Social Media Sucks up 23% of Online Time

Computer World

 

Sorry, e-mail. You've just taken a back seat to both social networks and and online games.

Social networks had already surpassed e-mail use among American Internet users. But according to a Nielsen Co. survey released this week, online gaming is now also more popular that e-mail.

According to the Nielsen survey, Americans today are spending nearly a quarter of their online time posting comments, pictures and video on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, making it the most popular online activity among Americans.

Online gaming is the second most popular online activity, accounting for 10% of online use, while e-mail ranks third at 8.3%. In a survey completed in June, 2009, e-mail was the second most popular online activity, accounting for 11.5% of Inernet activity.

"Despite the almost unlimited nature of what you can do on the Web, 40% of U.S. online time is spent on just three activities -- social networking, playing games and e-mailing -- leaving a whole lot of other sectors fighting for a declining share of the online pie," said Nielsen analyst Dave Martin in a statement.

Social networking saw a 43% uptick in usage from June 2009 to this past June -- from 15.8% to 22.7%.

Late last month, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the site had snagged its 500 millionth user, cresting another major corporate milestone. In May, Twitter hit a milestone of its own as its users posted nearly 2 billion tweets during the month.

Some recent studies found that some people acknowledge being addicted to sites like Facebook and Twitter.

A study released by Retrevo Inc. in March showed that 48% of online users say they update Facebook or Twitter during the night or as soon as they wake up. And the survey by the consumer electronics shopping and review site found that 32% of respondents see no problem with interrupting a meal to read or send an online message.

And The Oxygen Media Insights Group, a creator of television channels and Web sites for women, released a report last month showing that a growing number of women admit to being addicted to social media.

In the latest Nielsen study, users spend 4.4% of online time viewing portals, making it the fourth most popular destination category, and 4% instant messaging. The share of both portal and instant messaging use declined significantly from 2009, Nielsen said.

Marketers Advised: Use Social Media but Get Back to Basics

Miami Herald

Heads of independent marketing agencies from around the globe gathered in South Beach to tackle industry issues, like making sense of marketing with social media.

 

 

 

Consumers don't want to have a friendship with their toothpaste.

That was the message this week for marketers from Jonathan Salem Baskin of Advertising Age, who said the social media push by companies is getting away from the basics of advertising: making money for the client.

``As an industry, we've allowed this nonsense to get out of hand,'' Baskin, a marketing consultant and columnist for Advertising Age, told about 70 attendees at the global Worldwide Partners advertising conference in Miami Beach. ``Ultimately, we're about selling stuff, and I think that's what we have to get back to.''

The annual conference -- held in a different location each year -- brings together owners of 91 independent advertising agencies from Taiwan to Texas to explore trends and best practices. It concludes Thursday.

Baskin's comments about social media fly in the face of the current marketing obsession: how building fans on Facebook is good for brands. Baskin didn't dismiss social media and interactive websites but stressed that too often companies are investing significant resources on social media without seeing sales.

One of his examples: a Ford Fiesta campaign that gave free cars to consumers in their 20s in exchange for posting their videos about driving the Fiesta on YouTube.

``How the hell does this sell cars? Well it doesn't,'' Baskin said. ``It's to get Ford to win some awards to keep the social media team employed.''

Keeping up with technology while still making money was a topic that hit home for several attendees.

One was Manny Machado, chief executive of Miami marketing agency MGSCOMM. His firm urges clients to participate in social media, but not to dismiss broadcast and print advertising, he said. Spending on those traditional mediums has returned to the levels of two years ago.

``All of a sudden, social media was the very essence of our existence,'' Machado said. ``But we said, `Hey, let's not forget what has been feeding us so far and make sure we're still addressing everyone that wants to listen to the radio or read the paper.' ''

Baskin's remarks on social media reflected a larger point echoed by other attendees: the need to be more truthful with consumers.

Case in point was BP's green sun logo and slogan, ``Beyond petroleum,'' designed to marry the oil company with an eco-friendly image -- one that now seems out of place given the company's oil spill crisis in the Gulf of Mexico.

``This brilliant branding hurts all of us,'' Baskin said. ``Because how do we show that we're better than that?''

Ian McAteer, group chairman of The Union Advertising Agency in Scotland, worked with BP in the 1980s to promote its solar power use in Africa. Now, he told the crowd, he feels guilty for making a big deal about BP's few green activities.

``We made ads about that and what a great company BP was, and what we're seeing today is possibly the end of BP.''

Pandora and Facebook: So Happy Together

WIRED

The leading online radio service and world’s biggest social network have forged a bond that will solidify both companies’ dominance, while offering music fans a way to share music with each other that appears to lack any significant downside. Pandora pays copyright holders, and integrating your Pandora and Facebook accounts won’t pollute your Facebook stream with endless notifications about what you’re listening to.

The upside for Pandora users is significant, due to the ways in which it broadcasts their taste, helps them discover and enjoy new music through their friends. There are countless ways to do these exact same things elsewhere on the web, and you’ve already been able to share Pandora stations with friends. But Pandora + Facebook = such easy math that even the busy or excessively lazy can integrate it into their lives.

This joint announcement is twofold. One part involves “Like” buttons that Facebook and others will embed on its own site and partner sites around the web using the Open Graph API Facebook announced yesterday. Whenever you click one of these buttons, that information gets added to your Facebook Graph, which Pandora can then tap in order to present you with stations based on what you’ve liked on Facebook and around the web.

It’s too early to call at this point, because the buttons haven’t shown up yet, but if this aspect of Facebook’s initiative takes off it will make the company the de facto storage point for our musical preferences, while boosting Pandora’s utility. Best of all, Pandora won’t blast all your Facebook friends with messages about what you’re listening to, should you integrate your accounts. (If you want Facebook to notify people about what you’re listening to on Pandora, you can still click the share button on the currently playing song, and choose the Facebook option.)

With that out of the way, let’s move on to the aspect of this announcement that you can start using right now. Here’s how to get your Pandora account to make friends with your Facebook account — you only have to do it once, and there doesn’t appear to be a downside unless you don’t want people knowing that you spend most of your Pandora time listening to Menudo. Integrating your accounts widens your listening options within Pandora considerably, and immediately.

To activate Pandora’s optional Facebook integration, go to Pandora then click the Friends’ Music link at the lower right.

If you’ve already used Pandora’s own social networking features to add friends, they will show up here. Click Add Friends to proceed to the part where you integrate Pandora with Facebook.

Then, click the Connect With Facebook button. Nothing appeared to happen, but when we reloaded Pandora, our Facebook friends appeared alongside their Facebook profile pictures, their most recently played station, and the songs they’ve liked most recently. I can now make my own stations from any of that music:

That’s it — you’re connected. We should note that all of these features can exist without using Facebook at all, because you can enter another Pandora user’s e-mail to friend them, although Facebook makes it far, far easier. With your accounts integrated, you can make stations from any song a friend has liked and can copy their artist stations over to your own profile, where they will be shaped by your own musical preferences (for instance, songs in friends’ stations that you’ve banned won’t play).

Making the Pandora listening experience even more social, whenever you encounter a song that one of your friends likes, a tag will appear to let you know. One side effect of this new feature will likely be to encourage Pandora users to add more tracks to their favorites, because now, other people have such an easy way to see them. And the more they sculpt their stations and preferences, the more reason they have to stick with Pandora for their online (and, increasingly, device-based) radio listening. And now that Pandora includes video ads (we saw our first one today), it’s even more prepared to monetize repeat visitors.

Pandora tried this strategy earlier with its own social network, but who wants to create a whole set of friends manually on Pandora? Facebook is the social networking king of the hill right now, so it makes more sense for Pandora to grab peoples’ friends from there.

Ultimately, Facebook’s bold attempt to become the central repository for peoples’ musical taste, among other socially identifying elements, could help the company avoid the fates of its ancestors, Friendster and MySpace.

Judging from the smoothness and power of this Pandora part of the equation, it just might work.

New Social Marketing Trend: Group Buying Sites

Raleigh News Observer

It used to be that companies looking for new customers would take out an ad or make a new TV commercial.

But now a legion of new Web sites are harnessing the power of social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook to help businesses connect directly with customers.

The sites, which are generally called "group buying sites," combine two of many shoppers' favorite things: bulk buying and a hidden deal.

Three such sites - groupon.com, livingsocial.com and twongo.com - started operating in the Triangle in the last month.

All three offer a deal-of-the-day that shoppers can elect to buy. On Friday, Twongo offered a $50 gift certificate to Cafe Parizade in Durham for $27.

Users are encouraged to share the deals via Twitter, Facebook and other social media for an instant word-of-mouth vibe.

Each site, however, has a unique twist on its deal.

Twongo's discount increases as more people buy the deal. For instance, if enough people purchased that Parizade certificate the price would drop all the way to $23 for everyone. Groupon has a "tipping point" - a certain number of buyers are required before the deal becomes a reality. And at LivingSocial.com, if you get three friends to buy the deal-of-the-day, you get it free.

Such Web sites are gaining popularity, said Larry Joseloff, vice president of content for Shop.org, the National Retail Federation's online shopping division.

"I think it's become hip again to find a great deal and to find great value, and I think retailers are trying to find new ways to be creative," he said. "I've heard both schools of thought, that this is a sea of change and that this is a temporary shift. Only time will tell."

The businesses that offer deals through the group-buying Web sites generally don't make much on the offers.

The deals are usually at least 50 percent off what a customer would normally pay in the restaurant or store. But the businesses don't even keep all of that; most split the profits with the site. So Cafe Parizade would get about $12 for that gift certificate and serve up a $50 dinner.

Still many business owners see the sites as just another way to advertise.

"I think a lot of marketing is keeping your name in front of people, and it costs money to keep your name in front of people," said Brad Hurley, co-owner of the 42nd Street Oyster Bar in Raleigh. The restaurant recently sold 277 $50 vouchers for $24 each on twongo.com.

The Twongo deal is better than other advertising methods such as home mailers, Hurley said, because it's a sure thing.

"With more traditional advertising, you have to give something away kind of as a hook to get somebody there," he said. "This way, you're generating some revenue, and if people go online to buy a certificate then there's a real good chance that they're going to come and use it."

Still, business owners should be prepared before jumping into the group-buying social media arena, cautioned Shawn Briscoe, co-owner of the Alter Ego salon in downtown Raleigh. Alter Ego offered a manicure and pedicure deal valued at $55 for $25.

They sold more than 400 of them. Briscoe was expecting a few dozen at most.

"You have to be prepared for the power of it, I think," she said.

The salon had to institute a per-day limit on the number of Groupon coupons they can take.

"Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to pay our rent," Briscoe said.

But overall, she said, she was pleased with the experience; many of the new customers are booking return visits.

"It really blew my mind," she said. "But if we had done haircuts or something, we would have really been in trouble."

As for the sites themselves, they say they hope their growing numbers increase awareness of this type of shopping.

Cary-based twongo, launched in the Triangle on Jan. 22, is already considering expanding to new markets, said Scott Bowen, one of three founders.

"Companies are starting to call us now, which is really cool," he said.

Having started in 2008, Groupon is one of the oldest and largest of the group-buying sites with 3 million subscribers in 40 cities across the country.

The Chicago company launched in Raleigh-Durham on Feb. 7 and has 20,000 subscribers here. It has sold 4,000 deals in the area.

Groupon is trying to entice shoppers by adding things like business reviews and chat functions, said Mark Desky, vice president of marketing.

"We started kind of more as a city guide, but now that we're in so many markets, people now consider us as a travel guide," he said.

And, as social media sites like Twitter continue to expand, group-buying sites see more opportunity.

"I think social media is no longer just for young people," said Jake Maas, CFO of LivingSocial, which is based in Washington, D.C., and launched Thursday in the Triangle and three other cities.

"I think a lot of merchants are surprised at the extent to which they can actually reach out and attract new customers. And they don't have to actually believe us. Because at the end of the day, what they really care about is can you actually deliver customers. And we're able to do that in a very tangible and transparent way."

Opinion: Will People Leave Facebook for Buzz? Fat Chance.

cNet

Let's say you'd constituted a drinking game for the aftermath of Tuesday's unveiling of Google Buzz, the odd new mishmash of status messages, geolocation, and social-media aggregation: Take a drink every time some pundit says Google is trying to "kill" Facebook, Twitter, or any number of the "geo" start-ups out there.

You'd have been totally blitzed.

The cries of "It's a Facebook killer!" and "It's going to kill Twitter!" are tedious, but completely understandable considering that this is one of the first big pushes from Google, which has never been able to get a good grip on social networking, to make inroads in the space. And Buzz is indeed a product that's reactionary as opposed to trailblazing. It's Google's biggest acknowledgment of the fact that people dig these short real-time messages and social-media sharing. It aims to take the reasons why people use Facebook, why people use Twitter, and why early adopters have started using "geo" services, and wrap them all up into a product intimately connected to its existing Gmail client.

But things are very different from the days just a few years ago when it seemed like any social-media site was in constant danger of being one-upped by another. The space has matured to a point where the rise of a new player means tens of millions of people voluntarily ditching the last one. Not easy. Facebook has surpassed 400 million active members around the world, and additionally announced Wednesday that it has 100 million of those members using its mobile Web site. That's a significantly deeper influence than Friendster or MySpace ever can claim to have had, and the rise of Twitter does not seem to have curbed its growth.

Facebook is a household name, and it takes a lot for a tech brand to reach that point. Google did it with search and iTunes has done it with music sales--which is why it takes massive companies like Microsoft and Amazon, respectively, to make a dent in that market share, and they've still had an uphill battle (to say the least).

So here's the positive news for Google: It's created a great way for people to actually start using Buzz, assuming they're Gmail users in the first place: The "Buzz" link is right below the "Inbox" link in Gmail, and when there are new messages on Buzz, it shows up just as though they were new e-mail messages. It's like we're already conditioned to check up on it.

But here's the thing. There's a whole lot else that people do on Facebook besides comment on one another's status messages--the biggest of which is the company's groundbreaking third-party app platform. The biggest social game on Facebook, Zynga's Farmville, attracts 75 million people per month. That's nearly a fifth of the social network playing a single game. Then there are the people who engage in other sorts of "games" on Facebook: the social capital that members feel they earn by getting tagged in a lot of photos and having a ton of wall posts from friends should not be sniffed at either, for example.

It's a different story for Twitter, a far smaller company with an active user base that arguably can't be considered fully mainstream. Twitter users with legitimate "social capital" are generally restricted to celebrities, media figures, and those who got on the bandwagon early, meaning that there are millions of casual and passive Twitter users whose allegiance to the service may not be anywhere as strong as their allegiance to Facebook. Buzz, even if it doesn't "kill" Twitter, has a chance to suck up some market share that Twitter's still striving to get.

Remember why Twitter really started to break into the mainstream in the first place? It had a lot less to do with social-networking than you'd think. Celeb-culture freaks wanted to see what funny links Ashton Kutcher was posting, or they'd heard it was the fastest way to get breaking news from across the world. Twitter's surprisingly high attrition rates, in turn, indicate that some of these passive users only experimented with it, and others might be reading the latest from Ellen DeGeneres and Perez Hilton without actually posting tweets themselves.

This is where I can see Google Buzz getting reach: in Twitter-like mass short-form communication, but for the audiences that haven't found the need or desire to dive into the jargon-filled, truncated culture of Twitter. If you use Twitter to read John Mayer's irreverent messages and get JetBlue deals, but don't actually update it yourself, Google Buzz might be a completely different product. For better or for worse, it's forced its way into your Gmail.

But it's a lot harder to force a ubiquitous social network out of people's lives. Importing a contact list is a pain in the butt regardless, and you can bet that Facebook won't make it any easier.

Nor has Google Buzz yet proven that it can offer something better than Facebook. The only thing it does that Facebook doesn't do is enable geotagged status messages; not only will those likely be coming to Facebook eventually, but geolocation is a feature that is far from mainstream acceptance and will likely go unnoticed by the average user. Early uncertainty about the exact privacy specifics of Google Buzz may quash any advantage it may have had in the public eye about being "safer" than Facebook.

There are reasons why people ditch Web services: the experience is bad, they're technologically stagnant, uptake wasn't enough to bring users back, or there are real financial incentives to go elsewhere. AOL's once-unstoppable dial-up service languished because its prices were undercut by faster cable and DSL providers, and its shiny software features were matched by cheaper, slicker technologies on the Web. Friendster's founder has blamed technical difficulties for the social-networking pioneer's plunge in U.S. popularity. MySpace's culture of "meet new people" and predominance of flashy, music-blaring profile pages was a turn-off for many adults.

Right now, Facebook is neither suffering from obsolescent technology nor facing an upstart alternative with some kind of financial perk. And Google Buzz, at least at launch, doesn't offer enough that's new.

Plus, there is absolutely no way to raise a barnyard of virtual pigs. That apparently means something to a lot of people.

Pixar Finance Chief To Join Twitter As CFO

The Wall Street Journal

Twitter Inc. on Wednesday named Pixar Animation Studios' current finance chief to be the micro-blogging service's new chief financial officer, part of the company's drive to develop new sources of revenue.

Ali Rowghani, who has served in several roles at Walt Disney Co.'s (DIS) Pixar since 2001, will join Twitter in March.

"Ali will be an important member of a growing team focused on creating value for our users and capturing the financial opportunities that result from it," said Twitter Chief Executive Evan Williams.

The San Francisco-based micro-blogging service, which lets users blast short messages their from computers and mobile phones, has been one of the hottest brands in the technology sector over the past two years or so.

But critics have been quick to point out that while Twitter had more than 60 million unique users in December, it still does not generate significant revenue. Twitter recently struck deals to provide Internet giants like Google Inc. (GOOG) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) with real-time access to its stream of tweets. The company does not provide financial details.

Twitter last year secured about $100 million from a group of investors that includes mutual-fund giant T. Rowe Price Group Inc., private-equity firm Insight Venture Partners and venture group Benchmark Capital.

Currently CFO and Senior VP of Strategic Planning at Pixar, Rowghani previous served as director of the company's production finance and strategy group. Prior to joining Pixar, Rowghani was an associate at management consulting firm McKinsey & Company.

Google to Add Social Feature to Gmail

The Wall Street Journal

Google Inc. is taking a swipe at Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. with a new feature that makes it easier for users of Gmail to view media and status updates shared online by their friends.

Google could announce the new Gmail feature as soon as this week, said people familiar with the matter. A Google spokeswoman declined to comment.

The change adds a module to the Gmail screen that will display a stream of updates from individuals a user chooses to connect with, said one of these people. It is a format popularized by Facebook and Twitter.

Yahoo Inc. added a similar feature to Yahoo Mail last year, allowing users to see whether friends have uploaded a photo to a site like Flickr, for example.

Google, too, is trying to get users to turn to Gmail as a place they can go to see what's up with their friends. But whether users will want to blend sending email with browsing friends' content is unclear.

Google has been trying to fashion Gmail into more than an email service for years. It currently lets users set an "away message"—which can be a link to a Web site—that their friends see when they message them.

The new stream will eventually include content that a user's connections share through Google's YouTube video site and Picasa photo service, according to one person familiar with the matter. But whether those features will be announced in the coming days remains unclear.

Google's move comes after Facebook last week rolled out a new design with a newmessage inbox that more closely resembles an email inbox like Gmail's. The social-networking company said it had roughly 400 million users. Gmail had 176 million unique visitors in December, according to comScore Inc.

Pepsi Chooses Social Media Over Super Bowl Ads

San Francisco Chronicle

The rise of social media has helped end one of the longest streaks in Super Bowl history - Pepsi won't have a televised commercial during the big game for the first time in 23 years.

Instead of paying millions of dollars for 30 seconds of airtime, the soft drink giant is pouring resources into an online social-networking campaign designed to engage and interact with customers for months.

It's a move that raised eyebrows among traditional media watchers, but social media experts say Pepsi has called the right play for a rapidly changing advertising game in which consumers are becoming the mass media that carry the message.

And relying on standard TV, print or online banner ads may no longer be enough.

"People are expecting the same interactivity, the same engagement that they're finding when they use Facebook or when they are Twittering," said social-media marketing consultant Carnet Williams, founder of Sprout Inc. of San Francisco.

The Super Bowl telecast is considered the top advertising opportunity of the year on American television. For Sunday's Super Bowl XLIV between the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints, CBS-TV was reportedly asking as much as $3 million for a 30-second spot.

Joining conversation

Yet the growing prominence of social networks like Facebook and Twitter is causing advertisers to look beyond broadcasting its brand once or twice to 100 million people to joining the conversation stream emanating from the audience itself.

Several Super Bowl advertisers are incorporating social media into their commercials. Budweiser, for example, asked voters on its Facebook page to vote for which commercials to air during the game, while Monster.com's Facebook page featured video of a fiddling beaver that is scheduled to star in the online job company's Super Bowl ad.

Coke's donation

And Pepsi's archrival, Coca-Cola, is donating $1 to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America for every virtual Coke gift that Facebook fans send to their friends.

But PepsiCo Inc., which reportedly spent $254 million on Super Bowl commercials over the past two decades, decided not to run any soft drink spots during the game, although the company will continue to pitch its Doritos snack food brand.

Online campaign

Instead, it launched an online campaign on Monday called the Pepsi Refresh Project, pledging to donate more than $1 million in February alone to social causes and community projects nominated and selected in a vote by fans. Pepsi is committing about $20 million in donations through the end of this year, with a new round of voting each month.

"The project is about creating a movement, not just a moment," said Bonin Bough, PepsiCo's global director of digital and social media.

A key component is a Facebook page that by Friday had more than 342,000 fans. Pepsi is also using Twitter, live Ustream video and an iPhone application.

Pepsi hopes those fans will vote, post comments and passionately promote their favorite causes - and along the way, the Pepsi brand - within their own networks of friends.

"They allow us to build deeper relationships and deeper dialogue with our customers," Bough said. With digital media, he said, "consumers are using it in totally different ways than advertisers ever expected them to."

Among the early top vote-getters was an organization hoping to ship 5,000 Girl Scout Cookies to military troops and another offering to send a care package to needy expectant parents. Movie stars Demi Moore and Kevin Bacon posted videos promoting their own favorite causes, which stand to win a $250,000 Pepsi grant.

Bough said more than 1,000 causes for February were nominated in the campaign's first 72 hours and Pepsi has already reached the maximum number of submissions for March.

Praising decision

Jessica Ong, director of online media and search for the Internet traffic measurement company Compete Inc., said Pepsi made the right decision to shift ad dollars away from the Super Bowl and to social media.

"It's really a good example of content that gives consumers incentives to come back and interact with the site," Ong said. "It is going to open the eyes and ears of those working at other brands to consider online channels."

Ong said she examined the response to Pepsi's sponsorship of NFL.com's Rookie of the Week voting during the regular season. People exposed to the sponsored site were far more likely to visit a Pepsi site, including RefreshEverything.com.

And more than 83 percent visited Pepsi sites instead of those of rival Coke, she said.

Facebook Replacing Blogging for Teens

San Francisco Chronicle

Blogging is becoming a thing of the past for teens and young adults, who are now far more likely to keep in touch with friends on social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, according to a new study.

"Since 2006, blogging has dropped among teens and young adults while simultaneously rising among older adults," states a Pew Internet & American Life Project report on social media and mobile Internet use among young people. "As the tools and technology embedded in social networking sites change, and use of the sites continues to grow, youth may be exchanging 'macro-blogging' for microblogging with status updates."

In 2006, 28% of teen Internet users were blogging, and now only 14% do so. Adult blog use is steadily increasing, with one in 10 online adults now maintaining a blog.

Social networking sites are becoming more popular among both teens and adults. Nearly half of adults who use the Web belong to a social networking site, but the trend is even more pronounced among youth.

"[Seventy-three percent] of wired American teens now use social networking websites, a significant increase from previous surveys," Pew reports. "Just over half of online teens (55%) used social networking sites in November 2006 and 65% did so in February 2008."

Young adults ages 18 to 29 have similar habits to teens when it comes to social networking, with 72% of Web users in that age group using the social Web sites. Facebook is the most popular social network for both young adults and adults 30 and older.

Most social networking users are embracing multiple sites, such as Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn.

Among young adults, 71% of people with a social network profile use Facebook, 66% use MySpace and 7% use LinkedIn.

Among the 30-plus crowd, 75% use Facebook, 36% use MySpace and 19% are on LinkedIn.

Twitter is most popular among young adults ages 18-29, with one-third using such services. Just 8% of kids age 12 to 17 use Twitter.

The study also found that "wireless internet use rates are especially high among young adults, and the laptop has replaced the desktop as the computer of choice among those under thirty."

The Pew Survey included 800 teens ages 12 to 17 and their parents; and 2,253 adults ages 18 and older.

DARPA Red Balloon Winner On Colbert Report

See Also: Team From MIT Wins DARPA Red Balloon Contest
And Also: Pentagon Trying To Crack Social Media

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Riley Crane
www.colbertnation.com

3 Facebook Privacy Mistakes

Channel Web

No organization is exempt from screwing up, but lately that holds especially true for Facebook. While perhaps well intentioned, Facebook has committed a series of blunders with recent changes to its privacy settings in an effort to simultaneously protect users' information and make it accessible to open Web searches. Needless to say, the social networking giant seems to be having trouble doing both well.

1: Everyone Means Everyone

When in doubt, go the transparent route. Following its privacy overhaul Wednesday, Facebook forced users to review their privacy settings with a series of prompts that ostensibly enabled them to have more control over what information they share and with whom. If they so chose, Facebook users could change their privacy settings from the default "everyone" to "friends" or "friends of friends" settings, which only allowed contacts on the user's network to view status updates and other information posted on a user's profile. However Facebook failed to make clear that the "everyone" setting didn't only mean the entirety of the user's Facebook network, it meant the entirety of the Web. The "everyone" setting puts users' Facebook status updates and profile information up for grabs by online search engines such as Google or Microsoft's Bing, as well as some third-party Facebook enhanced apps. Had that been made clearer, it's doubtful that more than 80 percent of users would retain the default "everyone" setting.

2: Another Manual Prompt

In response to a firestorm of complaints regarding privacy setting issues, Facebook improved the Friend List visibility option, making it slightly more challenging for members to view friends' personal and professional contacts, whether or not they're a member of the network. Facebook eliminated the link to a Friend List on user's profiles, while also including an option for members who wish to block everyone from viewing their contact lists, whether they're a member of the network or not. But once again, it's not clear who exactly will have access to Facebook users' Friend List. The information is still publicly available, and can also be accessed by third-party applications -- just not within Facebook itself. Meanwhile, Facebook users will be required to manually and deliberately uncheck the box marked 'show my friends on my profile" if they want to implement these restrictions.

3: What Facebook Isn't Telling You

First and foremost, Facebook has its own best interest at heart -- not yours or your privacy. Facebook's privacy redesign was intended to make the social networking site more competitive with micro-blogging site Twitter, which touts simplicity and ease of use, along with openness and availability to all. Meanwhile, in recent weeks, Microsoft publicly announced that it would be forming deals with both Twitter and Facebook to funnel tweets and other user content onto its search pages. Since then, both Microsoft and Facebook have been rather tight lipped about how exactly Facebook posts and updates were to be incorporated into Bing. In light of Twitter's explosive growth, it's likely that all of Facebook's content, including personal status updates, could be subjected to search engine searches.

Meanwhile, Facebook also said it responded to a firestorm of criticism regarding privacy settings by limiting visibility to users' Friend Lists. However Friend List restrictions, coupled with revamped privacy settings, also give Facebook a foot in the door in the professional networking arena, priming the site to compete toe to toe with LinkedIn, which is geared toward professional networking. By limiting access to Friend Lists, Facebook acknowledges that some users might be hesitant to post something online that might jeopardize their current or future job.

Facebook Adding More Privacy Settings For Individual Data

AP

Facebook is changing its privacy settings to give users control over who sees the information they post on their personal pages.

Beginning Wednesday, the networking Web site is taking the rare step of requiring its more than 350 million users to review and update their privacy settings.

The new controls are designed to simplify the cumbersome privacy controls that have confounded many users. Facebook said the changes are based on user feedback — though it remains to be seen whether the shift will mean fewer surprises for people who have unintentionally shared party photos with their bosses.

As part of the changes, Facebook users will be able to select a privacy setting for each piece of content, such as photos or updates, that they share on the site — as they share it. The choices are "friends" only, "friends of friends" or "everyone." There is also an option to customize groups of friends for certain kinds of updates — such as "college buddies."

Jules Polonetsky, co-chairman and director at the Future of Privacy Forum think tank in Washington, praised how the process resembles the way people decide what to share in their day-to-day lives. He said putting the controls "when you need it, right there, is far better than putting it in a `privacy' or `help' location" somewhere on the site.

Facebook will be asking users to review and alter their settings through a tool that explains the changes. People will be able to either keep their old settings or take recommendations from Facebook that are largely based on how they have configured their information.

As promised, Facebook is also getting rid of its geographic networks, because many of them — take "New York" or "Australia" — have gotten too big. If users were previously part of such a geographic network, this location will now be listed in their profiles under "current city."

Other networks, for schools and workplaces, are staying.

The changes have no effect on advertising on the site, said Elliot Schrage, vice president of global communications and public policy at Facebook.

But he added that by giving users such granular control over the content they share, Facebook is encouraging more sharing and a greater connection to the site.

"If users feel more confident with our service, they will use our service more," he said. "And the more they use our services the more benefits we derive."

Pentagon Trying To Crack Social Networking

NY Times

The prize is $40,000, and it goes to the first person or group to determine the locations of 10 red balloons that can be anywhere in the continental United States.

 The apparent frivolity of the challenge is only on the surface. This is not a game invented by some eccentric Web Midas. The contest, which takes place on Dec. 5, is being sponsored by Darpa, the Pentagon’s research agency.

The goal is to learn more about social behavior in computer networks and how large computer-connected teams use their resources and connections to compete.

There is also an invention being celebrated. Peter Lee, a computer scientist and one of the Darpa directors organizing the contest, said Dec. 5 would be the 40th anniversary of the day when the first four nodes of the Arpanet — the experimental military-sponsored computer network that was the forerunner of today’s Internet — were connected.

Darpa has previously sponsored three “grand challenges” in an effort to advance the technology for autonomous vehicles. In the second one, in 2005, a Stanford University team won $2 million when its roboticized Volkswagen Touareg was the quickest to navigate a 131-mile course through California desert.

The mission of the agency, created in 1958 after the Sputnik satellite’s launching, is to guard the country against technological surprise. But Darpa prompted concerns about privacy after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks when it created a program to use data-mining technologies to identify potential terrorists.

Dr. Lee said he was not certain what to expect in the tactics that teams might use to track down the balloons, which will be visible from public roadways for a single day. Some groups are developing software applications. Dr. Lee said he also expected large teams of spotters and even the possibility that some groups might use subterfuge like disseminating false information.

Other groups may try to pay for information, he said, noting that even during a brief experiment the agency ran with a balloon near its headquarters, information on the location was offered for sale on Craigslist.

Dr. Lee said the agency would continue to pursue a number of large and small challenge-style contests to foster what he described as new ways to tap into pools of talented individuals and creative groups. Contestants from anywhere in the world may participate in this contest, he said, and registration will stay open until the contest begins.

Let The New (Online) Games Begin

Wall Street Journal

Online gaming is heading in some tantalizing new directions.

Spurred by the spread of social networking, faster Internet connections and powerful mobile devices, game makers are experimenting with a host of innovations that drastically improve online play.

A new crop of games lets friends cooperate or compete on social-networking sites, or team up online using their gaming consoles. New hand-held devices let you pull down games directly from the Internet, instead of having to plug in a cartridge or a disk. And cloud computing, which lets people tap into computing resources over the Web, makes it possible to have feature-rich gaming regardless of where you play or what kind of machine you use.

The upshot is that consumers can play online games wherever they want—whether on their personal computers, mobile phones or consoles—and have access to the widest possible array of game titles.

Here's a look at some of the new games, trends and devices that companies are hoping will reshape online play.

Social Games

Facebook Inc. and other networking sites have made social gaming a popular new category. Users play with others in their network, often cooperating to achieve a goal. One of the best-known offerings was an unauthorized version of Scrabble that ran on Facebook and boasted about two million registered users before legal threats shut it down. Now a host of new social games are cropping up. Playfish is one of the most successful developers, with 10 games in its lineup. Its success was recently highlighted by Electronic Arts Inc., which acquired the company last week for $400 million.

One of Playfish's most popular games, Restaurant City, which has 15 million monthly active users, allows gamers to join with their friends to manage a virtual restaurant. Users pick food ingredients, furniture, decorative items and fancy additions like a jukebox or an arcade machine; they can also hire friends as waiters or cooks, as well as trade ingredients with them. The object of the game is to increase your friend network—thereby bolstering the status of your virtual restaurant.

Free Multiplayer Games

One of the most popular varieties of online games is getting a lot more affordable. In September, a Korean game publisher, Nexon Corp., introduced its Dungeon Fighter game to the North American market. Popular in Asia, the game differs from dozens of other massive multiplayer online games, which require users to pay monthly subscription fees to play. Nexon allows gamers to play free—but makes money by selling in-game items and tools, such as magical weapons, that help players advance to higher levels of the game.

Since it was introduced in Asia in 2005, the game has been a wild success, with more than 10 million South Koreans playing the game since its launch. It also inspired dozens of other online-game publishers to use the same no-subscription strategy.

Still, Nexon executives are unsure if the model will succeed in North America as it has in Asia; parents of North American teens may not want to use their credit cards to buy $3 blue hairdos for their kids' in-game characters. To hedge its bet, the company has augmented the model to include prepaid cards. Gamers can go to Target or 7-Eleven to purchase cards, which can later be used to purchase virtual items.
Cooperative Console Games

In 2002, Microsoft Corp. introduced an Internet service called Xbox Live for its Xbox game console, making it possible for fans to battle each other inside, say, its popular Halo game.

With the latest version of Xbox Live, introduced last fall, Microsoft wants to expand the reach of its consoles by offering more games that are aimed at the casual player and foster cooperation. While plenty of attention will still be paid to hard-core gamers and their shoot-'em-up games, there will be a growing focus on cultivating cooperation between players interested in less violent fare.

For example, in June, Microsoft launched 1 vs. 100, a live quiz show for the gaming community. Every Friday and Saturday, gamers can sign on and play as a single contestant called "The One," or as one of 100 players called "The Mob" and collaborate on answers. A live studio host tosses out trivia questions and players try to accumulate Microsoft Points, which can be used to buy certain items. About three million gamers have downloaded the game, and according to an Xbox Live spokesman, as many as 100,000 people have signed on to play a single session of the game.

Games in the Cloud

Typically, consumers who wanted to play graphically rich games needed to buy high-end personal computers or dedicated gaming consoles. But new technology promises to make a top-notch gaming experience available to users on less powerful PCs or inexpensive set-top boxes that are connected to their televisions. OnLive Inc., Palo Alto, Calif., is developing technology that runs games on powerful servers that players can access through their Internet connections. The service, which plans to launch this winter, has signed such top-tier game publishers as Electronic Arts and Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. to open their libraries for the games. Pricing hasn't been determined.

Downloading Fun

Most hand-held gaming devices require users to buy videogame cartridges or disks. Last month, Sony Corp. introduced the PSP Go, a portable device that plays only games that can be downloaded from Sony's online marketplace. Users can download the games via built-in Wi-Fi, or download them onto a computer and transfer them to the device with a USB cable. Gamers can choose among 225 titles, including top names such as Sony's racing game Gran Turismo and Electronic Arts' John Madden football game. They can also buy PSP Minis—simple games that run about $10.

Battle Of The Professional Networks

The Economist

Does local beat global in the professional-networking business?

IN THE three-way fight between the biggest online professional networks—America’s LinkedIn, France’s Viadeo and Germany’s Xing—this week the French contender scored a victory. Last year LinkedIn had struck a deal with Apec, France’s best-known professional-recruitment service, to offer search functions to its huge customer base of over 30,000 companies and 500,000 executives. But on November 17th Apec made a new deal with Viadeo, having noted that although LinkedIn could reach executives at France’s biggest international companies, it failed to connect enough people in the country’s thousands of smaller firms.

In professional networking, argues Dan Serfaty, Viadeo’s founder, having local depth is better than signing up a narrow slice of the highest-powered people around the world. A typical LinkedIn member would be an investment banker at Société Générale, a French bank, he says, “too proud to invite his friends to join or to pay for it”. In contrast, Mr Serfaty claims, Viadeo signs up branch managers for Société Générale, who use the site often and are happy to spend €5 ($7.50) a month on a subscription. Local entrepreneurs and provincial civil servants may be less impressive as members than Bill Gates, Microsoft’s co-founder, Mr Serfaty continues, but they are more engaged. (Mr Gates has been on LinkedIn since last year, and so far has made only five connections to other members.) At Xing, too, a hyper-local network which went public in 2006, the typical member is not a senior executive but a middle manager, says Stefan Gross-Selbeck, its boss.

“We have the most elite, international and aspiring people,” says Kevin Eyres, head of LinkedIn in Europe. The firm’s global approach, he says, has brought rapid growth in members at a low cost relative to its competitors. Having a large American membership is a particular advantage. In Mexico, for instance, Viadeo started from scratch and had to visit dozens of local alumni associations to recruit members, whereas LinkedIn could offer Mexicans the chance to connect to American business people right from the start.

In Italy and Japan, LinkedIn is number one even though it has not translated its site into the local language in either place. In China, however, LinkedIn has to compete against the Chinese-language website of Tianji, the country’s biggest professional network, which is owned by Viadeo.

Which is the most attractive model? All three networks have benefited from the crisis, as executives fearful of losing their jobs have rushed to burnish their contacts. But it is estimated that fewer than 1% of LinkedIn’s 50m members worldwide actually pay for the service, compared with around 10% of Viadeo’s members in Europe and 18% of Xing’s German-speaking members. LinkedIn, therefore, relies on firms’ human-resources departments and advertisers for most of its revenues, which reached $100m last year. The firm has been profitable for two years. Revenues at Xing and Viadeo come mostly from subscribers. In the first three quarters of 2009, Xing, with 8m members, brought in revenues of €33m, 33% higher than the previous year, and operating profits of €9m.

LinkedIn is concentrating on growing quickly around the world, not on extracting profits in each market, says Mr Eyres, and is only starting to localise. It could soon launch an initial public offering of its shares. In October Viadeo bought Unyk, a Canadian-based networking service with members in several countries including America and Brazil. That put the French firm in second place behind LinkedIn measured by number of members: it now has 25m in total. It too is contemplating a share offering. That may advance the day when all three firms are obliged to focus on profits, making the relative value of humble local managers versus masters of the universe clearer.

Will Facebook Go Public?

Wall Street Journal

Facebook Inc. took steps to solidify the control of founder Mark Zuckerberg and other existing shareholders in the event the social-networking company goes public.

The closely held Silicon Valley firm, emulating one of Google Inc.'s well-known strategies, established a dual-class stock structure that would increase the voting power of Mr. Zuckerberg, who is the company's chief executive, and other existing shareholders if they hold onto their shares during an IPO.

Facebook said Tuesday the move shouldn't be construed as a signal that the company is planning to go public, saying it has "no plans" to do so "at this time."

It said it is introducing the structure "because existing shareholders wanted to maintain control over voting on certain issues" and "focus on the long-term."

As part of the plan, Facebook will convert existing holdings to Class B stock, which carry 10 times the voting power of Class A stock, according to a person who has seen documents outlining the plan.

Those shares will remain Class B shares unless the owner sells them following an initial public offering, at which time they will become Class A shares, this person said.

Mr. Zuckerberg, who is 25 years old, has said in recent interviews that the company plans to go public eventually. If that happens—and existing investors hold onto their shares—the dual-class structure would enhance their control and make it easier to fend off unwanted suitors.

Mr. Zuckerberg, already the company's largest shareholder, has a percentage stake measured in double digits, according to people familiar with the matter. He already wields the most power among investors through board seats he controls.

Others with sizeable stakes include co-founder Dustin Moskovitz and Sean Parker, the company's founding president, along with early investor Peter Thiel and Accel Partners, a venture capital firm.

Facebook declined to comment on the ownership stakes.

The fast-growing company, which operates one of the most popular sites on the Web, said earlier this year it is generating positive cash flow and that revenue in 2009 is expected to be up more than 70% from 2008.

Mr. Zuckerberg has taken a number of steps to buy the company more time before going public, most recently allowing some employees to sell up to a million dollars in stock through a private buyback program. Under that program, Digital Sky Technologies purchased shares from Facebook employees at a price that valued the company at $6.5 billion.

If Facebook chooses to raise more money it is unclear whether the company would issue Class A or Class B shares or which currency it would use for potential acquisitions.

Facebook Changes May Benefit Brands

from Online Media Daily

Facebook on Wednesday laid out a "roadmap" for developers, outlining upcoming changes aimed at making it easier for users to find and use applications and help app creators build their business on the social network.

Among the key updates in store, Facebook will enable developers to ask for users' primary email address within applications to facilitate direct contact. At the same time, developers will only be able to send notifications and invitations via email, a user's Facebook Inbox or the News Feed and other activity streams.

New application and games dashboards are slated for the home page, making it easier for people to see the latest apps they have used as well as discovering new ones based on what friends are engaging in.

To provide easier access, the applications bookmarks will be moved from the bottom left side of any page on Facebook to a more prominent location on the left side of the home page. An "Ad Bookmark" button will also be created for apps.

Among broader changes in the works, Facebook will end its verification program for apps, instead applying the initiative's more rigorous standards to all apps. Facebook is also launching an "Open Graph" API (application protocol interface) so any Web page can, in effect, become a Facebook brand page -- users can become a fan of the page, and it will show up on that user's profile and in search results.

"This means that Facebook could become a more important distribution channel for publishers even if they don't have a Facebook Page -- which could be very powerful for both Facebook and publishers in general," noted Inside Facebook editor Justin Smith in a blog post Wednesday.

Other social media experts said the changes planned in the next six months could have far-reaching implications for brands, especially the Open Graph initiative. "This is a big change because it means Facebook is no longer a destination and the experience is spread to all kinds of places," said Jeremiah Owyang, a partner at digital consulting firm Altimeter Group. In that sense, Open Graph is a developer focused follow-up to Facebook Connect, the service that lets users log onto third-party sites using their Facebook account information.

Social marketing specialists also noted that the new developer rules open the door to email marketing and branding via Facebook. The ability to collect email addresses "is enormous for our brands and agencies because we will be able to create strategies around giving Facebook users ways to opt-in to share their primary email addresses with the brands," said Mike Lazerow, CEO of Buddy Media, which helps companies manage their social media presence.

He added that the step will bridge the gap between the more established technique of email marketing and newer approaches via social media. In a blog post Thursday, Facebook's Austin Haugen said the email practices the company is developing will be similar to signing up for or creating accounts on other Web services. "When you do so, those services can email you directly to confirm a purchase, or provide newsletters or updates for which you signed up," he wrote.

But he also emphasized the voluntary aspect of the new email feature for users: "Keep in mind that applications will never be given your email address unless you explicitly grant them permission, and like other websites you can always choose to unsubscribe if the service is no longer of value."

Facebook has had a series of privacy stumbles from the Beacon program, informing friends about users' purchases on other sites, to its terms of service controversy, where it was forced to revise its rules after appearing to claim perpetual ownership of material posted to the site.

The company separately Thursday posted an updated privacy policy as part of the public comment process it adopted for all new Facebook governance policies it adopted in April following the TOS controversy. As with the revised terms, the latest version of Facebook's privacy rules are intended to do away with legalese in favor of plain language and greater clarity.

The Facebook Backlash Continues

From PC World

Facebook's latest interface tweaks make the default feed more like it was before the last major home page overhaul, but the changes aren't without some issues, and they have sparked some backlash among Facebook users.

Facebook gave its home page a makeover … again. On Oct. 23, the social networking site quietly rolled out some fairly significant changes to the way information is displayed on users' home page. The updates make the default feed more like it was before the last major home page overhaul, but the changes aren't without some issues, and they have sparked some backlash among Facebook users.

The Good

When Facebook changed the home page earlier this year, it went to a more Twitterlike feed of real-time status updates. Basically, every status update from your network of friends is displayed as it is entered, without any filtering.

I have bad news for those whose day gets ruined when Facebook doesn't look the same: It will continue to change. Everything does.

The new Facebook home page News Feed brings relevance back to the main feed. Rather than displaying everything from everyone, the News Feed uses an algorithm to display only the posts and status updates that your network is interested in. The more likes, comments or interactions a post within your network has, the more likely it will appear in your News Feed.

Robert Scoble, a technology evangelist and social networking guru, described the change on his blog: "This makes Facebook much more useful because you only see the items that your friends have found important enough to comment on or 'touch' in some way. Overnight my news feed went from something that looked pretty cold and lame to something that has tons of ‘warmth.'"

The changes, which merge the Highlights back into the News Feed, also allow for the Events box in the right panel to move higher on the page. That is great news to me because, frankly I never saw it with the previous design, so it has been months since I have known if it was someone's birthday today.

The Bad

The complete real-time stream still exists, but now it's called the Live Feed. While you are viewing the default News Feed, a bubble next to the Live Feed link keeps a running tally of the number of posts you're missing in the Live Feed.

You can click over and view the real-time stream. One problem, though, is that the Live Feed continues to refresh as new posts are entered. Each time that happens, the screen changes focus and you have to scroll to figure out where you were when your reading got interrupted. Facebook needs to figure out how to stream the updates without refreshing the screen or changing focus while you're reading.

The new News Feed also has created a problem. You have your network of friends on Facebook because those are the people you are interested in networking with. But, because Facebook displays the comments from your friends, as well as comments from their friends, you end up with comments from users you are not networked with and excess noise to read through.

Scoble points out: "Twitter, on the other hand, doesn't have comments. So you can't easily have a back-and-forth conversation about something like you can over on FriendFeed or Facebook. But it has a HUGE advantage: I only see items from people I invited to get on my home screen."

The Backlash

It seems inevitable that any change in the way Facebook displays information is met almost instantly with some sort of organized backlash. It is both ironic and apropos that users leverage the social network, using Fan Pages and Groups, to organize grassroots uprisings to complain about Facebook changes they don't like.

The backlash seems to boil down to users who simply don't like change. It doesn't matter if the change is good or bad, what matters is that it forces them to alter the way they use and interact with Facebook and they don't appreciate having a new learning curve. There are also some legitimate issues as well, though, like those I pointed out above.

The thing is, with more than 300 million users, you can't please everyone. Facebook says the changes were made based on feedback from users and possibly in response to the organized grassroots backlash from the last home page update. Many users like the new changes, but more than half a million have already joined the group CHANGE FACEBOOK BACK TO NORMAL!!

The changes made by Facebook make the default stream "cozier" and foster more interaction. The Live Feed is good, too, but displaying the posts that are getting the most attention within the network helps engage more users in the conversation or get more users to connect and participate rather than just reading the status updates as they stream (quickly) past.

I have bad news for those whose day gets ruined when Facebook doesn't look the same: It will continue to change. Everything does. Social networking in particular is a rapidly evolving medium, and entities like Facebook and Twitter are aggressively trying to stay ahead of the curve and define how people use social networking.

Facebook Makes New Changes, Controversy Erupts

PC Mag

Facebook on Friday again revamped its homepage, getting rid of its "Highlights" section and instead creating separate tabs for the news feed and real-time events.

When users sign into their accounts, they can select to view either the "News feed" tab or the "Live Feed" tab. The news feed will feature items Facebook believes are of most value to you, while the live feed will list everything that is going on with your friends.

"News Feed picks stories that we think you'll enjoy based on a variety of factors including how many friends have liked and commented on it and how likely you are to interact with that story," Facebook wrote in a blog post.

If you're on the news feed tab, the live feed tab will keep track of how many new posts have been added, much like how the most recent news feed notified you when new posts were added.

Facebook also re-added things to the news feed, like when friends are tagged in photos, when friends become fans of pages or join a group, when they RSVP to events, and when they add friends.

Facebook did away with the Highlights section "to be sure you don't miss other interesting content." The social networking site first introduced the feature during a March re-design that saw a lot of user backlash, though most redesigns have had their critics. The real-time news feed was added in May.

"Some of you may ask why we are changing the home page again. Like you, we know it can be disruptive when things are moved around, but we hope that these changes make Facebook a more valuable experience for you," Facebook said. "We put a lot of thought into all the changes we make to the site and do a lot of testing before releasing anything."

Ulitzer Named 'New Media' Partner For iStrategy 2010

Sys-Con

SYS-CON-owned Ulitzer has been touted as the ‘Wikipedia Killer' with now over 7,000 authors online sharing news, views and industry trends on the sites' innovative blogging system. Magazines are managed and created on Ulitzer by visionaries of the digital media space, some of which brought the sites attention to the organizers of what is now the most anticipated New Media event to happen next year - The iStrategy 2010 in Berlin.

The iStrategy program is famed for educating the corporate elite in the relatively infant innovation of Social Media. Such visionaries as Michael Donnelly Group Director Worldwide Interactive Marketing at Coca-Cola, Michael Buck, Global Head , SMB Online Dell and Ralf Ahamer CMO, XING are sharing their successes at the conference in February next year, looking at; ever changing media consumption patterns and the rapid growth of mobile web, social networking, behavioral targeting, vodcasting, email marketing, viral marketing and how their companies have so brilliantly embraced online advancements to bring them closer to the consumer.

"We have over 150 CMOs confirmed for the Berlin Conference, they are all keen to learn what web 2.0 can do for their business, and we are delighted to welcome such a luminary within the digital media space as SYS-CON's Jeremy Geelan." Richard Owen - iStrategy Director.

A new ‘Internet' has been born that can flatten the market place if not managed correctly. New opportunities create greater challenges for any company to stay ahead. Thanks to sites like Ulitzer the corporate world has finally embraced online social media as a real competitive advantage, and the tier ones are now incorporating such initiatives in their 2010 business plans.