The case for anonymity online: Christopher "moot" Poole on TED.com

via blog.ted.com

This says some interesting things about the ongoing privacy debate. Also, I hope the folks on 4chan can track down this guy.

Posted via web from the minidisco

Foursquare and changing behaviors

I don't always like to post on the newest, shiniest technology out there.  It makes me feel like a front runner -- like rooting for the Dallas Cowboys, New York Yankees and Duke Basketball.  But Foursquare has led me to it.

With the holidays and a general sense of busyness, I haven't been up on the techiest of news.  Despite that, it's hard to ignore the noise that Foursquare and other location-based apps are predicted to make in 2010.  When Foursquare exploded onto the scene earlier this year at SXSW, I was unimpressed.  New products like this launch so frequently, they feel like a dime a dozen.  I did join eventually, using the product in an echo chamber that consisted only of "tech friends" and no actual ones.  Because I use social technologies to enhance existing off-line relationships (and rarely to build new ones), it took the addition of a few good friends to Foursquare for me to appreciate the service.  One of its key features was what I deemed to be the missing piece for mobile social networks early this year.  And once my friends showed up, the thing that makes a product truly innovative happened: my behavior changed.

Here are a few examples:

• Planning a pub crawl with a friend that uses Foursquare, with the goal of trying to win the Foursquare points battle in my city
• Actually dragging myself off the couch to meet friends, with some motivation coming the fact that I would be tallying checkins on Foursquare
• Getting heckled by a friend due to a series of "effeminate" [sic] checkins, then making a point of checking in at more masculine places
• When meeting friends, relying on checkins to replace texting the location to meet

The highest compliment your product can receive is: "It changed the way I ________".  Congrats to Foursquare for making me feel that way.

This is not a social media blog

I have been struggling for content a little on this blog recently, despite having more time on my hands. As I write in my bio, I have never felt that social media is the only topic worth discussing, despite the fact that I am increasingly positioning myself as an expert in that space. But it's not the only space I have worked in, unlike anyone who has "guru" or "ninja" attached to their title. And that's why this blog needs to be more than social media. There are enough blogs out there discussing it, and most of them are redundant. As Rebecca Thorman writes:

Stop writing about social media. Talking about how Twitter is or isn’t an effective networking tool is boring. Really, freaking boring.

I read a lot of posts on social media hoping someone will say something new, but that never happens. We need to stop masturbating to what the tool is and start using it to see how it works.

This blog post is from March, by the way. And still relevant. Anyone who blogs should strive for something that is readable and relevant months (even years) later.  How many blog posts were wasted on "Twitter-killer" Plurk? How many will be written on Google Wave? Just this week, even Amber Naslund reached out to her readers for ideas that matter to them, due to the circular nature of the social media conversation.

My goal here is to write something different than everyone else, rather than recycle the same conversations and adapt them to whatever new technology emerged in the last week. I've have always believed in the difference between Soundbytes and Solutions, and I'll continue to apply that ideology to this blog. If I'm not writing, it's not because I'm not paying attention to what's happening in marketing, new media, etc. It's because I'm waiting to write something that I think is interesting, rather than just creating noise.

So bear with me as I continue to re-think the types on content I write about here. And stop by my Posterous blog, which is one of the top reasons I don't write here as much nowadays.

Viral marketing; then and now

Do you remember the first piece of viral communication you received?

Because I do -- well, the first, truly notable pieces anyway.  Sure, there were chain emails, quizzes and video attachments that found their way into my first email account on AOL. But there are two that stand out for me, and they were both a (relatively) long time ago.

1. "All Your Base Are Belong to Us." (2000-2002)

This video is still so awesome that I actually re-watch it on occasion. And when I make references to this meme, without fail, more people recognize the references than I ever intend. (Can you imagine a meme like this lasting a full two years?)

2. "Subservient Chicken" (~2005)

Although a few years after "All Your Base", Crispin, Porter + Bogulsky's project for Burger King ushered in a new era of marketing. It was the first time marketers recognized word of mouth as a marketing tool. And it was cheap. They rushed to make their own viral videos, with a few wins and more losses. The videos were creative, funny and maybe even non-PC.

So why didn't they take off?  Because those marketers were playing in a very different social climate. Today, a couple of clicks share content on Facebook and YouTube. RSS and twitter prolong the relevance of blog posts about your video or site.  The concept and belief in sharing has never been more accepted (and deemed essential) by marketers and now, there's a rush to get involved in the conversation.

As a result, the term "viral" has evolved.  Marketers no longer issue "viral" content.  They issue lightly branded entertainment or leak information through social media channels, hoping the word will spread through influencers.  This isn't a bad strategy...assuming the content is actually good.

Meanwhile, truly viral communications -- videos like the Dancing Man and JK Wedding Dance -- are organic successes.  The content is good enough that people want to share it.

As a marketer and communicator, it's easy to get caught up in the social media formula that everyone else is using. Converse with your customers and leads, ask for product feedback, give them a chance to participate, don't sell too hard.  But here's the problem: Conversation doesn't replace creativity.  If that's all you are bringing to your customers, it's a cop out.  Consumers don't respect an organization just for being nice and conversational, especially if it's just following the same formula as every other brand trying out social.  Consumers are still looking for creativity, because it reflects innovation, progress and leadership.

Before you start the conversation, you have to bring something to the table beyond just words and engagement.  To use an overused phrase, "talk is cheap."  Make sure you message or brand comes with a reason for people to talk back.

The Most Exclusive Content is not Online

With the help of mobile phones, more public wireless and services like Facebook, twitter and Foursquare, more people are lifestreaming than ever before (whether they realize it or not).  The New York Times brings us this piece: Party On, but No Tweets.  An excerpt:

In an era, when a stray gripe about your boss can land you on an industry blog, when waking up hung over can frantically send you to Facebook to untag your name from photos of the previous night’s frosting-wrestling contest, when shots of you in unflattering jeans become part of your permanent Google search results, there are signs that some are tired of living their lives on the Web.

Social technologies are changing the way people communicate online, but they are also changing the way that people communicate offline.  And, not surprisingly, there's a bit of a backlash and a desire to get back to the basics of face-to-face communication.  There's an increasing need for people to unplug from the web, and even a movement in from cafes in New York to limit wireless access for laptop users.

I have written before about the brands differentiating themselves by not being social.  We're starting to see both businesses and individuals striving to create their own self-contained social environments -- one that doesn't spill out onto the web.  This doesn't make them anti-social.  It just a realignment of priorities: not everyone should have online access to your offline experiences, just as your offline friends shouldn't be subjected to lulls in conversation while you tweet about your meal.

The most exclusive content doesn't exist online to top-tier members of your community or social graph.  In fact, the most exclusive content doesn't exist online at all.