Those of us living in the new media/tech industry, have probably postulated about lifestreaming (or lifelogging) and presence sharing from time to time-and have probably been doing so for years.

We recently lived through the rise and fall of Second Life (I still love this platform for what it represents) and are witnessing the rise of platforms such as UStream.tv and Loopt. On a much larger scale, we are witnessing the incredible success of Twitter, and for better or worse were recently graced with the redesign of Facebook, which aims to bring you the social news, as it happens.

These platforms may be different in the way they present information, but they all share a few core elements that are becoming an increasing part of all of our lives; whether we are aware of it or not (and whether we like it or not),

• Real Time Social Interaction
• Real Time Multi Point Experience Sharing
• Non-Stop Streams of Social Data

These attributes have had a profound effect on early  adopters seeking ways to bring new layers of interaction to existing media, and new ways to broadcast their lives. But these platforms are not just for the diggerati anymore. All of us are slowly being inducted into this way of life. The real time web is slowly being infused into all media (and not just media on your PC).

This morning at the iMedia Breakthrough summit, one of the conference sponsors, Meebo, gave a presentation on the integration of their IM platform across multiple sites. Their message was aimed at advertisers, but something much more profound was present in the presentation. The ability to bring your friends with you across the web in real time, sharing content, ideas and experiences brought the notion of the real time, or experience web front and center.

I strongly recommend that you look at what Meebo is doing outside of their core platform, Meebo.com. I urge you to think about what Meebo is doing as more than just instant messaging; as it is, in essence a virtual world, much like Second Life. The only difference is that there are no avatars and it is not in 3D. If you disagree with me, great; but think about it a little before you simply dismiss what I am saying.

The speed at which new business systems grow is becoming exponentially faster. Lower barriers to entry for many business sectors have made Clayton Christensen’s “Innovators Dilemma” more real than ever. It feels as if, every day we hear about young start-ups achieving things that established corporations could never achieve. I have noticed this in my own career, having worked for both small and large advertising agencies, and I can tell you first hand that the small shops are more nimble and adaptive than the larger ones (no shock there). Bigger agencies have certain advantages, but in the world of advertising, the pros of the small agency outweigh those of the large one (in my humble opinion).

Now that I have given my opinion about how disruptive business models have benefited the small advertising agency, I want to address how disruptive business models are currently effecting technology companies, and subsequently the way we socialize online.

At the current time there is a battle going on over the ability to port social data across the web.   The way in which the combat is unfolding seems to exemplify how newer, smaller technology companies are able to get to market faster, achieve critical mass sooner -establishing themselves as the industry leaders. For the duration of this post (and when I talk about this topic in the future) I will refer to this topic as The Battle for the Open Web.

It is inevitable that that the mashable, interoperable, read/write, mixable, distributed web will be the paradigm that will lead to the future growth and maturation of the internet. The companies that best capitalize on this new, distributed web will reign supreme. The question is; who will it be? Some may think this battle has already been won–it is my opinion that the battle has just begun.

Enter the warriors:

• Facebook Connect
• Google Friend Connect
• Yahoo (with their new partnership with JS-KIT)
• Apple’s MobileMe (c’mon, I had to throw apple in there)
• Twitter (I am not sure exactly how this could play out, but I would not rule it out)
• A little known start up not yet considered

When the Battle for the Open Web first began, the only formidable competitors were Friend Connect and Facebook Connect. I had my money on Google, as I favored their approach to open standards. Yahoo has now thrown their hat in the ring; also employing open standards (you have to love Yahoo for their adoption of open standards). It has, however, become apparent that the employment of open standards is not enough to win this war.

There is little denying that Facebook is to the social web, what Google was/is to search engines. I cannot imagine Facebook building a search brand that could overtake the all-powerful Google, and I am beginning to think that it may be impossible for Google to build their brand into something synonymous with the social graph. As far as Yahoo is concerned–I love them, but have little hope that they can become a worthy opponent to the two category leaders.

Facebook is still young, nimble and best of all, privately held. The fact that they are not a public company plays a huge factor in their ability to innovate. They can roll out, and roll back products with ease, without the extra headache of answering to a public board. The ability to employ a test and learn mindset (something that Google was notorious for, and seems to be slowing down with) can be seen in Facebook’s recent announcement about how they have changed the nature of the fan page. What I love most about Zuckerberg’s post which announced the shift is the following statement:

“We’ll begin rolling out the new home page next week, so please check out our home page tour to see the new design and let us know what you think about it.”

This statement may not seem like a big deal, or may appear to be a farce, but we know that Facebook has actively listened to its users in the past.

Am I saying that it is impossible for companies to reinvent themselves and enter new markets? No. One only needs to look at the growth of IBM, from mainframes to desktops and Apple’s growth from PC’s to music devices to telecom, in order to see examples of the Innovators Dilemma being overcome. It is not impossible to constinuoulsy innovate over long periods of time, but it is very difficult. With that said, in The Battle for the Open Web, my money has moved from Google to Facebook (at least for now).

Furthering my series of posts about mobile social networks, I would like to present you with some statistics:

• Users accessing Facebook on their mobile phones spent on average 24 minutes on the site compared with 27.5 minutes daily by computer users (link to story)
• Mobile phone users accessed the site on average 3.3 times per day, compared with 2.3 times for computer users, with the most avid mobile fans 18-24 year old males who spent on average 27 minutes on the site
• According to a survey by Nielsen Company on behalf of Tellabs, 71% of U.S. consumers plan to use some sort of mobile data service daily (the company did not have current daily usage information). Among current mobile Internet users, 55% planned to increase their usage of mobile data services in the next two years, and 48% planned to increase use over the next year. Among non-users, 29% planned to start during that same period (link)

What have we learned:

• Mobile data access is on the rise, therefore mobile social networks will also be on the rise
• The mobile device is perfect for social networking. While the average time spent on Facebook on a mobile phone is less than on a PC, people access it more frequently

It is my opinion that the mobile phone will be used more frequently as the device of choice for social networking; it just makes sense. Access to your social network when you are in social environments is key; these networks are becoming more utility than entertainment.

Your mobile phone is your Yellow Pages, your little black book and your compass to help navigate the seas of your social life.

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Open

Facebook is beginning to realize this, and it seems their realization is leading them down a glorious path; the path to OpenID. While we are not certain what it will mean, Facebook has pledged support for OpenID; the protocol that allows users single sign in access across any part of the web that has adopted it. Facebook has already created a successful product called Connect, but this product is not completely open; it does not adhere to web standards, and only sites that have implemented it, can take advantage of it.

Closed

On the flip side, I heard some news today that made me cringe. Apple (the king of the closet) is denying access to Facebook from many of their retail outlets–what!?

Pretty bad, huh.

I realize that people are probably abusing Apple stores; hanging out and loitering, checking Facebook etc., but denying access to Facebook is not the solution. Take a look at Starbucks,where people are invited to loiter, in hopes they will buy a cup of joe. Sure, this is a little different a, s iPods and laptops are not impulse buys, but the idea of, Apple Store as experiential marketing is not something that Apple should be messing with. Honestly, I thought that was the whole point of the retail outlet to begin with.

Will the future of media and technology be open or closed; what do you think?

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Question:

Social Outreach, Email Lead Generation and Cause Marketing?

Answer:

A new experiment by The Emerging Communications Conference.

My new friend Lee S. Dryburgh first approached me about the idea by telling me he had an idea for an experiment. His idea would help garner registration for the conference he is organizing, while at the same time do some social good; what could be bad about that!

I told him I loved the idea and that I would rely his efforts on to my community–so I am.

Here is how it works:

The goal is to achieve 10,000 sign-ups to the conference updates. For everyone who signs up for conference updates, eComm Media will pay 0.50 cents to The Shelter Network (charity watchdog rating here).

And Here Are the Calls To Action:

Instructions

I need help from two groups of people, the “social media gurus” and the rest of us!

The social media gurus I request help from are: Adam Broitman, Ayelet Noff, Ben Grossman, Brian Reich, Brian Solis, Carlos Hernandez, Chris Brogan, Chris Heuer, David Berkowitz, Eric Weaver, Gradon Tripp, Greg Verdino, Howard Greenstein, Laura Fitton, Jeff Pulver, Jeffrey Sass, Jeremiah Owyang, Jeremy Vaught, Jim Benson, Justin Levy, Rebecca Bollwitt, Robert Scoble, Robin Good, Steve Rubel, Susan Etlinger and Tim O’Reilly.

(if you would like to be added to this list or know somebody who should be by virtue of being considered a leader in the social media sphere please email me: Lee*eCommMedia*com).

I’d like the rest of us to blog this, Twitter this, email this to friends, IM it, Facebook share it, Digg it, Reddit – anything and everything across the social media space that you think could be effective.

Let’s see what we can do!

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The digital age has been difficult for many marketers. All too often, marketers put the technological cart before the strategic horse. Facebook (and other social networks) is a breeding ground for campaigns that focus on the features of the platform, without telling a story.This is certainly not the fault of Facebook, rather it is the fault of marketers, who have not taken the time to internalize the meaning of community and conversation. It is the fault of those that thing technology, in and of itself, is the answer.

We must not forget that, in order to compel consumers, we must offer value–and that value needs to be delivered in the form of a story; advertising 101.

A few weeks ago Palm launched a campaign for it’s Centro line call; Claüs. The campaign is unique for a number of reasons:

• While the campaign has applications, they are not the centerpiece. Palm is not relying on the ever popular “viral nature of the social graph”
  • This campaign appears to be a viral success, as there are over 60k fans, and nearly a thousand wall posts–but it is apparent that the creators of this campaign new that it takes more than a one trick pony to ensure virality
    • Some of the content is good, come of the content is not as good, but overall, this is a fun campaign
  • The two applications that are offered, are not front and center
• There is very little branding on the page (there is some, but it is not overwhelming)
  • see my article about Branding without Brands for more on this topic
• Through various multimedia aspects, the brand tells a story in a nonlinear fashion
  • this gives people a reason to poke around the page and look for more pieces of the puzzle
• Free downloadable music (I strongly recommend, Samba Dreidel)

Overall this is a fun and refreshing campaign. At a time when many marketers are already dismissing Facebook as a viable option, it is nice to see a truly creative effort that shows us, it is not the platform per se, it is how you use it!

Overall Scores:

Creativity: B+

Execution: A

Conversational Strategy: B

General Strategy: A-

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• Where there is content, there can be conversation
• When there is conversation, there is engagement
  • Most great live presenters ask questions of their audience. They generally don’t do so because they want to know the answer, they do so to keep the audience on their toes
• When there is engagement, there is the potential for increased ad revenue (this is not always the case, but creative sales planners can, more easily, find ways to monetize content when users are engaged)

The questions then becomes, who will lead the charge in making the entire web truly social-

1. Perhaps it will be a current social network that makes it capabilities extensible and lends its audience/tools to content providers
2. Perhaps it will be new/open standards that drive the social web
3. The last, least desirable option would be for every content provider to provide their own, proprietary social tool

Over the next few weeks Facebook Connect will be expanding to various content sites, making them more social. In the short term I think that this will be great. I think that new life with be injected into the partner sites. In the long term I worry about the fact that Facebook does not adhere to web standards, their platform is not truly open, and all of my data lives on the Facebook servers, with no way to get it out. This could be an issue.

On the other hand, Google is setting up a set of open standards that takes on these concerns. It will be interesting to see what happens first; will Open Social win the battle, or will Facebook open up more?

I can’t wait to find out! What do you think will happen first?

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Recently, Mercedes launched their own social network; Generation Benz. The premise behind it is great–they really hit on all the right points:

• collaboration
• co-creation
• user focused R&D
• consumers insights
• etc.

When I went actually join the network I had one of those, what the f*ck moments!

In order to join the network, which presumably is, in part, beneficial to Mercedes, I had to go through a seven step process. I realize that this is an aspirational brand, but don’t make me work to be marketed to–jeez!

I had to capture this process and share with all of you (I recommend viewing this in full screen so you can read the text).

Image via Wikipedia

Starbucks is not new to the social media space. They have done some very interesting, yet questionably successful initiatives–mystarbucksidea.com being the most notable.

I got a message today that Starbucks was following me on Twitter. I had heard about their presence, but had not really taken a look into it. I felt that this would be as good a time as any to dig deeper.

On first glance it appears that Starbucks is doing everything by the book:

• Transparent
• Non-Corporate Voice (vernacular)

@evanhecht Hey … Sorry, I had a bunch of stuff to do today. I wish I could spend ALL my time here with you, that’d be way more fun

Attention all voters! Come in on Tuesday after you vote, get a Free cup of drip Coffee. http://tinyurl.com/joethere

My finger hurts. 1200 new Followers in the past 3 days. I just got through following the new Twitter-ers. Welcome! 1:24 PM Nov 6th from web

Overall I would say that Starbucks is doing a pretty good job. Starbucks also used Twitter as a way to communicate a promotion they were working on:

Starbucks on Twitter

Some may have taken issue with a brand using Twitter as a promotional vehicle. I say, as long as they are upfront and are adding value, it is perfectly fine.

I would love to hear others stories about Starbucks on Twitter; as they have been around for a little while already.

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Image via Wikipedia

I just stumbled across an article about the formation of a Facebook group by British Airways employees. This controversial group serves many purposes, one of which is to mock passengers.

These were employees of the company, and not spokespeople for the brand, however, this article got me to thinking about a few things.

1. In an era where, consumers are constantly leveraging their new found empowerment in order to bash brands, what rights do brands have?
2. How aggressively can a brand vocally oppose consumer activity before consumers begin to get irate?

I am in no way suggesting that it would be a good strategy for a brand to create a Dell Hell type fiasco about it’s consumers, but if consumers are consistently doing things to employees of a given company that create a negative work environment, should the brand have the right to talk back? One of a brand’s most important assets are it’ employee’s, should they not be taken are of?

One of the popular gripes of BA employees expressed in the Facebook group is the following:

Passenger that puts boarding pass/passport in his/her mouth and then hands it back to you

Now, I cannot imagine why that is a frequent occurrence, but if it is, it is a bit gross. The question is, what can British Airway’s do about it? They can make an announcement to all passengers saying, “please do not put your passport in your mouth or any other body crevice”, but somehow I do not think that would go over too well. They can add some language on their website that addresses this issue, although not many people would ever see it. It is a tough call.

Here is my next question–what does British Airways do with these employees?

I tried to sign up for the group, and it is restricted so, as a consumer of the brand I cannot get in to see these comments. Is it against company ethics to have an employee only forum, where consumers are ridiculed? The answer is most likely, yes.

At the end of the day there is no excuse for berating anyone, however, over the last few years it has become perfectly acceptable for bloggers (and consumers and large) to rip brands to shreds online (for cause or not). I love the fact that everyone has the ability to effect change, but what I see happening is some citizen journalists lashing out against brands at the tip of a hat; diluting the over all pool of consumer complaints. It is no wonder that employees sometimes want to talk back–we are, after all, human beings.

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