MOVIES, TV SHOWS, E BOOKS

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Facebook Gets Plus-Like Privacy Controls

Despite Google’s “innocent” entry into the realm of social networking at the end of June, it quickly became apparent that Google+ was a legitimate competitor for Facebook. Plus immediately received acclaim for its improved privacy and sharing controls (Circles), its video conferencing feature (Hangouts), and its group messaging service (Huddle). But Facebook has a big lead and an experienced team at the helm. It’s hardly a surprise that Facebook’s response has been to mimic the improvements introduced by Google+.

How exactly has Facebook been playing doppelganger? For one, Facebook recently announced a partnership with Skype to offer video chatting, a feature that – while not as extensive and open-ended as Google’s version – makes a clear tit-for-tat step against Google’s most praised element. Additionally, Facebook recently purchased a mobile group-messaging service, indicating that Facebook will be releasing its own “Huddle” in the not-so-distant future. Most recently, and most visibly, however, Facebook has released privacy controls that look surprisingly similar to those of Google+.

How similar? Bradley Horowitz, the VP of Google+, was interviewed the day of the release, and called the new features “Familiar.” He further stated, however, that he and his team at Google were excited to see Facebook making choices that improved user experience. That user experience has been improved in a few key ways:

You will now see privacy controls in-line with your posts, images, and other content. For the time being, this determines if you’re showing the message to friends or the public, but Facebook also indicated that they would be integrating it with Facebook “groups” in the future.
You will now be able to see your profile as others see it through a “view profile as” button found on your profile page.
You will now be asked to review and approve all tags on messages, images, and other content prior to that content being posted to your profile. You can also request that the content be removed from Facebook entirely.
You can now manipulate your privacy settings on posts after publication.
It’s not easier to remove tags from posts and other content after publication.

Most users have responded by calling Facebook’s moves great ideas, while still acknowledging that they’re fairly obvious attempts to show up Google+. At the very least, it seems that Google+ is serving as a call to action for the long-ruling Facebook.

[Sources include: The Facebook Blog]

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Nokia Slams Apple Again

Nokia has not pulled its punches with Apple in the past, buying AdWords that have reached straight for the heart of Apple fanboys. Yesterday, photos of Nokia poster ads made their rounds on the internet. Today, we examine the efficacy of these ads.

The backstory of the iPhone unlocking conflict is well-known by now: Apple threatened that any iPhones with third-party apps installed would be bricked with the next update. And although some users are reporting that the bricking mechanisms have been circumvented, many have taken to the internet with metaphorical pitchforks and torches to flay Apple for its apparently blatant disregard of its most fervent customers.

When Apple dropped the price of its iPhone, Nokia responded glibly and effectively. Now comes word that Nokia is playing up the versatility and compatibility of its own phone in what can only be construed as a direct attack against Apple. I really enjoy these advertisements for the following reasons:

Simplicity - The ads aren't gaudy. They don't have a list of Nokia features. They don't even explicitly identify Apple. Just some white text on a black background, leaving the reader to conjure up all the emotions and associations herself. The worst that can be said about the ads is that there is an air of smugness about them, but it's also an amusing and clever air.

Topicality - Although the "Steve Jobs vs. iPhone hackers" war has been brewing for some time now, it wasn't really until this past week that news of the threatened firmware update really spread. Nokia was able to get these ads out just in time for them to have an impact on the Apple fans whose phones are now in lockdown mode.

Taking Advantage of Weakness - Support for Apple has been waning in recent weeks, due to arguable missteps in its public relations and marketing. These ads seize on this unique opportunity and try to play up Nokia's advantages while emphasizing Apple's shortcomings.

Most importantly, Nokia got tons of free publicity on Digg and Reddit, not to mention several prominent blogs, for its efforts. This was a well-placed, well-done, low-cost advertising campaign that exploded onto the internet and reached exactly who Nokia wanted it to reach. Well-played.

How Not To Inspire Confidence In Your Customers

When you're a Web 2.0 startup, it's difficult to build your customer base and fight for legitimacy in the face of more established, entrenched tech companies. But there are certainly things you can avoid to make things easier for yourself.

Recently, a company/service called BlogRush launched to lots of buzz on the internet, not all of it positive. On its face, BlogRush seems like a great way to drive traffic to your website: You display other people's links in a widget on your blog and in return, get your articles displayed on other people's websites. Despite almost unbelievable hype, many blogs have been skeptical about the company's potential.

Although I don't personally use BlogRush, a friend of mine does and he recently forwarded me an e-mail from their president, John Reese. Before I continue, let me just say that Reese is apparently a well-known marketing personality and clearly has shown significant initiative in starting a company like BlogRush, not to mention his other ventures. Nonetheless, his e-mail isn't exactly a confidence-booster in the company. Here is an excerpt, preserved exactly as Reese wrote it:

ARE YOU READY? Because *everything* is about to change. Forget everything else up until now...
PREPARE FOR *BIG* CHANGES! (TWO MAJOR CHANGES ARE NOW LIVE.)

BlogRush CAN'T EXIST if we're not sending you a lot of ongoing,
targeted traffic. We fully recognize this and that's why this is our
ONLY FOCUS.

The BlogRush team has been hard at work making major improvements for
you and we won't rest until BlogRush is running 100% smoothly and
sending you tons of targeted traffic! This is OUR MISSION. Please
know that our entire team is working around-the-clock to make
improvements and fix any problems AS FAST AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE.

Without even reading the text, you can see that the bombastic capital letters are striking, in a bad way. For a company trying to break out of the gate, with users potentially already doubting the product's utility, having your e-mail read like that of a high school student might not be the best strategy.

When you have customers or users, your best bet is to play it safe in your communications. Make your e-mails sound professional, like you're communicating with your boss, a colleague, or even a potential employer. Eliminate all the typos in your text and keep colloquial idioms to a minimum. It might be boring, but people aren't reading your e-mails to be entertained; they're reading because they want information about your company and your product, and to know that you're heading in the right direction. Do your best to inspire their confidence, not their laughter.