Kind of.

The IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) has made a document (PDF) available to help you help others understand the world of user-generated content and social media. It’s a basic primer that attempts to take someone from zero to dangerous in 17 pages.

According to the IAB:

“User-Generated Content and Social Media Advertising Overview, is a milestone document that helps marketers, agencies and publishers better understand how these platforms have fundamentally altered the digital experience for consumers and advertisers. The report defines UGC and social media, provides a detailed overview of the latest advertising opportunities, and details case studies of campaigns that have successfully utilized UGC and social media.”"

The document gives a very birds-eye view. What you can find in there will be within topics such as “What is User Generated Content?”, “What is Social Media?”, “Impact on the Advertising Landscape”, “Trends in UGC Advertising”, and “Challenges and Opportunities”.

If you’re new to interactive marketing, this PDF’s for you. It’s a 101 on opportunities out there.

I question many of the ‘case studies’ and examples used in the document, as they are not exemplary, nor are they even representative of the typical campaign. For example, why use “Fred Claus” as an example of a fan page on Facebook? Strange.

I can assure you that the content at the IAB Leadership Forum: User-Generated Content & Social Media
on June 2 in New York will have much more meat.

Share on Facebook

Brian Morrissey @ Adweek writes a fantastic, thorough, and sorely-needed piece on the state of social media metrics. I weighed in on the matter, and so did many others.

Here’s the intro to the article:

What’s a friend worth? It’s the question marketers are asking more and more as they plow into social media in the hopes of finding new customers in welcoming environments while going beyond simple messaging to the fuzzy notion of “engagement.”

But with the rapid growth of social media has come the challenge of measuring the new ways consumers are interacting with and sharing advertisers’ content and brands. In many cases, the biggest difficulty is not just figuring out what to measure but what to ignore — and how to square the need for metrics-driven accountability with the more qualitative feedback endemic to conversation-based channels.

The pressure to justify whether these stabs at so-called “conversational marketing” are paying off against business goals is increasing. Yet the immaturity of the space means few accepted definitions of success, which means many programs are judged more qualitatively, experts said.

Read the rest, and I strongly suggest that you do, by clicking here.

Share on Facebook

It could happen.

Apparently, lost in all of this kerfuffle (72 pts., btw) about the Scrabulous app on Facebook, is that the NYT is reporting that RealNetworks and EA actually share digital rights for these games. Which means that it’s very possible that RealNetworks (a HUGE player in the casual games space) may scoop up the game and give it an ‘official’ branding, according to paidContent.

This would be represent RealNetworks’ first foray into gaming on Facebook, and probably not the last. As a matter of fact, it seems that gaming may very well help sustain (and maybe carry) the momentum social networking sites have been experiencing these last few years, according to Mashable.

Social networking websites connect people. When people play games with each other, they become connected via a shared experience. It’s a perfect fit, and yet another reason why social networking sites are not going anywhere. We’ve been playing games for thousands of years, and when something comes along to enhance that experience, its likely to have at least some staying power.

Share on Facebook

This week, Deep Focus launched a Facebook application called PageSix.com Pinch.

If you’ve ever wanted to send botox, a boob job, a nip slip, or a leaked sex tape to a friend, this app’s for you. Go ahead. Give it a whirl.

I know. I’m supposed to be on vacation. But I just couldn’t resist.

Share on Facebook

MIT’s Technology Review just published it’s list of 10 Emerging Technologies for 2008. The one piece that resonated with me is Sandy Pentland’s exploration into Reality Mining especially in relation to social networking, new media and interactive.

Reality mining “is all about paying attention to patterns in life and using that information to help [with] things like setting privacy patterns, sharing things with people, notifying people–basically, to help you live your life.”

This becomes a hot topic for a few reasons. First and foremost is, once again, privacy issues. Data capture is part of our daily lives – credit card usage, cookies on sites, social network profiles, company swipe cards – and as technology continues to slowly infiltrate more of our lives, we become more tolerant and accepting of what information is divulged and distributed. Everyone has see the movies with the FBI trying to trace the criminals phone call with the criminal hanging up just before being caught. However, most people don’t think about that even with mobile phones being on all the time A simple Google search on his/her name would surprise a lot of people.

Reality Mining has been a reality for years. And as mobile phones become more prevalent with WI-FI, Bluetooth and GPS-type systems (ala iPhone,) in addition to the laptops we carry around and use, the continual social network is our daily life. And as mobile technology advances, our blip on the grid becomes more prominent. The Human Cyborg ideal continues to press forward. Professor Kevin Warwick first started research into this in 1998 by planting microchips in his arm for recognition of systems in his lab.

The major benefit of Reality Mining is from an anthropological standpoint. How people interact, where they are and when they are. Tying this information into disease outbreaks, advertising models (when a person sees an ad, what do they do right afterwards?) and general healthcare and “human maintenance.” Smartex in Italy is working on clothing that does just that.

It’s a bit of the God factor (being omnipotent and omniscient) that is also fascinating. Knowing where your friends are at any time, knowing what they’re doing, where to get the food your phone knows your craving. It’s bringing the idea of Facebook, Google Maps, Dodgeball and other sites into the physical space. The ultimate social network. Maybe even a step closer to SkyNet.

Real-time in real-time. Very meta.

Share on Facebook

A fellow co-worker and myself were discussing various social aspects and the new trend of how people use space. As in, where they spend most of their time. The topic was very interesting where we initially narrowed it down into three areas. Home, work and the ThirdSpace (or Being Space as TrendWatching points out)

commercial living-room-like settings, where catering and entertainment aren’t just the main attraction, but are there to facilitate small office/living room activities like watching a movie, reading a book, meeting friends and colleagues, or doing your admin.

BEING SPACES charge us for eating, drinking, playing, listening, surfing, working, or meeting, just as we would at home or in the office, while successfully reintegrating us into city life 

An all too common example is the way Starbucks has made the coffeeshop into a living room type setting.

I also believe that in addition to these three spaces, there is a 4thSpace - online and social networks. A place where people go as a virtual home, from their landing page on Facebook to iGoogle. People dwell in one or two of these spaces at any one time. Usually one is physical with the second being virtual (ex: sitting at home playing Xbox Live, in Starbucks surfing Facebook, etc.)

The Four Spaces
1 - Home
2 - Work/Office
3 - Being Space (Starbucks, Borders Books, Panera Bread)
4 - Virtual Space (Facebook, iGoogle, MySpace) 

The intriguing aspect of 4thSpace is that it continues to exist without us after we place our identity into that realm. With MySpace, there are pages of deceased members that still garner visits and posted comments. So much so in fact that those that have passed now warrant their own sites like MyDeathSpace.com. The virtual identity becomes, or takes the place of, a real presence. Granted, social networks also allow users to be someone (or something) other than themselves, but the 4thSpace allows comfort in a setting where the other three spaces may not.

People unfamiliar, and even the familiar, become known by their page or avatar. Xbox Live, Facebook or when SecondLife was viable allows users to drop in for a visit and say hello. No one home? Leave a message and they’ll get back to you.

It’s a fascinating topic that is vast in it’s research potential, especially with user trends and emerging technologies with the additional social aspects and implications. As we get drawn into The Matrix a bit more, it’ll be nice to know how cozy it will be. Or when a Starbucks opens a Starbucks in it. Trust me, NYC is close already.

Share on Facebook

It’s heeeeeeeeere.

I’m getting emails from numerous people that they are receiving spam messages via Facebook. Here’s two examples of what it looks like:

———————————————
Farrah wrote on your Wall:

“Best ringer site ever, they hooked me up with t0nes for a year.

%url”

To see your wall or to write on Farrah’s Wall, follow the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/n/?profile.php&id=568127974#wall

Thanks,
The Facebook Team
———————————————

and


———————————————
Rachel wrote on your Wall:

“Heres that site i was telling you about free t0nes for a month. Sign up quick.

%url”

To see your wall or to write on Rachel’s Wall, follow the link below:
http://purchase.facebook.com/n/?profile.php=46301174#wall

Thanks,
The Facebook Team
———————————————

This is a HUGE problem. It was not supposed to happen. Hopefully, Facebook will take action against these perps immediately. Many MySpace users already bailed because of this, and Facebook users will be nowhere near as tolerant, I can assure you.

(big ups to Jeremy Beyda and Lisa Baldini for tipping me off)

Share on Facebook

Well it’s about time.

Facebook will be cracking down on applications that will penalize applications that don’t elicit reactions from their users.

In other words, apps can send out up to 40 messages, per user, per day. If enough recipients of those messages click on the sent links, then the apps can earn the right to continue to exist. If enough recipients wind up ignoring our deleting the sent messages, those apps will have their messaging quotas cut, effectively slowly suffocating them.

It’s kind of like social media darwinism within the Facebook ecosystem and I think it’s a great idea.

Share on Facebook

Ok. So I just saw an iPhone commercial solely focused on its Facebookability.



Anyone else see this? Anyone know if/where it is online? This is as close as I could get.

UPDATE: Video below.

Are mobile utilities finally going to start catching on? Is Facebook usage going to spike because of this commercial?

Share on Facebook

A group of internet users (some call them hackers) known as ‘Anonymous’, have basically launched denial-of-service (DoS) attacks against the Church of Scientology, and have gotten their hands on, and subsequently released confidential, highly-sensitive Scientology documents.

A great recap of the story can be found here.

My contemporary, Tom Hespos weighs in on this via his blog, and calls it a ‘crowdwar’, that it will prepare us for cyberwarfare, and that ‘we will be talking about this for years to come’. AdRants commented on this issue as well.

And I agree.

But I will also add that while there are bits and pieces of this effort that have the air of what we traditionally think of as ‘cyberterrorism’, e.g. DoS attacks, we can not underestimate how the internet can be used for propagandism and the spread of (dis)information.

In addition to attacks targeting servers, cyberwarfare can also make use of web properties and communities, specifically, various forms of social media, like blogs, social networks, and social news aggregators. All of these tools can be — and have been — used for the spread of love, hate, patriotism, jingoism, rhetoric, dissemination of facts, and the manipulation of the truth.

Lets take a look at what Anonymous has done:

* YouTube
Almost 400 videos mentioning Anonymous + Scientology. Here’s Anonymous’ ‘coming out’ video…

* News Aggregators
Numerous ‘Dugg’ stories on Digg, each with an average of about 4,000 ‘diggs’. And thousands of comments in total, with each one making the prized ‘front page’ of Digg.

* File Sharing Services
I won’t link to them here, but if you reference the aforementioned Digg search results, you can see how Anonymous is disseminating all the top-secret Scientology documents they can get their hands on, using outlets like BitTorrent (via PirateBay) and MediaFire.

If you are a user that frequents any of the social media sites referenced above, you have no doubt been exposed to the ways that these properties (and utilities) have been used to spread both factual information and propaganda. But don’t think this is just the realm of Scientology-haters. It’s the realm of Ron Paul supporters, Hilary Clinton bashers, war crime accusers, environmental crusaders, and liberals, independents, and conservatives alike.

Just as social media is a wonderful tool to find like-minded peers with similar beliefs, it’s also a way to convince others to share our beliefs. As marketers and advertisers, we’re trying to figure out how do this ourselves, albeit usually with less serious consequences.

Anti-terrorism experts learn from the volume of ‘chatter’ on message boards and communities. Presidential fund-raising can reach record one-day levels via social mediab. Two polar extremes, both using similar methods.

What social media allows groups from Al-Qaeda, to Anonymous, from Democrats, to Republicans, to do is provide supporters and potential converts unprecedented access to information. It has never before been easier to get access to hour-long videos or 300-page documents. What used to be underground rallies in clandestine locations have become groups on Facebook, channels on YouTube, and comment threads on Digg. Heck you can even use social media to facilitate those same in-person clandestine meetings (Meetup).

Social media, as wonderful a tool as it can be, can also be used to wage war, spread propaganda, or liberate information. What ‘Anonymous’ is doing is probably a combination of all three. And as Tom Hespos stated, yes — we will be talking about this for a long time, because this war is nowhere near over.

But it should be noted that social media doesn’t fight wars. People do. And it’s what people do with social media that matters. People, by nature, are joiners. Joiners of causes, groups, movements, lifestyles. Social media facilitates it all. In a way, it makes us hyper-joiners.

What this particular ‘cyberwar’ can teach us is that as marketers, we must remember this propensity to join, and figure out how to use social media to better galvanize audiences. As consumers, we need to remember just how easy it is to join something — and determine what is propaganda, what is noise, and what we believe in.

Information and disinformation are equally as easily spread via social media, but it is up to us, as individuals, to determine which one is which. What is a malicious ‘hacker’ to one can be the exposing and enlightening bearer of truth to another.

Which one is ‘Anonymous’? That’s up to you to decide. But what we can all agree upon is that social media represents part of the evolution of communication. Free communication should never be limited — but we must thoroughly understand all methods of communication if we expect to be able to separate information from disinformation.

And social media is no exception.

Heck, most advertising can usually be defined as propaganda. Consumers choose which advertising to believe hundreds of times a day. But hmmmmm…If social media makes the spread of propaganda so easy, why are advertisers having such a tough time figuring it out?

Maybe we need to become better propagandists. Or maybe we need to stop spreading disinformation.

Share on Facebook