A couple of months ago, Facebook’s marketing director, Randi Zuckerberg, expressed her  view in a Marie Claire roundtable discussion that there should be an end to internet anonymity. This sparked off some debate on this issue.The nature of the internet allows one to hide behind the cloak of anonymity fairly easy, thus seeming to facilitate more honest discussions and encourage one to express true opinions behind an avatar or username.

However, I believe there is a need for true authenticity on the internet, in order for one’s opinions and views to be trusted or respected. If one does not dare back up one’s statements by revealing one’s identity online, it would be hard to establish a relationship of trust with readers. An anonymous person can say anything, but not have to deal with the fall out if that statement is bad advice or an insult. Allowing readers to trace information you put out back to you, makes you ultimately responsible and accountable for the things that you say online.While this may sound scary, it also adds credibility to your profile.

Readers know that you are putting your reputation on the line with the things you say, and hence you would be more believable to them. Also, revealing one’s identity automatically induces a person to make statements more responsibly, and serves as a form of preventing irresponsible comments online that could cause harm to another in some form.

As with all things in life however, there are some extenuating circumstances where I believe it is fine to hide a person’s identity, for instance, if that person’s life would be in danger if they openly declared who they were due to political and other reasons.  In general though, I do tend to agree that there should be an end to anonymity on the internet.  Besides, it would be a great way to build one’s personal brand!

With an impending massive IPO, and recent news that the company is opening a recruiting office in New York City, it is clear that Facebook is preparing itself for massive growth. In fact, it was reported on Saturday that Facebook bought Gowalla, the lesser-known competitor to Foursquare. In a move reminiscent of several acquisitions by Google, Facebook seems more interested in the talent than the product. Facebook will transplant Gowalla’s team to their Palo Alto offices and has assigned them to work on Timeline, a feature that will roll out to all users soon.

This got me thinking. If Facebook is about to go public (and apparently for a pretty penny) they can afford to purchase more companies, be it for their product or the people behind it. Below is a list of three firms that I think Facebook should acquire:

Stamped

Stamped describes itself as a “new way to recommend only what you like best — restaurants, books, movies, music and more.” What differentiates this product is that recommendations come from your friends, unlike services like Yelp that aggregate reviews from people you probably don’t know. In today’s world of word-of-mouth domination, Stamped has figured out how to serve reviews that actually matter because they come from people you know and trust. The only problem with the service is that barely anyone is using it. Stamped could gain a lot from Facebook’s user graph, and Facebook could gain a lot from Stamped’s unique positioning. Plus, I’m guessing Stamped doesn’t have too big of a price tag right now since it is fairly new.

Ning

Ning allows users to create custom social networks. You can create a network for “tennis lovers,” “Harry Potter fans” or anything you can dream up. You then have the ability to add pictures, videos, blogs, discussions, etc. Sound familiar? Yeah, exactly – it’s basically a site that lets you create Facebook groups outside of Facebook. I say, buy them up and put them to work on enhancing the current Facebook groups (which to me, are starting to feel a little stale and annoying.) The kicker? Ning’s offices are currently in Palo Alto, in Facebook’s old office space. They’d only have to move down the street!

 Bizzy

This one is a little different. Bizzy closed down about a month ago, after years of trying to differentiate itself from Foursquare and Yelp. Bizzy’s objective was to recommend restaurants that you would like based on your past eating behavior. They encouraged you to “check-in with Foursquare, and check-out with Bizzy” leaving a review of the restaurant you just visited. Sure, the idea itself might not be that different. The reason I’m including Bizzy is that the team behind the product was fantastic. Any time I was in a new city, I could simply tweet “I’m in Chicago and I want thai food” and immediately, one of their Community Managers would try to help me. Since they recently closed down, I’m guessing some of their employees are looking for work, so I think Facebook should give them a call.

What other firms do you think Facebook should buy as they continue to expand?

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Twitter was full of it last thursday, the new Samsung Galaxy SII ad. It premiered Thursday on Facebook and then on TV in the USA (mashable.com).

View it here

Obviously, this advertisement is focused on the iPhone 4S. Samsung takes it out on the Apple hype in order to promote their new phone: the Galaxy SII. The ad simulates the lines before launching the iPhone 4S.

A few interesting messages are communicated with this ad. First of all, it insists that all Apple fans or iPhone buyers are idiots. The casting and the way they talk show that they don’t really care about the product features, they just love the brand and follow it wherever it goes. Even if the battery is not that good, (the quote in the ad “Blogs are saying the battery looks sketchy”) or the fact that the phone looks the same. Those are no reasons to switch between brands for these Apple fans. Furthermore, it insists that it is not normal to stand that long in line for almost the same phone. Especially this line “If it looks the same, how would people know I upgraded” caught my attention. So, Samsung suggest that the iPhone is only used to show of.

Instead of taking it out on Apple, I would prefer Samsung showing more why their Galaxy SII is better, faster, etc. rather than showing that all iPhone users are idiots. When promoting a new product, focusing on competition rather than on your own products shows, in my eyes, weakness. Why doesn’t Samsung creates a hype for their phone, and generates that many fans who will stand in line for hours. I never saw such hype when Samsung launched their new phone!

With this ad, I have no idea why the SII is better than the iPhone, so why should I buy it? I can image that Apple laughs at this advertisement; it is exactly what they want. The Galaxy’s features are better than the iPhone, but instead of showing that, this parody it still focuses on the iPhone.

At Apple, they absolutely believe that their phone is the next thing; they believe it challenges the status quo. They love their products and show that with advertisement.

In my opinion, Samsung’s message with this ad is: “you’re an idiot when you buy an iPhone, nobody should stand in line for an half updated phone with a sketchy battery. Oh, and by the way, our Galaxy SII is amazing, why? Cause it is faster, thinner and has a bigger screen than the iPhone”

Rather than that message, I would prefer Samsung saying: “We at Samsung made this amazing phone, we believe this phone is absolutely great and really is the next thing. We created an ever-bigger screen, it is thinner and the interface is better. That is why you should by an Samsung Galaxy SII”

I have to say that the line in the ad (at 0:40) “I could never get a Samsung, I’m creative. –Dude you are a barista” really made me laugh. Samsung did make a funny commercial out of it and their humorous approach is risky but cool.

I don’t like the message that Samsung communicates with this parody. For me, it feels like a spoiled schoolboy who is jealous on the smartest kid in the class, and that is why he makes fun of him.

Have you heard of Pinterest yet? It is without a doubt the “hot website” of the moment. TechCrunch recently reported that the site’s traffic has grown 2000% percent since June, and now receives more page views than Etsy. The site is in Beta, and only allowing new users in through invite, but you can request an invite from their homepage or from a friend with an account.

What exactly is Pinterest?

Pinterest is a virtual pin board of your interests. When you are on a website and see a picture you like, you “pin” it to one of your boards. These boards are organized into categories of your choice, like fashion, food, art, etc. Users can follow each other, as well. One great element of Pinterest is that you can follow one board from a user, or all of their boards. You control what you see on the site. Simply put, Pinterest is a lot of pretty pictures organized neatly.

Anyone can have fun on Pinterest, but the visual nature of the site lends itself well to people in particular fields. Those trying to find a job as a graphic designer can display their work for others to find. A student applying to a school’s fashion program can upload their sketches or designs to Pinterest and then send it as a supplement to their portfolio.

Brands on Pinterest

Any site with a growing number of users will attract attention from brands, and Pinterest is no exception. Companies are flocking to the hot site in an effort to get their products pinned. Again, the visual nature of the site is making it easier for some brands over others. One great example of a corporate page is from luxury retailer Bergdorf Goodman. They have boards organized by trend, like florals or lace. They have a board for designer Tom Ford, showing that they might expand into more designer-specific boards. They even have boards dedicated to individual colors, if you happen to look better in red.

Brands outside the fashion and design industries are also utilizing Pinterest, but they are doing more than pushing products. Klout, the social influence analytics company, uses their boards to give a behind-the-scenes look into their office. You can see what costumes their employees wore to the office Halloween party, or see a picture of the company’s two founders facing off against each other in a ping-pong match. (It appears as if Klout even works once in a while, as some of their photos show their engineers concentrated on a laptop screen.)

The future of Pinterest

Sure, Pinterest is growing now. It’s attracting a lot of attention and generating a lot of buzz. But as with other sites, excitement will level-off at some point. What can Pinterest do to maintain growth? One thought I have is that they should integrate with more visual networks. Currently, they only allow you to share your pins with Twitter or Facebook. If they partnered with Tumblr or Instagram, they would probably get more appropriate, involved users.

What are your thoughts on Pinterest? What can they do to grow?

Gamification has been a popular term nowadays. From 2010 to 2016, the spent on gamification is expected to grow from $100 million to $2.8 billion (Los Angeles, 2011), and the average growth for gamification over the next two years is also said to be 150% (Bunchball, 2011). Indeed, almost everyone enjoys playing games, and if brands can make their campaigns a lot of fun, it will certainly appeal to more prospects who might potentially become future customers.

During the Internet Week Europe in London, I attended one of the workshops “Gamification and Game Design” organized by PlayGen. The key points are listed below:

When talking about gaming, AAA titles such as the famous “Call of Duty” or Fallout series might first come to our mind, but do you know that actually everything can be turned into a game? According to PlayGen, gamification is actually simply 10% game design plus 90% psychology, and the most important thing to motivate human behaviour. That’s why a simple game like “Angry Birds” without great graphics can achieve such a huge success.

In fact, many big brands have adopted gamification to communicate with consumers, like Microsoft’s Be Ribbon Hero, Adobe’s LevelUp for Photoshop, and Volkswagen’s Speed Camera Lottery.

Another example is website platform DevHub, which lets users earn points to add new elements to their site. The more content users explore, the more they get access to use in making tailored sites. As a result, users’ actions before logging out increased from 4 to 12, the percentage of people posting to their blogs increased from 7% to 15%, and purchases per active user also increased over a number of months.

So, how do we design a game that can engage consumers? The following steps might be helpful:

1. Define the motivation

The motivations can include free, instant gratification, loyalty, mastery, meaning, ownership, power, and winning (according to statistics, only 2% of people are not eager to win.)

2. Define the victory conditions

It can be goals & objectives, checkpoint, elimination, race, territory, and control for example.

3. Set the rules for your game

They can be difficulty, levels, reward, time, resource management, points, and turns

4. Make your game social

What’s more, some social elements can be added to your game with mechanism such as achievement, currency, customization, communal collaboration, gifting, leaderboard, social points, social status, and virtual goods.

Applying these tips, then you should be able to design an interesting game with any topics in mind. However, do avoid to use gamification in the wrong scenario, where efficiency and simplicity are needed. Besides, remember to keep content updated through the new user-centric social analysis. When necessary, the exit strategy is as important as entrance strategy.

Have you created your own game? Why not trying to design one now to see how addictive it can be? It’s time to level up!

Source: PlayGen

Social networks development on Internet offers new ways of information and communication, an also a new area for cooperation and interaction. But, can art and creativity be part of these new platforms of global communication?

Some people consider that the new reality of social media prevent the artistic expression due to the limitation of use and restrictions using images and text. However the reality seems very different as many people are using social networks developing new ways of expressing themselves through these sites and being creative.

Social networks as Facebook and Twitter allow people to comment, like things, inspire and collaborate; and today, more videos and photographs are shared than never before. These, if not considered “art” by some, are definitely creative ways of communication.

An important number of artists are going a bit further including social networks as part of their creative projects.

One of the last artistic projects linked with social networks I have seen, is the one denominated “Tweed life project”, where the design and trends magazine “Wallpaper” called its twitter followers to meet in a studio at Christie’s Multiplied Contemporary Editions fair to be photographed by portraitist Chris Floyd. People with different ages and backgrounds participated, and the result was an inspiring collection of 140 black and white portraits, as the 140 characters used on twitter. The project takes its cue from Floyd’s “One hundred and Forty Characters” series, for which he met and photographed his own Twitter connections last year.

During these years, the art world has naturally gone into digital either for business, communication, networking or creativity. What will be the next step?

Snappify (yes, like spotify) is a company that converts PDF files towards apps.The content is directly translated towards the application and is ready in 24 hours. PDFs become applications and your file is readable and browsable in the app. Especially for ‘heavy’ PDFs with a lot of high-resolution pictures this is ideal. The company is a start-up and targets publishers and other content creators.

Looking at newspapers and traditional news proving this is exactly what happens. Their content is offline and directly translated towards an application. So, instead of reading the paper you are now holding your tablet and read exactly the same. In this way, newspapers don’t take the possibilities of tablets.  The only point they catch is the fact tablets are more convenient than papers. However, they are missing the main advantages of those tablets. There is no integration of other media like videos, moving pictures and ‘live content’. When reading about news, I want to browse in the pictures and watch videos about it. When reading a review of a soccer match, I want to see the goals on my tablet, see the line up and details of the match. On tablets, headlines can show more than one pictures. Offering videos and quotes, all directly accessible within the tablet app, can support the text. Interactive infographics can offer newspapers possibilities that are so engaging and really make a difference between paper and tablet versions. In this way, the pay wall newspapers are now applying for their online content can be justified.

Of course, all of this is directly shareable via social media, however, within those tablet applications social media can offer the possibility to directly target the author or friends. Twitter conversations, integrated tweet fountains (widget that shows all the tweets about a certain hashtag) can all benefit in creating real engagement between newsreaders.

The guardians’ new iPad app does take a brave attempt. Their app offers more than just the paper, and at some pages video is integrated and everything is directly share able. However, still there is not one newspaper that takes fully advantage of this technology and to go back to Snappify, the idea is great, however, instead of focussing on just converting PDF’s in apps, it should focus on converting PDF’s into interactive apps. So in this way, those apps take full advantage of tablets and really offer something different that just the PDF (or newspaper).

Gone is the age where a job applicant will pick up a newspaper, find a job they want, and then mail in a CV. Long gone. Not only are job postings moving to a completely digital format, but resumes are as well. Glassdor.com recently posted an article claiming that “the resume is dead.” The author equated your online profile to your new age resume. When you apply for a job, chances are the recruiter or hiring manager will Google you and scan through your online presence. What you’ve shared on Twitter, LinkedIn, or your blog can be significantly more important than what’s on your CV. But instead of taking a reactive approach by waiting for them to look you up, consider being proactive by pointing them in the right direction. Here are three ways you can create an online resume:

Pictures

“A picture is worth a thousand words” right? By creating a picture resume, you are giving yourself more room to be creative as well as showing more about yourself than you can with a two page paper resume. Sites like Vizualize.Me take your background and turn it into an info graphic that is easy on the eyes. This info graphic is then easily shared by embedding links or icons into all of your social profiles.

Videos

Sometimes even a picture is not enough, so take it to the next level and create a video. Recorded CVs are a fantastic opportunity for applicants to show who they are as well as what they can do. However, these types of resumes are not appropriate for all types of positions. If you are applying for a creative profession, or a PR role, then a video is a great way to get a recruiter’s attention. Before you dive in, check out these tips from Mashable on how to create a video resume.

 “Hire Me Campaigns”

The most time consuming, but probably the most exciting, way to apply for a job is by creating a full blown campaign on why you should be hired. Some applicants are so passionate about a specific job posting that they create blogs, videos, pictures, websites, Facebook pages, etc. with loads of content and try to get them to go viral. And sometimes, this technique has incredible results. In one case, Braden Young wanted to secure his dream job at Krispy Kreme donuts, so he created a unique Facebook page and Twitter handle to get noticed by the company. Just four hours after the pages went live he was contacted by Krispy Kreme, and three days later he was hired as their Sales & Marketing Manager.

 The most important thing to remember about these techniques is that the content still matters. You can create a flashy presentation, but you have to keep in mind that the recruiter is looking for specific skills and qualifications. Once you’ve gotten their attention with a picture, video, or campaign, really emphasize why you are right for the job.