Post Election Facebook Status Updates

This past Tuesday marked a historical moment in all of American history. Senator Barack Obama won the race for the 2008 President Elect position. Chances are if you took a peek at your Facebook friends' status updates post election you may have encountered some surprising responses. I know in my news feed I saw a number of anti-Obama comments like "oh no, the socialist won - time to move to Canada or Europe" and that's no where near the worst of it.

We've been discussing the campaigns, the candidates, and the election in every one of our classes to the point that many of us are tired of hearing about it but people are still going to have things to say. Facebook is a place where people know they can sound off. I do feel as though everyone should have the right to voice their opinions whether it be via their Facebook or elsewhere. I found this editorial on Jezebel which brings up some interesting points on the aftermath of post election facebook status updates.

Status updates, the Facebook method of broadcasting one's thoughts or mood out to the world, became filled with hateful rhetoric, putting some Facebook users in an incredibly awkward position: "Do I de-friend this person?" "Do I engage this person?" And perhaps the most puzzling question of all, "How did I become friends with this person in the first place?"

- hortense of Jezebel

So what's a Facebook friend to do? If you really feel so inclined to de-friend someone because their political views may not match up to yours, then do so. But if not, just realize that all social media is an open forum for people of all different ways of thinking to interact and join in on the conversation, especially of such important issues as our next President.

Growing Up Online Discussion Panel Podcast

In class, we recently viewed the PBS Frontline documentary 'Growing Up Online'. Enjoy this panel discussion featuring three classmates (Wiltson, Ceci, and Shannon) and myself discussing the generational differences between the way we use social media (Generation Y) and the way the younger kids (Generation Z/C) are using it. Mind you, this is our first attempt at podcasting ever, so be nice! It was overall a great learning experience. Hope you enjoy the show!

Show notes can be found below.

The Social Media Syndicate - Episode 1 (click to listen to podcast)

:05 – Intro

:26 – Welcome

:41 – Panel Self Introductions

1:23 – The Hot Topic

1:33 – Shannon discusses generation definitions.

1:58 – Shannon asks panel: "What tools do you guys consider to be important in looking at the diferrences between how our generation, Gen Y, and the new generation, Gen Z/C, use the Internet tools?"

2:09 – Ceci discusses YouTube

3:42 – Wiltson discusses Facebook

5:21 – Christine discusses MySpace

6:04 – Shannon weighs in on Facebook and MySpace

6:22 – Wiltson responds

6:46 – Shannon discusses cell phones and SMS (text) messaging

8:16 – Wiltson weighs in on texting

8:49 – Ceci discusses Second Life

10:35 – Shannon responds

11:22 – Wiltson responds

12:09 – Closing

12:20 – Outro

SocialVibe: Social Media Helps Give Back

SocialVibe, recently founded in 2007, is a new type of social media tool that is taking people and their online activity to the next level. Already with 160,000 members and counting, SocialVibe is all about giving back. The company understands the huge influence users can have online and are now giving people the opportunity to help causes that they are passionate about.

"SocialVibe is a new social media platform that facilitates interaction between people, the brands they love and the causes they care about. SocialVibe recognizes the influence people have online and has created an easy way for people to use their influence for social good. Social media advertising opportunities are plentiful, however SocialVibe's unique platform empowers communities of real people to make a real difference. With SocialVibe, people enhance their online experiences by getting sponsored by brands to support the causes they believe in."

- SocialVibe website

Broken down to three simple steps, here's how it works:

1. Select your favorite cause to support.
2. Choose a sponsor & post your badge to your social profiles. (MySpace, Facebook, blogs, websites, etc.)
3. Earn points for donations to charity and perks.

Once you earn points they are then turned into funds for the charitable cause of their choice. Basically, users are advertising their sponsors for a good cause on their social networking sites. Some of the sponsors featured on SocialVibe include Apple, Colgate, Gibson, and Billabong. Examples of some of the causes featured are To Write Love On Her Arms, Stand Up To Cancer, World Wildlife Fund, and Invisible Children. Currently, an impressive $20,395 has been raised by 30,731 supports for TWLOHA.

I think the SocialVibe is a great concept! People can put all that time and effort they put into their MySpace pages to good use by supporting and help earning money for a cause they are really into. SocialVibe has the potential of really catching on and making a difference in the world. This is another great example of the positive effects of social media.

Would you consider joining in on SocialVibe and posting a badge in support of the cause of your choice? What do you think about this new type of social media and what they are trying to accomplish?

Facebook Responds

Looks like Mark Zuckerberg, and the rest of the folks at Facebook, are listening to its users. Zuckerberg just started an official Facebook group to get the option between the two platforms of Facebook (new and old).

After a long hard decision I, Mark Zuckerberg, will bring back the option of New and Old Facebook if 10 million people (which is less than one-tenth of the current active users) join this group/petitioning spot. The reason I am making this group is because I would like to see how many people would really like the choice of the old Facebook. I wanted to make this group in Facebook because it globalizes your opinion with not only words but statistics (which my co-workers and I can examine closely).

If you would like the option to choose between the new and old Facebook please raise your opinion and join this group. Your membership will not be overlooked but closely examined. Thank you for your time.

As of now the wall and discussions etc will be taken off, later they might be added.


Thanks,
Mark Zuckerberg

Join the group and pass it along! [Update 6:07PM: Group has been taken offline.]

This is a great example of the efforts of people, through social media, demanding and getting a response. Like we talked about in class, this is about starting a conversation and responding to the public. Stay tuned to see what happens next!

The Best Corporate Blogs

During our last class, we talked about a number of corporations that blog. Amongst these, were SouthWest Airlines, Whole Foods, and Wal-Mart. Majority of our discussion on these companies and their blogs was negative so I was just curious as to who is really doing a good job at blogging for their company and receiving the most hits.

Thanks to the world's best creation ever, Google, I was able to find a great list compiled by Mario Sundar for his wordpress blog, Marketing Nirvana. He used Technorati Authority to come up with his findings.

Here's the list of the 15 Most Popular Blogs as of May 2008.

#15. Boeing - Authority: 67

#14. Monster - Authority: 73

#13. Kodak - Authority: 105

#12. Delta - Authority: 252

#11. Yahoo! - Authority: 297

#10. General Motors - Authority: 364

#9. Ask - Authority: 364

#8. LinkedIn - Authority: 591

#7. Digg - Authority: 641

#6. Dell - Authority: 799

#5. Yahoo! Search - Authority: 1130

#4. Facebook - Authority: 1478

#3. Flickr - Authority: 1744

#2. Adobe - Authority: 1797

#1. Google - Authority: 8492

Not a shocker to see Google at #1!

Are you surprised by any of the placements on this list?

Down with the new, bring back the old!

The social networking giant, Facebook, has recently changed their platform to the "new" Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg, one of the Facebook founders, posted yesterday on the official Facebook blog that "almost all 100 million people around the world on Facebook are using the new design." Wow, that's a lot of people.

So what's the verdict? Are people into the changes that Facebook has made? All signs point to... NO. A number of Facebook groups have sprung up in response to the unwanted change. Below are just two examples of these groups:

• 5,000,000 against the new version of Facebook - 1,121,409 members

• I Hate The New Facebook (www.new.facebook.com) - 1,341,439 members

These groups are not going unheard! News sources all over the world, such as the Australian Herald Sun and Forbes, have picked up on these stories. Obviously, majority of Facebook users want the old, simple, familiar version of Facebook back that we all have come to know and love.

But will Facebook listen to its displeased members or will it choose to ignore the millions that are not happy with the new format? How do you feel about the "new" Facebook? Would you rather have the option between the two platforms?