Mar
27

Your Brand & Business on Facebook: How Location Could Change the Future of Pages

by Feedback

Last week, Facebook teased out a few concepts and potential future policy changes, some of which were not even fully formed, in order to gauge reaction and presumably reduce public blowback whenever they do roll out. You can read the Facebook blog post by Facebook’s Deputy General Counsel (Michael Richter) here. Some of the changes were merely welcome tweaks, others far more significant tips of the hand for what’s coming.

There are some very big ideas, possibilities, and yes – alarm bells from a few of the announcements. Not the least of which was the possibility of sharing your data with select partners so when you leave Facebook, but visit a partner page that has Facebook integrated, that they could target ads to you. There’s a lot to chew on in that concept and if you can get past some of the more alarmist headlines you can try and see where they’re going with it. However, a single tip of the hand may signal how business owners and brand stewards may have their use of Pages dramatically changed in the future.

One of the more interesting nuggets came in a brief comment on Facebook’s location plans. Facebook has been open about exploring how geography intersects with the social graph and the possibility of creating their own check-in system or using existing ones such as Foursquare. Regardless of how they pull it off, the intention of the concept is becoming more clear, to the point of them admitting they’ve changed direction in how they would incorporate it:

The last time we updated the Privacy Policy, we included language describing a location feature we might build in the future. At that point, we thought the primary use would be to “add a location to something you post.” Now, we’ve got some different ideas that we think are even more exciting.

So, we’ve removed the old language and, instead added the concept of a “place” that could refer to a Page, such as one for a local restaurant. As we finalize the product, we look forward to providing more details, including new privacy controls.

Let’s explore that for a second and explain how that concept differs from what we currently see within Foursquare and Gowalla.

The assumption many (myself included) made when it came to Facebook getting into the check-in game was that its concern was purely focused on absorbing or controlling the user’s check-in habits and subsequently making this about user profiles (and possibly advertising interaction) and geographic location. One reason behind that is the relative slowness with which Facebook improves or changes the Facebook Pages experience – things just tend to happen first with the base user population, and then later features trickle to Pages.

But this statement signals something different entirely, suggesting that they have begun to think of check-in and Facebook’s role in it as a deliverer of nearby places. In other words, you are already a check-in fiend, what you really need is places to go, places nearby and places you may want to hear from later. Replace “places” with “Pages” and you begin to see what Facebook saw in their own system. Foursquare and Gowalla already connect with Facebook and therefore many users of those services already connect their location, even if they choose to not share it with friends, with the social network. What Facebook ostensibly realized was that with Pages they had an opportunity to leverage locations around a person. Set a Page as a single geographic location and suddenly you have markers on a map – virtual orange cones – that can be bumped into, seen nearby, “fanned” and whatnot.

What few have begun to ponder yet is how tying a single Facebook Page to a single location begins to radically change the foundation most businesses try to establish: Pages have typically been about Who and not Where. It’s easy to demonstrate, just think of the business with two offices – what location do you tie it to? Perhaps they will allow multiple “places” for a single Page, but I would not bet on that right out of the gate. Moreover, that would mean the experience would be limiting and not as geographically relevant or hyper-local (or less about community).

Pulling back to 30,000 feet, the frank assessment of where we are now is this: a brand has a Page. Rarely do we see the need (and at this moment most would always advise against it) to fracture a business into multiple Pages for several reasons, not the least of which is having to fracture your fan base or reveal how few fans might only feel an attachment to one location. We’ve been playing a power in numbers game.

While we’re talking about specifics of adding geo-location to Facebook, all we are truly doing is following the path we could see laid out a year ago as location became the next frontier for the social footprint. We’ve been saying for two years now that the user experience is becoming more about niche, and the most granular niche you can uniquely occupy is your physical location. It doesn’t take much to see how sites like Google could incorporate Facebook Pages into Maps, allowing you to browse Page content or become a fan from a coffee shop next door. Or how any geographically categorized list of Facebook Pages essentially becomes the Yellow Pages phone book of a new generation.

This new thinking, that a Page is a Place, creates interesting opportunities but does shift how businesses currently use Facebook. It means we will further refine our audiences and our messages. It means we may have to think in terms of general brand and specific location, building out new Pages for each location as necessary (and smart brands might want to start doing that sooner rather than later), building Pages for trade shows, consolidating Pages on Service and Product in order to focus on Place and more…

It means discussions had on our Pages will become even more localized and pertinent, which is a good thing. But for all of the potential it will mean businesses will have to pay more attention to Facebook. The garden we tend to is about to become bigger.

-Dean (@dbrowell)

Mar
12

Anna’s Social Media Picks of the Week (03/12/10)

by Feedback

Do you have time to search the web everyday to find the newest and coolest social media tools? If the answer is no, then you have come to the right place. (& if the answer is yes, leave a comment with your favorites). I have searched the World Wide Web for social media information all week, and stumbled upon a few favorites along the way.

Here are my picks of the week:

Location, Location, Location

Facebook & Location:

This Tuesday, it was announced that Facebook will soon be adding location-based features to their site. Starting next month, the 400+ million Facebook users will be able to start seeing the current locations of their friends. Facebook will be announcing more details at the f8 conference at the end of April.

Twitter & Location:

Twitter is also putting more weight on geolocation. This Tuesday, Twitter turned on geolocation on their website for the first time. Twitter’s geolocation feature has been live through its API since last November, but this is the first it’s being integrated into the main Twitter website.

Foursquare & Location:

Foursquare is also upping their location-based app this week. They’ve revamped their iPhone app, announced new analytics tools for businesses, and has had their biggest check-in day ever. As foursquare tweeted on Thursday, “today is officially @Foursquare’s biggest day ever, Broke 275k checkins hours ago. Wow.”

Google App Marketplace:

This week, Google launched a new app store called Google App Marketplace. This new online store allows you to find, purchase, and use web-based applications easily through Google, and it allows developers to sell software directly to Google’s customers. View this video to learn more: http://bit.ly/99ZEVE

SXSW:

Today marks the kickoff of South By Southwest, a conference/festival in Texas that mixes interactive, music, and film. The interactive portion starts today and goes through March 16th. For those of you heading to SXSW, Mashable has The Complete Social Media Guide for SXSW 2010. For those of you not heading to Texas, you may want to check out your favorite social media sites this weekend to get the latest news and updates.

-Anna (@alucas9)

Jan
29

Anna’s Social Media Picks of the Week (01/29/10)

by Feedback

Do you have time to search the web everyday to find the newest and coolest social media tools? If the answer is no, then you have come to the right place (and if the answer is yes, leave a comment with your favorites). I have searched the World Wide Web for social media information all week, and stumbled upon a few favorites along the way. Here are my picks of the week:

iPad:

On Wednesday, Apple had their much anticipated press conference, where Steve Jobs introduced apple’s latest product, the iPad. Here’s the facts:

  • 9.7 inch display
  • Runs iPhone apps
  • Can be used as an eReader
  • Holds music, photos, and movies
  • Has Wi-Fi capabilities
  • Comes in 3 different memory sizes
  • Starts at $499

The verdict? Well, according to Twitter, it’s split down the middle. A study from Trendrr revealed that 48% of tweeters reacted positively to the iPad unveiling & 52% did not.

Twitter’s Local Trends:

After a test roll out last week, Twitter has finally made local trends available to all. As of now, everyone can view trending topics for 15 different cities and 6 different countries. So, if you want to see real time results of what’s trending in D.C., or even Brazil, now you can. Worldwide trending is still available, and Twitter is working to get more locations added to the list.  Learn more from Twitter’s Blog spot here.

The Facebook Friend Study:

An interesting study documented this week says our brains can’t keep up with the amount of friends we have on Facebook. It’s similar to a study done in the 1990’s known as Dunbar’s number, which concluded that the human brain is only capable of managing friendships with 150 people. The study is now in the process of being done again, and this time it’s taking online relationships into account, such a Facebook friends. The preliminary findings are out, and the interesting thing is that it appears nothing has changed…our brains are still only capable of maintaining 150 relationships- be it online or offline.

Data Privacy Day:

Yesterday, January 28, 2010, was International Data Privacy Day. Data Privacy Day is a day used to raise awareness and promote online privacy education. Many social media publications “celebrated” by providing a bit of privacy education. AllFacebook has an article on the 5 Facebook Privacy Tips You Need To Know Now, Wired has an article discussing the necessity of safe passwords, and a ReadWriteWeb wrote an article on some of the issues with privacy online.

LinkedIn’s Connection Browsing Updates:

It was announced this week that LinkedIn will soon be rolling out new ways to browse connections. LinkedIn is adding a panel that makes it easier to browse contacts by location, company, or industry. The social networking site  is also tagging connections with keywords, such as “colleague”, “classmate”, and “friend,” and has added an option to browse by recent activity.

-Anna (@alucas9)

Dec
28

Social Media In Richmond: A Story of the Year?

by Feedback

My suggestion for Richmond BizSense’s stories-of-the-year:

I think I’d have to say that there are some obvious Richmond-related stories of the year (recession, Flying Squirrels, Ukrops, blizzard) but I would be remiss not to point out that 2009 was the year that social media really conquered Richmond. Not meaning just social media “gurus” squeezing tightly around the tactics, but a true floodgate open of the average consumer, non-profits and small to large businesses hitting the ground running. So much so that every one of your likely year-end events has a traceable footprint in social media due to the buzz or bust the news created or the ineptness of some to respond quickly or appropriately to the activity. It mirrored an adoption rate (in the public sense) of the rest of the country, but Richmond, as always, tends to do things its own way and at its own pace. Consider that one of the most surprising and swiftly-large, multi-generational Richmond groups is the brand-new Social Media Club of Richmond (SMCRVA) who routinely sells out their excellent events despite having come into existence seemingly out of thin air, even before Ashton Kutcher and Oprah put their hands in social media.

Even though this is coming from me, I don’t mean for this to be an all-glowing, positive take on social media as a story-of-the-year. Social media is what it is, defined by the online community and real-life cultures it reflects. Richmond learned some lessons this year in its embrace, but the starkest one was clear: this is a medium run by the people. Businesses of all shapes are just guests. As I tell those I teach for the Virginia Department of Business Assistance or the day-long workshops at University of Richmond’s Institute on Philanthropy (two types of classes that show you the reach of emerging media in Richmond): make sure you listen first before you get into this space at all, because the party has already started. We don’t own the house where the party’s at, and nobody needs us to get to or from the event. In 2009 the party was joined by such a massive amount of Richmond in some way, from a surge of LinkedIn and Facebook joiners to individual restaurants within hotels being on Twitter, that it certainly warrants its place at the table among any other respected medium for our region — like it or not.

-Dean (@dbrowell)