imeem Launches Support for OpenSocial

Posted by Nick O'Neill on May 14th, 2008 11:51 AM

Today imeem, the third largest social network in the U.S., launched support for OpenSocial. As I wrote yesterday, imeem has over 24 million active members each month. This is a great move by imeem and it further extends the reach of the OpenSocial platform. According to the press release, “This means that developers can now build JavaScript, HTML and Adobe Flex media applications that access imeem’s entire catalog of music, video, and photo content.

The primary difference between the imeem platform and other social platforms is its emphasis on media. I spent a good 20 minutes trying to find a directory of applications that are displayed on the site but I haven’t been able to find it. So what’s the new press release that other startups will soon begin to send out? “Company X Now Supports Open Social”

The bottom line is that OpenSocial applications are spreading rapidly across other sites and the backing of Google helped these platforms to support the standard. One has to wonder if a similar thing will happen with Google Friend Connect. While Facebook will be first to launch with their Connect platform, MySpace and Google will rapidly follow suit. It will be interesting to see how this all pans out.

For companies this simply means one thing: there is a new channel of distribution for spreading the word out about your organization.

Are Video Comments Going Mainstream?

Posted by Nick O'Neill on May 14th, 2008 11:18 AM

Fred Wilson has announced that Disqus and Seesmic are teaming up to provide video comments. I’ve already added Seesmic commenting to this site and aside from the one post where I announced that I’d support Seesmic comments, nobody has used it. There appears to be a debate now over whether or not video comments make much sense.

My thoughts are that video commenting provides a great alternative for those that prefer to use video instead of text. If that wasn’t the most obvious response, I don’t know what is. Loren Feldman is a good example of somebody that benefits from video comments. YouTube is already the center of video commenting and now it is extending to blogs. We will continue to see more written comments than video comments on blogs though.

Some people communicate more effectively through video and some people communicate more effectively for writing. That’s the difference between bloggers and vloggers. I unfortunately have not taken advantage of Disqus because for some reason I like owning the comments on my blog. Call me crazy but it’s a personal preference. Disqus is a great way to get comments up and running on your site though and I have a feeling that it may spread the same way MyBlogLog did, I’m just not one of the users for the time being.

Do you think video comments are mainstream? Have you been using them at all? Have you or would you install Disqus on your own site?

The YouTube Model for Success

Posted by Nick O'Neill on May 14th, 2008 10:03 AM

On Monday I wrote about what the future of television looks like. The post was inspired by an extremely trashy show called No Good TV that I couldn’t seem to stop myself from watching. Based on the number of views on the company’s other videos, it looks like other people had the same problem. While I’m not typically a fan on filth, for some reason this filth has inspired me.

It has also driven me to wonder if the same model is used for traditional television. First, let me explain my understanding of how you succeed on YouTube. Also, keep in mind that my measure of success is the number of views you get for your video. If you want a quick way of figuring it out, simply look at the image below which displays the top videos on YouTube for the week.

My conclusion is that the easiest way to get views on YouTube is to:

Create a title that includes the word “Sex” or a curse word
Have a video clip or image directly in the middle of your video that includes boobs

That’s it! You have now successfully followed the two step F’in boob model of success. Playtex successfully used this model to attract over 1.3 million views of their most recent video and over 4.5 million views to one of their other videos for the “Playtex Who Knows You Like We Do” campaign.

This isn’t the only model for success but it definitely works. It also makes me wonder about the quality of content on YouTube but then again, I typically don’t spend much time viewing the site. Sites like Blip.tv try to use an alternative model called “Creating Good Content”. I like to call that the CGC model. If you want to get millions of views though your quickest way to success is the F’in boob model. Do you know any other models of success on YouTube or web video?

MySpace Wins $234 Million Spam Judgment

Posted by Nick O'Neill on May 14th, 2008 9:00 AM

Yesterday, AP news reported that MySpace “won a $234 million judgment in Los Angeles over junk messages sent to its member.” Just two weeks ago I wrote about Sanford Wallace, the defendant who failed to show up for court when the suit was first filed. He failed to show up again and now owes MySpace $234 million. That’s going to be hard for MySpace to collect though considering that nobody knows where Sanford Wallace or his accomplice Walter Rines is located.

I would bet that the dynamic duo is lounging on the beaches somewhere in the Caribbean, not concerned about a thing. Then again, considering that Sanford was the spam king back in the 90s, reportedly sending “as many as 30 million junk e-mails a day”, he’s probably trying to generate even more money. I wonder how much money MySpace invested in this suit.

However much money MySpace put on the table, it was too much because they’re never going to collect a penny. For large corporations though, such lawsuits are frequently symbolic. Additionally, if Wallace ever tries to make it through U.S. Customs, he will be arrested on the spot. Even more likely? Wallace probably has numerous fake passports and really isn’t concerned about suits as he has prevailed time and time again.

Why doesn’t MySpace invest more resources in making their system more efficient at filtering spam rather than fighting lawsuits? Facebook has done a good job at it so far, MySpace should be able to as well.

You All Are Some Stalkers

Posted by Nick O'Neill on May 13th, 2008 4:24 PM

I learned a little bit about human behavior today when rumors started flying about the Facebook stalking tool that I posted about this afternoon. Everybody that I asked had a story and now there is a ton of buzz about what this really is. I’ve checked it out and for myself it is somewhat accurate. For other people it has also turned out to be accurate for the most part.

Within hours, Facebook took down the tool and now you can no longer see who was most relevant to you based on Facebook’s private algorithm. Honestly, Facebook needs to make a more robust stalking system that enables users to track who is “most relevant” to them based on profile views, searches, date and other factors. The bottom line is that all users on Facebook are spending a ton of time stalking their friends and others that they are closely tied to.

The most interesting part is that everybody has a story about stalking people on Facebook. Stalking has the potential to be of the most sticky component of social network sites. That’s why the Trakzor application on Facebook happened to be so popular. A bunch of other anti-stalker applications showed up on Facebook but were immediately shut down because they were a violation of Facebook’s terms of service.

Enabling people to see who has been viewing their profiles is highly controversial but for people spending hours a day on social networking sites, being able to see which friends’ profiles they are viewing most frequently makes a lot of sense. It also may help reveal the truth about our actual desires. Do you have any interesting stalking stories? Were you able to use the Facebook stalker tool while it was up?

Scarlett Johansson Launches Album on imeem

Posted by Nick O'Neill on May 13th, 2008 2:18 PM

Scarlett Johansson, the famous Hollywood actress who is best known for her amazing looks as well as her appearance in Lost in Translation, has decided to make an attempt at becoming a musician. The full album is currently available exclusively for imeem users. If you aren’t a member you can currently listen to 30 second clips. If you don’t know what imeem is, it is one of the leading social music sites on the web.

I had the opportunity to listen to Johansson’s new album titled, “Anywhere I Lay My Head” and wasn’t that impressed. The music appears to be over produced, possibly a result of Johansson’s less than magnificent voice. I’m not a professional music critic though so take my opinion with a grain of salt. You can listen to her single “Falling Down” in the video player below.

Call me dense but I couldn’t figure out what the point of her video was. I’m assuming that she’s going through hard times in her life but all of the video clips are of her getting dolled up for the camera. Then again there are obvious moments of her appearing sad but the video doesn’t clearly illustrate the cause of her depression. My guess is that the cause is from her breaking up with an ex. Perhaps someone with a little more celebrity gossip knowledge can chime in here.

Update
In the post I described imeem as one of the “leading social music sites on the web.” In reality, the company would prefer to be described as a “social networking site.” According to their PR team, they are the third largest social network on the web with over 24 million active users each month. An impressive number to say the least.

Social Media isn’t a Free Lunch.

Posted by Anthony LaFauce on May 13th, 2008 11:00 AM

The other day I was at a networking event that concerned itself with why more PR firms aren’t using social media as a tool to connect with the public. There were many arguments talking about why social media is great tool for getting third party credibility for a business.

The arguments for social media as a practical PR tool were sound but they failed to realize one key fact regarding social media, it is expensive. The average social media user sees social media as a series of free services that help people connect, this is true, but social media is something quite different to a PR professional.

To understand why PR firms see social media as expensive you have to realize how a PR firm works. Most PR firms are set up on billable hours, similar to a law firm. Different levels of PR people, in a firm, bill or track the hours spent working on a client as billable hours.

Depending on the level of the PR professional depends on how much they bill. When you view social media in this mindset, with the idea that the time I spend working on a client is billable, you can see how social media can be viewed as an expensive service.

To effectively use social media your connections have to be genuine. Creating connections with people that are passionate about a subject takes time. Basic PR tools like press releases and media alerts do not work. The PR professional has to have a genuine connection with the person they are trying to connect with; something that takes time (money) in the PR world.

Granted, the returns on social media can be amazing if it works. But convincing a client that I am going to charge you anywhere from several hundred to several thousand dollars talking to bloggers and making social connections is a tough sell.

From the client’s viewpoint their money can be much better spent perusing traditional media. It is not that a client doesn’t want the next social media /viral marketing hit it is instead a matter of simple economics. Where best to spend my limited budget.

On the flip side of this argument many startups find the ROI on social media a much sounder investment. At a startup you have many people willing to dedicate time (usually for less money) that will allow them to generate real social media connections.

I am not saying social media is a bad investment, on the contrary I think social media is a great tool for any company. I am simply trying to explain why some companies have an apprehension on investing money in social media.

Have you found any difficulties selling social media in your line of work? Do you have any tips for our readers out there who are trying to explain why social media works? Let me know.

SGN Gets $15 Million

Posted by Nick O'Neill on May 13th, 2008 9:30 AM

Social Gaming Network, a company I’ve written about countless times on this blog (and interviewed the CEO), just received $15 million in funding according to Caroline McCarthy. The Series A comes from Greylock Partners, Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, Columbia Partners and D.C. based Novak Biddle Venture Partners.

Social Gaming Network is the third largest company on Facebook based on installs, according to Adonomics.com. It has half as many active users as the company’s rival, Zynga Game Network. While Social Gaming Network has a declining base of active users, it isn’t too late to turn that trend around. Given the new round, it looks like the investors agree with that sentiment.

$15 Million is a large amount for a Series A in this space. I’d expect the company to begin making more acquisitions to add to their portfolio. Social gaming is still extremely early stage and has only a few key players. I’d expect this space to explode alongside the social dating space which also appears to be booming on Facebook and Myspace.

While Zynga is currently dominating the gaming space on Myspace, look for SGN to start making aggressive plays to bolster their position. Given the early stage of this space it is still anyone’s game. Social Gaming network has solidified their dominant position with this new round of funding.

The Washington Post Rails D.C. Yet Again

Posted by Nick O'Neill on May 13th, 2008 9:06 AM

Over the past few months I’ve been in countless discussions about the future of D.C. technology and ways that we can contribute to making this area a thriving technology scene. One of the conclusions at SocialDevCamp this past weekend was that we need more media coverage from blogs because nobody is doing it in the mainstream media. The Washington Post furthers its disconnect from the bubbling D.C. technology community with a post entitled, “A Tech Stable, But Hardly a Staple“.

I’ve ranted about the trouble facing the Post in the past but this article highlighted my complaints. Steven Pearlstein, a 2008 Pulitzer Prize winner, suggests that “now may be a good time to redefine our [Washington’s] aspirations and reconsider our strategies.” Honestly, he provides a great contrarian perspective to counter the arguments held by a number of local residents that voiced their opinions at this weekend’s event in Baltimore, Maryland.

As Pearlstein emphasizes in his article, in the technology market in D.C. “the premium is on reliability, not cutting-edge innovation.” This is one of the reasons why you will meet a lot of conservative investors. If you want to find high-risk investors you might want to head out to Silicon Valley. That doesn’t mean that there isn’t local investment, it’s just not in fresh new web startups.

So where do we go from here? Well it’s obvious that the Washington Post is not a supporter of the 500 or so people that are trying to make this area a center for innovative internet technology. All we can do is continue to blog about the events we participate in and the companies that surround us and perhaps one day this will become a center of thriving internet startups. Until then, all we can do is talk about it and execute on our own business plans.

Who’s Got the Power With Friend Connect?

Posted by Nick O'Neill on May 12th, 2008 7:45 PM

Google announced their new Friend Connect today and will be demoing it tonight at the Google Campfire event. While I won’t be present at it, I’m sure there will be plenty of bloggers covering it. Throughout the day I’ve been discussing this new service with other people in the industry including Frank Gruber who asks “How does Google Friend Connect put users in control?”

The reality is that it doesn’t give users much control as Marshall Kirkpatrick points out. The problem is that all applications are placed in iFrames which isn’t really a great solution for anybody. Personally I have high hopes for the upcoming Facebook Connect service but the problem still remains, users don’t really have the control. For Facebook Connect, Facebook gets to be the center of a user’s control. The same thing goes for Myspace’s new program.

But we are the users and we still want control. Well thanks to Snap!, I’ve got the power (hint: you too can have the power by watching the video below) but I don’t have control. This is a great move as all parties move forward. Unfortunately all parties are moving forward in parallel and with their own standards. They each want to control a user’s social experience on the web.

Myspace, Facebook and Google all may succeed at retaining some control but unfortunately it doesn’t make things easier for website owners who will have to choose which platform they will accept until someone makes it possible for all of the systems to work together. The next twelve months will be marked by the opening of these new standards and the launch of a variety of applications but it is still a short-term solution.

We are going to need to make these platforms work together if we’re going to succeed. Who do you think has the power with these new systems?