I’ve been writing in blogs for years now, but the desire for this particular incarnation came at a time when I wanted to step up in my professional career. Previous blogs and guest posts felt haphazard, directionless. It felt like a good time to consolidate my efforts into a single channel.

The one key takeout from this blog one year in that to me is glaringly obvious is that I wish I had more time updating it. Although the topics I write about are largely work related, I still have to update off business hours. I’ve considered a tumblr style blog, and even had a lukewarm attempt at posterous, but I think I’m a bit of a blabber. I enjoy words. I enjoy seeing them written down, I enjoy ideas being elaborated on and documented. I like how it feels when what I want to say is gradually articulated as a sentence develops. I always felt my writing style is actually going against what I know is online best practice writing, what I advise people of on a regular basis. We know that people scan online, so content should exist in chunks, with ideas contained, using only the minimum amount of words required on a page, not going for fancy anecdotes and not flouncing around with complicated vocabulary. But I still do those things, guilty as charged.

The other takeout I have is whether this blog deserves a future. Because I specialise in digital ideas and digital strategy, social media trends and topics have played a large part in my content. And really, do we need to add another social media blog to the quagmire? My counter to this of course, is that this blog isn’t exclusively about social media. It focuses on online ideas, which is broad - technologies, social (real world) implications of new technology, how we’re using things online, how our behaviour has changed as a result, campaigns, and more.

An as umbrella content strategy, it has legs beyond the very topic specific blogs out there. Besides I just updated my registration.

So I hope I continue to be able to have conversations with you around the online topics which I’m passionate about, and I really do hope you find at least one thing interesting in my blog dear reader. I’m here to stay.

In light of recent suicides by employees from Apple’s Chinese manufacturer Foxconn, caused by severe stress, harassment and interrogation, the company is now reportedly attempting to tackle the issue by enforcing no-suicide contracts and installing “preventative” nets around buildings to prevent jumpers.

Apple is reported to be conducting its own investigations in the matter.

Apple’s statement in response to the last suicide of employee Sun Danyong states:

Regardless of the reason of Sun’s suicide, it is to some extent a reflection of Foxconn’s internal management deficiencies, especially in how to help young workers cope with the psychological pressures of working life at the company.

It’s sobering news at a time when many Apple fans celebrate their new acquisitions.

Real more articles on the topic here and here.

The web community is still absorbing the full implications of an open web with Facebook at its centre. Reactions range from expressions of privacy breach, to adulation and enthusiasm for new opportunities for a social web.

Many social networks have attempted to harness this behaviour. Facebook, arguably the most successful social networking site at the moment have simplified it to a simple gesture - the “like” feature. While the like feature is applicable across all user posts - status updates, wall posts, photos, links, etc; Facebook has recently revealed that it will place more commercial significance to this by having the term “like” replace “fan” in the “Fan” page. The Facebook Fan page is becoming increasingly significant as a channel for brands to engage with their users. It’s allowed brands to have an official presence within the popular channel; and communicate to their customers in a very important space.

With this seemingly innocent language change, Facebook is drawing even more parallels between how users interact with each other in their regular profiles, as they do with official brand channels. In a letter released to agencies, Facebook declared that they “believe [the feature] will result in gaining more connections to pages…users would be more comfortable with the term “Like”. The goal is to get the most user connections so that [brands] can have ongoing conversations in the news feeds of as many users as possible”

Blippr is another social recommendation service for brands. It asks users if they “like/dislike/love/hate” products and services. More importantly, Blippr integrates across other third-party sites so that a keyword (say of your brand) mentioned in these integrated sites will display the Blippr rating.

Hollrr is a new startup that rewards users who make product recommendations with status badges. Users are rewarded badges for recommendations that others have found useful. This badge strategy is also shared by a competitor site GetGlue.

A Brand Karma "flower"

Other similar services include Udorse where users are asked to take photos of themselves with their preferred brands and products and Blippy, a service that socialises what products and brands users are buying.

Brand Karma adds an interesting twist to the social recommendation space. Users are asked to assess brands based on their “karma”; that is, how “good” a brand is perceived on treating the planet, their customers, their employees, suppliers and investors.

While there is certainly no shortage of social recommendation sites, adoption, apart of Facebook, is yet to reach critical mass. What is clear however, is that brands are now in a landscape where there is an unprecedented amount of scrutiny and accountability demanded around their products and services. Users interact with brands as a single entity, and don’t care that they may be multinationals with many departments, across multiple regions. Users consider and judge at a click of a mouse button. For users, they either “like” your brand, or they don’t, and there are many avenues for them to express it.

JESS3 / The State of The Internet from JESS3 on Vimeo.

If it’s annoying for over 5 million users though; how many more actually enjoy these games to cause such a reaction? The Information Solutions Group has done a great research paper on social gaming. They conducted a survey of 5,000 online users from the US and the UK. You can download the paper here.

Some key findings are below, including some very surprising ones (check the average age):

• Among the nearly 5,000 consumers who responded to the survey, more than 1,200 indicated they played games on social networking sites and platforms at least once a week

• Social game players average 43 years in age, with those in the US being significantly older (48) than those in the UK (38). Females are slightly more likely to play social games than males (55% vs. 45%).

• More than half (56%) have been playing social games for at least one year, with fun and excitement (53%), stress relief (45%) and competitive spirit (43%) being the primary reasons cited for playing social games.

• The majority (95%) play social games multiple times a week and log into Facebook or another site specifically to play social games about half of the time.

• 62% play social games with personal (real world) friends, while 43% play with a relative. The majority (76%) play with people their own age (+/- 10 years).

• Beyond the social interaction of social game playing people, like the competitive nature the most (59%), followed by the interactive game play (49%) and the opportunity to win prizes (35%).

• A combined 57% rely on word of mouth to learn about new games, followed by 38% who learn about new games from ads on the social networking sites. Those in the US rely more on recommendations, than those in the UK.

• Social gamers have played an average of 6.1 different social games. Half of those who have played PopCap’s Bejeweled Blitz feel it is more fun than other social games, 43% said it is more fast paced and 32% said it feels more like a pure game experience.

• The majority of social game players have reconnected with old friends, classmates and relatives as a result of playing games on social networking sites, while others have met new people who they continue to play games with in addition to corresponding and in rare cases meet in person.

]]> http://jordanguiao.com/blog/2010/02/the-science-of-social-media-marketing/feed/ http://jordanguiao.com/blog/2010/01/ive-checked-in-foursquare-and-gowalla/ http://jordanguiao.com/blog/2010/01/ive-checked-in-foursquare-and-gowalla/#comments Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:12:18 +0000 admin http://jordanguiao.com/blog/?p=753  

If you’re someone who tries to keep abreast of technology and new media developments; calling something the “latest” seems like a moot point even as you write it. In fact, this blog post comes months after the two mobile applications I’m writing about have already launched. In any case, the “latest” social networking phenomenon is mobile, location-based social gaming. These applications track your location via GPS on your mobile and lets you notify your friends, sharing reviews and tips through your networks. The two most popular at the moment are Foursquare and Gowalla.

The basic premise of each game is similar. You “check-in” to a specific location and notify friends and networks. It allows you to socialise where you are at any given time, encouraging you to “explore your city” and “discover new things” with friends. There are different incentives for different actions performed; such as earning points, earning game-specific titles, and collecting and sharing objects.

 A quick glance at some statistics reveal that Foursquare is slightly ahead in terms of number of iphone downloads: Foursquare is #27 in the Social Networking Category, while Gowalla is #85 (data as at 25th Jan from Top App Charts). Both games are pretty fun. I’m not going to turn this post into an analysis of the sociological implications of these games, there are other articles for that. I’m a little tired of the circular argument between online social media as a new frontier in community development versus the argument that it’s actually making us more anti-social.

Instead, as a recent user of both, I’ve listed down some things that I like and don’t like and encourage you to check them out for yourself:

FOURSQUARE 

Like

• You get to be Mayor of any location! Possibly the coolest incentive to check-in.
• Badges are fun too; although a better understanding of how to earn some of the badges would be nice
• It requires more from the user; it’s up to users to tag venues instead of pre-set categories. It has a “Shout” feature, which is a short messaging facility you can use to accompany a check-in. I find that it’s more “open-ended” than Gowalla and therefore encourages more usage and exploration.
• “Off-grid” check-in; want to check-in to a location to earn some points but don’t want to let people know where you are for whatever reason? No problem, there’s option for that.
• “To dos” allow you to “review” a particular venue. Tips, tricks, good and bad experiences are all at the mercy of the discerning four-square user. This gives enormous power to users as any tip made is instantly communicated to their friends once that friend checks in to the same venue. Bad service beware!

Foursquare badges

Dislike

• Google maps API integration is still a bit buggy; many venues are a few streets off even with the correct address and cross streets set.
• Duplication - there’s no facility to ensure that there’s only one of each specific venue. People can add the same location more than once.
• Foursquare doesn’t validate your location for check-in. You can be way out West but still check in to a location far east.

GOWALLA

Like

• It looks very sexy. It’s clear that a lot of design work has gone into the application. There are many, varied and well-realised icons for different types of venues, spots and for the random items to pick up.
• You have to actually be in a “spot” to check-in to it; or at least be very close-by. Gowalla only allows check-ins for real GPS-tracked locations. It makes all those check-ins a bit more credible and prevents over-zealous users from cheating just to get a title.
• “Featured spots”. It’s all fun and games in the beginning but at some point location owners will want to take charge of their own venues; or at least find some way of leveraging the audience to help market themselves. Gowalla’s “Featured spots” is a great opportunity to do this. Having a explicit “featured” area is a great way of promoting a company/business in an official capacity in a way that doesn’t have to interfere with the game’s mechanic, or isolate users who have spent a lot of effort being a “mayor” or a “founder” or a “creator” only to be kicked-out because the business wants their location profile.    

Gowalla "spots"

Dislike

• For some reason Gowalla seems to take a while to load. I’ve checked with friends with other providers and they found the same thing. It could be because Gowalla’s beautifully designed interface and icons have higher file sizes? I’m really not sure, but for an on-the-go mobile app, it could mean the difference between being bothered to check-in and use it or not.
• You can’t seem to add suburbs. To add a venue it has to have a specific street address. One of the fun, and no doubt a competitive driver of Foursquare is that you can be the mayor of your own suburb.
• “Trips” haven’t been extended to Australian locations yet; so this feature is practically useless here.
• I still don’t really understand the concept of “items”. So you pick them up and then drop them somewhere else, or exchange what you have for others that’s in the venue. You do that to become a “founder” of a venue apparently…but why again? There is a big potential for brands and products to leverage this “item” facility. However, I’m just not convinced about their usability yet.
• Correct me if I’m wrong but there doesn’t seem to be a “off-grid” check-in option on Gowalla. That is, if you want to check-in to a location but don’t necessarilly want to let people know about it; Foursquare gives you an option that doesn’t show your check-in on your friends’ feed. Gowalla doesn’t have this.

]]> http://jordanguiao.com/blog/2010/01/ive-checked-in-foursquare-and-gowalla/feed/ http://jordanguiao.com/blog/2010/01/pepsi-refresh-project/ http://jordanguiao.com/blog/2010/01/pepsi-refresh-project/#comments Tue, 05 Jan 2010 00:45:09 +0000 admin http://jordanguiao.com/blog/?p=735 “Pepsi is giving away millions in grants each month to fund great ideas”

In an amazingly bold move, Pepsi have opted out of their long-standing advertising relationship with Superbowl and have chosen to launch a social media campaign instead.

The Pepsi Refresh Project will launch January 2010 and asks users for ideas on how to “refresh” their communities. Voting for the best ideas begins February 2010 with an expected value of US$20million given to the community.

]]> http://jordanguiao.com/blog/2010/01/pepsi-refresh-project/feed/ http://jordanguiao.com/blog/2009/12/the-big-money-facebook-top-50/ http://jordanguiao.com/blog/2009/12/the-big-money-facebook-top-50/#comments Thu, 03 Dec 2009 05:59:57 +0000 admin http://jordanguiao.com/blog/?p=720 The Big Money has released the Top 50 brands using Facebook Fan Pages.

Their approach:

First, we defined a universe: A company did not qualify for this list unless its Facebook page(s) had a minimum of 200,000 fans. Within that universe, we rated the companies using a variety of criteria: how often they update their Facebook offerings; the level of engagement demonstrated by their fans; how fast a company’s site has grown; and how creatively the companies are using their Facebook presence, as evaluated by a distinguished panel of outside judges.

]]> http://jordanguiao.com/blog/2009/12/the-big-money-facebook-top-50/feed/