Journal

To Magpie CEO Jan Schulz-Hofen

Dear Jan,

Firstly, I would like to offer my appreciation that your company Magpie is trying to give Twitter users a means to earn money. At a time of economic worry and uncertainty, any company that offers a passive income stream should be encouraged. Sadly, your model is flawed.

Your modus operandi is to pay Twitter users to allow third-party advertisements to go out via their Twitter stream. The default setting is that every fifth Tweet will be an advertisement. That’s a lot. Yes, you mention that Magpie users can change the default setting to a less frequent schedule, but then won’t that be less effective for those looking to earn revenue from your service? After all, less adverts=less money, no?

So, let’s say for arguments sake that people leave the default setting of every fifth post. That’s 20% of someone’s Twitter stream taken up with advertisements. Looking at some of the people I follow, that could be anywhere between 60 and 5,000 advertisements. Don’t you think that’s a bit excessive? And that’s just on the default setting – what if people went with the suggestion on your homepage and lowered the settings to every other Tweet so they could earn even more?

Where your model suffers again is that you seem to have missed the concept of Twitter altogether. I’m sure you must have carried out focus groups and various forms of research to see what social media site offers the best potential for Return on Investment (ROI). Yet did you actually look at how the service is used and by whom?

Twitter acts as a wonderful way to have a two-way conversation and interact with like-minded individuals. Yes, there is self-promotion as people recommend their latest blog post but that’s a very small part of the Twitter experience. This is where Magpie falls down.

The key word here is conversation. Not broadcast. Not advertising. Conversation.

Where does the Magpie model fall into the description of conversation? Simple – it doesn’t. By paying users of your service to Tweet on behalf of your advertisers, you’re forcing followers of these people to read your adverts. In other words, you’re broadcasting. This is perhaps your biggest error with the Magpie model.

Look around any social media-centric blog, website or even Tweet, and one thing that stands out loud and clear is that social media is all about the conversation.

Not the pitch. Not the shameless promotion. Certainly not the broadcast. If Twitter is about the conversation, and Magpie is all about the broadcast, can you see where the problem lies?

Perhaps where your biggest problem lies, though, is with the very people that will be using your service. While initially it will be beneficial to them as far as compensation goes, how long will this last?

Looking around Twitter conversations and the blogosphere, there is a lot of negativity towards Magpie’s business model.

Indeed, there is a groundswell that unwanted adverts could lead to people simply un-following Magpie broadcasters. This isn’t just a Magpie problem, in case you were thinking the negativity is unwarranted. I, and many like me, stop following people who shamelessly self-promote, because that’s not what we want from Twitter.

How many of your early adopters will continue to use the service if it means they are losing people they really want to connect with?

I know you’ve been following this conversation. My friend Lucretia M. Pruitt has started a very healthy debate at her blog and I noticed your comments there. It’s commendable that you’re taking the time to answer concerns – but unfortunately you’ve even failed here.

At no time have you offered an alternative to un-following someone. Maybe if you allowed the option to filter your ads out then there wouldn’t be such disillusionment with your service. But you can’t offer a filter, can you – if you do that, then who gets to see your adverts? And no company is going to pay you revenue to promote a product that doesn’t get seen.

As I said at the beginning, I do actually want to encourage any company that allows users of any service the chance to make extra income, especially with Christmas approaching. Sadly, I don’t think Magpie is the answer.

To use the Twitter message itself, “What are you doing?” – I don’t think the answer would be, “Buy your next car at Dealer X”. Do you?

Regards,

Danny Brown.

The 12 Days of Social Media Christmas

Yes, I know, there are still 5 weeks until Christmas. But it never stopped the malls and stores from hawking their wares back in August! Besides, it usually gets pretty hectic for me from hereon in so I figured I’d do this now before I either forget or don’t have time.

And who doesn’t like a nice Christmas song? So, without further ado, I give you the 12 Days of Social Media Christmas song. Enjoy.

On the first day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
The Twitter bird in a pear tree.

On the second day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Two Magpie tweets,
And the Twitter bird in a pear tree.

On the third day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Three Brogan blog posts,
Two Magpie tweets,
And the Twitter bird in a pear tree.

On the fourth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Four Facebook apps,
Three Brogan blog posts,
Two Magpie tweets,
And the Twitter bird in a pear tree.

On the fifth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Five brand new friends,
Four Facebook apps,
Three Brogan blog posts,
Two Magpie tweets,
And the Twitter bird in a pear tree.

On the sixth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Six BackType comments,
Five brand new friends,
Four Facebook apps,
Three Brogan blog posts,
Two Magpie tweets,
And the Twitter bird in a pear tree.

On the seventh day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Seven Scoble gadgets,
Six BackType comments,
Five brand new friends,
Four Facebook apps,
Three Brogan blog posts,
Two Magpie tweets,
And the Twitter bird in a pear tree.

On the eighth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Eight gains on Technorati,
Seven Scoble gadgets,
Six BackType comments,
Five brand new friends,
Four Facebook apps,
Three Brogan blog posts,
Two Magpie tweets,
And the Twitter bird in a pear tree.

On the ninth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Nine Yahoo Buzz ups,
Eight gains on Technorati,
Seven Scoble gadgets,
Six BackType comments,
Five brand new friends,
Four Facebook apps,
Three Brogan blog posts,
Two Magpie tweets,
And the Twitter bird in a pear tree.

On the tenth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Ten MySpace Tom’s a-leaping,
Nine Yahoo Buzz ups,
Eight gains on Technorati,
Seven Scoble gadgets,
Six BackType comments,
Five brand new friends,
Four Facebook apps,
Three Brogan blog posts,
Two Magpie tweets,
And the Twitter bird in a pear tree.

On the eleventh day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Eleven front page Diggs,
Ten MySpace Tom’s a-leaping,
Nine Yahoo Buzz ups,
Eight gains on Technorati,
Seven Scoble gadgets,
Six BackType comments,
Five brand new friends,
Four Facebook apps,
Three Brogan blog posts,
Two Magpie tweets,
And the Twitter bird in a pear tree.

On the twelfth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Twelve more SM months ahead,
Eleven front page Diggs,
Ten MySpace Tom’s a-leaping,
Nine Yahoo Buzz ups,
Eight gains on Technorati,
Seven Scoble gadgets,
Six BackType comments,
Five brand new friends,
Four Facebook apps,
Three Brogan blog posts,
Two Magpie tweets,
And the Twitter bird in a pear tree!

Happy (early) Social Media Christmas everyone!

Discussing Social Media with… Susan Murphy

A little while back, I sent out a request via Twitter asking if anyone would be interested in being interviewed for a discussion on social media. With the medium meaning so many different things to so many people, as well as how it can be used, I was interested to hear the views of the people I connect with.

My original plan was to run a ?round table? style of blog post – raise the questions and then have a mix of views as the responses. However, the answers I received back were all excellent, and showed why social media is the mix of interesting people and views that it is. So, I decided individual posts would be far more effective in an on-going series of interviews.

Sharing her views today is Susan Murphy, a partner at Jester Creative Inc., a new media production company based in Ottawa, Ontario (and a guest writer on this blog). My sincere thanks to Susan for taking the time to reply and share her views. To connect with Susan, or find out more about her, please visit her blog SuzeMuse.

If someone was to ask you for your definition of social media, what would it be?

I think that social media is one part of the realization of the original vision that Tim Berners-Lee had for the World Wide Web when he created it. Social media is worldwide network of human beings sharing information with one another. It?s people connecting, creating real relationships and opportunities out of those relationships for personal and professional growth.

What is your reason for using social media?

My real attachment to social media stems from my background in community access television. My involvement in community TV started when I was about 10 years old, working with my Dad at a local station he helped start in the small town where I grew up. It was no great surprise when my first job out of TV school was as a staff producer at a community station here in Ottawa.

What we were doing back then, in the 80?s and 90?s, was not unlike what?s going on in social media today. People giving of their own time to create great content. People reaching out and building communities and audiences around their creations.

My first taste of social media was in 2006, when on a total whim I attended Podcamp Toronto. There, I was fortunate to get to know Mark Blevis, Bob Goyetche, Chris Brogan and Christopher Penn. Their passion and commitment to sharing and to building communities really resonated with me. I learned more in 48 hours attending that one unconference than I had learned in the previous 8 years of being involved in web design. It opened my eyes wide and I haven?t looked back since.

Do you feel that social media is being used to its maximum effect?

If you think about how far we?ve come with social media in the past couple of years, we are definitely on the right track. There are still a lot of kinks to work out but I think that this community is by and far very solution oriented, and we?re working through the bugs and continuously moving forward.

As far as whether it?s being used to its maximum effect, I think that we are still living in a bubble when it comes to social media. I realize this every time I post something on my blog and my Mom (my biggest fan – she reads every post!) emails me wondering what a ?tweet? is, or an ?A lister?, or an ?unconference?. Getting over the insider terminology is a first step to bursting the bubble.

The next step is training and awareness, particularly at the community college level. The web designers and developers and PR and marketing people of tomorrow need to know what?s going on in here. And those of us inside the bubble have a responsibility to make sure they understand it.

What social media tools or applications do you use? Why these ones in particular?

All of them! Seriously, I am a power user of Twitter. I monitor my Twitter feed often and have met some of the most amazing people using that tool (including you!). I?ve gotten at least 3 new clients through Twitter and my followers have helped me out of a jam on more than one occasion. I also try to make a valuable contribution to the Twitterverse too, and I hope that I?m succeeding in that.

I am a moderate user of Facebook. I am one of the few who actually likes their new interface. I like that people can comment on status and other things right in the timeline. Makes it more conversational (and isn?t that what it?s all about?)

I am also on LinkedIn, though I don?t visit frequently enough and certainly don?t use the recommendation tools to their potential.

I use Google Reader and StumbleUpon extensively, and often share interesting blog posts that I come across through those tools.

My newest and most fascinating tool is BrightKite, which is a tool that allows you to poke in your current location then write notes or add photos. What I like about it is, it?s a step towards annotating the Web, which is a step towards the Semantic Web. It’s the next realization of what my hero, Tim Berners-Lee, was thinking when he created this whole WWW thing.

Where do you see the future of social media, both in general and for you?

As mentioned above, I see two things. First, I see the young people of today embracing this social Web and doing things with it that us 30 and 40-somethings would never dream of. I see that every day when I am in the classroom teaching these up and coming new media professionals.

Second, I see on the horizon the realization of the rest of Tim Berners-Lee?s vision of the Semantic Web ? a Web that is not just text on a screen, but a Web that is truly informed, that has the potential to impact every aspect of our lives. Imagine being able to bring enough people together and make enough real, human connections to end poverty. I think the Web of the future will be able to help us do that.

Are businesses effectively using social media? If not, what can they do to improve?

In our idealistic and bubble-sighted view, it would be great to say that businesses are effectively using social media. I think some businesses are being guided in the right direction, yes. But I think that in general, there are a lot of misconceptions about what social media is and how it really works. It?s a fundamental shift for businesses from the way they have traditionally done marketing and PR. It?s no longer about pushing ad copy down people?s throats. It?s about making real life, human-to-human connections. That scares a lot of people, because they think it will be a lot of work to reach out to every single one of their customers.

But that?s the beauty of social media. With one feeler in the right direction, you can touch many people at once. Businesses just need help and guidance to figure out how to overcome their apprehensions and take that step.

What do you feel are the best and worst features/uses of social media?

The best feature is absolutely the ability to connect with so many people. Not only have I met and become friends with and done business with people all over the world, I?ve met an outstanding community of people right here in my own city that I never would have otherwise gotten to know. It?s been life and career altering for me.

The worst feature is a tough one. I think, like any new medium, it causes panic. People start scrambling to the top, to try and make a fast buck, and end up stepping on a lot of toes on the way. As much as social media brings out the best in people, it sometimes brings out the worst in people too. It?s the nature of having such a wide-open place with so few restrictions.

However, what I?ve learned about this community is, the naysayers and jerks don?t last too long ? or at the very least they get put in their place.

You can find more ?Discussing Social Media with?? interviews here.

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Mashable Open Web Awards 2008 Online Voting Round 1 Now Open

After two weeks and over 43,000 nominations the Mashable Open Web Awards 2008 online voting round 1 is now open.

Looking at the names that have been nominated, there’s a good mix of new and underrated companies and applications as well as the usual suspects. For example, it’s nice to see the likes of Kiva in the non-profit category after a year when the micro-lending company really came into the online consciousness.

The first round of online voting for the Mashable awards will run from 9am PST today until 11.59pm PST on Sunday November 30. Once this initial round of votes are in, the final round of voting will begin on Wednesday December 3, with the winners announced on Tuesday December 16.

You can begin casting your vote via the round 1 voting form below.

If Pepsi Owned Twitter

After reading Darryl Parker’s blog on why Pepsi should buy Twitter earlier today, I linked to the post on Twitter itself and asked whether the soft drinks giant should indeed buy Twitter. There were some interesting responses that came back:

Going by these responses and others that came up, it’s obvious that this could be a serious consideration for Pepsi. In their battle against Coke, having a handle with social media users would be a huge asset. As long as they weren’t intrusive, Pepsi could even stream new adverts or promotions through Twitter conversations.

For Twitter, it’s a win-win situation. They receive the funding that their infrastructure so obviously needs, and they’re also linked in to the hip brand of Pepsi. For any Pepsi drinker that isn’t aware of Twitter, the little blue bird icon on a can of Pepsi would get the social media tool in front of millions.

What started out as an interesting question by Darryl turns into a coming together of two ideally-suited brands. Although that shouldn’t be a surprise – Darryl has been tracking Pepsi’s social media experiment and also coined the meme “The Pepsi 25”.

It also raises the question of who else would be suited to Twitter. Although the service crosses all age groups, it definitely seems suited to a particular type of company. As Chris Brogan mentions in his latest blog, certain brands don’t sit well with certain products. So who’d be well-suited to Twitter?

How about Apple or Microsoft? They could incorporate Twitter into their systems as the standard Instant Messenger application. Microsoft could also incorporate it into its Xbox Live service, for example (as could Sony with its Playstation network).

Facebook could get rid of its flawed chat service and use Twitter instead. This would see the social network take another giant stride in overtaking MySpace for users.

Twitter definitely seems the ideal social media tool for any forward-thinking company to tap into. Its users are tech-smart, savvy and up-to-date with what’s happening online and offline.

They’re also very aware of brands and how companies promote theirs online. For any company smart enough to really connect with the Generation Y audience, it’s almost a given that Twitter would offer an instant advantage over their competitors.

So, who’s the smart money on?