Social networking
April 24, 2008
March 23, 2008
Billy Bragg: Stop your whining!
I was like so many people a big fan of Billy Bragg when I saw him live in 91 tell a crowd of students to vote left. No surprise there as he has always been very vocal on social issues and an outspoken opponent of fascism, racism, bigotry, sexism, etc.
Recently he published in the New York times this article which basically says that he wants his cut of the web 2.0 money pie and that he is upset with social networking sites like BEBO for cutting out artists...He goes on to say that BEBO founder Michael Birch had reached out to him a couple of years ago to get his thoughts on how to make an artist centered model where musicians could post original songs without fear of losing control over their work... Well Billy Bragg is kind of upset because Bebo sold for over 850 million dollars and he did not get a cent. Fair enough..but for someone who has been such an outspoken person on the working class and the less advantaged just one thing comes to mind... Look at how many people can afford to hear you sing now!!!
Perhaps the message here is give your music for free (the less fortunate thank you), try and sell related advertising around your music, license your product, but more importantly do more concerts because your fans with money would pay the entry fee and would buy your music at the show because they do support "the real thing".
March 11, 2008
September 14, 2007
Social Networking and Barack Obama
For sometime Barack Obama has been taking advantage of online social networking sites to promote his campaign online. At last count Barack had a total of 174, 585 friends on Myspace, close to 5,000 people following him on Twitter, 145,000 supporters on Facebook, over 11 million channel views You Tube and an impressive 5,780 photos on Flickr. Of late he has even created a LinkedIn profile.
There is no doubt that understanding social networking sites will have some influence on how the 2008 elections pan out as having an online presence can bridge the gap between the common plebes and high profile politician making them much more relevant and obviously more popular. However, what is difficult to calculate and not known is that in a country that has less than a 40% voter turn out how many YouTube surfers and Flickr downloaders will actually visit the urns? What about his Myspace friends...are they of age and will they actually do the deed?
Whatever happens it is clear that traditional media loves to report on online social networking sites so he might be reaching out to his demographics after all via print, radio and TV as his name gets even more attention every time he joins a new Web 2.0 site.
July 15, 2007
Virtual Marketers having second thoughts?
I stumbled on this very interesting article from the LA times on the much hyped Virtual World of Second Life. Many Brands have been wanting to enter this virtual arena but it seems now that many are wanting to leave or at least having some second thoughts about it. Here are some interesting points about 2nd life.
About
Linden Lab, the San Francisco firm that created Second Life, sells
companies and people pieces of the landscape where they can build
stores, conference halls and gardens.
Users create avatars of themselves and interact in this space through these fictional characters.
On its website, Second Life says the number of total residents is more than 8 million. But that counts people who signed in once and never returned, as well as multiple avatars for individual residents. Even at peak times, only about 30,000 to 40,000 users are logged on.
What is happening?
- During a recent in-world visit, Best Buy Co.'s Geek Squad Island was devoid of visitors and the virtual staff that was supposed to be online.
- The schedule of events on Sun Microsystems Inc.'s site was blank,
and the green landscape of Dell Island was deserted. Signs posted on
the window of the empty American Apparel store said it had closed up
shop.
- Angry avatars have taken virtual action. Reebok weathered a nuclear bomb attack and customers were shot outside the American Apparel store. Avatars are creating fantasy knockoffs of brand-name products too.
- Consulting firms that were set up to bring brands into Second Life are busy helping clients explore other worlds.
There was not so long ago a frenzy of companies, politicians, and personalities swooping into Second life. It is quite probable that we are experiencing the first exodus of brands from Second life as the monetary returns are just not there. Nonetheless Secondlife has made internet millionaires out of some avatars who are chasing Linden dollars...but this rings true more for entrepreneurial individuals than large companies trying to showcase their products.
July 01, 2007
GodTube.com is here. Can the web unite all religions?
GodTube utilizes Web based technology to connect Christians for the purpose of encouraging and advancing the Gospel worldwide.
June 26, 2007
We need to link more sites in web 2.0
As everyday goes by more and more social networking sites are being created on the web....from websites which let you manage your own grassroots sports team, or Pay Jr which teaches kids how to earn money responsibly by doing real chores..the old weekly allowance. There are social networking sites which let you set your own goals like 43things.com and other ones like vampirefreaks.com that want to suck your blood.
I am on Facebook, Linkedin, Jaiku, etc. and it does keep me busy as I need to update the various profiles. I was reading on allfacebook.com an article which reports that Linkedin is considering to open its platforms to developers. An excellent idea..imagine photographers looking for work...they could post some their protfolio in Flickr and have a stream into their Linkedin profile.
Facebook has had the lead in this kind of stuff as they surely realised that open source is great and is probably insuring a steady growth. Nevertheless, there are many social networking sites that have not created APIs and must say that the networking experience is so much better when you can cross link your various profiles from other websites.
June 13, 2007
Fon: A commuinity sharing Wifi
What is Fon? Fon is a large web community which shares one thing: Wifi. The idea is simple. For 40 Euros (plus 5 Euro shipping) you get a box which is apparently secured were you can share your bandwidth with a someone who is in need of an internet connection. This special connection box is called a Fonera.
In addition to the Fonera you can install "La Fontena". La Fontenna is a directional antenna that sends your FON WiFi signal further, boosting the coverage by up to five times. This Makes it easier for you (if you live in a very large house or if you want to move around a little in your neighborhood and still access the internet).
So you may ask yourself...why should I do this? Well the answer is simple. If you have a Fonera you can have free access anywhere in the world to the internet. For those looking for some cash...well it seems that FON will pay you 50% of the net revenue that they get everytime a visitor purchases a FON Access Pass through your FON Spot! I wonder what the chances are of having some random person connecting to my FON spot considering there is a McDonald's and hotel close by which also "sell" internet connection. Uhhhmm....
Nevertheless, the idea is very cool and if it can make internet access easier... especially for worldwide backpackers begging for free bandwidth... why not???
June 10, 2007
Google Street view - let's network!
There has been quit a bit of talk about Google Street View. Most of the conversations have been around protection of privacy as photos have been published without consent. In the US I have read that this is legal as these images were taken in the public domain ... Re. the street. Would be interesting to see what the laws are in other countries.
I was on Google Streets yesterday showing it to my dad. I must say it was pretty amazing. I gave him the URL of where to access the application and talked him through the interface. We both ended up in New York, on the exact same street, staring at the exact same building. Only thing was that he was in Canada and I was in Switzerland. It was really cool.
If I was to add a feature to this application I would like to have the option of being able lo network / see other people who are using Google Street View and who are at the same address as I am. Being able to interact with other Google Street visitors would be awesome. I would not add this as a default setting when you enter the map but rather as a who is on Google street now?? type feature. Kind of like a second life but remove the fantasy candy and let people meet and chat while at the same time being in more of a real world...
May 27, 2007
PageCasts on PageFlakes
Make your own Pagecast!
“Pagecasting” means publishing your Pageflakes page for others to see. You can share your Pagecast with the world or with a private group. You can even let others edit and contribute to your Pagecast!
It’s very easy - just click the “Share” button on any of your page tabs..and it is done
I must say that I really enjoy the pagecasting feature in Pageflakes. Kind of a freaky look into what other content people are viewing on their start pages.
