Yet Another “Social Media” Phone

Yet again another new phone that is aimed as a “social media” phone. This time it’s a Google Android phone from Motorola. I hate it when the phone company or network provider try to sell a new phone trying to ride on the back of “social media”. I’ve ranted about this previously about Nokia.

What they are trying to pass off as a “unique selling point” isn’t really. Any “smart phone” that can have apps installed on it can be a “social media” phone. The Google Android G1 phone is a “social media” phone, as is the Blackberry and the iPhone along with the Palm Pre. They all have Twitter and Facebook apps, plus other apps to hook up to other social networks. Also the majority of these apps are free and pretty good as well. In fact I prefer accessing Facebook from my iPhone to using the website (yes the apps can be that good).

I suppose to a general population that is none the wiser then this “unique selling point” may get them the odd extra sale. For those in the know we just aren’t fooled by this sales/marketing snow job.

Remaining In Contact Update 1

Thought I would write an update on my initial experiences of using social media and technology to keep in contact with Nathan after I moved up North.

Before I left on Nathan’s pc I installed Skype, bought him a web cam and installed, then set up a short cut up on his desktop to my blog.

Nath and I both have Xbox Live Gold accounts for our Xbox360’s. So we are able to send messages to each other via Xbox Live. Xbox Live is great for keeping in touch. Nath can send me a text or voice message. To aid in the sending of text messages Nath and I both have the messenger kit. This is a small QWERTY keyboard that plugs into the 360 controller. We both use this when sending text messages to each other via Xbox Live.

But Xbox Live comes into it’s own with games. Nath and I can and have games evenings playing games online with each other. It’s good fun playing Texas Hold ‘Em or Uno while chatting away using the headset. Sound quality isn’t amazing but it’s good enough (just).

Another great feature is private chat, so Nath and I can chat away with each other while playing different games. We spent two hours doing this one Sunday afternoon. I was playing Doom and I think Nath was playing Saints Row 2.

Nath and I have also been using Skype with video to chat with each other as well. Skype is great, easy to use and Nath can call me whenever he likes. The video side I think adds more to the call for Nath.

When Nath came to visit I was impressed and touched to find out that Nath actually visited my blog regularly to see what I was up to. So that seems to be working ok at the moment.

So far the use of social media and other tech seems to be working. It’s enabling the both of us to stay in contact easily with the minimum of effort. The proof  is the fact that Nath is using it himself without me prompting him. Several times now Nath has been the one to make the Skype call. So all in all a very positive experience so far.

A Linky Post Of Good Reads

In a previous post I did a case study on my friend Tony's blog. This is a kind of mini follow up with some articles from various places on the net that I think he will find useful reading.

How to Grow Your Business in 3 Months via Social Media Marketing

How to spy on your competitors

The Power of Blogging with A Long Term View

free 22 minute audio program: How To Build a Network (you are following this guy aren't you Tony?)

Web 2.0 Slow On The Uptake

Over on the Outdoors Bloggers Forum there is an interesting thread of discussion (still in early days) around the following point (made by Duncan):

"Why do blogs allow, or even inspire, such use of different media?

We rarely see such in wiki's or other Web2.0 formats. "

He also added:

"But why are other web2.0 formats slower to change? To adopt, adapt, improve?"

My initial reply was:

"Well for a wiki, that is a group collaboration tool, so therefore it's not really suitable for audio/video.
I could see a logic for including sound or audio clips in something like wikipedia in an entry. Ie including the sound a bird makes etc.
But the point is a wiki allows folks to work on something together, and video and audio just can't be edited that easily by others.
Something like Twitter or "micro-blogging" it already allows people to embed links to video and audio, as well as photos. And people do that.
Social sites like Facebook/MySpace lots of people use video etc on their pages.
So I think your argument is only valid for a wiki."

Duncan responded with the following that expands the scope a little:

"There is nothing to stop people using wikis or forums with videos, but when was the last time you saw even the hint of thought from a retailer's website?

Some highstreet shops websites don't even have photographs of their products, let alone video clips or instructions.

It's another example of the "Long Curve", I think."

I agree with his point there is little to stop wikis or forums using video. But the point of a wiki is to enable a group collaboration on a subject/project. As I pointed out in my response I could see a use of video or audio. Just as photos are used now. But for a wiki the written word is the best medium for it to use, as this is the easiest way to have multiple people work, review and make edits to a project/entry.

Now it was also raised about forums, and why they don't use video etc. I think forums could use video and audio, some blog comments are allowing audio/video submission. So yes there is no reason why forums should not be allowing the same. I can see why from the owners point of view they would not want it (storage, bandwidth etc). Or even from the members why they would not (ie loss of spontaneity of response, ease of use, time to upload etc).

When the argument is expanded to include web sites and in particular retailers, I think Duncan has a point to some extent. But do we include web sites as web 2.0? For the sake of this argument we will.

I think retail web sites have shied away from "fancy" stuff in their online stores, mainly because they have had their fingers burnt in the past. There have been one or two spectacular failures that tried using all the latest tricks of the time. But they failed because the technology wasn't there to support them, and less people were on line. So I think that there is a little reluctance from retailers because of these past failures, despite those obstacles no longer being there.

I also think there is the over head, and investment that would be required by the retailer to produce all these videos etc of the goods on their sites, would just be prohibitive.

As for the photographs there is no excuse for not at least having a picture of the product on the site.

Anyway there are some of my thoughts on the subject. What do you think? Who is right? Do we both have valid arguments? Have we missed something? Leave a comment and let me know.

My Biggest Web 2.0 Experiment Ever

With a title like that, this post has a lot to live up to.

In January I move up North to live nearer the mountains. Which means I leave my son behind down in the South with his Mum. The whys and how's aren't really relevant to this blog.

However I do have the problem how do I keep my relationship with my son going over such a long distance?

Yes I can use the phone. But 15 year old boys are not always the best conversationalists. Plus I need to engage him in stuff he likes to do.

Like all 15 year olds he is a keen gamer. Luckily for me I also like the odd video game.

So in my new home I will be mirroring the game consoles we currently have. The modern consoles like the Xbox360, PS3 and Wii all have to some degree a social media element. Which allows communication, online co-op games etc.

It seems to me that when people talk about social media they miss out these online communities that have developed on the consoles. You have friends lists, you can send messages and game invites, you can see what your friend is playing, how well he is doing. But because it is a closed platform it gets overlooked.

By using the social media element of these consoles I will be able to keep in contact with my son, play games with him, chat to him using voice chat (like VOIP I suppose) while we shoot aliens to pieces.

Before I move, I will also be getting my son a PC to play games on. To which I will add Skype, set him up on Facebook and Twitter so that I can communicate with him that way as well.

So by using these "Web 2.0" technologies I hope I will be able to keep my relationship going with my son. Now you can see why I call this my biggest Web 2.0 experiment ever. It not only is that, it is also my most important one.

Over the coming months I will be documenting this experiment, how effective it is, and it's short comings.

Another Great Blog Link From Twitter

Another great find off Twitter(Jay Oatway found this) this time it's an article on Twitter in business 50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Business.

What can I say about this? I'm not going to give my thoughts on it in this post, I need time to digest it all first. But I will tie this post in with my previous one and the advice I gave my friend Tony. This is another great example of expanding your knowledge by following the right people.

If I hadn't been on Twitter and following Jay, I would not of found out about this great blog post he came across.

Hopefully my contribution/pay back is this blog post letting folks know about it and giving credit where credit is due.

UK Government Wants To Be Bigger Than Big Brother

Wow Terrorists could be using Social Media sites like Twitter to plot the next attack. Well I have news for you they are also using the rest of the Internet as well, along with probably encryption software. They probably use VOIP, instant messaging, mobile phones, land lines, cars, planes, boats and bikes. I heard they even buy food and eat it as well.

But does this warrant an ever increasing invasion of our privacy by the British Government? There are plans as reported in the BBC news story (if they have their facts right, which they may not always have, as they proved at the weekend, but that is another story) for the British Government to store even more data about us in a big central database. This time to monitor web sites visited and all phone calls made.

But let's face it the British Government hasn't exactly proved it is trustworthy with our private data and keeping control of who has access to it, or how these laws to fight terrorists are kept in check.

In the last year I have lost count the number of times that Government departments or their contractors have lost vital personal details of thousands of people. Data that if fallen into the wrong hands could allow these people to be victims of identity theft. I don't remember it being reported that those responsible for the loss of the data being sacked (which would of happened in the real world). There just seems to be no accountability within the Government or their departments.

There have also been cases when local councils have used laws designed to fight terrorists to spy on members of the public. Some of the cases reported were to catch benefit fraud, others litter droppers, dog fouling or anti social behaviour. Not exactly what the law was intended for I think. So why hasn't the Government cracked down on this? Why hasn't the law been changed to protect the people from this intrusion?

So with a proven track record of being incapable of  looking after important data, and not able to protect the public from inappropriate application of the terrorist laws. Can we really trust them to look after any new database, and control how that information is used, or who has access to it?

I also fear that these measures will also create a two tier Internet. The hacker/IT aware user and the Joe public. Yes I know you can argue that it already has that. But it will be even more obvious. The hacker/IT aware would use anonymous proxy servers etc to hide where they have been on the Internet etc. While the Joe public will have all their Internet usage monitored, recorded and used against them.

But also what is stopping the terrorists from using the same technology as the hacker/IT aware to hide their tracks? Nothing. So once more the database becomes useless for it's alleged intended use, and more a database that can be used against the very people it is meant to be protecting.

With that scary thought I'll leave you until next time...

UPDATE: Just came across this other BBC story "You can run... but can you hide?" that delves into how easy it is to access all this data the UK Government has on us. If you missed the Panorama program last night like me, you have seven days to catch it on the BBC iplayer.