Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Networking Strategy for Small Business



I have a friend who is a house painter and we were discussing how as a small business owner he can use networking to get more exposure. Amazingly, he was not aware that he could profit by using a social network site to promote his business prospects. For this purpose, I suggested that he start actively networking online. Generaly, people who have small businesses usually get business by word of mouth and this is a way to do this online. The sites that I suggested were Face book, MySpace or Twitter.

In addition, I told him to join a few local social networks sites in his area to promote his business to people who might be willing to hire him. He can also create his own network by using Ning. The types of businesses that he should target are not for profit, other business owners or other people who work for a large organization in his area that might want to hire him. He could also start a group for other professionals in the house renovation or building business, such as landscaping, plumbing and electricians to share ideas and get referrals. Once he starts networking online, his contacts will grow, but he must spend the time online to reach the people who may send business his way. He can also post some pictures of the painting jobs that he has done to show people how good the quality of his work is. Since most of these network sites are free, he has nothing to lose, and he will be able to build strong relationships with many of these people.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Monday, November 16, 2009

Social media influence on purchasing.



Are better decisions made on or off line?
http://waves.wavgroup.com/social-media-influence-on-purchasing
I wanted to share this article on social medical influence on purchasing and how it affects the way people look for products they want to purchase on or off line.
This study by Parenting Magazines shows that lots of moms are engaged in social networking, but making many of their product decisions based upon offline relationships.

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) – Technology’s influence is widely assumed to have morphed the over-the-fence backyard chat into mommy blogs and Twitter networks, but when moms are seeking product advice, it’s not all social-media all the time.
The Parenting Group’s study found that while moms are avid web and social-media users, they still turn to family and friends first, whether by phone, e-mail or in-person, when making decisions about product purchases. And marketers targeting moms would be wise not to give up on that backyard fence just yet: Moms are four times more likely to go to their personal offline network than online social networks for product recommendations and buying advice.

The survey, conducted via Parenting’s MomConnection online research panel, found 23% of moms use Twitter, but only 3% are using it for product information. A whopping 81% of moms use Facebook, but again only 24% use it for product information.
“Regardless of which social network they use, only a small minority said they use those social networks for product information,” said Nancy Hallberg, chief strategy officer of the Parenting Group. “[But] the interesting thing is that moms are very open to having conversations online with marketers, they just want to have them on their own terms.”

The study found that more than 80% of moms visit a brand’s website for information and 65% have signed up for newsletters from brands. That is, they are usually seeking information from brands directly, rather than looking for a social interaction with brands on a third-party social site.

First and foremost, social.
“It’s not that you’ve got to be in their social conversations. Social networks are first and foremost social,” Ms. Hallberg said. “If they’re on a social network, looking at pictures, being entertained or looking at friends’ videos, they’re saying [to us] ‘I’m not in the mood to have a conversation about a product. But when I am in the mood, I’ll go directly to that marketer.’”
The Parenting Group study jibes with other market researchers’ findings. BabyCenter’s recent 21st Century Mom Report found that 10% or fewer of Facebook, MySpace and Twitter moms use those sites for product recommendations, while the majority (from 60% to 90%, depending on the site) use them for socializing and entertainment.

A September online Prospectiv study found that only 1% of moms surveyed thought blogs were the most effective way to promote a brand, while almost half (47%) cited product samples offered online, and another 40% said coupons were better ways to plug a product.

Online vs. offline.
Researchers agreed it’s not an online vs. offline battle, but rather more about the effectiveness of personal connections in either place.
“The power of word of mouth is more defined by the affinity for and trust of the information source rather than online versus offline means of interaction,” Laura Fortner, senior VP, marketing and insights at CafeMom, said in an e-mail interview. “You can have an offline recommendation made by a stranger in a grocery aisle that may not be as powerful or impactful as online recommendations made by someone in your social network with whom you share common interests, values and experiences.”

Brad Fay, chief operating officer and co-founder of word of mouth research firm Keller Fay Group, agreed that it’s not an either/or proposition.
“We’ve found that more than 90% of word of mouth about brands among moms and others happens offline. But a lot of the time, they’re talking about something they’ve learned online. … In the last several years social media has become important. But we have to be careful when we start employing new tools (as marketers) that we don’t use them in isolation. Don’t stop doing what works in other places.”
Indeed, it may be that the power is in the mix of both. Facebook is a very popular destination for moms and they give their opinion on everything, including products. Twitter is a gold mine for exchanging product information targeted to moms. Moms are incredibly active in tweeting and retweeting about product giveaways, contests and coupons. Twitter parties – a hybrid of online and offline – are also increasingly popular [and] provide helpful information while also highlighting products and brands. Moms want the feedback of other moms, whether online or in the real world. They haven’t stopped listening to real-world friends just because they are also having online conversations. What’s interesting is that those online friends are also becoming friends in real life.

Some ways to enhance positive marketing experiences.

Sponsored Conversation:
For brands to reach online influences they should engage in sponsored conversations, which is a marketing technique to provide financial or material compensation to bloggers in exchanging for their posting blog content about a brand. This gives the blogger a way to interact with others and help promote something that they really like or used and communicate their feelings and experience with the brands they are writing about. I feel this is a good way to engage people to help market something to their friends or followers. What other way can marketers expect to get this type of traffic and exposure by themselves.

OpenID:
The OpenID Foundation is focused on creating a single identity system that can be used across may Websites enabling users to register once across all Websites. The identity system allows consumers to benefit from contextual information from Websites that allow the identity to be shared.

Facebook Engagment ads: Read WSJ article online.
This feature in Facebook requires a social approach allowing social ads interaction with ads triggering actions on their activity that encourages other users to participate. The new ads appear on the main screen when someone logs on to their Facebook account. Then, they are prompted to do something within the ad, such as comment on a movie trailer. I wonder if this is going to be valuable to the companies who are trying to promote products or services.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Can the use of social media reach young consumers?




It seems that an overwhelming majority of people consume social media content, and most young consumers are also becoming spectators who read forums, listen and watch videos on YouTube and create their own blogs and post comments. This increase in this type of activity proves that people are spending more time on social media areas to look for specific things they are interested in.

While many of the young generation demonstrate multiple forms of social participation in brands, marketers do not seem that interested in using social media to reach this generation to promote brands.

However, while many of these users may be attracting marketing prospects, interactive marketers still find it hard to create appealing messages because many of them don’t really know the people these people are connecting to because they are not really close friends. This makes it hard to find any value of these types of informal contacts for the word of mouth campaign that marketers rely on to spread their brands or services over the Web. Just think how much would person trust information sent to them from a friend of a friend that they do not know at all.
Another problem is that people are not truthful in their profile information, which makes it hard to use this for targeting users for a specific brand based on age, gender or location. So why do marketers think that just putting up a brand on Facebook or MySpace will attract younger fans. I do not really know, but for one thing, marketers need to look at how and why people interact and connect with others who are also on line. Marketers must be ready for more changes that are going to take place over the next few years. Traditional marketing is becoming less effective; therefore, marketers should do more listening to their consumers instead of just trying to talk to them.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Can virtual dating affect relationships?




A new game cartridge for Nintendo DS has a new dating sim called Love Plus, and I wanted to know what all the hype was about. I found that with this new gaming technology, many people are getting hooked and they are spending more time on this then on real life. This dating sim can make you think that you really have a relationships with the character and can take you out of reality and into a virtual world. It is hard enough to deal with normal person to person relationships and now you have to wonder if this type of technology is good.

Relationships with your virtual character can start out as formal at first, and can become more demanding of the person's attention because this one is really well-made. Many of these Japanese games can be purchased by Americans from J List.

There is a lot of controversy in adult virtual games. Many men and women are attracted to these types of programs, but I want to know how far will the designers of these games go.

I think that many women will start to complain how their family lives were disrupted by their husbands addictions to Konami's hit. I wonder if this engagement with someone in a game can impact a couple's relationship.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Social Networks are a big target for advertising and marketing products.


Since I had recently heard an interesting presentation for on line advertising and marketing strategies, I wanted to share some of my findings according to a survey from IDC.

While social networking continues to remain popular and grow, advertisers looking to grab users attention are seeing low click-through rates.

There are four major reasons why people use social networks: to connect and communicate; in response to peer-pressure; for entertainment; and for work-related purposes.

More than 61 per cent of survey respondents spend more than 30 minutes per session on social network sites, and 38 per cent remained parked for one hour or more.

However, only 57 per cent of social network site users said they clicked on an ad in the past year, compared with 79 per cent of all internet consumers.

Despite its phenomenal growth, social networks have yet to reach online advertising nirvana. It’s a place where marketers are able to serve ads, promotions and offers to friends of friends based on other peoples recommendation, and where word-of-mouth marketing spreads to create waves of self-selecting consumers eager to interact with marketers, according to eMarketer.

It was projected in 2008 that advertisers would spend $1.4 billion to place ads on online social networks this year. eMarketer also forecast ad spending on social networks would reach $2.4 billion in 2011. This is a lot of money being spent on advertising. Will consumers that normally get attracted through ads by the normal or traditional advertising, such as paper or magazine ads get run down by the on-line marketing strategies? This will only take time to see if people using their mobile phones or the internet to look for products they are interested in purchasing will stop looking at traditonal print ads and put a real dent in the old way of advertising.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Networks and Families Connect



According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project report, Barry Wellman, a sociology professor at the University of Toronto, and an co-author of this report, people polled said that they are actually staying more connected using technology, and that new technology did not affect their families' closeness.

http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2008/Networked-Families.aspx

Wellman said that, "the findings were based on a nationally representative poll of 2,252 people, which explored technology use and profiled a group of 482 adults who were married or living together with minor children. Of the 25 percent of the people who were surveyed, they said cellphones and online communication made their families closer and only 11 percent said that the technology had a negative effect."

In my opinion, families like this new technology because they know what each other is doing at all hours of the day, and it probably does not really make a difference if they meet face-to-face because this still is keeping them connected. When families these days are torn apart by the stress of having two parents who work, this type of technology enables them to keep tabs on each other and their children. Parents and children might rush through their days in different directions, but the American family is as tight-knit as in the last generation because of the widespread use of cellphones and the Internet. Most importantly, where technology has changed family life, those polled said it was for the good. For instance, Forty-seven percent of adults said cellphones and the Internet had improved the quality of family communication. Therefore, it makes sense to say that if you’re connected, you’re not isolated.

Washington Report


This study also confirmed that the Internet and mobile phones are not linked to social isolation. In fact, online activities such as e-mail, blogging and frequenting Internet hangouts can even lead to larger, more diverse social networks. The study argued against earlier research in the decade, which suggested that people’s growing embrace of technology has come at the expense of close human connection.

According to the Herald Net:

Although, the 2008 survey of 2,512 adults did find that Americans’ core discussion networks — that group of people you count on being able to confide in, has become smaller in the past two decades of about two people instead of three. They have also become less diverse because they contain fewer friends and more family members. This trend; however, was not linked to the use technology because it is not the Internet’s intention to replace your friends or stop you from going out in public; it's intended to give you a variety of ways to get you more involved and become more social if this is what you are interested in doing.

As I see it, adults of all ages view the Internet as an important tool for maintaining connections with family members, but young people are more likely to go online in order to keep in touch with existing friends and to also make new contacts.

Does Technology Reduce Social Isolation?



It was interesting to read this NY Times article on how technology relates to social networking. It has been shown that people who use digital technologies are more social than ever before, but it also creates anti social behavior because people are spending more time on their computers and cell phones then actually going out in public to meet people. The social isolation that stems from the use of new technology can prevent people from visiting friends and relatives because they may feel that if they text them, this is a connection, but in reality I prefer to see them in person and spend some quality time with them.

Since my dad is elderly and does not use computers or a cell phone, the only way to really stay connected is to invite him over to my house for dinner or the weekend, which is what I do often.



Thursday, November 5, 2009

Let's Go Yankees!



Although this may not be related to what I have been posting recently, I had to comment on how sports fans may want to use social networks to keep in touch with all their friends and family who were watching the Yankees win the world series.Was that a great game or what?

As a native New Yorker, and a Yankee fan for many years, I could not wait to get home last night to see the game. I was on a bus to go home to NJ last night and everyone was listening to the game on the bus. The bus driver was listening to a Spanish station, but I still was able to understand what was going on. When the sports announcer said it was only 4 Yanks and 1 Phillies, I just knew the Yankees were going to pull it off. When I got home I could not go to sleep until I knew if they won, and I wanted to Tweet how excited I was when they did win!

Watching how the fans reacted on TV was so exciting, and if anyone is lucky enough to go to the parade, they may be Tweeting to everyone what is going on and what they are experiencing. Social networks are a great way to keep the exciting momentum going for such an exciting event like this. I cannot wait to see people downloading pictures and comments they will make if they were at any of the games or were able to take some photos that they want to share.


People who were not able to get a Yankee cap or shirt are Tweeting to friends who live in New York to purchase these types of items for them.


Congrats to the Yankees!!!!






To watch Alicia Keys and Jay Z perform their new hit "Empire State of Mind" at the new Yankee stadium go to:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiryjGi6wZQ

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Q&A on social networks and technology.



Since I wanted to get a different perspective from someone that I feel had a good insight in the area of social networks, technology and knowledge management; I contacted a mentor of mine, who is a librarian at Columbia University. I conducted a Q&A session and we talked about a lot of interesting topics related to social networks and the evolution of technology that I would like to share with you.

Questions:
1) What do you think social networks are best used for?
a. There are a variety of social networks that are used by people, businesses, or for marketing purposes. I cannot really say that one is better than the other because each one is geared toward what the person is interested in and what they expect to get out of using it. For example, Twitter can be used for a political movement or to alert people where the food vendor truck will be today to buy your breakfast or lunch; therefore, people should investigate which site will best meet their needs before joining and contributing content on them.

2) How are social networks used for knowledge management (KM)?
a. Social networks can be used as a KM tool. Businesses can use it to distribute important information to their employees or alert them of an important announcement or events. Using social networks for KM creates a unique network for each organization. For example, if an organization is giving out seasonal and HINI flu vaccinations to their employees, they can post this information on their site to alert when and where they will have to go to receive the vaccination. This way, they will assure that everyone was informed.

3) What are your thoughts on using social network sites (SNS) for business or marketing purposes?
a. You have to be clever about creating a page for a business or marketing. For one thing, if you create a fan page for your business, you want people to relate to it. Also, you need to know who your audience is that your want to target, and make sure you are giving them interesting information because nobody will access it. One thing you have to be aware of is verification issues. Verification of a site or webpage is difficult and it is hard to determine if the person who is posting for a particular business is really an employee authorized to do this. Twitter has a verification award on their site that can be useful to know who posted the content. Some good Twitter feeds are from restaurants letting their neighbourhood residents know when they are offering specials or current events and this is useful to someone who likes to frequent their favorite restaurants. Remember that whoever is creating the content must be creative, but I have noticed that some people are not that good at it.

4) Do you think businesses can use social networking to enhance their growth and profits?
a. Businesses should be aware that many people have short attention spans; therefore, they need to know who is following them and why. They should think about these things before they translate it into a model that they plan to use and this is not an easy task. If a business is in doubt about what angle to take, they should consult an expert to give them some ideas on how to enhance their growth using social networks.

5) What social network sites do you think baby boomers are more attracted to and why?
a. Baby boomers, aged 50-60 years old, had an explosion on Facebook. There may be a variety of reasons why this happened. For exeample, if an incident happens that people can relate to they look for a way to express their feelings. For instance, when Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett died recently, many baby boomers who grew up listening to Michael and watching Farrah on TV, may have related the news of their sudden death and started to think about thier own mortality. By joining Facebook, it gives them the opportunity to connect to people who have had the same experiences and thoughts about things like this. Most importantly, many people join to just stay connected to people who are familiar with their lives and their past, or to meet new people. Another factor to their attraction to certain sites can be related to their own temperament and interest.

6) Do you think that older adults find it hard to use this type of technology, and what do you suggest they do to feel comfortable using it?
a. It all depends on the person, not the generation. There are some seniors that are 90 years old that can search the web very easily, and then there are others who do not have any interest in it at all, even if they know what to do. It all depends on the person’s temperament and inclination.

7) Do you think social networking is bad for communication and why?
a. Social networks are great for communicating with people. It is the fastest way to contact someone and give them information or to just chat online. The only bad thing about it is that people slack off on their English grammar when they use these sites or when the text. They become very lazy and sloppy when they send messages, and sometimes you don’t know what they are trying to tell you if they are using too many acronyms.

8) Blogging – Are more people blogging and are adults blogging more, if not, why?
a. More people are blogging these days. Especially if they find a site that interest them and they want to make their comments, which can lead to them creating their own blog. Ultimately, you have to find something that really interest you, but you should keep the blog active by posting at least every two days, or it may become stale and uninteresting to people who have been following your blog. Another concern is finding interesting content for the blog. This takes time because if you are blogging for a business, and it must be for a specific reason or topic, you have to do your research and make sure that what you post is accurate and verifiable.

9) Where do you see social networking going?
a. I guess we will all have to wait and see how it evolves. For instance, Twitter was not that popular when it was first created and now there are millions of people who have joined. In fact, the number of Twitter users grew 200% from 2008 to 2009.

We ended this great conversation and I said to myself “welcome to the world of social networks and technology”! Above all, our children are learning at an early age how to use technology and they will be the ones who will advance the evolution of social networking so let's keep it moving.




Here are some more sites that were suggested for more information on social networking and technology:

Boingboing.net

http://boingboing.net/

Ted.com

http://www.ted.com/

Oreilly

http://oreilly.com/community/

Beware of risk of using social networks for business





Businesses should think about using Social Networking technologies for marketing, public relations, employee relations, or any other initiatives. However, remember that there are some issues to be aware of before starting.
The good thing about Social networks is that it allows people to create communities on the Internet around shared relationships, interests, and activities, but in the business arena, social networks can be used for much more. Many case studies show how companies are able to use social network services to generate new leads, strengthen relationships with customers and employees, and improve their business operations.

Here are some guidelines for avoiding pitfalls when implementing a social networking campaign:

1. Filter information. Actively filter personal or private, confidential or sensitive information about yourself, your company, your employees and partners, and your customers from the information you or your employees post online. Make sure that none of the information you post is covered by any non-disclosure, patent applications, or contractual agreements, which could quickly get you into hot water.

2. Provide value. Post only information relevant to your audience online.
Before any post, ask yourself: Is this information interesting and useful to my audience, or does it only serve us? Your audience will quickly tune you out if you continually post marketing fluff and self-serving promotional ads.

3. Be truthful. Be as forthright and honest as possible. Remember that these types of media are interactive and can quickly get around. You’ll find that unhappy customers and disgruntled employees are not shy in posting negative comments about you and your company for all to see – especially if they find you evasive or less than truthful.

4. Be vigilant. Social networking sites are a target for hackers, and all sorts of online fraudsters. Before joining a social networking site, make sure to read their terms of use and privacy guidelines. How secure is their setup? Are they vetted by third-party security and privacy assurance services? Will they share your information with third parties? Do mechanisms exist to allow you to control who can and cannot see what you share online? Find out and to protect yourself.

5. Provide clear guidelines. Take a cue from IBM and provide clear guidelines on what is and what is not acceptable, and who does and does not speak in behalf of your company. Make sure your employees know the guidelines and follow them. Let them know that whatever they post online can remain there for years to come and could come back to haunt them later on.

Despite the risks of using social networking services, there may be more risks of not using them at all. For the most part, if you don’t shape your own image on the Web, someone will do it for you. Social networks make it quick and easy to set up a basic profile, and that’s the first step toward gaining control of your business’s reputation online.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Social Networking for Adults

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

My Interview with Charlene Li








Tuesday, October 27, 2009. Mistakes in social media are inevitable – after all, you’re building relationships and what relationship is perfect?” “Focus on the relationships, not the technologies.” - Charlene Li

I was eager to speak to someone with authority on social technology and networks and had the pleasure of interviewing Charlene Li, co-author of Groundswell, on October 27, 2009 in her Altimeter Group office in California. Ms. Li is a social technology thought leader, and the Altimeter Group founder, which is a strategy consulting firm that provides a pragmatic approach to emerging technologies to companies. The four areas of focus at Altimeter are: leadership and management, customer strategy, enterprise strategy, and innovation and practice.

When I did a Google search for Ms. Li, I found the Altimeter Group and saw a contact number for her. I gave it a shot and called the number and she immediately answered the phone. In introduced myself as a Columbia University Graduate student with in interest in information and digital management and asked her if she had a few minutes to speak to me about social networks, especially about how the older generation is adapting to this type of communication and technology.

Ms. Li said that she has seen a growth in baby boomers and seniors using Facebook to mostly stay connected to family, friends and colleagues. The reason why it was taking them so long to use a social network site was because this generation held back because many friends were not using it themselves; therefore, they did not have anyone to connect to. Eventually, when more people started using it and the word was spread around for them to join, it started to bloom. Another delay in usage was the fact that the older generation did not grow up using this type of technology, and they also worried about their privacy. In fact, the older generation had the notion that they should not share their experiences with anyone because some of their cultures forbid them to do this; therefore, this taboo was difficult to turn around. Next, I asked Ms. Li what she thought about the difficulty older people are having in adapting to new technology. She said that this generation did not grow up using computers and they will not be able to keep up with the younger generation because younger people had a head start using computers, the Web, and all other different technology at an early age.

My next question was what social networks do most of the older generation use. She said that Facebook is being used by the older generation because it has an easier format for them instead of MySpace, which has a lot of customization that they do not really grasp yet.

Also, some older professionals are using LinkedIn because it is geared toward business collaboration. She said that it is the largest professional network with over 50 million members and growing rapidly. What impresses the older generation about this site is that it connects them to their trusted contacts and helps them exchange knowledge, ideas, and opportunities with a broader network of professionals.

Regarding how organizations should start to think about using social networks to promote themselves, Ms. Li said that organizations need to focus on relationships and the group that they are targeting to attract them to a particular social network instead of using it for marketing purposes. She felt that people want to use sites like Facebook to only communicate and they are not that interested in using it to market an organization. This trend may change, but in the meantime, people like to just stay connected to their family, friends and colleagues.

The last thing I was interested in was how people and businesses are using Twitter, and Ms. Li said that the growth of businesses using it is starting to take off now. Even if it makes a lot of noise, it is a good way for businesses to send out short messages of information if you need to reach a lot of people quickly. Another challenge is that people sign up and then they drop out because they lost interest in it so we have to see if this loses popularity.
I ended my interview with Charlene Li and thanked her for taking the time to speak to me. She was very gracious and thanked me for calling her. She suggested that I look at her Facebook page to get more information. I plan on posting more on Charlene Li when I look at her page, and if I have more questions, I will contact her again.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Charlene Li announces working on a new book



Charlene, co-author on the "Groundswell" book will be working on another book over the next few months. The book is being published by Jossey-Bass and will come out in May 2010.
This book is sure to have some useful and exciting revelations on emerging technologies including sources and case studies. She is still working on a title for the book, but will make a decision before the week is over because the publishing world’s schedule requires that she submitted a title. She is asking member of the Alimeter group to take a minute and respond either via comments which title(s) you like the best.

http://www.altimetergroup.com/2009/10/wanted-your-opinion-on-book-titles-part-2.html

The book will discuss how to talk with your customers; listen to your employees. These are long-time, well tested truisms of business. But ask a businessperson to engage with people on Facebook or Twitter, or create a forum where employees can connect, and a look of sheer terror crosses his face. Rather than jump at the opportunity to interact, engage, and dialog with customers and employees, s/he runs in the opposite direction.

Why, in the midst of the largest seismic technological and sociological shift our generation, are organizations so hesitant to engage? Companies push back – how open, how transparent, how authentic, and how real do they need to be? The problem is that they are asking only half the question — it’s not just a matter of how open they should be, but also, how comfortable they are giving up control. The new reality is that customers, partners, and employees are demanding that they be given a role in the process and forcing organizations to give up control – or more specifically, the semblance of control.

In this tempest, command-and-control leadership and traditional hierarchical structures are too brittle to deal with fast-moving changes. But there is also a very real limit to how much control a business, organization, or association can give up. This is more than simply being open, authentic, and transparent. It’s a considered and rigorous approach to leadership, strategy, and management that can be studied, emulated, developed, and most importantly, measured.
This book posits that it is essential that the modern organization and the people who run them feel comfortable working in a world where they are not in control — but are able to command and get things done with the very technologies that caused them to give up that sense of control in the first place. The book will lay out a process of how companies can bring their employees, partners, and customers into the process of running the organization, giving them control – and thriving in the process.
Some of the Questions The Book Will Address:

What are the benefits of open leadership and open organizations?
How do you define and measure openness within an organization?
What are the characteristics of open leaders? How can they be measured?·
What tools and technologies are enabling open organizations to thrive?
How can open leaders be identified and developed?
How do open leaders and open organizations deal with risk?
What will the future of leadership and organization look like?

Leadership: How to Give Up Control But Remain in Command
Letting Go: How Leaders Give Up Control But Remain in Command
Why Leaders Who Give Up Control Can Retain Command
Letting Go: Why Leaders Must Give Up Control To Retain Their Authority
Leading Without Controlling: The Case For Open Leadership
Lead Without Limits: Why Leaders Must Give Up Control to Retain Their Authority
How To Give Up Control But Still Be In Command
The Upside Of Giving Up Control

For anyone who is interested in social technology and teaching your organization how to encourage it, I suggest you read Charlene's book when it hits that bookstores.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Vanity Ap in IPhone by Apple






The Iphone has over 85,000 applications for people to download. I was listening to the radio the other morning and the DJs were discussing this application called the "Vanity" ap. What you do is take a picture of yourself and your Iphone will tell you if you are hot or not based on a scale of 1 - 10. In fact, the DJ said that if Angelina Jolie only scored a 8.5 on this scale, so what are your chances of scoring higher than Angie.




I think that people do not need to find out how hot they are. This is disturbing that Apple has many aps that are useless. More concerning is that if they did not score well, then this may damage their own self esteem. I realize that some aps may be useful and some may not, but I guess it depends on who is using them and for what purpose.


I found more interesting ap that is out, which is beneficial to everyone. It is the "Lose It" ap which helps count calories and lets you input some exercises as well.

NYT - Social Networking for Seniors




http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/social-networking-for-seniors/
Many seniors live alone and they are finding that using social networks give them support and companionship. As people get older their circle of friends start to diminish and they find that they do not have anyone to talk to during the day or in the evening. Many have children that are working and have children of their own and lead very busy lives, which leave them no time for their parents and grandparents. It can be a very lonely world for seniors; therefore, they need a way to meet new people to share their lives.

Social networks like Facebook and MySpace are being used for support, reports Stephanie Clifford in Tuesday’s Science Times. Online networks can provide benefits similar to those of real-world groups of friends, but often are easier to assemble and maintain, experts say.
“One of the greatest challenges or losses that we face as older adults, frankly, is not about our health, but it’s actually about our social network deteriorating on us, because our friends get sick, our spouse passes away, friends pass away, or we move,” Joseph F. Coughlin, director of the AgeLab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told Ms. Clifford.
“The new future of old age is about staying in society, staying in the workplace and staying very connected,” he added. “And technology is going to be a very big part of that, because the new reality is, increasingly, a virtual reality. It provides a way to make new connections, new friends and new senses of purpose.”

I found another interesting piece about the Times launching an online site for readers to post and comment about topics that interest them.

October 2, 2009, 12:08 pm
A Gathering Place for Readers By The New York Times
The Times has launched an online meeting place, called Health Care Conversations, for readers who want to join the national discussion about health care. Three topic areas may be of particular interest to New Old Age regulars: nursing home and end-of-life care, Medicare and the elderly and drug costs.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Where are you on the social technographics ladder?

There are six levels of social computing behaviors and participation on the social technographic ladder. Social technographc is a described as a population according to its participation in these levels. Currently, brands, websites and other companies have found that they must pursue social technologies to analyze their customer’s profiles to target them and achieve marketing goals. I wonder if categorizing behaviors really helps them reach their goals.


The following is a list of these social technographic levels.

1) Creators publish blogs, have WebPages and upload videos and music. These are the people on top of the ladder that I feel participate most and have the most creative style.

2) Critics are people who post ratings, review products and comment on other people’s blogs. They also contribute to forums and edit articles in a wiki.

3) Collectors are ones that use RSS feed, vote for websites, add tags to WebPages or photos.

4) Joiners are people who maintain a profile on a social network sites or visit the site.

5) Spectators read logs, listen to podcast, watch videos and read online forums.

6) Inactive people do not participate at all.


Since there are a lot of different levels of behavior that people can fall into, they can stay at one level or advance and combine levels of participation as they get more active and creative. Obviously, there is a combination of behaviors in most of us that do this, therefore, whatever category you fall into will bring you closer to being social and keep you interested in all the things that you can learn and participate in. Amazingly, I am realizing that there is nothing like this in the past and I really enjoy trying to fall into all of the categories, except the inactive one, where everyone starts out at and eventually starts climbing the social technographic ladder.

I included a picture of the ladder from an interesting blog entitled "One Rung Up" by Steve Woodruff where he added one more rung called "organizers, who are people to build communities, aggregate information, collect and distribute, connect people and resources. I think this is a good addition to the ladder but, this may be a combination of all the other behaviors.

Teens are not making Twitter Popular

Most teenagers are still texting on their mobile phones instead of tweeting. According to ComScore, only 11% of Twitter users are from age 12-17, which indicates that Twitter’s popularity is really driven by adults not teens. In the past, the younger generation leads the way to popularizing innovations, but not in the case of Face book users. In fact, even though teenagers fueled the growth of some social networks, today they account for only 14% of MySpace users and only 9% of Face book users.

As the web grows, so does its users and Twitters’ success represents a new model for internet success. The idea that young adults are needed to promote new technology is not accurate. The fact that Twitter is a very public in nature, may be the reason why teenagers do not want to use it because they want to hide things from their parents. If they are texting from their phone, their parents will not be able to read it. If they Tweet, then there is a possibility of letting everyone know their every move. Another reason why teens do not use Twitter may be that they want to just stay connected to their friends and not everyone else. Though Twitters’ founders originally conceived that they wanted a site to keep people in touch with acquaintances, it turns out that it is better for asking questions and broadcasting ideas to the world or for marketing product. In addition, it is useful for promoting the person tweeting, which is something teenagers are not interested in.

In my opinion, I find that adults are more attracted to Twitter because it is a one-to-many type of network and adults in the professional world find that Twitter works better than a social network like Face book that’s optimized for friend communication.

What is interesting is that it is the adults that have driven the growth of many popular web services. For instance, YouTube seems to attracted young adults and even more senior citizens before teenagers came on board. Even the early blogger user bases were adults and LinkedIn also built a successful social network for professionals.







Even new gadgets are being used more by adults. Kindle from Amazon first became popular with adults as well as others like iPhones and GPS devices.

Eventually, teenagers will age and then their online preference will also change but, they will have the advantage over the current adult population because they grew up using this technology.


Social TV – What is next?






What is social TV? It is letting TV viewers experience Face book (FB) or Twitter computer task on a TV screen. Well this is just another thing to keep the TV couch potatoes from moving away from their televisions. In July of 2009, Verizon introduced Face book and Twitter widgets for FiOS TV users. There are some people who just love their TV and this new way of using it socially is now available to them. For example, FB users can now click on the “What are you watching” icon and this will enable them to comment on the show they are watching.

Similarly, Twitter users can follow posts about the shows they are viewing and since Verizon knows what channel is tuned to, it can instantly make a custom Twitter feed based on the show’s title and be able to get a collection of comments as the show is aired.

In fact, Social TV takes the control of the content out of the hands of the media organizations and gives control to views to draw on spontaneous web activities. What makes this experience enjoyable is the way it enables viewers to instantly share their ideas and comments with their friends who are also watching the same shows. This will also increase the chances of people acting on your recommendations and give programmers feedback on the shows appeal and deliver this information to advertisers. Subscribers can Tweet about the TV show, search and follow their friends’ Tweets. Viewers can update their Face book status with their own messages and all of this is done via the FiOS TV remote control and onscreen keyboard. What makes this a unique feature is that Verizon can upgrade and add features that cable subscribers do not currently have. Will this new feature give Verizon an edge on other cable companies? I think it will and I cannot wait to see the statistics of how many people make the switch to Verizon FiOS to enjoy this convenience of social networking on their TV.

In order to make this experience available to consumers, I found that Samsung is now going to make televisions with this type of connection already built in. Every time you turn around, there is something else in the technology and gadget world that is keeping people connected and enabling them to share their experiences. So what are you watching on TV tonight?

You can click on this link “Verizon Brings the Web to the TV with Face book, Twitter and Internet Videos” to read the news release that appeared on the Verizon webpage on July 15, 2009.

Hurdles and Obstacles for Seniors

There are some obstacles that can affect some senior’s technology adaption that website designers need to be aware of in order to attract the aging generation.


As I got older, I have noticed that even my vision is not as good as it was when I was younger. In fact, there are many adults that are in the same situation as I am. In order to compensate for my vision problems, I tend to want to make the font size larger on the computer screen in order to make it easier for me to read. Likewise, what about trying to use an I Phone or blackberry to text or read items from the web. These can be very frustrating for people with cataracts, glaucoma, dry eyes, and farsightedness and glare sensitivity. The creators of web pages need to think about the size of the screen, light and contrast in order to make it better for elder eyes to see.

In addition, hearing is another problem for seniors who are hearing impaired or uses hearing aids. Tones and audio controls need to be louder for seniors with these conditions. I found the Jitterbug phone is an inexpensive option for seniors that are hearing impaired. This cell phone is hearing aid compatible with a padded earpiece to reduce noise, which is an excellent feature. Accordingly, many devices designers are now able to give seniors gadgets and products to enable them to use them without the hassles.



Mobility issues are another concern. Interactive controls need to accommodate peoples hand coordination and mobility in order to use all the functions and the task they want to perform using these smaller and smaller devices. Even operating a mouse or using a laptop with the keypad that is so close together makes it difficult for seniors to use computers.







The last obstacle that seniors have to get over is cognitive, which addresses their diminished long and short term memory. Since seniors tend to read more slowly and forget some details that are stored in their short term memory, such as, which links they visited before. Therefore, web designers should use a color change feedback to remind them that they visited that site before. I feel that this would make it easier for them to keep track of where they were and not waste time revisiting a site that they were on before.

As I see my father aging, I realize that he has to be shown how to do something many times before he will be able to do it by himself and he is also becoming more forgetful. At my suggestion, he started taking computer courses at the senior center and he is now able to search the web for things that interest him. I don’t know how far he will advance in using this technology, and I don’t think he will join Face book but, there are other things he can do to keep up with the ever changing technology world. Hence, there is a need to serve seniors and designers are just starting to scratch the surface of addressing these design issues.

Baby Boomers and Social Networks Sites



The term Baby Boomers is defined as someone born post World War II, between the years of 1946-1964. Young Boomers are ages 43-53 and older Boomers are 53-63 and have different interest and behaviors when using social network sites or the web. Their main characteristics are that they were raised during a time where they had the opportunity to be experimental, individualist, free spirited with an emphasis on social causes. This may be the reason why they are interested in social networking. The only problem is that some of them are getting older and it may be hard for them to keep up with the new technology, especially if there are health issues they have to face in terms of their decaying vision, hearing and cognition. Yet, not all of the baby boomers are fragile and unable to learn how to use this emerging technology as we think because all they may need is some assistance with getting acquainted with it. In fact, many older adults already shop online because it is easier then traveling to the store. The thing that slows them down is learning how to manage all the things they must do to feel comfortable using computerized applications and the person showing them how to manage these functions must have patience.

In addition, what makes it easier for some seniors to use new technology is the fact that some of them just replaced it with something that they were already familiar with. For instance, if someone owned a VCR, and replaced it with a DVD, some of the new features are the same, which makes it easy for them to use it and makes it a simple transition.

Presently, most seniors even use cell phones and this was an easy transition from the land line phones they use at their homes. Another thing that they may not be adjusted to is using the new web applications that are accessible to them. I see that many of them only use cell phone to make calls because they are not comfortable with learning the other things they can do with it. The use of computers and the internet takes seniors long to adapt because they have to make a different type of conceptual shift. Once they start surfing the web, they find that this gives them the opportunity to explore the world. What may be a longer learning experience for baby boomers, turns out that once they start, they are spending more time accessing information, shopping online and staying connected to friends through social network sites and other things that interest them.




I found an interesting magazine called BabyBoomer-magzine.com and a site for babyboomers (http://www.babyboomer.com/) that has links to some interesting information, such as, anti aging products, timeshares, mortgages, stock trading, retirement and even dating. I will blog more on the dating scene for baby boomers in a future post, such as, BabyboomerPeopleMeet.com

Advertising on Social Network Sites

User generated content is hard for advertisers to target consumers and it seems that the response rate on ads are low compared to other types of placement, such as on TV and newspapers. According to Forrester Research, 64% of Face Book (FB) users use social network sites to communicate compared with 52% for MySpace (MS). In addition, 17% of FB users tend to be attracted to the site for entertainment compared to MS users of 21%. Although both sites attract similar audiences in terms of reacting to advertisers and influences of behaviors, 11% of MS users send information to friends which influence their opinions, while 10% of FB users are almost at the same level of this type of use.

Attracting different age groups to particular ads for products is not a simple task for marketers. Therefore, social marketers have to reconsider their plans according to a site’s strength. For example, MS is rich in branding opportunities, which FB uses viral advertisers. Agencies spend anywhere from $20,000 to $100,000 to create a page that is going to attract users, which is a big expense if people are not attracted to their ads. MS trys to attract users to a website by including a video and it seems to be more attractive to consumers using this type of advertisement.

In fact, only 57% of social network site users said they clicked on an ad in the past year, compared with 79% of all internet consumers. Despite its phenomenal growth, social networks have yet to reach online advertising goals. It’s a place where marketers are able to serve ads, promotions and offers to friends of friends based on a friend’s recommendation, and where word-of-mouth marketing spreads to create waves of self-selecting consumers eager to interact with marketers, according to eMarketer. In May 2008, eMarketer projected advertisers would spend $1.4 billion to place ads on online social networks this year. eMarketer also forecast ad spending on social networks would reach $2.4 billion in 2011.

The challenge will be to see what types of ads will attract the kinds of people that will actually start interacting with their products ads or forward the information to others.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Social network sites like Facebook are not just for kids anymore.

More adults are now using Facebook or other social network sites (SNS) because they believe it’s a good way to keep in touch with people they know. Since Facebook’s launch in 2004, which began as a social networking site for college students, it is now helping millions of adults reconnect with people from the past. This SNS is really taking off.






Don't be surprised if you find more and more people you know on Facebook. In fact, many people are finding it very easy to use to coordinate things like reunions or other types of events they want to plan. For example, if you want to plan a high school reunion, it can be very nostalgic for your former school buddies because they may have not seen some of their old classmates for over 25 years and now they can share their lives and see how much things have changed throughout the years.
You may find that once you connect with the past that you are able to relive some of the good times you may have shared with someone that you probably would not have had the opportunity until now with the help of this new technology. The best part using a SNS is looking at the pictures that people are posting of their families. It is like being there with them and reconnecting in a very personal way. As we all know, so many people are too busy to keep in touch and now there is an easy way to do it. You will be amazed at who you find on Facebook. In my opinion, social networking is here to stay and it will only get better as time goes on or more complicated. Advertisers are also finding value in Facebook and other SNSs because they are now using these sites to connect with consumers since they have seen how many people are logging on everyday.