Back Up Your Tweets Safely with TweetGuard

Are you worried about losing your tweets and not being able to get them back? Well, TweetGuard backs up your tweets for you on a daily basis and for free. So, if you happen to lose your tweets at any point, you’ll have archives available at TweetGuard plus, you can also have a copy saved on your computer.

First you’ll need to sign in via Twitter OAuth. As soon as you do this, the backup will begin. Of course the more tweets you have, the longer it will take. They will give you an approximate time estimate. So that you get a general idea, I have 3794 tweets and the site gave me a time estimate of 16 minutes. After a few minutes, you can refresh the page and the time will change (should be lower).

Something that you should keep in mind is (in their own words):

“We backup as much data as we are able to retrieve from Twitter for your account. In some cases, we are unable to backup 100% of your Twitter data due to current limitations with the Twitter API. For example, Twitter limits access to Tweets to the most recent 3,200. In the future, if Twitter removes this limit, TweetGuard will automatically back up the rest of your tweets.”

TweetGuard displays an archive of your tweets, messages, favorites and friends — each in a different tab. You can also choose to have a weekly summary of your backup activity sent to you by email. This is a good idea so that you can keep tabs on what’s going on and if everything is being backed up without issues.

There is not much you can do with your archived tweets, but you can search through them as desired. The magnifying glass icon in the top left pops out a search bar when clicked.

On the right side of the page you will see your backup process, current Twitter stats and backup stats. There is also a strategically placed link that will let you send out a tweet about TweetGuard. They promise to never tweet through your account without permission.

As you can see, the site is very easy to use; there is nothing complex about it. You can also export your tweets as a CSV or XML file. Getting either is a simple as just clicking on a link and then saving it.

Once the backup is done, the green box (pictured above) will disappear. Your tweets will now be backed up everyday. There is really not any information on the site about the service, so if you have any issues it’s probably best to contact them on Twitter.

Though there are quite a few sites out there for backing up tweets, TweetGuard is definitely one of the quickest and simplest to use.

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Facebook Ad Patent Targets Blank Profile Users

When you see an ad on Facebook, it’s likely that it’s being served to you because of something you wrote in your profile. But what if you didn’t fill out your favorite movies, your hometown or the quote that inspires you? Facebook has an app for that.

As noted by CNET, Facebook has applied for a patent on a new type of ad-targeting system that will better serve ads to those who don’t fill in the blanks.

The system, which they refer to as inferential, assumes that a good portion of your Facebook friends are into the same things you are. So an ad that the systems deems appropriate for you, would also be served to your friends.

It looks like the advertiser will be able to choose the criteria for the match, and the percentage of people that must match before the ad is generated. Then, the clever computer program does the rest of the work.

Sounds like a plan, doesn’t it? As a person who tends to lag on filling out profiles, I don’t mind being targeted in this way. If I have to see ads, I’d rather see ones for things I might care about like books and movies rather than be bombarded with generic ads for products I wouldn’t use.

And even though my Facebook followers are a pretty diverse group, you could round them up into three main categories, all of which would relate back to my interests.

What do you think? A nice twist on targeted marketing or the key to more privacy problems on Facebook?

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Keep Up With the Top Links on Twitter with TicknTalk

TicknTalk is an ad-free Twitter client for your web browser sidebar that focuses on the “hottest links on Twitter.” It is currently available for Firefox and Internet Explorer. What it does is put together the most popular links on Twitter and then display them at the top of the sidebar according to how many have shared it. TicknTalk even goes a step further and shows you the top links posted on Twitter for any website that you visit. It’s a great way to see who is tweeting about your website and also connect with other Twitter users who have like interests.

To get started, just install the browser extension and sign in via Twitter OAuth. A new clickable icon will be added to your browser status bar; clicking on it will open or close the TicknTalk sidebar. The sidebar has 2 main parts; the top is where links and displayed and the bottom is a mini Twitter client. There is also a status update box where you can tweet about the current page your on.

As you can see from the image to the right, each link tells you how many times it has been shared and retweeted on Twitter. Clicking on the link will take you to the original source. Once you’re on the page, you’ll then be able to see the “ticks” for that specific web page — each tweet that contains the link. To get back to where you were, simply click the home icon in the top left of the sidebar.

Next to the “Top Links EN” tab up top, is a tab that will show you the top links for the current website you’re on. The little arrow on the “Top Links EN” tab lets you change the language of the sidebar; there are 3 other supported languages.

The mini client below the links lets you see your tweets, ticks, favorites, timeline, direct messages, mentions and Twitter lists. For each tweet you have 3 basic options: favorite, retweet, reply/mention; for DMs you can only reply (no option to delete). Under “my ticks” you can see your top shared links and how many others have shared the same links.

Clicking on a users name in the ink area also gives you detailed info about that user. You can see how long they’ve been a member of Twitter, how many friends & followers they have, the number of ticks & tweets they have, bio and recent tweets.

I feel that TicknTalk is great for discovering new interesting stories and top news. My only gripe about the client is that it is a bit sluggish. After clicking on a new menu option in the or on the home icon, it takes more than a few seconds for anything to happen. I often find myself clicking 2-3 times because I’m not sure if it registered or not. Besides that, I really find it promising and I’m looking forward to some great performance updates.

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SMB’s and Social Play Together Better But Need Help

A recent study performed by American Express OPEN’s Fall 2010 “Small Business Monitor” shows that social media is on the increase with the SMB’s (small and medium business) of the world. What types of social media are used and some of the challenges faced by the SMB in the social web are interesting to note. For us bloggers in the crowd it should come as little or no surprise that the smallest percentage of adoption goes to the one that requires more work.

From eMarketer we hear

While just one in 10 business owners reported using social networking for marketing last year, 39% indicated they did in September 2010. The impetus is driving sales by connecting with consumers. Facebook was the clear leader among small-business owners, with 27% using the site to attract new customers, vs. 9% using LinkedIn, 8% using Twitter and 5% maintaining a blog.

Of course with 3 out of 5 small business owners not using social media at all there is still plenty of ground to cover. Here are some of the challenges faced by these small business folks as they try to integrate or avoid social media.

These types of responses are indicative of just how poorly the social media industry is educating the masses. With regard to any Internet marketing or PR effort there is a huge gap between what is said in the industry and how it is conveyed to the end user. In other words, we don’t talk their language when explaining things in the social media space thus they think it doesn’t apply to them. Makes sense but it’s not good.

For those who have decided to give social media a run here’s what was found regarding their definition of success in the practice. Look at how low generating sales is in the chart and how the second largest response in the group is saying that they receive no benefit.

Of course, social media is not for everyone and every business. However, as the medium grows there needs to be a better understanding of just how social media may be able to inject another revenue opportunity into an SMB without having to stop doing what they have always done or had success with.

The message from the social media industry tends to guide the SMB to replacing their old marketing efforts with the latest and greatest (social media). What really needs to be done is to educate them on just how social media can serve to supplement and even complement their current efforts so they can get even more mileage from an increasingly scarce marketing dollar.

Hey social media experts, mavens and pundits, this is your call to arms. Talk to the real needs of businesses and not your need to be the beginning and end all for the marketing woes of every business. Work with these people to help them see just how it all works together rather than at the expense of something. Until that mindset pervades there will be pushback and slower adoption to social media and that’s on us, not the SMB.

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Are Google’s Local Moves Part of Their Social Future?

Welcome to the total speculation and conjecture section of Marketing Pilgrim. In other words, I have not read what I am looking at in this post anywhere else (mainly because I haven’t really looked ) and I am just trying to connect dots based on some things that have happened in the recent past regarding Google search, Google local and Google Latitude.

Yesterday, the Google mobile blog reported how their new Place Page updates and improvements were being rolled out to Android users.

Lately, we’ve been working on giving you even better ways to find nearby places with Google Maps for Android, such as the Places icon and rich Place pages. Today, we are launching Google Maps 4.6 with a new design for Place page reviews, more options to filter search results, and a Google Latitude real-time updating option.

The ‘throwaway’ in that statement is the Google Latitude real time updating. You remember Google Latitude right? We have reported on its ‘birth’ and a recent thought on how it might be used. When you look at these updates by Google and the rumblings in the industry of Google’s move into social networking it appears as if these disparate parts could be ‘mashed together’ to make a social media offering that is at least intriguing.

With Google’s Place Pages Google is light years ahead of Facebook in data that has been compiled around actual places where people would be and tell others about their being there. If Facebook is leaning on bing for that information then their efforts will be, how can I say this, lame because bing local is not even remotely close to Google’s offering. Take a look at the new look Place Page with reviews (using review source icons for eye candy and recognition). It looks pretty sharp.

Now add in that Latitude is being highlighted as being ‘improved / updated’ and we are looking at the use of Place Pages to possibly facilitate social interaction. Imagine showing where you are using Google Latitude then tying the pimped out Place Page of the location to the ‘check-in’ so your friends can see reviews of where you are along with getting directions through Google Navigation etc etc. You get the point.

All I am saying here is that with the additional importance being given to the Place Page in the search result it is creating a need for businesses to wake up, verify their Place Page, optimize to the nth degree and then manage it. As this information gets better so does the information to be shared through friends in a social / location based environment.

This makes sense because Google cannot try to put together a Facebook knock off to compete with the social networking giant. They need to be different, they need to create or add value and they need to do something that could be seen as complimentary to the Facebook activity that many are already involved in. They have the pieces in place now and appear to gearing up to make what they do best, which is provide information, drive social interaction by more than just “Hey look at me over here!”

If you are a business and you are thinking that you are in anyway going to be tied to the web moving forward (if you are there is help arrange for closing your business down because that’s where you are heading) this line of thinking merits some attention. Like I said at the start, this is not based on any report anywhere but just the logic of what Google is putting into place (pun intended) and the power it could truly hold in an increasingly social online environment.

Maybe Google could find a sizable niche in the social networking space and not stray from their core competency of data aggregation and then slicing and dicing that data to be used by the commoner. Honestly, it’s the only chance they have in the social networking space because at this point to try to clone another model would only create another Google Wave, Google Buzz type flop which they can ill afford to have when talking about their future on the social web.

Your thoughts?

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Foursquare’s Crowley Gets Undeserved Ribbing

Foursquare founder Dennis Crowley took a lot of ribbing yesterday for a comment he made to a blogger at an NYU panel discussion. The panel was called “The Case for Media Optimism,” and Crowley stated that he thought referral fees would be the next big thing in social media marketing.

For example, if someone Tweets about a new movie and 500 of his friends follow a link to buy a ticket for the movie, then the original referrer gets a kickback for each ticket. When asked if Foursquare was working on this idea, Crowley said it was on a long list of ideas under consideration.

Here’s where it gets sticky. Jeff Bercovici from Forbes.com asked Crowley how he would get around the FTC ruling that required full disclosure when an endorsement was offered on social media in return for payment of some kind (cash, product or service.)

Bercovici writes:

Crowley was surprised. He hadn’t known that was the case, he said. He made a note to bring up the issue with Foursquare’s legal team, and thanked me for alerting him to a potential complication that could influence their decision about whether to move forward.

Gawker and other outlets picked up on the statement and replied with jeering remarks about Crowley’s intelligence and his ability to run a major company.

But the truth is, the FTC ruling may not apply in Foursquare’s case. Here’s the important section from the FTC’s “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The Commission does not believe that all uses of new consumer-generated media to discuss product attributes or consumer experiences should be deemed “endorsements” within the meaning of the Guides.

Rather, in analyzing statements made via these new media, the fundamental question is whether, viewed objectively, the relationship between the advertiser and the speaker is such that the speaker’s statement can be considered “sponsored” by the advertiser and therefore an “advertising message.”

In other words, in disseminating positive statements about a product or service, is the speaker: (1) acting solely independently, in which case there is no endorsement, or (2) acting on behalf of the advertiser or its agent, such that the speaker’s statement is an “endorsement” that is part of an overall marketing campaign?

The way I read that, a person who decides to talk about a movie to their friends, then after the fact, gets a $15 Fandango gift certificate as a thank you, doesn’t constitute an endorsement and thus isn’t covered by the rule.

If Foursquare says to a member, we’ll give you a Fandango gift certificate if you checkin from your local theater and give a glowing report of the movie — that’s an endorsement and has to have a disclaimer.

Offering social media kickbacks for positive results is not a contract between the company and the user. It’s not a paid endorsement. Giving me a DVD for free in return for a review on my blog, is an endorsement.

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Recap: Building a social customer care strategy

Last week i had the opportunity to facilitate a workshop on developing a social customer care strategy at the annual conference for SOCAP the association for customer care professionals. Many of the conversations took me back to a past life where I worked on a reservations knowledge management solution for a large air line.

A key dilemma customer care professionals face is that good service and bad service generate word of mouth. It just spreads farther and faster via social channels. To illustrate this point i ran a quick report. On one extreme I used “awesome customer service” and on the other “customer service sucks”. As you can see it was nearly split down the middle.

So what does this mean. Well according to Forrester “good customer service experiences boost repurchase probability and long-term loyalty,” while bad experiences lead to defections and negative word of mouth.

To make the conversation a little more lively and get a pulse of the room we did a real time poll. “Who should own the social media strategy”.

Like many times when this question is asked, it depends on who you ask. As you will see many selected “no one”. This led to an interesting discussion about the need for each business unit to have a social media strategy to achieve their objectives but the need for cross functional collaboration to ensure the customer experience was optimal.

The focus on the customer and how to best serve them and not market to them was also resonate a theme. Speaking of customers. Identifying the most social customers and their goals for interacting on social channels is an important input into a social customer care strategy.

After spending time discussing approaches for active listening we moved into a lively discussion about the barriers of a successful customer care program.

We had dozens listed but some clusters started to form.
- Cross functional collaboration to ensure the right person is acting on what customers are saying. Which is even more complicated when a brand is global and the replies are at a local level.
- Building a metrics model that links to business strategy and has indicators built in to inform when to scale a team.
- Developing a customer advocate program that rewards customer for helping one another.

No conversation with customer care professionals would be complete without a discussion on social CRM. This was another place where I conducted a poll. Only about 5% of the room said they were actively deploying a social CRM. As we peeled back the reasons why more people were not deploying social CRM it seemed like a function of how far along these organizations were in their use of social media for customer support.

As you look to extend customer care programs into social media ensure you have the proper customer management processes, dedicated teams to listen & engage and cross organization collaboration amongst all groups engaging customers thru social media.

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A Sticker For Your Thoughts

There was a time when a glittery, gold star sticker was all the praise you needed for doing your homework or making your bed. There was something about that tiny spot of color that made going that extra mile worth it and that mentality holds true today — with a twist. These days, the prize is a virtual sticker or badge that shows your social media buddies that you’ve done something special.

Online communities such as FourSquare, GetGlue and CBS.com all offer virtual sticker incentives for performing a series of actions on the site. They have no monetary value and yet people will go out of their way to earn them. Why?

The answer seems to lie in the natural competitive nature of human beings. We like to show off. We like to have something our co-worker doesn’t have. We also like puzzles, and virtual badge systems play into both of these traits since the secret to unlocking various badges is. . . well. . . a secret!

How many people have the Tarantino badge from FourSquare? And the “Last Degree” badge? That went to the first person to check-in from the North Pole.

I have a friend who has become completely addicted to earning GetGlue stickers, so much so that I fear she’s given up writing in favor of liking and commenting all day long.

It does make me wonder how far a person would go to get a badge. Would you live in a tree for a month in order to get a “Swiss Family Robinson” badge? Watch a “Joanie Loves Chachi” marathon to earn a “Bad 80′s TV” sticker? And I don’t even want to think about what you’d have to do to earn a “Charlie Sheen” badge but if you put it out there, someone will take up the challenge.

How can you make sticker fever work for you? Why not offer your customers a virtual loyalty badge in the form of a widget for their blog, or a graphic they can add to their Facebook photos? When it comes to virtual stickers, it’s creativity that counts.

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StumbleUpon Video: This Time It’s Personal

Nothing on TV tonight? Fear not, StumbleUpon can fill your evening with personally selected videos covering everything from cats playing the piano to entire episodes of The Dresden Files, to cooking lessons by a master chef. It’s all here – accessible from one “theater-like interface.”

What’s really new about StumbleUpon Video is that it’s not all about the most popular videos. The idea here is to present a custom list of videos perfectly suited to each person who logs on.

The system begins by connecting you to videos that fit into your chosen list of topics. From there, you can refine your stumbling to a particular source, or take only videos that were favorited by your friends.

The engine pulls videos from YouTube, Hulu, Vimeo, CollegeHumor and TED. By choosing your favorite topics from a long list, you can narrow down the choices that are offered you in any given round. For example, using my current settings, I can flip through a series of marketing videos  or switch to TV where I might get classic TV shows from Hulu.

Tip: Use the upper bar to choose video and the lower bar to choose the subject if you want to see only videos in a particular subject.

As with StumbleUpon, the interface depends on you giving a thumbs up or down to the videos as they scroll by. The more your rate, the more the suggestions will match your likes and dislikes. The dashboard bar also gives you the ability to instantly share the video with your Stumble-Friends, send a link to Facebook or Twitter, or email the clip to everyone you’ve ever met.

Like regular StumbleUpon, the video feature is designed to find gems you’ll love but may have missed.

If you’re a marketer who has been thinking about getting into video, spend some time on StumbleUpon Video (http://video.stumbleupon.com). Flip through videos in your category and get inspired by what’s out there. There’s a lot, but it’s still an open enough market that you can make an impact if you come up with something fresh and different.

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Walmart Does Groupon Without Groupon

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but I’m not sure Groupon felt the love when they saw Walmart’s new marketing plan on Facebook.

They call it the “CrowdSaver,” and guess how it works. When a deal reaches a certain customer threshold, the deal is unlocked and everyone gets to buy in for a discounted price. The only difference between Walmart’s CrowdSaver and Groupon (and it’s a big one) is the upfront money.

When you choose a deal on Groupon, you’re committed to buy provided that the deal hits the threshold. (I’ve always wondered what percentage of deals never hit the mark. . .. ) Walmart isn’t looking for your credit card info or a purchase promise. All you have to do to join the deal on their Facebook page is “like” the deal.

Big deal. With no commitment, sure people are going to click, why not? What is Walmart gaining here?

A headache, if you ask me. Here’s why. The current deal, a Plasma TV for a measly 18% off has reached its 5000 “likes” threshold. The deal is now active — only, it’s not. If you click through on the buy button, you’ll be charged the full price. If you look at the comments, people are doing this and they’re frustrated. You have to read the whole ad to see that the price won’t actually go into effect until “later this week.” Meaning, if you want it, you have to keep hitting Walmart’s Facebook page to check.

From Walmart’s POV, I can see the power here. They’ve created a scenario that appears to be time sensitive and plays into the “part of the group” mentality. For the consumer, this is nothing but smoke and mirrors. The deal isn’t much of a deal at all and the promise of unlocking it when it hits a benchmark is lie. It’s just another TV on sale this weekend at Walmart. But the clever marketing folks have made 5,000 people believe that they made it happen.

Once the novelty wears off, I’m betting CrowdSaver will have a short shelf-life.

What do you think of Walmart’s CrowdSaver program? A clever marketing ploy or a poor imitation of the real thing?

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The 5 Foundations of Social Media Success that No One Talks About

This guest post is by Clare Lancaster, of WomenInBusiness.com.au.

As I was sitting down to write my first social media column for ProBlogger I was thinking about the best place to start. Should I do a run through of the basics or jump right into reporting on my latest experiment?

My sense of flow and logic won over and here we are at the beginning, a very good place to start.

The rave, by leocub

I could talk about the things we’ve all heard before. Such as how important it is to observe the etiquette on social networking platforms—to behave like you’re at a friend’s cocktail party, not a sales conference.

Or the fact that you should build your network slowly, with focus, and engage people in conversation—not drill out your sales message and expect people to pay attention.

Or that networking platforms like Twitter are a communication tool—not a marketing tactic.

But that’s not very exciting, is it? Instead, here are 5 foundations of social media success that no one talks about.

1. Nice guys finish first.

Just as building your blog business is a marathon, not a sprint, so is your path to social media success. Resist the urge at all times to automate your network building. People want to do business with people they like. Be a nice guy and help people out. Answer questions generously. Connect people who would benefit from knowing each other.

2. People like people who like them.

This one’s all about ego (theirs, not yours). The first thing businesses want to know when they come to me for advice is, “How can I get the attention of my audience? No one is talking to me.”

I say: talk to audience; don’t wait for them to talk to you. Notice individuals and what they’re doing before you expect anyone to notice you and what you’re doing. Don’t just notice them, promote them.

3. Transparency isn’t everything.

There’s a lot to be said about transparency. Again, something we’re told all the time is that transparency and authenticity are key to social media success. Yes, people like to see behind the scenes of your business and what you’re creating. Yes, they like to know the human side of your brand. No, they don’t want to know what you had for breakfast. Or that you’re broke. Above all, don’t be boring.

4. Position yourself.

We’ve established that people do business with people they like. So does your network know what you do? You want to position yourself to be top of mind for a topic, and the easiest way to do this is to live and breathe it. If you’re blogging about your passion, this will come naturally.

5. Pay special attention to your fans.

Do you know who your fans are? Now before you get all Rock Star on me, I mean the people who comment on your blog and your Facebook page, retweet your posts and always open your emails. Know them, connect with them, and make them feel special.

So how did I go? Are there any questions you have about the basics of social media? Are there any topics you’d like me to talk about in more depth? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

Clare Lancaster offers blog reviews to help improve the business performance of your blog. She is passionate about helping people make their own path in work and life and can be found on Twitter most days (@clarelancaster).

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MySpace’s Full Rethink

If there is anyone out there who is truly interested, MySpace ( I want to put their new logo in here but I don’t know how to type it so it makes sense to a reader, which is a BRILLIANT marketing move by the way ) is getting ready to rollout a whole new look, feel, mission, mantra. You name it they’re doing it.

According to Bloomberg News

News Corp.’s MySpace is introducing a new website design with a focus on younger users in a drive to stem subscriber losses and distinguish itself from Facebook, the biggest social network.

Starting today, most U.S. users will be able to access the site’s most-popular music and videos, updated in real time. They can choose between homepage views and earn rewards for postings, according to Beverly Hills, California-based MySpace. The new version will be available worldwide by the end of November.

The strategy hinges on drawing 13-to-35-year-olds seeking an entertainment- centric social network separate from parents and other adults on Facebook, MySpace President Mike Jones said in an interview.

“This is a full rethink,” Jones said. “This is an entirely different product.”

I honestly don’t know what to say here. You have to respect the effort to get MySpace back into the view of social media practitioners and end users alike but does anyone have the time or the strength to add more social to their network?

Here are a couple of the more noteworthy changes:

-Three different ways or settings to view the site in ranging from ‘traditional’ to a montage / collage of messages, media etc that is updated constantly. Sounds like the ADHD sets answer to a stock ticker which must be the News Corp. influence in the project.

-Loyalty programs and labels / badges for those who demand to quench their insecurity through social media titles.

Probably more telling are the basic financials which start with the $580 million purchase of Facebook back in 2005 for about $580 million. From the Bloomberg article we see just how well this investment has worked out.

If the site doesn’t turn around, New York-based News Corp. will likely sell the business within two years, RBC Capital markets analyst David Bank said. MySpace is worth about $300 million, Alan Gould, an analyst with New York-based Evercore Partners Inc., said in an e-mail.

Whatever the end game, this whole effort and process seems to be putting good money after bad. With Facebook continuing to gain momentum and the landscape changing at a rapid pace it appears as if the likelihood of MySpace squeezing itself into the social media mix again (at least here in the US) is pretty slim.

Since I fall outside their target demo I guess I don’t even need to pay attention or care. Oh, I probably would do that anyway.

What about you?

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Yuri Milner at Web 2: The Man Behind A Revolution in Finance?

Who exactly is Yuri Milner? I've heard this question asked quite a bit over the past year, as the Russian financier and entrepreneur has amassed significant holdings in key US Internet players - from Groupon to Zynga to Facebook (where he now owns around 10% of outstanding shares). His company, DST, has more than a billion invested in these social media players. (IT also purchased ICQ from AOL).

I had a chance to sit down with Milner in my San Francisco office, and ask him a few questions about his philosophy of investing, his background, and his strategy going forward. I'm very pleased he will be joining us at the Web 2 Summit - his approach to investing has upended a lot of presumptions about how "mezzanine" deals are getting done. In short, he cares little for the complicated structures and protective rachets of traditional pre-IPO rounds. He's forced Silicon Valley legends to sit up and take notice. Oh, and by the way, he also owns major stakes in Russia's most important social networking and Internet companies.

So what would you ask Yuri Milner? Here are a few thought starters:

- What's your thesis behind investing? What do you look for when you make an investment?

- Does coming from Russia help or hinder your work? What do you want the Valley to understand about Russia that perhaps we don't?

- Why do you so fervently believe in Facebook? What keeps you up at night about this investment?

- You are actively involved in your investments. What advice do you give to the CEOs of Groupon, Zynga, and Facebook?

- How do your terms of investment differ from traditional mezzanine players?

- Who are your next targets? Why haven't you invested in Twitter or Demand Media? Betfair? Are there "types" of companies you are not interested in?

- What is the plan with your Russian properties? Do they have properties that you might export to the US or other markets?

- What do you plan to do with ICQ?

What do you want to ask Yuri Milner? Please leave your thoughts in comments. And please do the same for Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Baidu's Robin Li, Yahoo's Carol Bartz and Google's Eric Schmidt.

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Governments and Wikipedia

What I am about to say is going to be confronting to some of you. To others this may be obvious, common sense. The days of total control over message are over. If these days ever existed, they are no more. Social media has created a world where a brand no longer gets to push out its message on a passive audience. Instead, through social media folks are engaging in conversations about brands with and without the brand.

The question then becomes: Is a brand present in the conversations that are happening about it and therefore able to share its point of view? When a brand is not present, there is a much slimmer chance that their point of view will be heard. This is true of social media in general and I hope to explore the impact of this in different spaces in the weeks and months to come. However, today I wanted to explore the question of how this relates to governments and Wikipedia.

Earlier this year, the European government found itself in a conundrum. A newspaper published a story which quoted the European Commission Vice-President Antonio Tajani as saying that tourism is a human right. Shortly thereafter, Wikipedia picked up this third party information and stated it as a truth. When his team tried to correct the information on Wikipedia by adding the text of his speech, the page moderators blocked them. Given Wikipedia’s construct, the third party information was considered more reliable than the original source. Thus the conundrum. The information was incorrect. However, Wikipedia strongly discourages organizations from editing organization-related articles, citing conflict of interest.

If there are factual errors, organizations are asked to:
a. Leave a note on the article’s talk page
b. Post a comment on the help desk
c. Contact Wikipedia via email

If an organization insists on editing an article directly, the organization must declare their interests on their user page(s) and on the talk page of the article they edit. The conflict of interest guidelines must also be adhered to, as must the neutral point of view and verifiability. As it relates to verifiability, the changes must be backed by reliable sources, which in the Wikipedia world means third-party sources. That is why in this case the original speech was not considered a reliable source whereas the newspaper article was.

What then is the solution? In my opinion, the solution is as follows:

1- Establish long-term relationships with a grassroots community who will contribute the missing positive information to the article.

2- If an organization is very keen on immediately changing information that is not factually correct said organization could leave a note on the article’s talk page. They could also post a comment on the help desk and they could contact Wikipedia via email.

Wikipedia is supposed to be a grassroots tool that collects information from reliable, impartial sources. In theory, if a brand has invested time engaging folks and having conversations about its win with the grassroots, this community in turn will be posting said information onto platforms like Wikipedia.

Is this a silver bullet?

No.

However, in this modern age of online WOM I truly believe that this is the best way to ensure that social media tools like Wikipedia reflect the brand’s point of view. A brand, government or otherwise, is in effect present in the conversation about it by engaging the community, making a long term investment in it and ultimately handing over control.

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Ebay Gets It’s Group-On

Ebay is the latest in a series of websites to partner with deal site Groupon and it  looks like a win-win for the two websites – but what about the site users?

The first deal to hit the site was The Body Shop offering $40 worth of product for $20 and just in time for the holiday shopping season. Groupon has its own eBay page which is tied to your IP address so you’ll only see offers that are national or local to your area. 1676 people picked up the deal today and as a bonus, they also received $1.00 in eBay Bucks.

eBay Bucks is a new loyalty program that gives you a small kick-back on every eBay purchase and purchases of related deals. At the end of the quarter, eBay gives the user back the bucks in the form of a gift certificate that they can spend on eBay.

Though the Groupon page ties it into the eBay Bucks Program, it’s actually part of a larger scheme to make eBay more of an all-around deals site and less about the auctions.

eBay also recently launched a new Deal Finder page which shows comparative pricing of selected items across the web. The listings on this page are somewhat deceiving in that they each have a “Only (number) Items Left” designation which makes it seem as if you’re buying from a single source, when really you’re just being directed to random sellers.

All of eBay’s DVD listings now offer a used  / condition grid that resembles Amazon’s layout, blurring the lines between websites all the more.

With Groupon eBay and eBay looking like Amazon its easy to see how all ecommerce could eventually meld into one giant megamall run by Google. But is that good thing? Personally, I’m getting tired of seeing Groupon deals and ads on every website I frequent. It’s not encouraging me to buy a deal, it’s making want to run the other way.

As for eBay, it was my favorite site because it did one thing well. Now that they’ve changed their focus to become an auction / deals / rewards program / media store, I’m worried. Next month I’ll probably be given the option of updating my auction status on my eBay social media fan page.

“Sold my Justin Bieber pillowcase collection. It was hard, but it’s time to move on.”

What do you think about the rising Groupon tide? Great move or enough already?

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In Hopes of Becoming Like Facebook, MySpace Apps Also Leak Data

Ask MySpace what he wants to be when he grows up and he’ll tell you flat out – “Facebook.” It’s a typical case of big brother worship and we shouldn’t laugh about it but it’s funny, you know. When the little one tries to dress and sound like his successful big brother. Clomping around in shoes that are too big, hoping his friends will come over and hang with you if you make it easy for them to connect.

But sometimes, idol worship can get you in over your head. Like this week, when The Wall Street Journal caught MySpace leaking user data through apps. Who does that sound like, huh? Who got caught by The Wall Street Journal just a few weeks ago doing the same thing? Facebook.

The data on the MySpace app allows the app owner to get the user id of the players which can lead to them discovering things like the user’s actual MySpace name and photos. You know, the stuff you can see anyway if you visit anyone’s page on MySpace.

I think it’s kind of cute. Little MySpace racing his Big Wheel down the sidewalk after big brother Facebook get’s a ticket for doing 110 in a school zone. Not quite the same impact, but points for effort.

And kudos to The Wall Street Journal (whose parent company owns MySpace) for trying to give their little cousin some street cred. Nice try.

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Medical Monday: Looking to Reach Women about Healthcare? Don’t underestimate the Power of Blogs

Women and Healthcare Blogging

Women remain (arguably) our most influential consumers - especially in the healthcare space. Not only do women make up a significant portion of consumers overall, they are also a driving force and key influencer behind many of the purchases men make. When it comes to healthcare, this is no exception (and if the men are anything like me it may even be more of the rule). As a result, marketers spend a lot of time studying how women make these buying decisions, and social media channels are providing an avenue women actively use to make these decisions.

I wrote a few weeks ago about the importance of choosing the right social media platforms when marketing healthcare solutions online, and decided to take a deeper dive to into the role blogs play for women looking to make healthcare decisions or learn about diseases.

Given that I’m a guy, I couldn’t presume I knew anything about women[i] so I turned to a recent study by BlogHer, iVillage and Compass Partners examining women’s media habits. What I found is that in the healthcare arena, blogs are an avenue that should not be ignored. They are an influential source to women, crucial to observe for feedback and provide an understanding about products/therapeutic areas, even if they are not appropriate avenues to use to actively engage women.

According to BlogHer, the number of women who regularly read or write blogs is staggering. Of all women surveyed, 22.7 million (55%) said they read them, with 12 million (29%) engaging on them (posting/commenting), and 8 Million (19%) creating content by publishing their own blogs. And health/wellness places within their top five interests.

According to the study, 49% of women who read blogs - approximately 11 million women - are interested in health information. In fact, it ranked higher than some surprising topics (to me), including fashion/beauty/shopping (42%), sex/relationships/dating (31%), and parenting (27%). This makes it a great place to provide content about health and see what women are saying.

Women in the survey noted they aren’t just reading passively - they are turning to blogs over social networks (such as Facebook and MySpace) to actively digest. Of women who read and/or post to blogs, 64% do it to “get information”, compared to just 32% of those who participate in social networks. When you factor in that 43% of women read blogs to “seek advice and recommendations” it becomes clear that they aren’t seeking that information as impartial news sources — they want information with a point of view. This means that if women are on a blog for information about a product or condition - or your product/condition area - they don’t want a balanced account - they want to know about an experience with the product to help them develop their own point of view. This means making sure that influential bloggers not only know about your product (or campaign) but that they receive your point of view and have a positive experience along the way.

Lastly, what I found interesting was that women of all ages, across generations, are participating on blogs. While Millenials (age 18-26) have the highest percentage of their generation participating (73% - 9.7 million women) Generation X (age 27-43) and the Boomers (age 44-62) combined form the greatest number of women participating in social media - approximately 28.7 million women. Meaning blogs remain an importance influence for women of all ages. It isn’t just for the younger audiences.

So, if you want to know more about what influences women to make a particular healthcare decision, turn to the blogosphere - the answers may be clear on blogs.

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[i] This statement has been fact checked and validated my mother and my girlfriend

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