Kick Ass!

I saw Kick Ass the other night, and I loved it. It's been awhile since I've enjoyed and been entertained by an action film. The plot is quite simple: a comic-book fanboy (Aaron Johnson) who gets inspired to become a real-life superhero. He runs around and calls himself Kick Ass in a tight green, wet suit look alike outfit. Spider man romance story is woven into the plot as hot high school classmate falls in love with the nerdy-geek boy. Big Daddy (Nicholas Cage) and Hit Girl (Chloe Moretz) come together motivated by vengeance to kill mafia-drug lord. Based on one of the best selling comics by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr...



blah blah blah..

What's most intriguing to me while watching Kick Ass is the reminder of our new age. The first movie I remember seeing that reflected our society and internet advancement was in American Pie. Remember that scene when Jim is hoping to get lucky in his room with Nadia the (international student) and everyone awaits in secret on live webcam? Well Kick Ass has now taken a step ahead ..

Kick Ass became famous when stand byers recorded his fight with street criminals as evidence, which was quickly posted on YouTube and distributed all over the internet. Next thing you know, Kick Ass is a hero and  world-known celebrity, who is all over the news. The movie demonstrates and proves to us once again, the power of online technology, especially when empowered and driven by the force of people. Kick Ass was not short-lived news. He and (Red Mist) created a community around themselves on MySpace to communicate with their fans to help save people.

Check out the movie and let me know what you think!
See video Kick Ass trailer. From the ending of the movie, I'm assuming a sequel will be released in the future..

Facebook tips for business owners

It's been awhile since I last posted. Been considering different ideas for my business pitch -- and it's funny how the more we're learning in the APOC program, the less ideas I seem to be able to come up with. My previous brainstorming ideas are slowly being crossed off, as my knowledge expands for what works/doesn't work..

Luckily for us, Zach's Wednesday class is giving us an opportunity for due diligence. I haven't finalized my idea for the business pitch, but I am taking a step back to look at different platforms. I will be comparing and analyzing tools and resources available to business owners and what they'll need to know in order to arrive at making a business decision. Specifically, I'm going to be focusing on the Facebook platform. 

Facebook is a popular tool for social media, that we already know. It's free and easy for companies to use as voice, brand recognition and for marketing efforts. (More than 20 million people become fans of Pages each day, and pages have created more than 5.3 billion fans overall) However, I've seen companies use Facebook wasting time, effort and money spent on building pages and applications.

Mistakes business owners make utilizing Facebook:

Failure to build bridge with users: People use Facebook because helps manage and makes social life easier for them online. Consider how your Fan Page or Group would benefit your fans/members on a social level. Find ways to cater to the needs of your audience or interest group. Otherwise, they will lose interest and jump to the next page.

Over complicating -- cluttering their page: Keep your fan page/group content simple and insightful. Some companies become self-absorbed talking about their product/service that you offer, filling your fan page / group with promotions and spam. They spend time and money developing fun applications that look visually appealing but irrelevant to their audience. This is prime example of failure to listen and learn from customers. Take advantage from what your fans are saying about your company and use it as feedback. Perhaps you may ask for input on the launch of a new product, or provide discussions/FAQs for people with questions about your product..

Impatience to learn the Facebook culture: Companies think joining Facebook is a quick solution for business success. This could be true, but it takes time to engage, interact, and learn from your loyalists. Don't expect a quick turn around or everyone to become a Fan or part of your Group -- unless you are Apple or Coca Cola. (Even if your company is like Apple and Coca Cola, you need to spend time building conversations around your customers and their interests to learn more about your company). 

Inconsistent voice: A company needs brand identity. Likewise, when utilizing Facebook keep that brand image consistent. Don't try to be professional one day and use slang and act hip and cool the next day. Your voice should be dependent on who your audience is. Conversations should be what interests your customers not you, what's newsworthy, buzz worthy to them. 

Should everything be a game?

I'd like to disagree on this comment. Just because Foursquare and Facebook are integrating and building game mechanics does not mean every online community and brand/company site need to jump on the band wagon.

Here's my analogy: Social media, oh it's so great. It worked for Friendster, MySpace, Facebook, blogger sites, etc. Many companies, such as Google, saw this as a major opportunity to better engage and interact with their audience. Look what happened there with Google Buzz. Google I love you, but sorry that was an epic fail.

Gabe Zichermann, who is the CEO of startup beamME, argues that "fun is good and that game mechanics will find their way into all sorts of products and businesses." He suggests the following:

Facebook should incorporate a popularity game so users can more easily gauge their social graph. The game is to encourage to add more friends - ("add two more friends to beat Sam's score"). Users would be awarded when they connect and add more friends.. Are you serious?! This is exactly why MySpace has become loser-land, because people add non-friends, strangers..all of which are potentially creeps. Facebook is about connecting with people you actually know, not random people so that you seem more popular.

Amazon - Zichermann's concept to integrate a virtual library within Amazon, so that you can share books that you have read w/ your friends. This is interesting. Often times, I will either ask my friends to send me a book list, which they never get to OR I mentally take note of a book name and later forget. A virtual library seems perfectly appropriate in this instance, as many people do visit Amazon to seek out reviews for best sellers for purchase.

Fedex - the idea "to connect your social graph to your shipments, letting you see your en route packages on a game board relate to your friends. You could "talk smack" to friends whose packages were sent via ground (or USPS)" This is a stretch for me. I have enough games on my iPhone as is, in addition to all the endless game requests on Facebook. Moreover, I don't need to find Fedex entertaining. I visit Fedex simply to track my delivery estimate, status, get my information and go. I don't need to waste more time there.. need I say more?

Following the trend seems like a smart move and definitely tempting , however you really need to analyze, take a step back and look at your business critically. Before you jump to conclusion and make a rash decision -- What is your main purpose, goal, and who are you servicing? Think twice. Not all consumers would appreciate you force feeding, moreover adding distraction to the service they expect to receive.

Cheers!

Reference: How to make Facebook, Fedex, and Amazon More Fun

Dirty sexy gossip blogs

Here's a thought for the day. Online communities or blogs such as thedirty.com bring people together to trash talk and attack innocent people. Interesting thing you notice on these sites, people usually attack women leaving crude snarky comments about their physical looks and sexual behavior... hating on how fat this girl looks, how slutty they look, or how she will sleep with anybody. Whether or not these comments deem true, most of these women unknowingly have their pictures stolen by the attacker from either a myspace or facebook account, and you can only imagine how terribly embarrassing it would be to have a posting forwarded to you via email. 

These websites not only invade privacy, they also damage a person's reputation. Women who have seen themselves on these websites will face difficulties landing a job. Spreading gossip seems so easy to do over a click of a mouse, while victims of these websites go through extensive efforts to have the posting removed. Yet, will the defamation ever really be replaced?

Sadly, people still find these online gossip columns to be entertaining, guilty indulgence. Likewise, there are temptations to gossip about people you hate, since it's less confrontational and your identity is concealed.  It's an encouragement to those web attackers. No wonder web bullies still exist. 

Still, victims today are fighting hard to shut down these websites and find their trash talker. While commenters can be sued, they don't have the power to take down posts. On the other hand, websites are not liable for commenters' behaviors or actions. This is because they are protected by the terms and conditions of their online communities. All the power lies in the hands of the web owner, since he/she has rights to all content within the community. 

Most memorable from reading...

So how do we battle against these websites? Stop giving hate-spewers an audience.

How to protect yourself from online gossips?

1. Don’t post Girls Gone Wild-worthy shots of yourself on My Space, Facebook or anywhere they can be copied. On photo-sharing sites, use privacy settings.

2. Is someone saying malicious things about you online? E-mail a polite request to the site’s webmaster, asking that the offensive material be deleted.

3. You might consider calling in the pros, like ReputationDefender for about $15 a month. But, be aware: Web gossip is so hard to control that there are no guarantees.

Reference: Why are nice, normal girls getting bullied online?

Goldstar events

Thank goodness to Goldstar! Last year, when I moved to the east coast due to my job, I learned about Goldstar. Being in a new city, apart from friends and family, it is quite difficult to keep yourself busy. My roommates and I decided to sign up for Goldstar to seek out events going on around the city to keep ourselves occupied. This is an awesome tool that allows for customization based on location and special interests. I have been a member of Ticket Master in the past; however, it lacks the personalization that Goldstar allows for. While Ticketmaster is a useful tool to find special events that you have been predisposed to, it's difficult to learn about events nearby. Although, Ticketmaster has a more expansive category for sporting events, Goldstar promotes independent and small events to users. On the other hand, Ticketmaster may only reveal more mainstream events.

While Ticketmaster is able to recognize events similar to your interests and recommend them to you, Goldstar focuses more on the location and the type of events you are interested in. Ticketmaster bases search on category types while Goldstar focus its searches on location, date.

Users of both communities are able to purchase tickets for events, but they focus on different aspects. Ticketmaster enables its users to purchase pre-tickets, while Goldstar offers users advantages in purchasing discounted tickets. What's more useful to you?

Google Buzz lesson learned..

If you have been observing Google Buzz over the past week or so, you should know that it hasn't received many compliments. I'm sure Google knows that they messed up. There was much pressure to launch Google Buzz early this year, so it seems that the product was not tested out properly. However, aside from the rash decision, I think the main issue here is force-feeding users with Google Buzz.



We've had many discussions in class about the success of applications and/or online communities based on its user functionality and wireframe. This incident with Google Buzz and changes to Facebook design in the past few weeks have made me realized the struggles that providers face to balance amongst user functionality, usability, and flexibility...

In the last fifteen years, we have been comfortable purchasing PCs and MACs that come with basic programs; but as the owner, we have the freedom to install additional softwares/applications. Another example is the iPod, which comes with the essentials: Phone list and call functions, calendar, notes, clock/alarm, weather forecast, google maps, and iTunes (which allows you to install new/delete applications). People like the option and flexibility, but not so when it's forced upon us. Even when it's social-media related. With Google Buzz, people find it to be a clutter and it's a non-essential forced into Gmail. At the same time, people are struggling to figure out how to use it, especially since Google hasn't done the best in teaching users how to use the application. I just searched for Google Buzz on Howcast, nada. Facebook and Twitter have uploaded many how-tos on here in the past and have had millions of viewers.
Note to Google: Upload a video on Howcast!

Reference: Google Buzz Warning: Force Feeding Users can Result in Vomiting

Taste the Rainbow..

Skittles recently made the decision to change Skittles.com after the last epic fail of turning Skittles.com to a Twitter Search page, which led to things from racial slurs to pedophilia talk.

The new design of Skittles.com allows visitors to experience the never-ending page of colorful images. These weird images have given them attention in social media space. Over 3,6900,000 fans on Facebook, and their Twitter page is growing, as the account was just created. When you visit Skittles.com, you will notice as you scroll that there are buttons throughout inducing you to follow Skittles on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook otherwise allowing you the option to tweet this image. I find this marketing scheme interesting, as it seems the sole purpose to launch the site is to gain more Facebook and Twitter followers. This shows to me how important it is for well-known brands to have social media presence to build and gain loyal followers.

I am proof that this tactic has worked, as I have just followed them on my Twitter.

Even so, Skittles should do more with their webpage. Relying are wacky images isn't enough. There seems to be a recurring theme of discussions in class. Listen and learn from your consumers by observing and interacting with them! True that Skittles will be gaining followers and fans, but what is the gain here in building this website besides trafficking people to Facebook and Twitter? Skittles.com currently does not provide room or space for visitors to comment or interact. The only interaction I am having on this website is with myself and scrolling my mouse....

Reference: http://www.techcrunch.com/2010/02/05/skittles-website/