uSocial: How would you like fries with that friend?

"How dare you to think you can own me? You can have my body, but never my soul!" may be a typical line from a Latin soap opera, but probably not the case with uSocial, an Australian online-marketing company that recommends potential friends to companies, after having trawled Facebook for users by criteria like age, location and interests. This is because, once you fall into the vicious network of uSocial (in other words, agree to be its friend), you are sold, both your cyber body and soul, to those companies who are willing to pay about 15 cents for you. So, if you are wondering, that is pretty much how much you are worth online. uSocial also sells Twitter followers to companies looking for the ever so desperately sought positive buzz.

The article I came across the Economist, September 19th issue, discusses whether the idea of selling friends makes for good marketing. Does purchasing friends or fans establish brand loyalty? How likely are you to bribe a friend to make them come to your party? Does that mean they will enjoy that party? Or is it more like you are demeaning your own idea of entertainment by making yourself seem so desperate? I think the bigger harm might be that websites like Twitter and Facebook may lose popularity if users feel that they are being 'used' for advertising, instead of being care-freely stalked and gossiped about. uSocial would not want to upend the big guys' revenue sources. Oh no.

Even though it is up to you to decide what you want to do with that body and soul, keep in mind the virtues of uSocial's business plan.

Effective Use of Web 2.0 Tools

As we go through hard times in the economy, some Web 2.0 tools can come handier than expected for creating growth in companies. Through the use of tools like Twitter and Facebook, some companies have been creating an online buzz and implementing online marketing campaigns. Zappos.com is one of these companies. The online shoe and clothing company tweets about what happens to them at the airport, what they ate "between phone calls and state of the economy", stressing on the fact that their product is less important: It's more about the business. 

However, not all companies can benefit from Twitter and Facebook as much as other companies. The usage really depends on the products and services they offer. Twitter and Facebook greatly differ among themselves too: Even though Twitter may have less users than Facebook, their users seem to be hyper connected and are very different from mainstream Facebook users.

An article I came across talks about some key steps to take before enjoying a Twitter presence:

1)Listen and learn about Twitter

2)Establish your objectives and metrics for success

3)Set up your company's Twitter profile

4)Mind your Twitter etiquette

What it could be seen is that using Twitter as a marketing tool requires steps that should be taken when implementing any kind of an online marketing plan and greatly ties in with the Forrester objectives that should be taken as guidelines. You need to listen to your customers, and talk to them in the proper way. Furthermore, your success on Twitter depends on how much you are able to energize your customers. 

Facebook ads: Marketer's paradise, user's hell?

Scanning through some articles about latest Facebook news, I came across something (yet again!) brand new. The recent news is that now Facebook can have ads that target you by language and location. According to the article I read on New York Times, ads targeting languages were not surprising now that Facebook can be used in many languages. However, targeting users with location-specific ads is the more interesting one among two of the updates. With this feature, the advertisers can tap into detailed demographics of the users (if they have provided them) and even have the possibility to introduce hyperlocal ads.  Wouldn't that be marketer's paradise? Would that also be user's paradise? Or not? 

It really depends on how much the user is willing to share. With these new features, it gets harder to maintain your privacy online. Even though there is still the option of opting out, some people will just not bother with it. The ultimate level of interactivity and individualization! Will that add to our Facebook experience as we warmly welcome ads about near-by restaurants, gyms, theaters or cause some people withdraw usage as these ads get too nosy about our lives? Some people really do not want to know or be known about...

There is no way of telling now since the feature can only work in the USA, the UK and Canada.  As Facebook exploits all interactive features of Web 2.0, we can only sit back and see what it will do next.

Facebook Complaints

Every morning, we wake up to some Facebook news or a change that has been implemented on the site. The recent talk was about the right of the company over the uploaded material on the site. Who does it belong to? To the user or Facebook? Protests have caused Mark Zuckerberg to invite users to share their opinions about the terms of use. As its creator, Zuckerberg is aware of the power that a social networking site can have over owners, because the users see themselves as the owners. I wonder if he's thinking: "Oh no, I've created a monster!"
The monster that emerges from unification of voices is in fact pretty strong. This monster usually complains of the changes, is hardly satisfied and always wants to go back to the 'old way of things'. I remember how everyone was protesting the news feed, the new layout. What happened? The users got used to the new features, and now use them very frequently. Of course, it is important for a social networking site to listen to its customers, but it is sometimes good to stick to your guns. Being afraid of change prevents you from experimenting. And without experimenting, there is no way to keep this monster coming back to check its inbox and wall every 10 minutes. The truth is no one really knows what a good networking site should have. So this is a thin line we are talking about here. Yes, the users should complain. The site should listen. But not always! So maybe knowing when to respond to the complaints is what has made Facebook successful so far.