was told to check with 808 Stone.
[blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/geewhy/status/75451784939831296″]
No, 808 Stone doesn’t have soapstone (which I think is rare in Hawaii), but they do fabricate and install granite countertops. Â No promises, but looking good so far working with this family owned business. Â Keeping fingers crossed…
Facebook and its “Like” function has become ubiquitous all over the web. I’ve even added it to posts here. But sometimes, you have to laugh watch out what you “like” in FB and what it tells your FB friends.
Witness this post – the content itself and its display of FB likers.
What is this saying, not once but twice??
Had never noticed that Apple’s iWeb 09 has the ability to post updates to Facebook. Anytime you publish on iWeb, your (configured) Facebook account is supposed to notify your FB friends of these updates.
But does this feature actually work?
The first ever Next Level Hawaii conference happened last week with great speakers talking all things social media. The caliber of speakers was top notch, and while the emphasis was aimed at social media for business, general social media usage and tips flowed throughout the day.
So what did I learn from Next Level Hawaii?
Chris Pirillo kicked off the first session and provided a good backdrop for branding via social media. He reiterated how social media is a long term investment and takes time to build your community and following. You need to find your business niche, be passionate, and uniquely own the mindshare of your market . And Chris being Chris, flitted from subject to subject offering his personal, entertaining commentary.
Next up was Geoff Livingston whose highlight was a comparison of Madonna and Lady Gaga. This was an excellent lesson of branding and social media and illustrated how the landscape has drastically changed over the years. While only in her early 20’s, Lady Gaga’s network empowered by social media is definitively impacting the entertainment scene, previously dominated by the diva Madonna. What’s taken Madonna decades to build is being quickly eclipsed by Gaga.
Technosailor, Aaron Brazell, the author of WordPress Bible
Andrew Hyde was a last minute replacement and talked about the startup market. He mentioned “Ignite” events which sound like a variation of pecha kucha. But Andrew’s most sobering point was asking if anyone cared about your site/service/business. If it shutdown tomorrow, would anyone care or notice? Side note: check out balsamiq for quickly designing site mockups.
After Andrew, Jesse Stay took the stage to talk Facebook. As the author of Facebook books (yes, real books), Jesse showed the crowds the new Facebook social plugins. By the way, Jesse rocked his presentation using Apple’s Keynote and iPhone app that allowed remote control of his presentation. Sorry, my pics of Jesse were all blurry.
Lastly, local video blogger, Roxanne Darling made a compelling case to start using videos for business branding. Video consumption is growing, it’s getting easier to do, and companies can further their customer engagement with video.
Whew! That was a full day of social media! One interesting point was the “forgotten blog.” Many conference go-ers wanted to know if the key to social media success was Facebook or Twitter or YouTube. Several speakers said the same thing which was that your blog should be your central hub of social media activities.
And I almost forgot! One more thing I learned from Next Level Hawaii is watch your tweets when a live tweet stream is involved. You (and everyone else) might see something embarrassing. 😉
Thanks to HawaiiRealty for coordinating and hosting Next Level Hawaii.
Trying out the new Facebook Live Stream social plugin and the Mountain Dew Typhoon flavor.
Read my short reviews about Mountain Dew Distortion and White Out.
So far, most of the basic FB social plugins work with an easy install. Only the Facepile plugin isn’t behaving, but I think I’m missing a step. And things seems to slow down with the FB Javascript library loading (along with all my other crap). 😉
Here’s the Login plugin which will ask you to authorize this “app” to access your Facebook account (which will probably scare off users).
And now the Facepile plugin works… so this Login was the missing step.