Author Archive for steve

Facebook Usernames - At Last!

Published
by
steve
on June 18, 2009
in Facebook and twitter
. 0 Comments

There’s been a big change in social networking this month, as Facebook now provides the option to do something pretty much every other social networking site in the world has been doing for a long time – give yourself a username! This will undoubtedly lead to a shift in the way that Facebook and its users operate, as it’s now a good deal simpler to link directly to your page or profile.

Those friend-hungry folks out there can now aggressively up their friend count with ease. It’s all being done with security and copyright in mind, however, as Facebook are attempting to ensure no abuse of their system and usernames are set in stone once they’ve been chosen. Pick wisely, as LadyGaGaLover2009 might not sound so cool in 6 months!

It’s now much easier to increase your businesses exposure, too, with a tidier and more memorable web address providing an easier path for Facebook users (and Google searches) to reach your content and brand. Whereas prior to this launch the address of your company’s Facebook page would’ve been a garbled mess of letters and numbers (unless you had a nice large ad-spend, in which case vanity URL’s were specially available), it’ll now be the more business-card friendly facebook.com/yourcompanynamehere. The myriad of benefits this offers are obvious, and it’s another big step towards making Facebook the unifying outlet for social networking and brand exposure. Expect to see Facebook URLs springing up on billboards, the side of busses, film trailers and magazines over the next few months.

On a somewhat similar note, Twitter now offer ‘Verified Accounts’, in essence ensuring users that the tweets they are reading are the real deal, from the horses mouth, and adding another level of confidence and security to those 140 characters.

Nudge Value Index - How it works

Published
by
steve
on May 19, 2009
in Uncategorized
. 20 Comments

The Nudge Value Index has been live for about a month, so we thought we’d share how your individual ‘magic’ value is calculated!

Nudge Value Index Screeshot

If you haven’t had a go yet, the value index has been designed as a way of benchmarking your activity, popularity and influence amongst your friends and contacts on Facebook - basically how much presence you have in your own network.

Behind the scenes we’ve broken down user-behaviour into three areas:

  • Activity:
    • Amount of status updates (last 30 days)
    • Amount of uploaded photos (last 30 days)
    • Amount of links posted (last 30 days)
  • Social:
    • Amount of groups you’re part of (ever)
    • Amount of events you’ve been invited to (last four months)
    • Amount of photos you’ve been tagged in (last 30 days)
  • Popularity:
    • How many friends you currently have
    • Percentage of your friends that have the value index app installed

We give each of these three main areas a weighting, then add them up, which gives you your final value (can be recalculated once a day).

So not voodoo then, and not just random. We’ve tried to take into account as many aspects of activity and friend-participation as possible and not just gone for a popularity contest. Would be great to hear your feedback - think it’s well balanced? Maybe we should be taking something else into account? Or just not happy with your ranking? At the time of writing I’m 4776th so you’re not the only one…

Your Own Skittles Site < 1 Minute

Published
by
steve
on March 19, 2009
in Social Media
. 0 Comments

So, lots of industry furore over the way Skittles gave control to the masses and social-mediarized™ 90% of their website.

Now you can do it too in less than a minute - behold my own personalised version of the Skittles site, make yours at Skittlr.com. Include Twitter searches, Facebook, Flickr, anything you like really - who needs a social media agency?

What kind of Twit are you?

Published
by
steve
on February 19, 2009
in Social Media
. 0 Comments

Over a period of time I’ve identified the following distinct classifications of people using Twitter - which group are you in?

Celebrity Stalker
There’s a surprising amount of celebs and public figures ‘embracing the Tweet’. Updates range from bleary-eyed getting out of bed habits to well-constructed PR snippets, and can often be a voyeuristically personal view into their world.  Highlights include Jonathan Ross, Darth Vader and Stephen Fry. Should keep you busy until the next issue of Heat.

Microblogger
Everything is put down in a tweet, no matter how mundane or worthless. Potential offenders are usually hitting 30+ posts a day. Great stuff for the Celebrity Stalkers to lap up.

Industry Groupie
All your Twitter friends are in the same industry as you, Twitter is used solely as a networking and information gathering/sharing tool. People in this category tweet as a way of life, meeting new people in the same field, quickly gathering followers with similar work-interests as themselves. Often encroaching on the ‘Link Sharer’ type…

Link Sharer
Your tweets mostly consist of links, either from the web or others Twitter feeds. You have a mild to severe competitive streak and need to be the first in your network to present ‘the cool link’ before anyone else.

Pure Follower
Not really bothered about tweeting yourself, but more than happy to follow along with updates from others. Pure Followers are information sponges, often exceling at pub quizes. Not to be confused with the Celebrity Stalker.

Boredom Buster
Tweeting-time reserved for when you’re bored, and can’t think of anything else to play with on your phone. Example situations: waiting for the other half outsde a changing room, using public transport, waiting for a mate at a gig. Typical tweet frequency: one every couple of months.

Investigator
A popular category; basically you’re a two-post wonder. Those two posts went something like this: “YESSSS! I’m on Twitter!” followed very shortly by “I’m eating a sandwich”. And then nothing. Ever. Many start out this way, excited to see what the fuss is about, but then experience feelings of confusion about what to do next, leading to Twitter Abandonment. Twitter could do with  better handholding features for new starters - big fat links to useful search tools, perhaps some categorised examples of people you might find worthy of following based on your interests etc.

Which of the above am I? Probably a three way split between Link Sharer, Industry Groupie, and Celebrity Stalker.

Bosses ’should embrace Facebook’

Published
by
steve
on October 29, 2008
in Social Media
. 0 Comments

So says this article on the BBC News website.

Not really sure that Facebook is the place that people “share documents and collaborate in ideas” but it’s certainly true that it can help teams and colleagues gel together. It’s a bit like the pub session after work where you find out things over a beer with someone that you never knew, and would probably never have known with just a polite chat next to the stationery cupboard.

In a similar way to the culling of available friends in my Messenger list during working hours, there are disadvantages to not giving people freedom to communicate online in the workplace. I know I’ve pinged questions to friends over Messenger that were beneficial in a work-related way, that I wouldn’t have bothered picking up the phone for otherwise.

Obviously you’ll always get people that take advantage of these things, but the same people will find other ways to time-waste online anyway, regardless of the channel.

Facebook Vs. Consoles: Round 1

Published
by
steve
on October 23, 2008
in Gaming and Social Media
. 0 Comments

So I’ve been having a spin around Pet Society’s world this week - more quality Facebook entertainment from Playfish.

In a large nod towards Animal Crossing on the Nintendo platforms, it’s a character-building, wander-around-town affair. You’re rewarded for beefing up your avatar in the way of clothes, collectables and additions to your home, as well as being responsible for health, hygiene and happiness. It’s well polished and has hidden depths in the form of trophy achievements, hurdling(!) and other events.

Animal Crossing Vs Pet Society

What grabbed me about Pet Society is its closeness to the aforementioned console series whilst remaining accessible in a web-based format. Its platform also means there’s no additional financial outlay in terms of hardware for the player - find a web browser and you’re away. Admittedly it’s not quite the same experience in terms of depth, but you’ve got pretty comparable gameplay for the casual gamer without the need to buy a DS or Wii (and you can hop in and out of a stealthy game at work).

Connectivity is also made easier by being web/Facebook based. Hooking up with a friend on a Nintendo DS involves finding a Wi-Fi connection and prearranging identifying tags. Including a friend in Pet Society takes about two clicks - you’re already online if you’re playing, and your Facebook friend list is always to hand.

Obviously this is light comparison with Facebook and the console world, but it’s an area which will be opening up more in the near future. As the Flash Player advances and 3D libraries mature, there are interesting (and fun) times ahead.