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Posts Tagged ‘facebook’

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The End or the Beginning for Foursquare?

Foursquare has been one of those social media “baubles” that are shiny and glittery but, for whatever reason, has never been wildly embraced despite a lot of attention and more than $15-million of venture capital.

Once thought to be the next Twitter, Foursquare was supposed to catch fire a couple of years ago the popular SXSW conference but it flamed out instead.

Sure, it has two million registered users but who knows how many of those are active. Heck, I have a Foursquare account but it’s been collecting dust for months.

There has been a lot of conjecture about Foursquare’s future in recent months over whether it is anything more than a novelty that lets people broadcast their location. The biggest weakness has been that Foursquare has no other features. It’s a one-trick pony.

Heck, if you want to use a service that makes Foursquare interesting and useful, check out our Fourwhere service that shows comments from users on a map in cities around the world. For what it’s worth, Fourwhere also displays comments from Gowalla and Yelp.

If there were clouds on the horizon about Foursquare before, then it’s fair to suggest dark clouds are now rolling in as Facebook has launched a new service that lets people broadcast their location to friends using a mobile phone.

Facebook’s service looks and smells a lot like Foursquare. Facebook is even using the term “check-in”, which has been Foursquare’s catch-phrase.

The question now is whether Facebook’s move into the location-based services market is the beginning of the end for Foursquare. Given Facebook’s dominance and Foursquare’s precious foothold, it could see many of Foursquare’s users flee to Facebook. After all, why use a service with a single feature when there’s another option with multiple features.

The other school of thought is Facebook has now validated the location-based services market, which means that Foursquare and other start-ups such as Gowalla could thrive based on the rising tide lifts all ships theory.

My take is Foursquare’s prospects have become a lot more dim.

If Foursquare had been enjoying Twitter-like success, Facebook’s entry into the market would be significant but not earth-shattering. The fact that Foursquare is still a small player likely means it is about to take a major hit as people migrate to Facebook in significant numbers.

By Mark Evans - August 19th, 2010 - 7 Comments »
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Posted in Social Media

Is There Life Beyond the Social Media “Big Five”?

For all the companies operating in the social media marketplace, there are really only five options for companies looking to establish a strong presence: blogs (WordPress), Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.

This is where the biggest “parties” are happening so it makes complete sense to focus your efforts on them. The “Big Five” sport the biggest audiences and, in theory, offer the biggest bang for the buck.

Their emergence as the dominant players reflects the natural evolution of any market in which there is a small group of large companies and a large pack of smaller companies with lots of aspiration but little market share.

One of the key questions, however, is whether there’s any value for companies to consider activity beyond the “Big Five”? Does it make sense to explore the use of MySpace, Foursquare, Flickr, Tumblr, Friendster or Orkut? And what about Gowalla, Posterous, Digg, del.icio.us and StumbleUpon?

While it is easy to just focus on the “Big Five”, there are plenty of interesting opportunities to leverage other social media services to serve different interests, audiences and geographies.

For example, MySpace, still had 64 million unique U.S. visitors last month, and has maintained its status as the social network for musicians and music fans. The company recently unveiled a new, cleaner home page that looks a lot like Facebook’s.

For companies looking to attract audiences in Brazil and Asia, Friendster is worth considering, while Google’s Orkut is a strong presence in India and Brazil.

Flickr doesn’t get much attention these days as Yahoo struggles to find its way but it had 23 million unique U.S. visitors last month. Tumblr is gaining a lot of traction as a user-friendly alternative to WordPress, while Digg is showing signs of life after badly sagging.

And then there’s new, emerging markets such as location-based services in which Foursquare and Gowalla are battling to establish strong footholds. Although still unproven, companies such as Ann Taylor and Starbucks are experimenting to see whether they have potential as new social media channels.

The challenge for many companies is trying to sift their way through the multitude of social media choices. In many cases, it is easier to simply stick to the “Big Five” because there’s less risk or guessing involved. It’s like the old adage that “nobody ever got fired for buying IBM”.

That said, there are alternatives definitely worth exploring to take advantage of niche, emerging and geographic opportunities.

For some companies, using social media services off the beaten track could be a way to differentiate themselves in a marketplace in which everyone is using many of the same tools.


By Mark Evans - August 17th, 2010 - 1 Comment »
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Posted in Social Media

Comments: Social Media’s Orphans?

When blogs were the greatest thing since sliced bread, the comments came fast and furious – probably because it was so easy to leave your opinion and participate in a new forum.

Today, it seems comments have become a social media orphan. While there are still plenty of people leaving comments (and thanks to everyone who takes the time to write comments on our blog), it just seems like the comment has been shuffled to the corner.

Perhaps people find it easier to leave a “comment” on Twitter or Facebook rather than a blog because it creates content for their digital activity as opposed to someone else’s. Maybe it’s services such as Friendfeed that are moving comments and commentary away from blogs.

Not that this kind of activity is a bad thing but, in some respects, it does take away from a blog’s vitality and, as important, moves conversations that are often better than a blog post itself to another forum.

As Danny Brown nailed it on the head in a blog post, comments are “digital gold” because they set the stage for real conversations.

So, here’s a toast to the comment. Maybe it have a long and vital existence within the fast-changing social media landscape.


By Mark Evans - August 3rd, 2010 - 9 Comments »
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Posted in Social Media

Should the BlackBerry Go Social?

In many respects, this is going to be an important week for Research in Motion and the BlackBerry. Facing increased competition from Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android, the BlackBerry is being viewed as vulnerable and in jeopardy of losing its status as one of the world’s leading smartphones.

While the BlackBerry has maintained its strength in the corporate marketplace that values its rock-solid email and voice service, the BlackBerry’s consumer foothold is, at best, modest despite efforts to pimp its look and features.

The reality is the iPhone is sexy; the BlackBerry is your father’s smartphone.

This week, RIM is expected to unveil its new OS 6.0, which could include a Web browser that actually works. There’s also speculation RIM could unveil plans for a tablet computer to compete against the iPad.

In the midst of BlackBerry’s challenges, an interesting trend is how the device has gained a foothold with younger consumers. While they are not totally thrilled with the BlackBerry brand given its corporate roots, they like using it because the QWERTY keyboard makes it easy to use text-messaging and social media services such as Facebook and Twitter. If you take a look at younger consumers, the BlackBerry seems to be alive and well.

Given this foothold, maybe a logical strategic direction for RIM is pushing to become the social media smartphone. Rather than trying to out-Apple Apple, RIM should tightly integrate Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, etc. so they become a seamless part of the BlackBerry experience.

If RIM makes social media on the BlackBerry so user-friendly and intuitive, it might be able to capture more of the youth market to counter the iPhone’s appeal to the geeks and cool kids.

At the same time, RIM should embrace an Open API system, and encourage developers to create applications to make the BlackBerry even more social.

There’s no doubt this would be a bold step in a new direction for RIM but if can become the “social smartphone”, it would be a terrific way to complement its strength in the corporate market.

By Mark Evans - August 2nd, 2010 - 3 Comments »
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Posted in Social Media, Technology

Is the Sky the Limit for Facebook?

Now that Facebook has reached 500 million active users, the obvious question is how much bigger can it get.

Given Facebook’s tremendous growth over the past 18 months, would it be unrealistic to suggest Facebook could soon have one billion or even two billion users? As important, if Facebook has one billion users, what does that mean to the Web’s growth and overall health?

What’s particularly impressive about Facebook’s growth is how it has continued the ride the “hockey stick”. Just when you think Facebook has peaked, there’s another growth surge.

Much of this growth has to do with Facebook’s expansion within demographics beyond the core 21-to-35-year-old audience.

Another key factor may be the growing corporate adoption, and how Facebook Pages have become an online staple for many companies, particularly business-to-consumer businesses.

This corporate embrace has seen them highlight and drive their presence on Facebook and, in the process, likely encouraged more people to join Facebook.

It is not unusual these days to see companies advertise advertising and marketing campaigns by driving people to Facebook rather than their Web site.

And as much as privacy advocates have their concerns about Facebook’s social graph, the more Web sites that become part of the Facebook ecosystem, the more people will climb on the Facebook bandwagon.

You put all these elements together, and it creates a powerful growth engine that shows no signs of sputtering. In some respects, Facebook’s growth could be a good thing for the Web by providing a powerful presence to counter Google’s growing dominance. Without a strong number two, Google could easily put a stranglehold on the Web with little resistance from consumers.

Of course, the Web’s health depends on a rich and wide of online players – big and small – so it will be interesting to see whether this ecosystem can survive and thrive in a world dominated by two Goliaths.

By Mark Evans - July 22nd, 2010 - No Comments »
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Posted in Social Media

Could Privacy Concerns Kill Social Media?

When it comes to privacy, the pendulum has swung dramatically over the past 20 years.

It has gone from a world in which only friends and family (and the government) knew your personal details to a point in which millions of people happily disclose public information on social media services such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

The willingness to talk about everything and anything has jump-started the growth and interest in social media by making it a dynamic, engaging, informative and data-rich environment for users and, as important, marketers and advertisers.

When you have in-depth knowledge of consumers, there’s no lack of possibilities or opportunities to capitalize on it.

But there is an elephant in the room. A growing concern about online privacy, sparked by Facebook’s latest efforts to leverage the personal information of its 500 million users to deliver more relevant advertising.

It has sparked a renewed discussions about the information collected by online companies, including major players such as Facebook, Twitter, Google and Yahoo!

Suddenly, a growing number of consumers who were oblivious to how much information they disclosed are looking at what they are saying online, and how that information is being used. In many regards, it has been a wake-up call after years of being asleep at the privacy wheel.

With the pendulum maybe starting to swing away from total disclosure, the question is whether growing concerns about privacy will take the zing out of social media. If people are less enthusiastic about publicly revealing a wealth of personal information, does that make social media less interesting, including to advertisers who have been gorging at the full-disclosure buffet?

Given the current behaviour of consumers, it would be extreme to suggest that privacy concerns will kill social media but they could make social media a less interesting landscape.

If companies such as Facebook have to provide consumers with more control over how their personal data is used, does it make these services less compelling to advertisers? If that happens, does social media becoming less viable as a business opportunity?

What do you think? Will privacy kill the social media “golden goose”?

More: For another interesting take on the privacy issue, here’s an interesting article in the New York Times about Bynamite, a start-up that gives users more control over the personal information they disclose.

By Mark Evans - July 19th, 2010 - 4 Comments »
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Posted in Social Media

The Joys of a Small Social Media Arsenal

Social Media Today had a post earlier this week on “When Not to Have a Twitter Account”, a sacrilegious thought to all of us Twitter junkies.

That said, the post did remind me that it’s okay not to have a Twitter account or, for that matter, a blog or a Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Flickr or MySpace account.

And while it is possible not to embrace social media, a more reasonable approach is that it’s perfectly fine to have a small social media presence.

Yup, your digital existence can be happy and fulfilling by only embracing a single social media service.

It could be Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or a blog as long as it meets your goals and objectives and, as important, the needs of the target audience.

The key – and I repeatedly stress this point – is that whatever social media service is deployed, it is important it is used effectively and well. In other words, if you do only one thing, do that one thing great.

It’s like deciding to open a bakery to only make cupcakes. As long as those cupcakes are delicious, you’re not going to be penalized for not baking pies, cakes and muffins.

Too often, social media is viewed in terms of quantity rather than quality. There’s too much focus on the number of tweets, likes, comments, page views, comments, Diggs, etc. rather than the quality of the conversation.

The same approach works for social media services. It’s far better to do one thing really well, rather than many things average.

This is not to suggest some people and companies can’t have a social media arsenal with several tools but less can sometimes be more.

By Mark Evans - July 15th, 2010 - 1 Comment »
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Posted in Social Media

The Rise of the Vertical Social Network

Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace dominate the social networking landscape but there are many people looking for a more relevant place to digitally network.

Facebook, for example, is the “Starbucks” of social networking but there are lots of consumers happily patronizing smaller chains or independents because they meet their needs differently or better.

As John Jantsch wrote in a recent blog post, many people are looking to connect with people within social networks that cater to specific professions (e.g. real estate, law) or interests (e.g. baseball, karaoke).

These networks don’t get a lot of attention but they do exist, and maybe now is the time for them to gain more traction as Facebook and LinkedIn become exceedingly mainstream.

In other words, if everyone’s partying at the same place, there may be opportunities for other places to establish themselves as the new, cool place.

The biggest challenge facing these niche or vertical network is selling people on the idea that size doesn’t matter. These networks are more about the quality of connections rather than quantity. They are places where like-minded individuals can connect with each other with far less noise.

Just for fun, here are some of the more odd vertical social networks – StachePassions (moustaches), Vampire Freaks (vampires) and Zii Trend (clairvoyants).

By Mark Evans - July 8th, 2010 - 3 Comments »
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Posted in Technology

What’s Next for Twitter?

A statement and a question about Twitter.

Statement: There is probably no social media company – or online company, for that matter – that has attracted as much attention, fascination and head-scratching.

Question: Can Twitter become anything more or other than what it is right now – an extremely popular online communications tool with uncertain prospects of ever making major amounts of revenue?

It is a discussion thrust into the spotlight once again as Twitter’s attempt to introduce a new way to look up friends on Facebook has been apparently been blocked by Facebook.

This is yet another example of how Twitter seems to repeatedly stumble strategically even as it continues to attract more users, as well as third-party developers working to make the platform more useful.

Even Twitter’s big stab at monetization – contextual advertising – seems to have run into a major hiccup. Despite all the hype that Twitter had finally landed upon a way to make money, the advertising machine is nowhere close to gaining any momentum.

In many respects, Twitter’s strategic struggles are as fascinating as its rapid growth and embrace by more people and companies around the world. It would be fair to say that everyone wants Twitter to succeed because it offers so much value to so many people.

The ongoing challenge facing Twitter, however, is coming up with a way to pay the bills unless, of course, the ultimate goal is getting acquired by Google.

By Mark Evans - June 24th, 2010 - 3 Comments »
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Posted in Social Media

Keeping Up With the Expanding Social Media Landscape

Within the social media landscape, a small group of companies dominate the scene: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, MySpace, Blogger, Wordpress, LinkedIn and Digg.

There are, however, hundreds if not thousands, of other social media services and networks. Many of them serve niche markets, and many of them have a significant number of members, although they attract little attention.

Then, you’ve got emerging players that have grabbed the media and blogger spotlight recently – companies such as Foursquare, Gowalla, Blippy and, most recently, Diaspora, which is positioning itself as an alternative to Facebook.

And then there are “other” social media players such as Friendfeed, Friendster, Buzz and Orkut.

For social media monitoring companies such as Sysomos, one of the challenges is deciding how many networks and services to index and aggregate. Aside the from the largest companies – along with forums, Wikis – what else goes in the social media pot?

The decision of what and what not to include can depend on the size of the service or network, or the company it comes from. For example, when Google unveiled Buzz, it wasn’t clear whether it was going to be GMail (popular) or Froogle (unpopular). So when Buzz started to attract a lot of users, we quickly integrated it into our database.

Another consideration can be the demand from customers for insight about a particular social media service or network. Most customers are focused on what’s being said within communities that attract the most people (Facebook, Twitter, blogs, YouTube, etc.), which can mean they may have a lot of interest in other players until they get big enough or start to attract more attention.

By Mark Evans - May 13th, 2010 - No Comments »
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Posted in Technology

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