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Ring in the New: Facebook Grows While HP Contemplates Huge Cuts

posted on May 18, 2012

We already know that Facebook and its 2,000 or so employees are about to hit the big time. If you haven’t heard you must live under the same rock as SpongeBob’s buddy, Patrick, does.

So rather than belabor an already over-reported “story” let’s do a quick comparison that today’s Facebook IPO brings to the forefront. Let’s just say this is a day when we may see the real changing of the guard in the world of ‘tech’.

I put tech in quotes because while many will claim Facebook is a tech company I will say that that idea is just plain wrong. Facebook is a media / publishing company that USES technology. It is a marketing vehicle. It is not going out and reselling technology solutions to people, it is going out and selling marketing solutions to people. As a result, Facebook is looking at a $100 billion valuation and many newly minted millionaires today.

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Twitter Admits Not Everyone Likes the Bieb and Offers Tailored Suggestions

posted on May 18, 2012

If you have ever signed up for a new Twitter account you have been ‘offered’ a list of suggested people to follow. Let’s just say that unless you intend to use Twitter for the most shallow and useless reasons (which, let’s face it, most do but I digress) that suggestion list is awful.

Well, six long years into this Twitter has admitted as much. As a result they are introducing tailored suggestions. The Twitter blog explains

Currently, when new users come to Twitter, we show them all almost the same suggestions for what or who to follow. That isn’t ideal. Since you have individual interests, you should get individual suggestions. After all, even though millions of people love Justin Bieber, FC Barcelona or Kim Kardashian, not everyone using Twitter may want to follow them.

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Postal Service Moves Ahead with Massive Closures

posted on May 17, 2012

“We simply do not have the mail volumes to justify the size and capacity of our current mail processing network.” And with that, the Postmaster General dropped the ax on 232 mail processing centers around the country.

We’ve seen it coming for awhile, but the Post Office is such a staple in our world that I don’t think any of us really expected to see it fail. Then again, think about all the things you don’t mail anymore. Letters to friends and family have become emails, ecards have taken the place of invitations and announcements. Bills have gone “green” and banks no longer mail statements. The only upticks come from online retailers but even they have options other than going Postal.

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Dish Network Risks Biting the Hands That Feed Them

posted on May 17, 2012

Dish Network is giving customers what they want — commercial free TV. The next sound you hear is that of network execs screaming.

The device that is causing all the ruckus is Dish’s Hopper, a DVR that allows you to automatically hop past all the commercials on a network TV show. You know, kind of like you already do with show’s you’ve recorded, only the Hopper does the work for you.

Understandably, the networks are furious. Commercials pay for the shows they produce. If networks don’t produce shows, then Dish Network wouldn’t have any content and they’d go out of business.

On the other hand, if Dish doesn’t keep their customers happy, they’ll go back to cable and again, Dish will go out of business.

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Twitter Allows Firefox Users A ‘Do Not Track’ Option

posted on May 17, 2012

Twitter may further separate itself from the social media crowd by doing something that some might think is anti-social media (at least from a business point of view). That something is allowing users to opt in to a ‘Do Not track’ mode when using the Firefox browser.

The New York Times Bits blog reports

It’s no secret that Facebook is worth about $100 billion because it collected personal data about its users. A lot of data.

Although Twitter tracks its users too — albeit in a much less aggressive way — the company has decided to take a different route. It announced Thursday that it is joining Mozilla, the maker of the Firefox Web browser, and giving its users the ability to opt-out of being tracked in any way through Twitter.

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Do Interactive Agencies Have A Bloated View of Their Capabilities?

posted on May 17, 2012

Is anyone really willing to admit that in the Internet marketing space the hype from agencies is far exceeding the reality at this point? I know it may be heretical to even imply this but I prefer to dabble in the truth rather than BS. In the Internet marketing space that point of view earns me the title of ‘contrarian’.

Well, I accept that title and look to results like those found by PulsePoint (reported by eMarketer) to further make the point. It appears that the agency side of the ledger sees their delivery capabilities in the three major areas of marketing as either ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ effective. Confidence is good I suppose but only if it’s based in reality. Otherwise it can be little more than salesmanship.

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CNBC Details How Americans Really Feel About Facebook

posted on May 16, 2012

How do you really feel about Facebook? Do you trust it? Would you give it your money? Is it fun? Is it safe? These are just a few of the questions asked in a recent AP-CNBC poll and the answers they got. . . well. . . they weren’t exactly surprising. But hey, we love data here so let’s take a look!

Who is on Facebook?

Facebook is a keeper for most of the US. 56% of all Americans have a Facebook page. 3 in 10 use it everyday with younger users visiting more often.

Those who don’t have a page, 35% say they have no interest or they have better things to do with their time. 22% stay away because they think it’s bad or not right for their age group.