judith meskill - soc.media.rocks

Scott Allen, of Online Business Networks (and one of the judges in our recently completed 'Perfect Pitch'competition,) is doing something newsworthy this Wednesday, April 28, 2004 he is conducting a 60 minute Teleclass on how to use LinkedInto better achieve your professional goals.
 
Many of us utilize a broad spectrum of YASNS, or I should say many of us belong to a number of different SNS's but,are we really making good use of them? Or are we just joining as many as we can hoping to increase the size of ourYASNS trading card decks?
 
When I heard that Scott was giving this class, I was intrigued. It will be interesting to see if any of the otherBusiness Networkings Services specifically follow suit and offer a similar series of educational spots to helpimprove the understanding and utilization of their services amongst their user bases.
 
Think I'll go check it out… (-:=

The results are in for the Perfect Pitch Competion!

And, after extensive tabulation by the men in the backroom (pictured in my last post on Saturday (spent most of theday Sunday tabulating results, checking and re-checking and integrating last minute judging panelist input,)) aWinner has been determined… Dat… da da dat dat da…
 

Lee LeFever By More Than A Nose!!!

Or is that a nose?Sorry folks, but if you check out the above links, you will find that Lee has been talking a lot about 'noses' on hisweblog as of late.

I clicked through to Lee LeFever's weblog this morning and saw that Lee went to Emerald Downs over the weekend andbet on the ponies for the first time, and mostly lost. Well the good news is that you mostly won here in the'Perfect Pitch' competition Lee.

Congratulations Lee!

You have won a $100 Amazon Gift Certificate from The Social Software Weblog's sponsor Spoke Software, and the placement of your winning pitch, along withreflections on this Corporate Weblogging Perfect Pitch Challenge, on the weblogs of our judging panelists!
 
Thanks go out to all of the participants in this event as well as the judging panelists who took time out of theircrazy schedules to read through and evaluate each pitch based on a number of different parameters.

Thank you one and all for your participation!

Runners Up:

Second Place Randal Moss
Third Place (tied) Michael Angeles & Jack Vinson

Judging Panelists:

Dave Pollard, DinaMehta, Don Park, Flemming Funch, Jim McGee, LiliaEfimova, Martin Dugage, Phil Wolff, Ross Mayfield, Scott Allen, and Ton Zijlstra

And the Winning Pitch:

First, think about the value of the Wall Street Journal to business leaders. The valueit provides is context the Journal allows readers to see themselves in the context of the financial world each day,which enables more informed decision making.

With this in mind, think about your company as a microcosm of the financial world. Can your employees seethemselves in the context of the whole company? Would more informed decisions be made if employees and leaders hadaccess to internal news sources?

Weblogs serve this need. By making internal websites simple to update, weblogs allow individuals and teams tomaintain online journals that chronicle projects inside the company. These professional journals make it easy toproduce and access internal news, providing context to the company context that can profoundly affect decisionmaking. In this way, weblogs allow employees and leaders to make more informed decisions through increasing theirawareness of internal news and events.

Still tabulating the judging panelists' results for the Perfect Pitch Competition.
 
Please stay tuned for the announcement of a winner.
 
We will also be publishing the reflections and recommendations of the judging panelists on what worked, and what stillneeds some fine tuning and tweaking in the creation of a Perfect Corporate Weblogging Pitch.
 
Thanks for your patience. (-:=

Jason Calacanis tipped it on April 13,2004. Matt Marshall of the Mercury News reported it on April 20, 2004. And Joi Ito,acknowledging Jason's early tip, reflected on it on April 21, 2004 in hisSean Parker kicked out of Plaxo post "kicked out rather rudely by the VCs."

According to the San Jose Mercury, Parker said:

"While the company is moving to a new stage of its growth, the management team remains committed to executing my original vision," he said. "The company remains in capable hands."

This week I had the opportunity to trade emails with Paul Feldman, the CEO of TrendIQ, Inc. The index that I published in my earlier Social Spamming post is being updated byPaul's company on a regular basis.
 
I asked Paul how his company was compiling the statistics to support their reporting of the "Internet Presence" of theservices listed on the below index. Here is his answer:

We measure subjects on the internet and then report out the results. The measurement is done by looking at the total quantity found of a subject on the public internet - by looking in many places. The subjects are carefully defined to key in on the right subjects. We gather data each day. Various statistical techniques are used to smooth, combine, and otherwise present the final information.

We grind no axes and just report out. We carry the social networking data on the site because I am interested in it and I thought others would be too - but as for a living - we do similar things for companies and charge them for the service.

All of these services appear on my YASNS MetaList. In a subsequent email, along with notification of this new version of the Social Networking Sites "InternetPresence" chart, TrendIQ CEO, Paul Felman notified me that:

Also, tomorrow we will begin collecting data on an expanded list of 71 sites in total in this space. That data will be published in about 4 weeks - we plan to keep it on the site for a couple of months after that.

And so I will continue to post this index as TrendIQ releases it.

Has anyone been working with Xtraz? ICQ 4.0's development platform has an open API for HTML, DHTML, and MacromediaFlash plug-ins.
 
According to an announcement in ComputerWeekly:

Other enhancements in ICQ 4.0 include a revamped user interface, called Super Message, which consolidates operations into a single window, simplifying the user experience; a feature called Follow Me that lets users forward their ICQ messages to a mobile phone; and integration with the ICQ Universe social networking service launched in March.

ICQ boasts over 8M active users 80% of these users are not English speakers.

Mtone Wireless filed for an IPO of up to $55M according to Private Equity Week:

Mtone Wireless Corp., a Santa Clara, Calif.-based provider of interactive entertainment and social networking services to mobile phone users in China, has filed to raise $55 million via an IPO of common stock on the Nasdaq under proposed ticker symbol MTWI. The company was founded in 1994 as General Wireless Communications Ltd., was renamed ByAir Corp. in 2002 and renamed Mtone last November. The company has raised over $85 million in VC funding from significant shareholders like Institutional Venture Partners, Alpine Technology Ventures and the iGlobe Partners Fund.

My curiousity piqued by this announcement I visited the Mtone website and found the US Mtone website to be extremely low-key dull some might say. But through it Igleaned that Mtone has an amazing array of social networking servicesfor China's mobile market. From virtual pals, to virtual gaming, to astrological dating and friend-making whileparticipating in their many services which include:
 
Virtual Pal mischievous boy who befriends you, sends you stuff to brighten your day Virtual Pal users can also chat amongstthemselves.
Legend of the Three Realms virtual world where users build 'social bonds.'
Cell Phone social networking dating game that revolves around a popular Chinese movie.
Constellation Dating chat anonymously with others who share your astrological sign.
Competitive Treasure Island SMS-based multi-user interactive active questions and answer game whereone can wager virtual chits and chat with other players.
Absolute Privacy a mobile-driven weblog service.

I then found the Mtone site in China not dull! (-:=

But, this is not about Friendster.
 
Tickle (the friends service,formerly known as Emode, that creates hundreds of 'fun' tests) boasts over 18M members and is now utilizing Ask Jeevesfor a new People Search that will combine these results with Tickle's SNS search results.
 
You can download a search toobar. Hmm, let's see, there's potentially your browser address bar, bookmark bar, statusbar, the Google toolbar, the Alexa toolbar, the Tickle toolbar… Screen real estate is really getting tight! I don'thave to worry on my Mac however as most of the current swarm of toolbars don't like Macs. (-:=
 
Plus Tickle will be displaying keyword search ads from Google via Ask Jeeves.
 
Tickle's home page is looking pre-tty busy these days - between reams of fun tests, premium tests, ads, search boxes,and surveys, phew looks like one of the early portals…

According to a PR Newswire Multiply Redefines Social Networking Enabling Friends and Family to Stay in Touch.

Multiply's co-founder, Michael Gersh, states: "Other social networking sitesexist so you can build your social network, while Multiply exists so you can use it. By integrating applications suchas photo sharing, blogging and a marketplace with a new messaging concept, we've created a much more compelling socialnetworking tool. People use Multiply on an ongoing basis to see what others are saying about their content, and whatnew information is being shared with them."

I noticed that John Pezaris from Multiply was also registered for BloggerCon II. Hmmm, wonder if he was there orwas he one of the 100 or so "no shows" that allowed us some breathing room in Pound Hall, and to whom Dave Winer wasthankful for their consideration… (-:=

According to the Multiply website you can share weblogs, contacts, photos, and messages with your contacts:friends, family members, co-workers, business associates, your extended network, or specific individuals. So if youhave photos of a special family occassion you can choose to share them just with your family.

Like most other YASNS Multiply is free for now. Has anyone tried it yet?

I remember craigslist.org back in 1995 when I lived in an 1861 Victorian inSan Francisco. It was cool to have a local, trusted maillist for jobs, events, etc.
 
Chris Nolan writes Craigslist GetsIts Name in Lights for the May 3, 2004 issue of Fortune.
 
It's the simplicity ofcraigslist that makes it such a slamming success. And it is a social networking service of its own stripeCraig. You get to know other folks who frequent the list from your neighborhood you recommend it to your friends andthey to theirs. I recommended it to our HR department and they had excellent success finding the best talent for thelowest finder's fee.
 
Missing "Oz by the Bay" today… )-:= But, I do love New York… (-:=

I seldom use the web version of Yahoo! Messenger, but I use the desktop version daily to chat with: other Weblogs, Inc. bloggers, my friend Dina Mehta in India, Stuart Henshall in California (btw, Stuart submitted a pitch 5 days late for the 'Perfect Pitch' competitionbecause he was out of this virtual world on vacation during the time to submit his entry should we let him add hispitch to the pack?), Jim McGee in Illinois, Jerry Michalski wherever he happens to be, and you get the picture.
 
This morning however, I clicked through from a Socialtext Wiki page onto alink to Phil Wolff's Yahoo! ID and found myself on the web version of Yahoo!'sMessenger service.
 
And so I ask you… what is wrong with this 'Send an Instant Message' picture?

Or is that Warm Fuzzy Friendzys?
 
Yesterday Aman Batheja, a Star-Telegram Staff Writer, wrote an article When People Click yet another mainstream news itemextolling the virtues of YASNS this time Dallas-based "Friendzy." Within twenty-four hours this piece was picked upby over twenty more newspapers from Biloxi to San Jose.

YASNS are in the news daily. Mentions of Craigslist.org, Evite, and Classmates.com are tucked into a ton oftidbits that seem to fill my news feed. People are "breaking the ice" online more and more with their local neighborsand creating event-based meetings of their communities of like-minded individuals through this ground-swell of socialnetworking services.

It makes me laugh friends, and co-workers have often chided "you spend too much time on that computer! You need toget out more, meet some real people!" And yet "that computer" has introduced me to more real people and "like-mindedindividuals" than I would ever have the opportunity to meet in my corporate and consultancy endeavors.

Just last evening the Weblogs, Inc. webloggers along with a number of other notable webloggers got together fora dinner in NYC. An excellent event, an awesome group of individuals settling almost instantly into familiarconversation and banter.

Just a virtual girl living in a virtual world… (-:=

Meetup has been listening to itsmembers and has created some excellent enhancements.
 
For starters now anyone can add a venue to the Meetup Ballot by browsing a list of 25,000 venues and adding them tothe ballot free of charge.
 
Next, each Meetup community has its own message board to facilitate the continuation of conversations betweenMeetups.
 
And last, if you are a MeetupPlus member, you can send private messages to other members of your Meetup via email(replete with privacy settings.)

1,198,000 members and counting… (-:=

The following quote is from a CIO Magazine article How toPut Your Customers to Work, excerpted from The Future of Competition, by C.K. Prahalad and VenkatRamaswamy:

Networking Human beings have a natural desire to coalesce around common interests, needs and experiences. The explosion of the Internet and advances in messaging and telephonythe number of mobile phone users is already over one billionis fueling this desire, creating an unparalleled ease and openness of communication among consumers. Consequently, "thematic consumer communities," in which individuals share ideas and feelings without regard for geographic or social barriers, are revolutionizing emerging markets and transforming established ones.

Prahalad and Ramaswamy address an emerging economic model of "cocreation" or collaboration to create value [nineteenmentions of "cocreation" in this brief CIO Magazine excerpt alone.] These men write of conversations betweencorporations and "consumers" [a word and/or concept that makes my friend JerryMichalski grit his teeth. )-:]

Substituting "customer" for "consumer" it is this "connected customer" active, informed, and networking withother customers and companies that enables the successful cocreation phenomenon that these authors find soremarkable.

Meanwhile the popularity of business networking services continues to grow. Many of us currently collaborate tocreate different levels of social networking value on business YASNS such as LinkedIn, Ryze, and Spoke.Will Would this current brood of business networking services continue tosuccessfully ever morph into services able to help organizations meet the needs of customers to network as according to Prahalad and Ramaswamy "the market begins to resemble a forum organized around individuals and theircocreation experiences rather than around passive pockets of demand for the firm's offerings"?

Over at Engadget, Pete Rojas posts on: Mobile SocialNetworking: Don't I Know You? In this post Pete's talking about Jabberwocky a 'highly advanced Bluetooth stumbler'that tracks the folks you have already been in proximity with perhaps another time, another place and notes eachsubsequent "close encounter." He points out that this service sounds really cool… But, how safe is it? And is itvaluable?

As Pete points out, a downsideof utilizing this broadcasting feature [leaving your Bluetooth enabled device in "discoverable" mode] is: Bluesnarfing where data from you mobiledevice [i.e. phonebook and calendar] is easily copied without your knowledge. Pete compares this to leaving your frontdoor unlocked. Well, how does one successfully discover the "presence" of other potential social networking creaturesif one must stay in stealth or front door locked mode to avoid intrusion?

Wouldn't it be brilliant to be able to know whether someone in your established virtual network is in closeproximity as you arrive at a new location? In addition to the anonymous "toothing" escapades currently popular in"sexual social networking" when will we be able to enjoy "platonic-toothing" among a pre-established network offriends and/or acquaintances? Are these tools already available or being hatched somewhere?

I'm not talking wOzNet here [an inexpensive IDtag located via GPS on the Internet.] Or am I? No, more along the lines of firmware in our mobile devices updatedeach time we extend and/or reduce our social networks.

Do you lock all of your doors? Are you a "city mouse" or "country mouse"?