Even the Military Loves Social Networking

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

In honor of Veteran’s Day (ok – I’m a day late) I’d like to give a round of applause to TroopTube.com, a YouTube-like site that connects soldiers with families and friends, keeping them up to date on the little things in life.

In addition to those serving our country, members not in the military can create an account as a civilian friend or family member and can easily upload and share videos. TroopTube does say that members have the option to share videos with everyone or only with a select few, but I couldn’t really tell how a member chooses who can view the video, or if a member can have “friends” to choose from.

The site is only in its Beta version and was created by Military OneSource, an authorized Department of Defense program that provides support to Active Duty, Guard, Reserve, and their families. There are few videos, but I am sure that is only because the site just launched.

I love how social networking has made its way into every nook of society and even the armed forces see its value. I just hope as the hunt to monetize social media continues TroopTube is left alone. It embodies the core values social networking started with – finding a way to connect when you’re not there. To me, a TroopTube member is going to the site for one purpose, most likely with limited time, and wouldn’t be interested in anything other than new videos from friends and families, so what’s the point to try and monetize if they can’t be easily distracted? We’ll see what happens…..

Filed in Online Marketing, Social Media | Tagged , , , |

Twitter Me Surprised

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

I should not be admitting this, but I am pretty late to the game on Twitter. I fully embraced other social networking vehicles like Facebook and LinkedIn but for some reason I could not do the same for Twitter. After a long meeting with our advisory board I was convinced that I should try it out for a bit. One of our board members is a big proponent of Twitter and our social media services team talk about it often. It’s been a few days now, and while still not 100% convinced I see the same value others see…I have to admit I do enjoy using Twitter. It just goes to show that you should usually test something before forming an opinion.

If I were forced to choose between Facebook and Twitter I would still choose Facebook in a second. Initially I could not see the point in updating my status on both Facebook and Twitter but then I discovered the Facebook app that feeds Twitter updates into my status. Now I only need to post to Twitter and it automatically updates Facebook for me. That eliminated one hurdle. Another hurdle was eliminated when I downloaded TwitterFon for my iPhone which made updates pretty simple.

I thought I would post my initial thoughts:

Twitter Pros

  • big community of users
  • simple to use
  • focused on doing one thing and doing it well
  • lots of buzz

Twitter Cons

  • lots of noise (it is very hard to cut through the Twitter clutter since everyone is talking at the same time…how do you navigate this mess?)
  • Facebook offers the same service plus much more (granted Facebook has its share of noise too, but new functions allow users to control what they see and how much)

So while I may not be a Twitter fanatic, I think it serves a purpose because it does one thing well and has built a strong, loyal user base.

Feel free to check out my Twitter posts (as boring as they may be):

https://twitter.com/figueredo

UPDATE

I just came across Nielsen data showing Twitter as the fastest growing social network sites in terms of audience. (but Facebook is much bigger currently)

Rank
(by Sept. YOY UA growth)		 10 Fastest Growing
Social Networking Sites: Sept. 2008		 Sept. 2007:
Unique Audience (in 000s)		 Sept. 2008:
Unique Audience
(in 000s)		 % Growth: Year Over Year
1 Twitter.com 533* 2,359 343%
2 Tagged.com 898 3,857 330%
3 Ning 842* 2,955 251%
4 LinkedIn 4,075 11,924 193%
5 Last.fm 850 1,879 121%
6 Facebook 18,090 39,003 116%
7 MyYearbook 1,422 3,056 115%
8 Bebo 1,299 2,418 86%
9 Multiply 592 941 59%
10 Reunion.com 4,845 7,601 57%
Source: The Nielsen Company, Custom Analysis (September 2008).
*Note: These websites do not meet minimum sample size standards. Projected and average measures for these sites may exhibit large changes month-to-month, as a result.
Filed in Social Media | Tagged , , |

Social Networking Sites + Social Ads = Revenue!?

Monday, August 25, 2008

Word on the street is Facebook is working on a variety of social ads that may become the secret sauce for monetizing ads in social networks.

The 3 key ingredients allow users to:

  1. Post comments about ads
  2. Send out virtual gifts designed by brands that function as ads
  3. Become a fan of brands and spread the word to their network. Users will also be able to see their friends
Filed in Online Marketing, Social Media | Tagged , , |

Scott Richter Is Not My Friend

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Spam KingFor some reason Scott Richter can’t seem to take no for an answer. He’s sent me 3 requests through Facebook to be my friend and I’ve rejected each of them.

In case you’re not familiar, Scott Richter is the infamous “Spam King”, having paid Microsoft $7 million in a spam related lawsuit and most recently losing a judgment against MySpace for $6 million for sending unsolicited emails to their users.

Sorry Scott, but this is not the way to win over friends. I know that using this technique of mass contacting has made you a lot of money over the years but you need to rethink your strategy at some point.

Filed in Social Media | Tagged , , |