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Christopher Leisure — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 18:36:34 +0000

I’m not really a fan of Facebook, or even Myspace (Does that still exist?) but recently converting to Google+ I’ve found it to be pretty cool. So far the interface could use work, features added, and security options expanded, but the great thing about its early development is that we Google+ users get to see the interface in its infancy, and knock the tires on it. Much like was done on Gmail. The only thing keeping Google+ from being used instead of Facebook for social media is that it’s by invite only still, and some users just don’t want to convert over. I guess that is the same situation as with Myspace users to Facebook, but eventually I think Google+ will be pretty competitive with Facebook for the social media market.

A Post About Kittens and Viral Videos

Mark Kraus — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 16:57:25 +0000

It’s a new year and new decade. What better way to start things off than with a blog about Kittens? Okay, so not literally about kittens, but about internet memes and viral videos. One example is the “Kittens Inspired by Kittens” video that has almost 7 million views on YouTube. I’m sure a good 100 of those views are from my friends asking me on a monthly basis to pull this video up on my iPhone. But, what makes a viral video successful?

I’ll preface this with a declaration that I am in no way a psychology expert nor have I studied extensively into memes. But, having spent more than a decade supporting internet technologies, I have been exposed to countless internet memes and viral videos. Therefore, my opinion on this matter is based on my experience alone.

The first ingredient in a successful viral video is brevity. Brevity is, as they say, the soul of wit. Ergo, brevity and wit go a long way in making a video successful, but wit need not apply. Some videos are just short captures of something that really happened. The event may not even be all that funny, if not gruesome or sad. I posit that the human attention span is relatively short and it takes a lot of work to hold it for longer than a few minutes, like movies. So a short video has a great shot at becoming viral.

Another ingredient is that it has to affect the audience. The best affect the video could have on a person to make the video viral is humor. Most people enjoy a good laugh. But serious videos can become viral if they evoke a great enough emotional response. One example of a negative emotional response is the one elicited from the video of Nick Berg being beheaded by Iraqi militants. There is another great example which involves a video named after a certain number of females and a certain number of cups. Either way, whether the video is funny or disgusting, I believe people feel the need to pass them on to share the experience.

The final ingredient is believability. This works two ways. If a video is believable, people are less likely to dismiss it as being manufactured just to be viral. People seem to have a sense for when they are being duped and they generally don’t like it. However, if the believability is questionable but not outright dismissible, the video can also become viral. This happens because people want to confirm with others that their suspicion is correct and will pass the video on to others to get that confirmation. Videos that completely dispense from reality seem to conform to this as well. This includes animated videos. Like any fiction, reality can be dispensed with when the fictional universe is consistent and interesting. Slip up, and your fictional reality becomes unbelievable. Make a minor mistake or be immaculate and the fiction can become viral.

So many great viral videos have come about in the past decade as access to high bandwidth internet has increased and more users begin to adopt social networking sites. However, not all viral videos are instant successes. Some take a while to be noticed. But if a video is brief, affects the audience, and is believable it has the right ingredients to become viral. All it needs is someone to find it and pass it on.

Facebook, the next generation in: Web application development?

John Cunningham — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 19:31:49 +0000

Despite being the modern leader in social networking, Facebook has a powerful application programming interface (API) that most people are unacquainted with. So, next time you venture off to the world of socially imperative networking, keep in mind that you’re only one click away from a bucket of brilliant development tools. At the foot of every page generated in Facebook, there is a development URL. Go ahead, click it!

From quiz generators, to fully functional web based RPGs; these development tools will allow you to implement almost anything into Facebook’s versatile infrastructure. Companies and individuals alike can have a more powerful presence on the web. And when used properly, this can add an influential perspective to your companies outreach capabilities. With the bonus of having a social network with millions of users to deploy on top of; who could possibly ask for more?

Are you ready to start construction on your web application yet? Assuming you know a morsel of PHP, and if you’ve also found your way to http://developers.facebook.com/, you can see that they’ve tried to make it just as easy to socially network, as well as develop with their API. Facebook gives you the fundamental tools to help you begin your project. So, I’m sure you can locate precisely what you’re looking for in their developer wiki. Or, if you’re still stuck, you can signup for their web forum. With such an extensive user base, you can almost always get the support you’re looking for, at almost any time of day.

Don’t forget you’re not bound to Facebook’s servers, and you don’t have to pay some exuberant royalty fee. If you’re interested in pure growth, the development team at Facebook allows you to host most (if not all) of your content off site, on your own web space. This is accomplished with a simple API key/application secret that is generated with your specific account (You will need to add the Facebook Developer App to your specific Facebook account in order to begin getting things done).

Since social networking is becoming more of a social norm, are we going to see things evolve accordingly? Is your company going to be able to keep up with the demand of the now generation? Facebook took a huge leap forward with social networking. Are you ready to take another?

Does Social Networking = More Business?

John Cunningham — Fri, 01 May 2009 21:35:13 +0000

I’ve thought long a hard about this and by far the most difficult concept I’ve grappled with lately is how social networking = more sales. Can we really tweet our way to success and does Facebook really matter? Personally I feel the answer is yes, no and maybe. Let me explain..

The Yes:
Unlike 99% of the businesses out there, if you fall into that 1% who continuously update all of your social networking accounts with fresh and relevant content, people will read it. If your content is well written, thoughtful, insightful and relevant, there is a high probability that some person or organization might reach out to you for advice or better yet, to buy something from you. At a minimum they might see your content and you will have made some impression on them. Viral marketing at it’s purest form and better yet, it costs nothing more than a few minutes to bang out your thoughts and hit the publish button. So why not jump on that bandwagon and see what happens.

The No:
If you sell a service or product that in no way can benefit from social networking than you’re pretty strange. None come to mind except for maybe someone in the witness protection program. So if you are a fugitive from either the law or the mob, don’t ditch the cheek implants and fake mustache just yet. Another NO would be if your Company only sold crappy products or services. So crappy in fact that not only you knew they sucked, but your clients and entire organization also knew. If so you might consider keeping things on the down low because in your case, any discussions would be counterproductive for you. However it would be highly productive for someone reviewing your business.

The Maybe:
Since demographics on the web are as much about guess work as they are statistical analysis (I can’t be the only one who put their birthday as Jan 1st ,1900 on a website) consider this scenario. Lets assume your business sells diapers, make that adult diapers. It’s safe to say the majority of your target market would be elderly folks. It’s also unlikely this group is trolling fling.com, hanging out on Facebook or Tweeting. In fact, expecting them to participate on social networking sites at all is a stretch. However if their kids are buying their diapers, it’s far more likely they might seek out reviews or read blog posts about the impending purchase. Now if you also happen to be that blogger, your post just might encourage them to have a look at your diapers. I’m not picking on the elderly because I’ll probably be wearing a diaper one day and I also volunteer at a senior center, it’s just all I could think of.

My opinion tends to lean towards YES in all instances. I’ve grappled with this issue and have had numerous discussions with friends about this topic with the most common response being, huh? I suspect that those who ignore social networking for their business might just compel a segment of tech savvy users to ignore them.

Time will tell.

1-800-HOSTING Blog » social networking

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