When the Web 2.0 era started we began feeling that everything was about “sharing, avatars, engagement, friends, status updates”, etc. For any new  ”social” website launching, if we included all the words mentioned above, we wouldn’t feel that they’re a copy of other sites. I guess that’s  what a social network is supposed to offer right?  However if we have a look at the biggest networks, the trend setters like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, either they’re running out of ideas or very cleverly not wrecking their heads with “the next big thing/feature” and simply copying their neighbors… or maybe making it official (like the LinkedIn-Twitter status updates) and integrating properly. Is that the way to go?
Anyways, looks though like Twitter is being copied the most… Here are a few examples:

Facebook copying Twitter

Back in March of this year, Facebook’s redesign offered a new experience… but wait a minute, didn’t that look like Twitter? Yes, so what? Even though that was immediately rejected by 94% of the users, Facebook felt it was the right decision and kept it. Soon, millions of users would get less passionate and forget about this “new design experience” and carry on enjoying the platform. From March ’09 to present, Facebook welcomed close to 100 million new and active users… looks like the Twitter thing worked out…

Facebook have also brought more Twitter stuff to the table: the “@mentions” that now appear as anchor text on the status updates. Great move. I wonder when will Twitter start adding some Facebook spice as “Like” on tweets for example. Blogs have adopted that in comments already. (Twitter and Facebook! what about a “Dislike” button?? Maybe too negative? Over to you…)

LinkedIn copying Twitter

First, they came up with status updates . Then, they made the most obvious change (and a great one I must say) that was including avatars! Recently they implemented the feature “follow” for LinkedIn groups (you can also follow people that you’re not necessarily connected with).
The most obvious one is the integration announced last week (An official partnership) about status updates from Twitter to LinkedIn and vice versa.  Furthermore, a Twitter client functionality (right from your LinkedIn homepage) was just added.

Orkut copying Twitter and Facebook

On October 30th, Orkut (Now owned by Google) relaunched with features very similar to their cousins Facebook and Twitter… Don’t even need to say more. Have a look…

The question is: Will a new trend setter appear or we’ll keep seeing this kind of predictable changes? Would Bebo, My Space and other sites need to integrate with their brothers or launch the same features to retain users or simply to survive?

Come on, tell us… What’s next?

Best,

Fred

Follow Fred and Channelship on:

Federico Caballero’s Profile | Create your badge

Hi all,

I went yesterday to the Simply Zesty Summer Camp about social media. Nice day with great discussions and speakers. All presentations should be available soon.

Philip Macartney, Sales director at Bebo Ireland kicked off. The presentation included a few good examples including the famous “Pat the Baker“, yearbookyourself.com and the Fanta competition.
When I asked Philip about Facebook’s non-stop growth and how would Bebo overcome that, he mentioned that they are working on a few modifications that will enrich the interaction and engaging experience. Looking forward to that. See Philip in action below…

Nial Harbison from Lookandtaste.com was next. He shared some interesting slides about the simplicity of online video and how easy is to get started without any fancy equipment at all.
I liked that as an example, he used probably the most unusual type of person/business to go on social media: “a butcher”. I believe that more down-to-earth approches like that, will surely help several companies understand in plain English, how to finally benefit from social media. See Niall in action below…

Alastair McDermott from Websitedoctor.com was up next. He covered Search Engine Optimisation and also discussed social media.
There were a few good tips about on-site/off-site optimisation for the audience but what I liked the most was Alastair’s opening…Have a look below:

Next was Conall McDevitt from PR company: Webber Shandwick, with a very interesting presentation. He covered some angles about reputation, igniting conversations, good examples of Advocates (great one-to-one live discussion with Darragh Doyle at the end) and the importance of relevant communities about topics that would have never reached a significant audience before. People interested in bikes, stamps, knitting… They now have a voice. As Conall said several times: “they’re out there”.
I also found very interesting the shift from broad to “narrowcasting” (the importance of creating a relevant community) and finally two slides where he explained what exactly changed in the process of a PR firm in order to approach social media. See Conall in action below…

Finally, a great panel of Internet/social media specialists (Darragh Doyle from Boards.ie, Technology consultant, Jason Roe and Marie Boran, journalist at Siliconrepublic.com) shared interesting thoughts and answer interesting questions from the audience. For example:

1. How to approach a blogger
2. Where is traditional media going?
3. The importance of having your own voice and answering questions as companies as opposed to not listening/engaging.
4. What NOT to do in Boards.ie. (Darragh had some really funny examples)

The evening finished with informal networking and a  lovely BBQ.
I had a chance to talk to Ernie from Findahotel.ie and Denise from a children’s charity, that shared their recent experiences with Facebook pages.

FYI: there’s already a hot conversation going on over at Simply Zesty’s blog. Don’t miss it

Did you like the post? don’t be shy, make a comment below and share it!

Best,

Fred

Follow Fred on:

Federico Caballero’s Profile | Create your badge

Hi all,

Last Wednesday we finished the last pilot for Up & Connected: Social Media Training for Irish Companies.
We received great feedback and questions about leveraging the different social networking tools available to enhance business opportunities in today’s marketplace.

I’ve worked on three short videos based on some of the main questions:

• Facebook for busisness: How to remove photo tags and how to set up a Facebook ad.
• Linkedin: Is there an “insights” feature available?
• Twitter alerts: How to set up an alert with “Twilert” to track specific keywords/keyphrases.

Subscribe to Channelship’s You Tube channel

Did you enjoy the post? don’t be shy, make a comment below and share it!

Best,

Fred

Follow Fred on:

Federico Caballero’s Profile | Create your badge

The IIA annual Congress took place last Thursday at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Santry. The title this year was: “Better Business Online in a Tough Economy: Money, Marketing, Monitoring & Mobile”.
It was a great event, well organised, with loads of very knowledgeable people to network with and fantastic speakers:

Colm Lyon (CEO, Realex Payments): He focused on the importance of goals and how imperative is to know what and where do you want to be in order to achieve real success. He highlighted the crucial importance of business scalability.

Trey Harvin (CEO, DotMobi): “Ireland is the first country in the EU in browsing the Internet on mobile devices.” He also shared www.ready.mobi (testing tool that evaluates mobile-readiness using industry best practices & standards). Interesting: Spanair are using already scannable ticket on mobile screens. Go to mobiforge.com and mobithinking.com for more info.

Ronan Harris (Online Sales Director, Google): Ronan focused on the importance of online measurement through Google tools, providing insights crucial for companies to increase revenue and generate business intelligence. Some highlights: “15 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute”. “It’s been a 355% increase in engagement in displayed ads”. “Time spent on site and bounce rate seem to be key metrics to stick to”. (That’s too broad since not every single business has the same KPIs, therefore, the priorities of what’s measured would differ). Social media: Covered the Obama campaign (of course). Interesting story also about Nike: by engaging in social media and making their customers feel brand-ownership they achieved success.

Colm Long (Director Online Operations, Facebook): 200 million active users. Average user spends 25 min/day, 50% return daily (yes! that’s a 100 million), 70% of users from outside the US , 35 years of age and above is now the fastest growing segment (this is crucial information since many people still believe that Facebook is only a platform for teenagers) Colm also shared a fantastic video about the way they used Facebook to localise their site. Coming up: New private setting for different “Groups”!

As ususal, Channelship produced some cool videos to share with you. Check out Trey Harvin (DotMobi) “The Internet on mobile phones”, Ronan Harris (Google) on “Free tools for companies” and Catherine from Hostelworld.com about “The power onf online video”. Enjoy!

Subscribe to Channelship’s You Tube channel

Want to know what people said at the event? Go to Twitter Search #cong09

Good post? Leave a comment please & remember to share it

Best,

Fred

Follow Fred on:

Federico Caballero’s Profile | Create your badge