6 posts tagged “twitter”

I live and breath consumer Internet namely social networks and media but I keep this personal blog independent of that so that I can reflect on some larger intangible characteristics that make us who we are offline and often compare it with our behavior online. Its not about tools and technology, its about people.

So when I got invited to write a guest post on Techcrunch about a basic question on Twitter, MySpace and what really makes us social, I took up the opportunity to muse there

You can read it here - Is Twitter Turning Into MySpace? or here through Techmeme.

And you can follow me on Twitter here.

Imagine Again: Make Friends, Not Add Them

I have spoken about The Cat, The Dog and Web 2.0, blogged about the disconnect of social behavior online and offline and very recently, Jennifer Aniston experienced it first-hand recently.

These 4 minutes explain your social graph

• 12:34 The farmer's market is packed today - I have a feeling the warm sunny 60s weather gets the credit #
• 12:44 @unmarketing so true - but many like to 'hear' themselves :) #
• 12:47 @finkd you were 50+ followers on Friday and now at 5k+. That's probably a lot of 'delete' key :) #
• 12:50 @zappos the weekend supplement by @juliaangwin had mentioned you too. Anything special when you hit 200k followers? Inching to @barackobama #
• 12:53 @rawmeet Campbell - every Sunday to be "social" and read #
• 12:54 @ThatCssGuy how did she find you? #
• 12:54 @loudtweeter ah - will check that out and get back to you. Thanks for getting back to me #
• 13:00 RT @stevecase Sad. :( RT @mrinaldesai: @SteveCase ur feelings about ur 'baby' aol 2day-excited, sad,indifferent? (true entrepreneurs care) #
• 13:02 @SteveCase how do you transition from startup to big co. to startup seamlessly? seems to be specific skills #
• 13:08 @robpegoraro if Internet on, I recommend CrossLoop (my co.) for free remote desktop sharing. Grandma friendly. Reviewed by @waltmossberg #
• 13:11 @rawmeet well - ping me when u r here next and we will be social offline :) #
• 13:14 @zaibatsu dude - 47k followers ... Jumping leaps and bounds! #
• 13:18 a tweet for a friend who is hiring for Twitter - if u are a fit, ping me especially if you are 'vocationally challenged" #jumphigher #
• 13:19 @hnshah that definitely is key for our software too - grandma- friendly :) #
• 13:26 #quote "people who fight may lose, people who do not fight have already lost" #
• 13:30 @hnshah I use that as a test everywhere - can I describe my business, the value etc etc :) #
• 13:31 Nietzsche #quote " there are no facts, only interpretations" #
• 13:34 Another deep neitzsche #quote - the higher we soar, the smaller we appear to those who can not fly #
• 13:36 @thereisnoplan money,IMHO, is not winning or being successful :) #
• 14:02 @thereisnoplan ah yes - "the wisdom of the crowds" ;) #
• 14:03 @Green4GoodDavid glad you enjoyed it too #
• 14:05 @louisgray missed that - what is the new "following limit" #
• 14:07 @thereisnoplan apologies but don't know nuremburg rally - will need to look that up #
• 14:18 @thereisnoplan thank you - love of when I get to learn! #
• 14:19 @sjcobrien thanks for writing something positive today :) #
• 14:22 I am starting to see MLM spam on LinkedIn - anyone else? #
• 14:29 @answers how long will @johnmccrea take to reach 1500 followers and who will the 1500th be? #
• 14:31 @thereisnoplan I agree:) #
• 14:33 @johnmccrea really curious about the service pans out :) #
• 14:38 @johnmccrea you should buy a coffee to the 1,500th or more :) #
• 14:56 @answes when will Twitter launch an 'app store'? #
• 14:56 @answers when will Twitter launch an 'app store'? #
• 15:23 @adamlashinsky 's piece on Mark Hurd 'everytime v threw him out of the window, he landed on his feet - so v kept moving him up a flr' #
• 15:23 @chrisbrogan profile on Mark Hurd - cover story of latest Fortune #inprint :) #
• 15:34 @zappos assume pst? #
• 15:36 Katzenberg (dreamworks) on 'keeping creatives happy' - ideas are welcome, failure is OK; celebrate often; treat departing employees well. #
• 15:38 @jessiwrites nice column Slumdog suburbia - 203k USD for luxury condo in India blew me away #
• 15:50 @jessiwrites I agree - parents live in Mumbai.also irony that I am reading issue and to now 'end of paper' #inprint at coffee shop :) #
• 15:52 @nichcarlson ask @answers #
• 16:13 @biz E Ink CEO - 'we can't have meaningful discussions or try to solve the world's problems using blogs and 140-character tweets' Agree? #
• 16:23 On Facebook: Mrinal is reading 'End of Paper' on paper. tinyurl.com/d32krh #
• 16:25 @VranicaWSJ I would think so too if one can optimize for economies of scale, imho #advertising #
• 16:26 @iaindodsworth would love to hbe LinkedIn integrated #
• 16:31 Across 20 countries, 62% of respondents say they trust business less than a year ago. Trust in biz is lower than post Enron and dot-com bust #
• 16:46 Some cool market stats - 1b people will be urbanized and join middle-class by 2020 and 58m people eat at mcDonald's every day! #
• 16:48 @karaswisher let me know if it is hard to be a Roman in Rome.... #
• 16:49 @Rafe if not confidential, why not give the work to mechanical Turk? #
• 17:18 @Rafe gotcha - 'mechanical' then sure would me ironic :) #
• 17:20 @tempo fortune latest issue - interview with Mukhtar Kent (CEO Coca Cola) and Jim Skinner (CEO McDonalds) #
• 17:22 @stevecase finished reading about Zipcar in NYT on new Kindle :) - do you see Shai Agassi's Better Place as partner or competition? #
• 17:55 Reading the kindle when 'my car' gets a bath - priceless! twitpic.com/1y3wd #
• 18:21 @indrayam u mean the kindle when the car gets a bath? :) #
• 18:58 When u r batching it, dinner choices for someone 'culinary challenged' is pizza, burger & cereal. Any other manswers? #
• 19:34 @echeyde ah - thank you .... Will have to look it up since I have no clue what that is :) #
• 19:36 @jebritton LOL - thank you. Dove into the comfort zone of some Indian - I mean east Indian :) #
• 19:38 #quote Neitzche - " wit is the eiptaph of an emotion" #
• 20:10 RT @steverubel: Instapaper turns on Kindle support and it's mighty cool. ping.fm/416Ib [now THAT is cool ] #
• 20:11 @steverubel i dont see any instructions on how to use Instapaper on Kindle - any links for that? So no paying for blogs on kindle? #
• 20:16 @steverubel sorry - got it ... the page loaded slow and realized its $0.10 per article. Do you see yourself using it extensively? #
• 20:21 tip @techmeme 'Start-Up Promises More Game Realism' bit.ly/19M2Af #
• 20:24 tip @techmeme 'There Is a Fox in Google's Henhouse' bit.ly/iNOnm #
• 20:48 Reading 'how to search Twitter' by @chris_allison bit.ly/ug5cS #
• 20:54 @zappos_alfred on NBC correct? #
• 21:00 @hnshah OKR seems to be a big google thing - makes sense #
• 21:02 @zappos in front of the tv - when do u come on? #
• 21:06 Twitter Success: Tweet/retweet useful info, help people, engage in conversation, be nice & answer questions. :) (via @mayhemstudios) u bet! #
• 21:10 Watching Celebrity Apprentice to see @Zappos in action... #
• 21:12 Do u think Twitter trends is sorts being gamed for #engineeringjobs ? #
• 21:13 @marshallk I observed the same about @madlid - also a lot on techmeme! #
• 21:18 @Zappos curve ball about blondes and brunettes huh? :) #
• 21:21 @trishussey first 1 1/2 years of CrossLoop, I worked from a coffee shop every day - I love it :) #
• 21:23 @hnshah who is that? #
• 21:24 @dharmesh congrats #
• 21:40 @JesseNewhart interesting that u say 'Twitter posts' and not tweets :) #
• 21:41 @labnol ah - thank u! #
• 23:00 @hnshah thanks #
• 23:01 @zappos Scott's E could be used for Endless huh? :) #
• 23:03 @zappos Zappos #22 under Google hot Trends bit.ly/14n64Y #
• 23:06 Circuit city has the 'closed' sign on its home page :( www.circuitcity.com/closed.html #
• 23:53 Off to continue reading The Black Swan in bed - #inprint - not on the Kindle :) #
• 23:56 If there is one CEO I would like as a mentor for years and years - it's Mark Hurd. CEOs with his humility are an endangered species #

..... you are a Business, Man!

This continues to be a part of 'I Know What I did the Last Time I was Unemployed' Series.

This is one of my favorite quotes that I use often whenever I speak since it seems to say it all. I tactically bumped into it when I was looking for jobs in the last downturn.

Here are the basic parallels that I drew then:

• Product - You

• Brand - your reputation

• Price - Your compensation

Note: Free, like on the Internet, is a good business model as a tactic speaking from experience. It enables you to build relationships and get your customer to 'try before they buy'. I worked for free for the Founder and CEO of EarthClass Mail, Ron Wiener, when I was 'vocationally challenged'. I learnt a lot from him and we are family friends now.
[Update: Another great story in LA Times on how powerful the 'free' model can be - "It's Web 101 for this experienced Intern"]

• Place/Channel/Distribution: Your online identity (For example here are mine on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook etc.) Your online identity is very important since customers research online significantly before buying offline - for example, 77% consumers research reviews and ratings to confirm their decisions in ecommerce world. I assure you, potential employers do the same - before or after an interview

• Promotion - Enable discovery that a product is available for purchase. Blog, email people you know, use tools LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter etc. 

[Update: The Op-Ed piece in New York Times has an article on blogging if you are Out of Work with examples like 'Recession Wire - The Upside of The Downturn' or that of the 23 year old who was laid off and blogs here]

Remember - its to 'learn' and if you do it well, the letter 'l' will become silent to lead to 'earn'

The above are also great examples since they got quoted in The New York Times - one should definitely try to get  quoted in media articles on today's economy and unemployment rates. A good free source to find your customer (in this particular case - the reporter writing a piece on career or unemployment trends) is HARO

• Customer: Your future (or current) employer

As in any business, distribution is one of the hardest things to do but thanks to social media, one's reach and potential to be where your customer is much higher.

Reid Hoffman, the Founder and CEO of LinkedIn, interviewed on Charlie Rose recently says the same a wee bit differently:

I just embarked on this rich and deeply stimulating book called The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Apart from an excellent quote by the author in the Prologue that I tweeted here,
["We humans are not just a superficial race; we are a very unfair one"]

he also strongly emphasizes that life is about what we dont know. Its about being interested, not interesting.

Note the paradox in this social/web 2.0 world where people are busy claiming expertise, know it all and have authority based on how how many follow them on Twitter etc. Claim your expertise with an opinion by jumping in into the dicussion here.

Its a lot like the guy who lost his keys in the street somewhere.....When someone is asking him why he wasn't searching the rest of the street he replies "But I have light only under the street lights"!

More on it later but I had a post way back that titled 'Its about what you dont know, Stupid" so I was really excited to see Taleb reiterate that.   

 

Viral_social marketing

The latest special print issue of MIT's Technology Review has an article on visualizing "Better Friends" by Erica Naone. Apart from the visuals of the blogosphere, Twitter and others, the one that caught my eye was the visual on viral marketing - something very relevant and dear to me.

Furthermore, being deep into social media, networks and user-generated content -  the last line of the paragraph below hit home for me. I used to listen and learn from many top social networkers/producers until I noticed that I started shutting myself out with many - they have lost their influence with me. They are all the time selling products and services with the sole cause of their own popularity. They do not evangelize - they sell. Popularity is their focus - not their collateral success. One erodes the social equity built over time and involvement. Many have have many friends today online but then there is a social connection/equity even with your audience/readers/followers - the mind is fickle with all the noise and the "new new things" and "new new people" coming out everyday.

The web is becoming social - from a network of servers and pages, its becoming a network of people. We are the carriers - we consume from each other (not just reporters), we produce and we distribute.

The full article is here and the piece on viral marketing from the article below:

Viral_social marketing1

"Several years ago, a large retailer tried to encourage word-of-mouth marketing for products sold on its site byoffering incentives to site visitors who made product recommendations. Many companies are trying to use people's social connections for such "viral marketing" programs, hoping that information about products (and the urge to buy them) can spread through a network of people the way a virus might. But after studying more than 15 million recommendations generated by the retailer's incentive program, a team made up of Jure Leskovec, Lada Adamic, and Bernardo Huberman, director of the information dynamics lab at Hewlett-Packard, was skeptical. Huberman and his colleagues looked at the networks that grew up around each product--who bought and recommended it, and who responded to the recommendation--and saw that they took on different characteristics depending on the type of product. A network around a medical book (top image below), where red dots and lines indicate people who purchased the book while blue dots and lines represent people who received a recommendation, shows a scattered network where recommendations, on average, don't travel very far. The network surrounding a Japanese graphic novel (bottom image below), on the other hand, shows a thick flow of information among densely connected people. The researchers found that viral marketing was most effective for expensive products recommended within a small, tightly connected group. They also found that overusing consumers' social connections for marketing can make them less influential."