Real Facebookfriends

The social networking site Facebook is all about friends: you add as many friends as possible, you comment on each other’s pictures, you post funny messages on each other’s wall, .... It is entertaining for a while, but you could wonder if it is really meaningful.

For Louis van Dievel Facebook has become irrelevant: you have hundreds of friends, without really knowing most of them. Of course, Facebook offers the ideal opportunity to get in touch with old school friends, old colleagues ... In a nutshell: people you have not seen in years. But, what then? What is the next step after adding them as friends? You post something on each other’s wall, or send some kind of message to each other. And in most cases, that is about it, you do not really do anything more to revive these old friendships.

When it comes to friends at present, the same thing happens: contacts on Facebook remain rather shallow. Occasionally, you send a virtual birthday card, or you answer each other’s post, but after some time you forget about it, or at some point you do not have anything more to say. As a result some people don’t think it is worth anymore to be on Facebook, and they quit.

Though this might be just a temporal farewell:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2YHwCYVXyo

Source:

http://www.deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws/cultuur%2Ben%2Bmedia/1.607267

Advertising yourself

Since social networking is getting more and more popular, the advertising industry has recognized the potential of these type of websites. The exploitation of this “new” space results in banners and lots of links all over websites. The word advertisement mainly triggers the association with the marketing of known brands and services, but it can also be interpreted in a wider sense: not just products, but even a person can become a brand. When people make a personal profile on websites like Facebook, they are probably creating an image of themselves. This image might even not reflect reality, but that does not mean that this kind of behaviour is completely conscious.

Just imagine this situation: you are creating your own profile on Facebook. At some point you will have to choose a profile picture. Presumably, you will not pick a picture that you do not like at all, or that does not flatter you. Unconsciously, you are starting to control your own image, because you want to appeal to other people, you want to appear to be a nice person. Social networks offer different strategies in order to achieve that: it is possible to manage the pictures of yourself on the internet (e.g. the possibility to detag inappropriate pictures), or you can try to profile yourself through the fanpages, by becoming a fan of the latest successful bands, etcetera. The possibilities are almost unlimited. Of course everybody is different, so some people will prefer to keep their profile quite neutral, whereas others might pretend to be the untroubled party animal.

At first sight, you could consider this way of advertising yourself to be quite irrelevant, but personal branding has real life effects, e.g. there are several examples of people getting fired after commenting on their job on social websites. Another possibility is that future employers check the internet in order to get to know their applicants from a different point of view. Given that your virtual activities can have such severe consequences, carefully managing your profile on social networking websites is no luxury anymore.

Sources:

http://pc-en-internet.infonu.nl/communicatie/38351-personal-branding.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_branding

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10172931-71.html

Social Media Marketing

When I walk along the streets, I can’t help noticing the overload of information attacking my brain. I automatically developed my own defense system: ignore it all! It makes my walk less stressful, but must drive the marketeers responsible for those campaigns to despair. New ways of promoting their products or services had to be found. The ideal opportunity came along with the trend of social networking sites. The popularity of those websites with a focus on connecting people, urged for a new kind of marketing. Clever business men gradually developed a successful strategy designed for campaigning on the internet; they call it ‘social media marketing’.

Social media marketing campaigns focus on online communities, blogs, review sites, etc. In other words, they focus on websites where individuals can display their opinions. The campaigns open up the dialogue between the company and the customer, which leads to a closer connection between both and to a higher customer loyalty rate. Some companies even work on starting up their own social network site, like Burberry with its ‘Art of the Trench’ website which is supposed to be launched soon.

As an aspiring management team of a social platform, it is important to realize that these marketeers will want to try out their strategies on our website. Though it is our task to create an inspiring space for the individual surfer, making room for social media marketing can lead to something positive as well. If the campaign does not limit or disturb the customer’s social experience on the net, it can be a useful tool with benefits for all three parties (customer, company and the website management team).

Sources:
http://www.frankwatching.com/archive/2009/02/20/succes-op-sociale-media-met-een-uitgekiende-social-media-strategie/
http://www.dutchcowboys.nl/socialmedia/17960

Advertising taken to a new level

The French fashion brand Louis Vuitton is planning a large scale advertising stunt this week. On the 7th of October they are going to launch their new fall-summer collection for 2010 by Marc Jacobs with a live fashion show on Facebook. This will enable anyone to follow the show which will take place at the same time in Paris. Louis Vuitton, like many other brands, already had a fan page on Facebook where fans could follow the latest news, but they are the first to bring a fashion show live on the popular medium. This new take on advertising is bound to be copied by many and to be watched worldwide.

Louis Vuitton has already been advertising on the internet excessively. They created an interactive site featuring video’s of the three American astronauts Sally Ride, Jim Lovell and Buzz Aldrin. These three were also featured in the series of pictures made by Annie Leibowitz for the brand to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the famous lines “One small step for man and a giant leap for mankind”. Louis Vuitton is also active on Twitter.

What we should take into consideration when creating our own social network is that this is a new and fun way of advertising. A lot less annoying and more effective than the pop-ups that block your entire screen.

To all the fashionista’s out there: Wednesday 2:30 PM (Paris Time) on Facebook. Don’t miss it!

Sources:
http://www.knack.be/weekend/nl/mode/nieuws/articles/a16162-article.jsp

Twitter users more brand-engaged

It is well known that the Internet has become a very interesting medium for advertisement. Social network sites in particular are quite attractive for advertisers. However, are users of social networks really eager to click on ads that guide them away from the site they are visiting? Research proves that they are, but quite remarkable is the fact that Twitter users are more keen than others.

According to Interpret researchers who questioned 9200 people, Twitter users are twice as sensitive when it comes to online advertisement in comparison with users of more ‘traditional’ social networks such as Facebook and My Space. 24% of the Twitter users click on ads, write product reviews and show brand-engagement by visiting homepages of companies and advertisers whereas only 12% of other social network users (non-Twitter users) are tempted to do the same.

How to explain this phenomenon? Interpret researchers mainly believe that these higher rates of engagement with brands could be explained by the fact that people are less distracted by activities such as commenting on photos, sending gifts and playing games on Twitter, which means that there is a greater chance that an ad catches the users’ attention and is clicked upon. It seems like users of social network sites do not want their experience to be interrupted, which is definitely something to keep in mind when creating our own network site.

Source: http://www.marketingfacts.nl/berichten/20090929_twitter_gebruikers_meer_brand_engagement_gevoeliger_advertising

Social networking to infinity

When trying to start your own social network, the first question to ask yourself is: what is a social network and what is it for? According to the video ‘Social networking in plain English’ these networks serve to show connections that were previously hidden. This makes it easier to connect with people to find jobs, love or houses. Your network is suddenly larger and possesses more possibilities.

The problem in inventing a social network is that they seem to have conquered the world. They are everywhere and exist for every group or purpose. Whether you like to travel, buy cats, share political views or watch and show video’s, you can find a network that suits your wishes. The challenge in creating a new social network thus lies in finding something that has not already been done and is useful at the same time. Our task now is to find out what the needs are that have not yet been addressed.

(Find all kinds of social netwerks on Find a social network)