Hey all,
Just wanted to let you all know you can now read my blog through your mobile. Windows Mobile, iPhone, Opera Mini- it's all supported.
Go take a look, i'd love to know what you think.
Next week I'm going to speak about social media, how it affects our life and how we can use it to our personal and professional benefits.
I'm very excited about this and the preparations are almost over:)
If you want to come please visit the event page on Facebook and RSVP yourself. The date: November 30th, 19:00. The rest of the details are inside. It's free and in Hebrew .
I am so utterly excited about the upcoming release of Star Trek 11 in May 2009, with a new and young Kirk, a young Spock and a young crew… of actors and of writers with J.J Abrahms at the helm.
I have been a Star Trek fan even before I was a Star Trek Fan… I became a fan when I was 14.
At 16 realized i would love it forever, at 21 I opened a Hebrew website (kinda like a blog) and wrote there about Star Trek Enterprise' s weekly episodes for 4 years, at 25 I led the Israeli campaign to Save Enterprise as a part of the international campaign. Yes, I'm a Trekkie, I'm proud of it.
As you all know, Enterprise never made it after season 4. The TV ratings were low, but the episode downloads were very high. Like many other TV shows, there are more viewers online than there are viewers on TV. you know what I mean, right?
It's almost 2009 now and Trekkie stays a Trekkie, but I'm also into social media and the affect it has on people is astonishing.
Now I wonder, its the social media era, we're all into buzz, socializing and avanglizing the stuff we love, and Star Trek 11- this one has to succeed this time because if it fails, the suits at Viacom will never give another chance to trek through the stars again and we have to make it work (I hope a successful movie will create a new series, or another movie, or a mini series, or something), and it can work, if we all work together on this, link to the movie site (it's great by the way), link to each other, buzz it, push it higher, beam it up to where no movie has gone before, it's in our hands. Make it so.
Here are some screen shots from the new Star Trek trailer, have fun.
ps- if you're a Trekkie too leave me a msg, its been a while since i've met new Trekkie friends
Add people you know and care about
Don't add people you never heard of just because they asked, close circles aren't close enough for you to get feeds from them most of the time
Don't worry about how it looks, you'll see the benefit from it later
Send a Happy Birthday, try doing it every day, it'll pay you off
Meet your social graph in the real life. Real life is the extension of your social web.
Social web is the extension of your real life relationships
It's like the chicken and the egg, but here we actually know what came first
Be who you really are, don't try to fake or pretend, your social graph has a photographic memory, be careful
News travels fast, you can use it
The world is flat, you can use it
In social networks it is possible for anyone to know anyone, be careful whom you cyber with.
Share links
Share what you're doing with your friends
Comment
Work on your profile continuously, it's not meant to be a monument
Don't be afraid to remove people you're totally not in touch with
See what's up with your friends, you'd be surprised at what you might find
Reading is not enough- Comment
Write something in your blogging platform
Link to others
Be large with what you do
The places you're stopped in your social web activity are the places you're stopped in your life
But don't be reckless, be smart
Be authentic
Be loving, it's good for business, any business, even if it's not business
Remember
Yesterday was Wordcamp Israel 2008 and I was asked to be the photographer for this event, so i was, gladly. Many others already wrote about this event, plus, my original post was lost somehow, so this is actually my second post I write about WordPressIsrael2008, the tag for this event in search engines.
So, because so many people already wrote about this, I just wanna share with you that I uploaded 144 photos to my Facebook Albums and that they are available to the public even though my profile is limited to friends only. I have also uploaded something like 30 somthing photos to Flickr.
The fun part in Facebook is that people tag other people, and even people who are not my friends can view and tag photos. It was so much fun getting more than 60 notifications from facebook about tagging, comments, friend requests, wall posts, all that… It made me feel like Facebook is a bit more open, but honestly, it isn't, yet. But in time… you'll see, they'll change.
Wordcamp and my choice to put the photos deliberately in Facebook (and only later on Flickr) thought me another lesson in the power of social networks in the world, not only that, I think every business today, every business, should think how to elevete itself using social networks and establishing a full time social presence on the web. More about that in the future, or you can contact me directly.
links about Wordcamp:
Gili Taguri- Happy Birthday (Hebrew)
Ira Abramov- live blogging from Wordcamp 2008 (Hebrew)
Oren Todoros aka SEOVice with a cool video from Wordcamp and some use of my photos (English)
Raanan Bar-Cohen- with his presentation about WordPress (English)
WordPress Garage- about the WordPress Camp (English)
Compucall- a presentation about SEO in WordPress (English)
Ring of Blogs- about the Gravatar enabled badges (passport photos in the nametags)
Please visit my photos on Facebook: all Wordcamp photos are licensed creative commons
http://tinyurl.com/6hhb7h
http://tinyurl.com/65qcqx
http://tinyurl.com/5rvvgt
In the last few months I have used my social graph a few times in my efforts to characterize a system i've been working on. From my experience i have learned that many people of vision have no clue about what the market wants or what is most important to the users and I decided to just ask them for their opinion without giving them an explanation to why I do this, which, in my opinion, was irrelevant. I have used my graph to create a think tank that was totally unavailable to me in the pre-facebook era and am constantly amazed by what people say and by the amount of knowledge accumulated on a page like this. Pay attention to how people express what they think and how they interact with each other, it's fascinating. I'd love to know what you think about this after you read. Also, I want to apologize for how this post looks in my WordPress, as this is a bilingual blog it has its language issues of alignment…i'll sort them out soon.
The following is my Facebook note and all 46 comments that came after.
In Facebook, what would you choose? (please leave a comment)
Saturday, April 26, 2008 at 4:21pm
Hey guys,
I have a Facebook question for you:
If Facebook gave you just 1 option to choose from it's basic applications,
and basic applications are: status lines, notes, photos, posted items, videos, events and groups.
1- which would you choose to be be as the only application?
2- which application in your opinion is the heart of the system?
if you were tagged, i would really appreciate it if you leave a comment, it's a kind of a pole for the job i'm doing now. Iif you weren't tagged, i'd appreciate it if you left your comment anyway, I need as many answers as possible.
===THANK YOU IN ADVANCE===
at 4:24pm on April 26th, 2008
I can't choose just one.
I use: Status, Notes, Photos, Events, Videos, Chat and Groups.
Together they represent the heart of Facebook for me.
at 4:29pm on April 26th, 2008
'caus everybody needs to know what's up with me
at 4:33pm on April 26th, 2008
Photos
Events
Notes
Chat
at 4:35pm on April 26th, 2008
2. Again, the heart of the system from my POV is no doubt: "Events"
Why ?
1. There are many services for video and photos as well for notes: all are OK and much better than FB.
2. Status updates is being used by around ~5%-10% of FB users – so it cant be the heart, and as well cant be the reason why people joined FB from the first moment.
3. Groups are fine from my POV, but not the heart.
SO: Events (which are connected to groups btw) – are a great way to announce and share between friends and partners some kind of gathering (and usuall a non virtual gathering).
I can think of any other app/service that had made it to such success with sharing events.
Hence, videos, photos and status are extra and events is the heart.
at 4:37pm on April 26th, 2008
for pics – flickr/photobucket/picasa
for status – twitter/pownce
for vid – youtube/seesmic/qik
for notes – wp/blogger/typepad
posted items – su/digg/del.icio.us
events – google calender/event based social networks?
groups – forums/blogs etc.
In my opinion the mini feeds is the core value of Facebook.
As a user, you want to be up-to-date at any time in what your friends are doing (and as you all know, its pretty addictive and time consuming therefor its monetizable
Omer Perchik wrote
at 4:40pm on April 26th, 2008
And if you make my pick one : Events (Better execution then other places on the web)
at 4:51pm on April 26th, 2008
at 4:58pm on April 26th, 2008
It's probably worth mentioning though that events wouldn't be the same without the options of incorporating photos, video and notes…
Roy Man wrote
profile
photos
messages
events
groups
status
notes
videos
remove from the bottom and you'll get less facebook each time
i dont know where to locate chat as it is still new.
Nir Ofir wrote
It aggregates all the activity of my friends and in a more friendly way than friendfeed. All the rest can be done in other, open, platforms.
at 5:07pm on April 26th, 2008
at 5:10pm on April 26th, 2008
and notes from del.icio.us
and so on.
Tal.
at 5:18pm on April 26th, 2008
at 6:02pm on April 26th, 2008
at 6:11pm on April 26th, 2008
at 6:28pm on April 26th, 2008
at 6:45pm on April 26th, 2008
at 7:08pm on April 26th, 2008
Though the heart of FB is that it offers all these things together, with mashups of them – event photos and videos, and the such. take that away, and though you have the heart of FB, you lose the liver. and the body will die.
at 7:19pm on April 26th, 2008
at 8:09pm on April 26th, 2008
birthday notifications, Saves alot of hassle
at 8:19pm on April 26th, 2008
at 9:23pm on April 26th, 2008
I've removed people from the list here and added others:)
at 9:29pm on April 26th, 2008
at 9:45pm on April 26th, 2008
at 9:51pm on April 26th, 2008
at 10:01pm on April 26th, 2008
it is the combination, the flexibility of usage and the fact that everyone are here that is making it what it is.
at 10:08pm on April 26th, 2008
If I had to choose one thing from the list, I'd be inclined to choose status line even though lately my status updates have increasingly been updated from Twitter more than they have directly through FB.
Coming in a close second is groups, for the reasons that Ronsho iterated above.
at 11:09pm on April 26th, 2008
at 11:55pm on April 26th, 2008
at 11:56pm on April 26th, 2008
Since twitter can replace the status line, friendfeed is similar to the newsfeed, del.icio.us for notes, etc.. its’ obviously the combination of these apps that gives FB its advantage.
at 1:06am on April 27th, 2008
at 1:38am on April 27th, 2008
good luck.
at 1:47am on April 27th, 2008
I can use dedicated sites for photos and videos, and most of the rest may be handled by Twitter.
at 4:06am on April 27th, 2008
at 8:27am on April 27th, 2008
at 9:47am on April 27th, 2008
at 12:42pm on April 27th, 2008
Status = twitter.
Notes = blogs.
Photos = flickr.
Videos = youtube.
I defiantly don't use groups to the max, and if I really want to share a posted item, I'd blog it.
Sure, events could be covered with evite, but of this bunch, this would get my vote.
at 2:05pm on April 27th, 2008
So, you'd want to be in different places to do different things?
at 2:40pm on April 27th, 2008
Sure, I can use feeds and API's to bring things together for friends to see in Facebook, but specialist/niche platforms will always excel in their niche.
Amit Ohayon wrote
at 8:45am on April 28th, 2008
2. Messages are cute – and gmail-ish
3. Pictures are cute – and flickr-ish
4. Events are cute – and evite-ish
5. Videos are cute – and youtube-ish
etc…
And most of the other applications are annoyances (to me.)
So what is Facebook good for?
For me, I have a "small" friends list of around 200 people – people I know, want to stay in touch with, whom in any other way I would probably lose touch with.
FB allows me a glimpse into what my friends are doing, and helps me retain a connection, despite geographical boundaries, timezone differences and just plain forgetting to write.
So all the services/applications that are provided by the core engine are nice enough, and have their specialties (like photo tagging, which I like), but for a REALLY good photo album, use Picasa or Flickr. When your photos include friends, add that to FB and tag them.
(comment is now getting too long for FB to allow it…
Xen Mendelsohn wrote
Plaxo Pulse also now tries to offer mini feeds but I guess it is just a little too late.
at 12:15pm on April 28th, 2008
ONLY? I wouldn't bother with Facebook if it only had one.
There is no ONE application I would choose. The combo is status-photos-messages.2- which application in your opinion is the heart of the system
The minifeed. fast, short info, to lead (by choice) to other items
at 1:32pm on April 28th, 2008
at 2:25pm on April 28th, 2008
I've reached the limit of people I can know through people when it comes to Facebook. About 90-95% of my contacts I have met. My guess is that most of the next 100 people I'll add to my friends list will be from people I meet in person.
It's interesting to have a list of people I've met and know with no white noise of people I don't know. There are people who add people they don't know or don't care about, most of them- friends of friends. Their answer to my question about it is that they don't feel comfortable saying no and are afraid how it will make them look in the others eyes.
Weak ties are stronger than the strong ties when you speak about creating and finding opportunities. In reality you have few strong ties (family and close friends- a small net) and many weak ties (co-workers, acquaintances and so on- a big net). No matter what, if you know all your social graph you can maximize your use in it (in your friends), and help them with your ability to connect social and professional dots. It's much better than having "holes" of people you don't know (which you don't care about either) and cant use or be used.
One more thing about the president elect, Barack Obama:
YES WE CAN by Barack Obama equals Nike's JUST DO IT in the power it has on people.
BUT
yes we can inspired millions to go and vote, just do it just inspired people as one of the best tag lines ever created to a brand and not necessarily affected Nike's sales, but I don't have the numbers, so it's just a thought. Maybe they're not that equal.
credits:
Steven Kovar
shadrastrickland.com
Lately, when I talk to my friends and to people I know, more and more of them know what I do, know if i'm looking for something and generally are up to date with what's up with me.
It's a pretty interesting sensation. you meet someone, and they made their homework on you before you even met…. it's like what you need to do before you go to a job interview, homework yourself on the company you're going to work for and if possible, about the person who's going to interview you.
Something I learned lately and kept my mind busy is the concept of "outposts".
What are Outposts?
Outposts are basically anywhere on the web (mainly social web) where you spend your time and create content. Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Flickr, LinkedIn, FriendFeed, Blog, Website… anywhere.
One Test Case- Me
Now with me it's pretty simple, my web personality has outposts in many many websites across the social web, and besides podcasting, whichI don't do, I write, I shoot photos, I comment, I share favorites and I chat, and I use almost anything available on the web to do that.
Why?
a- because I live a life where the social web is an extension of my life, and it's as real as my "real" life are. why? because I take my web life and transform them to real relationships on a daily basis.
b- as a part of my job, I explore trends, web behaviorism and new directions. it's a mix of web sociology and anthropology 2.0, but that's just me.
Make It Easy ON THEM
Now, this is a tip for anyone who wants to boost their online presence- BE EVERYWHERE. be wherever your fans and followers are, wherever your clients are. It's your job to come to them and not their job to come to you. You dig?
And If you want to go the extra mile and totally bring everything to them, FriendFeed will help you do that. Just connect your social identity to whatever FriendFeed offers you and you'll get everything you're doing, and more than that- you get one RSS feed of everything you do, ready for your subscribers/clients/fans to consume in one place. all you need to do is let them know they can.
I've grouped my social identity into one place, gave it an address made it RSSable, do it for yourself.
This is how your page will look like theoretically and this is the RSS your customers/followers/fans will get as you make it easier on them to follow you.
Thanks for Goni Riskin For the Photos
Last night Obama won the 2008 U.S election.
This morning I've heard that 20% of the world is using Firefox as their browser.
I've created this new logo with all that in mind, please feel free to pass this logo forward and link to this post.
Credits:
The original logo is taken from this site
This piece and the logo is under Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported
To use this logo, just right click-> save as and upload to wherever or just click to download
you can also link to the Firefox download page: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/products/download.html?product=firefox-3.0.3&os=win&lang=en-US
