The Social Bubble

CES 2008

2008-01-08T09:26:00Z

This blog hasn't seen much activity in a very long time, but I feel this is the perfect time to rejuvenate The Social Bubble. I am here at the Consumer Electronics Show with my colleague James Gregson in Las Vegas. We both arrived last evening, and now we're on the showroom floor testing products and making friends. We'll be blogging on the show for the next few days, so check out this blog and James' for frequent updates over the next 72 hours.

Digging for Huggs

2007-05-17T15:27:08Z

Today I spotted another interesting step in the niche-ification (ok, that needs work) of Web 2.0. What happens when a social media technology becomes too popular? Well, it becomes crowded and diluted.

Such is the case with Dig g right now. It's a great technology that drives a lot of traffic and can be a great way to spot the "next big thing" on the Web. Unfortunately, now that the technology has become so popular, it's become apparent that populist content rankings don't necessarily result in the best stuff rising to the top.

Enter Hugg. What Hugg does is take the concept behind Digg but narrow it to the world of environmental content. Not only is there a ton of great environmental content on the Web (thanks to sites like Treehugger) but the readers of these sites are hugely participatory in nature and also tend to evangelize the causes they support. This site gives them the opportunity to promote the content they feel is important without having to compete with nipple slips and skateboarding accidents on Digg.

How long before someone makes one of these for consumer electronics and gadgets?

It's Not a Truemor

2007-05-15T21:38:00Z

Remind you of anything?

While Truemors, one of the latest Guy Kawasaki projects, gives ample credit to Twitter, Digg and others that have come before it, I'm not thoroughly convinced that this is a "new" idea. True, this isn't quite like Twitter because the content is ranked and it's not quite like Digg because it's not just about promoting external links but I'm not really sure the concept is that revolutionary. I guess the value here is that it really allows you to streamline the online rumor process by sending it directly (via voice mail, text message, email or Web form) as opposed to posting it on your blog and having to promote it.

I do, however, like how quick the user interface is and the tagging process seems a little more intuitive than on Digg. I find it interesting that there is a business tag. When you think about all the misinformation out there that affects stock prices, how would you like to see your Apple stock dive after some kid posts about the iPhone being delayed until Q4 and having all his friends (or a bot) boost the rumor's rankings? Dangerous...but I guess that's the nature of rumors.

Business Objects - The Insight Community

2007-05-11T20:06:00Z

Our Digital team has recently had the opportunity to work with Business Objects on the creation of a new community that is trying to leverage collective intelligence in a new way to tackle significant real-world problems. It's called the Insight community. They are partnering with a major environmental non-profit and some high profile public figures who will be presenting at the Climate Summit on May 15th in New York City. Their goal will be to put Business Objects' data visualization tools in the hands of an open community to find new ways to raise awareness around, and ultimately solve, major global problems.

Insight takes the concept of an online community and moves it beyond transactional relationships, like MySpace and LinkedIn, to true collaboration. Additionally, it's a way for number crunchers to gain access to some very powerful tools and network with others in their field around big issues that affect everyone. There will also be ways for consumers to participate and eventually a mechanism to allow other non-profits to tap into the community's intellectual capital.

Here's a video where Business Objects CEO John Schwarz talks about the community.

Stay tuned for more to come next Tuesday!

Forgot to mention I got quoted in PC Magazine

2007-04-27T21:55:00Z

I've been so busy I haven't had time to brag ;) I got interviewed a while back by Cade Metz of PC Magazine for his article "The Ins and Outs of Virtual Worlds", the article went live April 7th, see here, and in print. Check it out it's a very comprehensive overview of Second Life and virtual worlds.

I was even more excited that following this interview I saw a presentation by Bruce Damer, a real virtual world expert, who affirmed a lot of my opinions around the future of Second Life. He also doesn't see this as the next version of the web. He made the point that we're moving to mobile which doesn't provide the best experience for 3D worlds. Again it's all about moving to a more efficient and seamless experience. 3D add an extra layer of interaction that detracts from that.

Check out Bruce's slide show of the virtual world timeline, will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about the history of virtual worlds. He also talked about the idea of "emotional neutrality" produced by the "wired existence". Very cool idea that I tried to blog on but thought better you check it out for yourself here and here.

A skeptics view of corporate success in Second Life

2007-04-27T21:04:00Z

Just the other night I attended the CNN Future Summit at Stanford where Linden Labs CEO, Philip Rosedale, Flickr co-founder, Stewart Butterfield (who might I add was wearing a sweater to match the r in Flickr... sooo cool) and a host of other leaders in this online space were speaking. It was a really cool event that surprising not a lot of people turned up to.

While there I ran into an old colleague from Cisco who has been involved with launching a product in SL. He was really jazzed about it but admitted there were a lot of difficulties with identifying who was at the launch, which customers, reporters, if any etc.. He also said that a lot of people were finding it difficult to maneuver through the space. I thought this was interesting because you don't hear too much about this side of taking real world business into Second Life. My old colleague also told me that he heard IBM was scaling way back on their presence and activities on SL because they weren't seeing the ROI they'd hoped for.

I still think Second Life is a great and fun tool, but it's important for businesses to understand not only the security and privacy issues involved but also the technological boundaries that still exist. For example no more then 30-40 avatars can be on an island at once, product updates that can take 30 minutes before you're even able to log in, a very high learning curve for simple navigation, which Rosedale admitted to at the conference, and one I've experienced several times is loosing parts of my clothes or even my hair. Despite it being an avatar and not actually me I get very embarrassed when my avatar looses clothing, can't stop dancing when there's no music or looses her hair yikes! (this would be hard for anyone to understand unless they've played)

I guess I'm still skeptical of using Second Life as an efficient communication tool for large corporations. I don't see a lot of high profile, and very busy at that, executives wanting to go through all of the above mentioned to communicate with their key audiences, especially when there are more seamless and efficient forms of communication. Thoughts?

By the way if you want to check out the CNN Future Summit it's airing June 13th online and on CNN International, I'm in the very front row!! Here's a nice action shot of the panel during prep time.

My Week with the Apple TV

2007-04-06T16:21:30Z

Being a mild Apple fanboy, an unrepentant early adopter and the owner of over 150 GBs of music, it didn't take long (two hours, if you're counting) for me to run down to the Apple store on 5th avenue and purchase the new Apple TV media bridge. For those of you that steer clear of technology blogs and don't sit within earshot of a mac evangelist, the Apple TV is a small box that connects to your HDTV and basically acts as an iPod for all the media on your computer, all completely wirelessly and with the simple interface that Apple has become known for.

Since there is no shortage of people reviewing the Apple TV, I'm going to focus on one of the most common early criticisms of the device. What you hear most often in most of the early reviews is that the device is great and most people will find it very easy to use but that there just isn't that much content available for it. They usually point to the limited TV and movie database available through the iTunes store and point out that it's significantly smaller than the selection you'd find at a video store or through a service like NetFlix.

While it is true that there is a long way to go before Hollywood's entire archive is available in iTunes, I'm not finding any shortage of content. In fact, if it wasn't for my love of hockey and baseball, I would be seriously considering parting with my $100+/month cable bill (ok, I would need The Daily Show too). In addition to mainstream content like NBC Nightly News, there are also video blogs for just about every hobby or interest. Of course, as with all new technology like this, the wired set is particularly well represented.

The most interesting trend here, which is emerging fairly rapidly, is how video bloggers are now changing formats to accommodate this new technology. While popular video blogs like Rocketboom have already begun offering high quality video for larger screens, smaller podcasters, like Merlin Mann's The Merlin Show (which is great, btw) are also embracing higher quality video.

So what does this mean for social media? Well, we've already seen how quickly and effectively bloggers can compete with print journalists online so this could very well be the first legitimate step in putting a tool in the hands of consumers that gives consumer generated media a chance to compete with the major broadcasting companies. Is the first consumer generated Seinfeld or Friends really that far off?

Helpful site for tracking Virtual Worlds

2007-03-06T18:29:00Z

I just found this site, Virtual Worlds Review, that tracks virtual worlds and gives a brief synopsis, pictures and video of almost 30 virtual worlds (there are more then what's listed here). Not the prettiest of sites but helpful nevertheless. Of course there's always Wikipedia too.

Irresponsible Predictions on the Future of Online Video

2007-02-13T19:17:00Z

With consumer generated content infiltrating the Super Bowl ads and a bunch of new IPTV (Internet protocol television) services launching recently, it seems like as good a time as any to make irresponsible predictions about the future of online video. Companies like Apple, with their Apple TV bridge, and Cisco, with the speculation around their acquisition of Scientific Atlanta, are banking on the living room being the final frontier to what some are now calling "long tail video." However, as many have pointed out, television is a passive entertainment platform and whether or not people will want to actively manage their content, as opposed to just channel/TiVo surfing, remains to be seen.

This brings us back to the trusted personal computer. With the popularity of YouTube and the integration of video into even with the more mundane corners of the web, it's harder to make an argument that people don't want to watch video on their PCs. It's not just that people are watching video on their PCs but they're watching video that they traditionally have been watching on their televisions. In fact, according to a new InsightExpress study for Advertising.com, news related content is the most popular kind of online video, which may come as a shock for those that suspected it was a cat hanging from a ceiling fan.

So where is this all going? This week I discovered Bud.tv and the Democracy player, which I believe shed some light onto where online video is, and isn't, headed.

Let's start with Bud.tv. As Burt Helm at Business Week pointed out, this site really racks up the "annoying points." Aside from bad content, which will kill even a well executed effort, the real problem with Bud.tv is the strategy behind the brand integration. This is a perfect example of how an old media attitude doesn't work in new media. By the time you've gotten to the actual content, you've already been through an unnecessary registration process and seen Budweiser branding for probably longer than your standard 30-second spot. Of course this doesn't stop the site from shoving a few more commercials down your throat. The 30-second spot really has no place in monetizing online video, unless it's central to the entertainment. Maybe over time Budweiser will shift some of that budget away from the commercials and into their content and give consumers a good online experience that is wrapped in the Budweiser brand.

On the other side of the spectrum, I also discovered the Democracy player through Steve Rubel's blog this past week. While not a content provider, the Democracy player gives you the best interface I've seen to date for aggregated video content. Not only can you add video podcasts very easily but you can download and view BitTorrent files in one app (the major networks and movie studios might not love that feature quite as much as me though). Playlist creation is so effortless that creating a solid hour of "programming" can be done in about a minute once you're subscribed to your favorite feeds. There are great sharing features too. All in all, I could see an app like this monopolizing huge amounts of consumer time online in the very near future. You fire up your Democracy player and load your playlist of the local weather report, Sportscenter highlights and Jon Stewart's interview from the night before and then you're out the door. Can a DVR technology do that?

Since I've been a skeptic on IPTV for a little while, I'm going to install this on my Mac (it's cross-platform) at home tonight and try to use this as my morning news source for a week or so. I'll circle back to report on how it goes.

Learning from others via social networks

2007-02-07T21:56:00Z

Just found this at Logic + Emotion "Does Social Media Participation Affect What You Do?"
I enjoy reading the comments I get and I enjoy debating on mine and others posts in order to explore all avenues of an idea, and often times I'll learn a great deal more from doing so.

DRM and Thought Leadership

2007-02-07T15:16:00Z

The idea of thought leadership and how to use the digital space to promote thought leadership around an issue has been coming up a lot recently with both existing clients and new prospects. Almost every brand has a larger social or industry issue that affects their business on a daily basis. Many companies shy away from some of the more hot button issues because they don't want to be associated with the negative side of the consumer or industry perception. Others jump into the issue but don't propose actionable solutions, which leaves them out of the ongoing conversation.

Taking all sides of the issue into account, yesterday Apple executed a fine example of a thought leadership initiative done right. Not only did Steve Jobs outline the problem in a very clear and concise manner that communicated the issue to both consumers and insiders but he also proposed a series of solutions with some hard numbers to back up his ideas.

Now I'm not saying that Steve Jobs is right - comparing selling music online to "DRM-free" CDs is a somewhat flawed argument on a few levels - but for the foreseeable future the ideas brought up in his open letter will be part of nearly every informed discussion on DRM. If a representative from EMI or Universal is interviewed about digital music in the next several weeks, you can bet that they'll be asked what they think of Steve Jobs solution to lift DRM. Likewise, if Microsoft or Sony are asked to defend their DRM practices, they will also be asked about interoperability and whether or not they would be willing to adopt Apple's FairPlay DRM system.

So why did this work so well? I think it came down to a few key components. First of all, the issue was identified early and they were the first major player to publish a firm stance, complete with actionable solutions to the problem. As I know from my friends in music licensing and from meeting with one of Apple's biggest competitors a couple weeks ago, the whole industry knew about this issue and that there would soon be pressure to drop DRM but no one was willing to stick their neck out. Secondly, they got the message out, whether directly or indirectly, to the key influential blogs (both on the consumer and tech side) that are really driving the DRM debate. I read about 15-20 music blogs a day and Jobs' letter was posted on 90% of them within 24 hours.

There's nothing overly technical or flashy about how this was executed - Apple posted the letter in plain text on their site - but the statement was published and the right kind of media was leveraged. Now the DRM debate isn't a faceless issue that only industry insiders and Slashdot readers understand. It has a face, a face in a signature black turtleneck listening to an iPod.

Not Your Daddy's Social Network...

2007-02-01T21:51:00Z

Launching just this past Thursday was FirstWivesWorld.com, an online community designed for and around divorced women. Currently the site features an array of blog posts from daily news to gossip to personal testimonials, and the first of many videos can be currently found on the site. The particular videos now posted describe the personal divorce experiences of two women’s in their own words, and being placed to music and very fluidly edited, the videos are very engaging.

As exciting as this launch is – showcasing the site in its current form – there is much development and growth that will come in the next few months as the site ramps up to the full social network launch in early May.

Webkinz; MySpace Second Life mashup for 6-11 year olds

2007-01-27T22:44:00Z

I just discovered these adorable little plush animals called Webkinz that seem to be attracting kids to the Internet in the droves. Each animal comes with their very own secret code that if typed into the Webkinz site will take kids to an online virtual version of their new pet.

Once online kids choose names for their virtual pets and dress them up and accesorize them, much like adults do with their Avatars. They're also given virtual homes where they must care for their pets and make sure they are fed and happy.

They are given a certain amount of virtual money to purchase food, clothes, furniture etc... But then they must compete in trivia games and other activities geared toward learning to earn more money to care for their pets.

They can also invite other virtual pets over to chat, although chatting consists of choosing phrases from a set list so everything remains kid friendly.

It has all the elements of a social community and virtual reality rolled into a PG package, plus an adorable plush animal for the real life.

Scantly Clad Models Locked a Hotel Room

2007-01-27T00:35:00Z

What am I referring to in the post title? Is it the what was on the box of the DVD in the room of that creepy frat guy at college? No. Oh, wait, sure ... it's the premise to the new slasher flick from Quentin Tarantino, isn't it? Nope.

I'm talking about the campaign launched by Diesel Jeans earlier this week. If you missed it, here's what happened:

Diesel put these three models in a hotel room starting a few days ago. There are live webcams, and - although the premise is really dumb (the two girls have taken over the Diesel website by kidnapping a company rep in order to become "famous") - the site traffic grew like crazy. Check out this graph from Alexa below.

The live video feed was cut today, on the fifth day of this charade (probably leaving a few really creepy, pasty looking guys crying). Besides the blatant sex appeal, the site drew from some very successful pages posted on YouTube and MySpace - along with a bunch of photos hosted on Flikr.com.

All in all though, it's a reminder that no matter how far communication technology advances, and no matter how large the blogosphere becomes, how engaging social networks get or how un-virtual our virtual reality grow to be, sex will always sell.

The darker side of digital technology; get paid for spying

2007-01-25T23:46:00Z

The other day on the train I overheard a girl gabbing away on the phone about her company, stuff that could get her fired if it got back to her employer. I was thinking how easy it would be to capture this on my phone and post it to YouTube, send it to the right people and that video could potentially really hurt her. - I would never do this of course but I thought of how people did this to celebreties all the time. Now with the increase of people who have this technology in their hands at all times I can see it potentially becoming a huge problem and I couldn't help but think of Orwell's 1984 and Big Brother.

So today I discover this Tech Crunch story. About a new site called Scooplive.com that pays people for video footage of celebrities behaving badly, btw I don't think it'll stop w/ celebrities.

Here's their blurb on the homepage "Something happens on your way to work, a famous movie star is cheating on his wife in your favorite night club? Don't hesitate anymore, take pictures with your camera phone, shoot videos and sell your scoops to journalists from all over the world. You will earn up to 85% of the sale price."

How horrible is this and where are we headed?