What Would Jesus Do? Would You Friend Him?
Be a fan of Jesus.
I just finished watching Bill Maher’s Religulous which, if you haven’t seen it, is an in-your-face and almost argumentative look at religion in our world. Throughout the entire movie Maher confronts religious leaders and followers about their faiths, the message they are trying to spread and the inaccuracies based on historic fact. It is not only brilliant, but for someone who has only a tangential interest in religion like myself, it provides a lot of interesting information.
I admit that I am not religion expert and I lay somewhere on that comfortable Christian couch but one thing I couldn’t get out of my mind is what would happen if Jesus had a Facebook account? Or any God or Prophet?
Now before you call the wagon I have to clarify what I mean. It was apparent through this pseudo documentary that religion, in general, has embedded within it many fantastic tales. It really doesn’t matter what faith you are quoting. Now what if that gospel message had the speed of the Groundswell – We have been reading and studying this action and how powerful this can be.
I am certainly not wanting to wade in the waters of religion so consider this next question presuming God exists: What would the shape of religion be if God had a Facebook account? Or even Twitter for answering prayers?
The Groundswell
Groundswell!
One of our reading assignments for our Introduction to Online Communities class is Groundswell, written by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff. I am only near the beginning of the book but I wanted to check-in and write down a few thoughts.
If you are someone who is new to the idea of the groundswell then this book is a must. It doesn’t just lecture on what the subject is, but rather it gives real examples that illustrate what this phenomenon is. I say phenomenon because at the time the events in the book took place there were no examples or study into how a groundswell occurs. I suspect for our class, since we have had so many powerful speakers and panelists, we find the beginning of the book more of a review. However, near the end of chapter 2, I did find an interesting analysis of which technologies people should pay attention to. It is the first time that the book, so far, gives thought to the future.
Here is what Li and Bernoff have to say about the Groundswell Technology Test:
- Relationships are important. Does the technology depend on relationships? Can people connect in new and different ways? Can these relationships develop virally?
- Is it easy to obtain and sign up for? Is it free? Does it use existing technology? (Cell phone for example)
- Who as the power? Does this technology benefit people as opposed to companies?
- Is there content? Is there enough content? Do users generate “valuable” content?
- Is it an open platform? Can others delve into the technology and create piggy-back applications using the technology?
The book fully admits that there are other factors at play but I really appreciated this analysis. Also, the fact that some or all of the points may not be met does not mean that the technology will fail. It may, however, take longer to spread.
As we read more books on social media and the groundswell effect we find that most contain a look back and an investigation into the success or failure, much like a crime scene investigator. This last excerpt is not only useful and important but it really is the first bold step I have read that involves progress and execution.
More to come…
Comcast is Coming for You
Comcast has a plan.
Net neutrality is something we take for granted. It gives us the freedom to download and browse sites from whatever source we want to–we are all equal. Imagine though if we were re-routed to another source or others given priority to choice sites because of their affiliation to the service provider. Well, this could well become a reality with the recent appeal court decision that says that the FCC lacks jurisdiction in this area. Comcast’s game was citing how they wanted to limit the traffic of a BitTorrent site (BitTorrent’s usually a nest for illegal downloads).
Ok, while I do agree with the fact that we should be fair and not let some bad apples slow down the network and gobble up all the bandwidth and consuming it with illegal use, I think their motives are different. There are looking to make more money from services they already offer by proposing tier based data packages. Imagine if you wanted to rent a movie on demand and the movie to download costs you $3.99 or maybe you have a mem
bership to Netflix of $8.99 per month. Would you ever stop to think about how much bandwidth you have left before you start your movie? So you rent that movie and at the end of the month you get another bill from your Internet service provider for an extra $5.00 for your bandwidth overage. You think that seems unrealistic? Well, that is where we are headed.
This battle of the ISP (Internet service provider) wanting to charge more isn’t a new battle but you have to wonder why now? Could it be that many homes don’t have a regular telephone? Do you think it is strange that even phone companies have bundles that include internet and TV? Everyone is looking for more revenue from within and in my opinion this is where they
are trying to stick it to the consumer.
For our technology and national connectivity to progress we depend on net neutrality. Here is simple example: What if in two years all of our TV’s were integrated in the web making our viewing habits more of an online experience. Something like this would kill that progression. No one could afford it.
Putting your Ear to the Ground
Are you talking about me?
All great social media campaigns begin with the concept of listening. Whether it is because you have a brand that you want to protect or if you are just looking to see if customers are looking for something you want to offer. Well the good news is, the tools are available and they are really easy to use.
Google (insert voice of angels) has a really easy to use tool called “Google Alerts.” If you are involved in this industry, how could you not have heard about it. Even if you don’t have a product out there, you should at least be monitoring your name. This can lead to quick responses when people are posting comments related to your business or reputation.
Here is how it works in three easy steps. First, make sure you have a google account (it isn’t completely necessary, but it helps in the management of these alerts). That is easy enough to do. Next, navigate to http://google.com/alerts and get going! For example, if I want to see if anyone ever mentions my name “Christopher Bazin”, in “search items” I will put my name. Under “type” I can choose from an array of different types of content (News, Blogs, Web, Comprehensive, Video or Group). I chose “comprehensive” since (according to google) that, as the name suggests, has the most reach into the different categories.
Creating this alert without signing in to google.
Next, how often do you want to receive these alerts? Once a day? Once a week? or As it happens? Well, I think this really depends on the reason for the search and frequency that the search is successful. If I am protecting a specific brand and I want to respond to comments made toward my brand in a timely manner, I would suggest that you set it for “as it happens.” There is no underlaying magic here. Google, when it stumbles on the words you have put into the alert, will notify you.
Finally, you can also determine the length of the email you will be receiving the results in – “Up to 20 results” or “Up to 50 results.” That I will leave up to you to test out.
Then as simple as putting in the email address you want your alert to go to, you are done! Note that if you are not signed in to your google account, google will send an opt-in email for the alert. Simply go to the email address that you entered, find the email to approve the alert and bingo!
Try it and see what your results are. You may be surprised!
UPDATE!!
Ok, so within hours of me posting this article and creating the alert, Google (angels singing) sent me the following email. Check it, you won’t be disappointed!
Google alert sent only hours after creating it!
Becoming an Entrepreneur
Where is my partner?
Brian’s latest venture is namesake.com which promotes itself as the next micro-social network for the professional entertainment industry. His outlook is that with our social lives are permeating through sites like Facebook and there is a need and a want for people to keep their business image separate. That, as I understand it, is the motivation and mission of namesake.com.
A few of the big lessons left by Norgard for the students was the feeling of “go for it” and “don’t be afraid to share your ideas.” Discussing your seemingly great idea might lead to more product improvement or, better yet, saving yourself and your partners tens of thousands of dollars. I think a few of us have an idea or a project in mind and are afraid of disclosing for fear that someone else will just snap it up. Although that fear is not unfounded I think the point Norgard is making is that the benefits far outweigh the risk in this example.
Let’s face it, the man has success. However, the most envious trait that this man has is really the relationship he has with his business partner(s). As Brian pointed out, finding someone you can trust is not easy. When you do find someone like this, it seems, you can accomplish amazing things. WHERE is my partner?
Superpowers
My Superpower.
As a child, we all hope to be blessed with some superpower we can use to help other people, defend ourselves or use to our own advantage. For myself, I had always wished I could move stuff with my mind. As I got older it manifested itself a kind of road rage tool where I wished I could “pop” the tires of the person that just cut me off! But, as we grow older we soon realize that having a power is not realistic. We do slowly become aware of things we are better at. More often or not what we are best at really doesn’t have applications to our career.
Last week, on a flight from Denver to Los Angeles, my superpower became noticeable. I have always realized that my level of observation was above most people’s, but it wasn’t until that flight that I realized how I have developed it over the last 10-20 years. What I mean by that is I am very observant and a great predictor of human behavior (of course this all my own opinion).
First, I notice a woman with long black hair in the window seat three seats to my right having trouble turning on the light. She actually was confused and didn’t realize the controls were on the arm rest. She eventually gave up. I figured she was too far away to say anything to her so I kept quiet and made a mental note.
Next, I watched as a young college-aged couple sit in front of me. They were in the process of settling in when they realized their “carry-on” needed to be stowed above. So as the young man opened the already closed overhead compartments I saw that the compartment directly two rows up and to my right had just enough space. Unfortunately he didn’t see what I saw and moved on down the plane looking for space. I sat quietly and made a mental note.
As we began our taxiing procedures and the attendant went through the “drill” and despite announcement to turn off electronic equipment, I noticed the girl to my left texting and putting her phone underneath her left thigh so she could feel the vibration of the phone when she received her reply. I noticed the young couple in front listening to their iPod with black ear phones (one in hers, one in hers) and their heads together so the attendant couldn’t see the cords. With in seconds another attendant came down the aisle with a travel’s bag looking for more storage space.
At that same moment, the girl with the back hair three seats down reached again for the light and that’s when it hit me. I leaned over and told the girl the controls are in the arm of the chair. I popped my head out into the aisle and told the attendant that there was space two compartments up. I leaned to my left, made some snippy comment, and in a nutshell told the girl to shut the phone off. I did not say anything to the couple ahead of me but as you can imagine, I wanted to.
There it is. My superpower. As simple as it may seem, for the rest of the flight I sat and recounted many instances where this ability has come in handy. Whether it is looking for something that is lost or remembering where something was placed three years ago. My aptitude for observation and prediction of human behavior seems to be high. The question now is: How can I use it succeed in business? In this class? In life?
Generations
I am up here - in Canada!
Well it is spring break and I am up here in Canada. Yes, I went north for spring break. There is snow on the ground, cold blowing winds and flurries (not the dessert kind)! I am actually up here visiting family and getting my burst of Canadian energy. It was only a matter of time before I met one of my mom’s newest friends. Her name is Freida.
Freida is 88 years old, spry and very opinionated. She is very entertaining and quite the conversationalist. I noticed she had a lot of nick-knacks. She took time to show me her Joan Rivers collection items as well as other Home Shopping Network treasures. My mother even remarked that she is a preferred customer, meaning she doesn’t even have to pay before she gets her merchandise. Now that is a customer!
We got on the topic of television, computers and the Internet and she became very heated. “They shouldn’t allow kids to use computers or the Internet! If you watch TV you can tell our world is going down hill! It’s all bad. Just look at CNN! This never happened when I was a kid. I lived through the depression.” She had been referring to a recent crime where a teenage girl was almost killed by someone kicking her to near death.
I reminded myself that I was a guest in her home, but hearing her I wanted to respond by reminding her that crimes have always been committed. As well know the Internet, TV and Social Media helps bring the most hanis of the crimes into our homes. In face we hear news faster than newspapers can deliver it. Despite our point in time people were still killing each other, putting babies in dumpsters and hearing about suicide bombers.
Of course I knew this was an argument I wasn’t going to win, so I said nothing. I think maybe if I would have brought to her attention that without TV, the Internet and social media, Joan Rivers and her collection wouldn’t have stood a chance. I think only then I may have gotten my point across. Sigh… Oh Canada.
Social Media Design
Social media Design.
I have always been interested in UI design and user behaviors. I think it is a valuable profession and extremely important when introducing a new Web site or software package. What about social media? Does as much thought go into developing a social media platform?
It seems that you just can’t sit down to a computer anymore without checking your Facebook account or twitter account. With out the ease of use of these tools we sure wouldn’t spend so much time using them. However, there also has to be something that keeps us coming back too.
An article recently posted on Mashable.com titled “Why User Competency Matters in Social Design” is a great “map” to the insight of social media design. In reading it, I do agree with most of the content and I think it is a good checklist for any social media project. I am wondering if this list was made in hindsight after the study of trends or does it have a behavioral scientific background. In either case, it is interesting and a good nugget of information.
Yelp Might Need a Little Help!
Ooooo Yelp is in Trouble...
Techcrunch’s headline reads Yelp Hit With Class Action Lawsuit For Running An “Extortion Scheme” and you may have
already heard about Yelp’s dispute with a vet in Long Beach. But did you know there is a site called www.yelp-sucks.com and a site to sign up for a class action lawsuit against the Internet company? What could this mean for the big company? Today on KTLA Yelp made the news again. It was a relatively short segment but there was an interview with both the Vet and the communications director from Yelp. This does not look good. One thing that TV is good at is humanizing an issue. The Vet was holding a small dog petting it so gingerly and the communications director was in a cold dark office with some monitors.
In my opinion, social media and online communities often have the impression of people as a group helping to make a difference and being heard. I perceive that to be exactly what Yelp is. This fundamental ability to tell others about good or bad experiences at a restaurant or any other place or service. What we didn’t realize that maybe, just maybe, we were all helping to create the large company with control that social media is designed to prevent happening! How weird would that be?
Christina Yoon, community manager for Yelp, came to our class talk to us about Yelp’s philosophy and how they dealt with advertisements, bad reviews, disgruntled store owners and disgruntled members. She admittedly stated that she is not in the advertisement area and a lot of what “corporate” does and handles is beyond her scope and she is not really brought into the loop until something affects her directly. I believe Christina.
Yelp openly says that they offer advertisements for companies. That is not a secret in fact that is their main, if not only, source of revenue. They also state that if they advertise (according to Christina) they can choose one of their most glowing reviews to appear at the top of the review list. Again, their is no deception here. In fact I believe it even says “Sponsored Result.”
Like anything, you should use review sites like Yelp with a grain of salt. That is understood. However, if Yelp is agreeing to remove reviews or altering reviews with the exchange of money, then I think we are about to see a ma
jor backlash with respect to these review-type sites. For most people review sites are accompanied by suspicion. Did a co-worker, boss or friend right this review? Or is a genuine person loving or hating the restaurant. If Yelp fails this test then there will be many people that feel cheated and used all to create something we as a community were fighting against.
Using Facebook to Save the World
Lost credit card?
My day started with the usual Sunday morning ritual. I got woken up by the dog. I found some comfortable clothes to slip into for my morning walk and off I went. My destination, Starbucks down the street. I was dragged almost all the entire way except for a few stops so Flash could release some pressure to his seemingly enormous bladder. So, I got my coffee and took a moment to take a couple of sips before the dragging recommenced. Today was going to be a great day because I was off to Disneyland to see an old friend performing in a show.
Part two of my Sunday routine, which includes torturing the dog into doing tricks for food and watching some TV, I got ready to meet a good friend of mine so we both could head on over to Disneyland <insert cheer>. As I walked to my car I saw a credit card laying on the ground. I had to look twice because frankly, it just looks odd that something of value like that could be laying there on the wet pavement.
You have no idea how hard it is to return a found credit card these days. I think everyone just expects no good to come to those who loose it and criminal activity to those who find it. The last time I found a credit card I actually regretted it. Why? Well when you call a bank to notify them of a found credit card they just want you to destroy it. First of course they ask you a slew of questions. I knew that this person was near by so why can’t they just call the person and I hand it over? Apparently, that is just not an option. We are just not given the opportunity to be good Samaritans anymore.
If you are on the other side of the fence and you have lost your card, obtaining a new one is a painful process. You have to monitor the transactions that have taken place, you have to wait for a new card and you have to wait for a new PIN. It could take a week before you can even see your OWN money!
So with the prospect of this person never seeing his card again I decided to pull out Facebook. I looked up his name. I didn’t really know what to expect but I was looking for a matching name and maybe city. Considering that this is Los Angeles, I figured that even the origin of the profile wouldn’t be right. There is one other feature I failed to tell and that is that his picture was on the card along with a logo of a sports team.
As luck would have it I found a matching name and photo. So I thought, what the heck! I am going to send this person a message and see if they respond. After about 3 hours I got a phone call with an out of state phone number and a remarkably happy person on the other end of the line with the news that his card was safe and sound.
So, after my trip to Disneyland, I called the card owner and bingo! Another life was saved and another card holder reunited with his card. We can all sleep better tonight. So I guess what I found so amazing is that I connected with someone I had previous NO connection to. No third party connection, no friends of friends, no work history in common. All it was, was a lost card and the willingness to do something good. To accomplish all of this I used Facebook. Is there anything Facebook can’t do? 
Techmeme- It's uncomplicated: Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg marries sweetheart (Associated Press)
- Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg marries sweetheart (Marcus Wohlsen/Associated Press)
- T-Mobile isn't jumping on the shared-data plan bandwagon (Sue Marek/FierceWireless)
- Facebook Banker Morgan Stanley Props Up Price It Helped Boost (Bloomberg)
- Google will keep Android free and open for at least five years (Nathan Ingraham/The Verge)
- TechCrunch
- Mashable
