How quiet is too quiet? I have recentl...

How quiet is too quiet?I have recently been chastised at every turn for "falling off the radar" so to speak. By "the radar" most people are referring to that of the social media world; blogs, twitter, the book of face and many others.But here's my question, How quiet is too quiet? I don't feel I've dropped of the radar too dramatically. I completely agree that I am blogging less but I think that's because my paradigms are shifting a bit.I no longer believe that the web is the best place to throw down your thoughts and hope for some response. I no longer believe that my blogs are the best way for me to spend my time online. I have a job that pushes me to my limits almost every day and fulfills my need to constantly be innovating, creating and developing within a new and uncharted territory. So what do I need blogs for?Don't get my wrong, I love my blogs and they are a great outlet for me to do precisely what I am doing right now, a dump of mental thoughts (moughts?) running around my head that help to keep my very few readers up to date with the direction of my thinking and life. That's it.SA Rocks serves an entirely different purpose so that's not really worth discussing in the same context.Regarding Twitter, the book of face, the space of my, linked in, last fm and any (every) other social network I belong to, I am fast feeling that they are all relatively useless to me. I don't understand the value of Facebook. Linkedin is a network worth keeping alive, but just barely and the others were great for me when I wanted to keep abreast of the latest tech out there. But right now, I am in a different paradigm that has very little to do with the web and how social it can be right now.So I think I am being the correct amount of quiet up in here.

One man controls over 250 million people...

One man controls over 250 million people's profiles world wide. That scares me.

Facebook is actually becoming ridiculous...

Facebook is actually becoming ridiculous with notification settings. I have changed my settings to OFF probably 4 times in the last 2 months. Today I started receiving notifications from Facebook in my email inbox.Let me explain this to someone, anyone, as explicitly as I can. I DO NOT WANT FACEBOOK NOTIFICATIONS IN MY INBOX. EVER. EVER. EVER.Below are two screenshots, the first is what Facebook changed my notification settings to and the next is afterwards, my settings. Click the images to see fullscreen (and take note of the date).Please keep in mind that I had turned off ALL of the above notifications with one exception: Birthday notifications. Above, numerous options have been changed without my consent.

Rap on the knuckles from Facebook

Anyone ever received one of these?Think at the point of receiving the error I was posting a link to WhyVOTE? to a group. Oh well.

Facebook goes all MySpace on us...is this the beginning of the end?

It had to happen. If you are going to open up Facebook (FB) to third party applications you have to expect that someone will come along and change things for those who want change.I hate MySpace because it's so unbelievably kitch and cheesy. Now FB can be those things too. Have a look at my profile.I read about the application that allows you to do this on ReadWriteWeb. I am all for democracy and choice and blah blah blah, but I honestly think this is horrid.What are your thoughts?The application is put out by PageRage and will definitely help you take one step closer to a MySpace feel to your FB. I'm not convinced about the necessity for this sort of thing.*Note: You need to install the application to see my profile on Facebook and to see anyone else who has an altered profile. I cannot be held liable if your friends leave you and no one writes on your wall subsequent to adding this application to your Facebook.

Facebook is running out of space and will delete you

Yes, it's true. Well, it must be true because people have been receiving this message from "Facebook Founder: Mark Zuckerber" - isn't there a "g" on the end of his name?Anyways, here's the message that's been floating around and around. I haven't personally received it but a friend sent it to me in an email after contacting me on Facebook in a frantic spin talking about the internet running out of space.

Attention all Facebook members.Facebook is recently becoming very overpopulated,There have been many members complaining that Facebookis becoming very slow.Record shows that the reason isthat there are too many non-active Facebook membersAnd on the other side too many new Facebook members.We will be sending this messages around to see if theMembers are active or not,If you're active please sendto 15 other users using Copy+Paste to show that you are activeThose who do not send this message within 2 weeks,The user will be deleted without hesitation to create more space,If Facebook is still overpopulated we kindly ask for donations but until then send this message to all your friends and make sure you sendthis message to show me that your active and not deleted.Founder of FacebookMark Zuckerber

Well, I am trying to be as "inactive as possible" so that I can test this little theory and maybe be saved from Facebook. Please Mr Zuckerber, delete me.

Facebook's "Note Bloggers" must outnumber us "Real Bloggers"

Facebook's "notes" feature has possibly created an entirely new faction of bloggers who have no idea that they are self publishers and by default, bloggers.I can only imagine that by the sheer number of South Africans that are using Facebook (over 700 000) and are actually writing innocent "notes", well outnumber us "real bloggers".Furthermore, if on average let's guestimate that these "note bloggers" have +-250 friends and that each note is being read, or at least viewed by half of these people. Imagine if every article you wrote on your blog was read by between 100 and 300 people. You'd have a thriving "real blog"."Note blogger" vs "Real blogger" - what's your poison?

Customise your Facebook Fan Page with FBML Application

I am not a serious programmer at all. I have never claimed to be. But I made the effort to learn the basics and can manipulate CSS. So it frustrates me that all of my Facebook Fan Pages look the same and look like everyone else's.Not anymore apparently. I discovered an application that you can add to your FB Fan Page that will allow you to create boxes on your Fan Page that you can code in to. It's called FBML. If you do a Facebook search for FBML you'll find a host of other apps and groups that can help you with the application and your skills.I was somewhat sceptical but decided to give it a go with my South Africa Rocks! Fan Page. It worked.Now I haven't spent much time on the two boxes that I have added so they are suffering from lack of attention but the proof that the FBML application works is there.Have a look:If you have used this app and have a great example (I know mine isn't so hot) of what FBML can do, let me know. If you are interested in messing around with it drop me an email or comment and I'll let you try some stuff out on the SA Rocks Fan Page for some experimentation.

Young bloggers in South Africa

A while back I read a few blog posts that spoke of young bloggers abroad making waves and finding great success.I am relatively young but I think that these posts are referring to bloggers younger than I am.Where are the young bloggers under the age of 21 in SA? Are there any and if not, why not?I can't think of any and don't read any but that doesn't mean they don't exist. But is there really value for this sort of market in SA? Should we be looking for the next big thing now and getting them online and benefiting from their potential success? Is this exploitation?I am also extremely interested to discuss what the next generation of bloggers will look like.Should there be a batch of teenagers coming to the fore? Surely if blogging was taking off as much as bloggers think it would be reaching the younger generation and adopting the practice of blogging?Could this be a sign that blogging is not all that it's cracked up to be and it isn't growing at the rate we all think it is? With so many teenagers on Facebook and using Mxit in SA in my mind it makes sense that some of them should be, could be and would be publishing their own content on blogs. But they just aren't. Why?

Win With Doritos Taco - a relative flop

Doritos has been everywhere lately, all over the radio, a few other ads here and there. Basically they have been punting their Facebook page.I eventually saw that one of my friends on FB had joined the group as well as ±1500 people.My immediate reaction is that this is a flop of a campaign. Advertising on radio is no cheap affair but an affair it is. You face the risk of being caught out by your better half - the listeners or target market. And to me it seems as though this has happened to Doritos.

Why I think this is campaign was a flop?

Coming off the back of a great advertising campaign with their "Moment of boldness" A few years ago I can't believe that Doritos could have done so badly with this one. That campaign was a viral campaign before there were viral campaigns. To this day I know many people who still joke about their moments of boldness.At the time of writing this post there were 777 122 people from South Africa above the age of 18 on Facebook. That works out to about 0.2% of the users on FB, from SA actually bothered to become a fan of the brand. In my mind, that's a bit of a flop.

Why this could be perceived to be a successful campaign

Theoretically what we could be looking at here is quality over quantity. Involvement and activity over masses of inactive users/fans.But let's look at this for a moment before we get ahead of ourselves. The available features on the FB page of Doritos are: Notes, Photos, Video, Wall Comments, Events and Discussion Board.To analyse these in a bit more detail:Wall313 postsDiscussion Board Topic 1: 120 posts by 95 peopleTopic 2: 29 posts by 25 peopleVideos12 fan videosPhotos44 photos5 albumsEventsEvent 1 - 6 confirmed guests, 4 wall postsEvent 2 - 28 confirmed guests, 6 wall postsNotes7 notes144 commentsLooking at the above breakdowns I honestly cannot say that all the money Doritos must have spent on their mainstream ad campaigns was worth it. 44 photographs and 12 videos is really not a good response in my opinion. Especially considering that there are ±1500 people in the group and over 750 000 people in SA on FB. That means that less than 1% of the fans on the page posted a video and almost 3% of the fans posted a photograph.I'm not sure about you, but I've posted, viewed and commented on hundreds of photos on FB, that should've been the saving grace but alas, it wasn't.

What Doritos could have done differently

Expanded their "moment of boldness" campaign to an online network of viral campaigns. Blogs, videos, podcasts and "fake events" that could have boosted the reputation of the brand for the young and socially in touch.I can picture the blog and videos now; South Africans all over filming their moment of boldness, recording fake jumps, dares and ironic, satirical parodies of the "bold" factor.Doritos could have done more with their Facebook group. Updates, invites, ads, coupons, giveaways, freebies. Sometimes it just takes a bit of gritty interaction to spread the word for a fan page, not an entire radio ad campaign. Other than giveaways the Doritos fan page gave nothing to its members. No community offering. I know a lot of people who feel an affinity to Doritos, it's their choice chip, but they were not enticed to join this group. People like Apple Students has it right on their page. They have a community, not a product.Below the line marketing would have worked better. Get bloggers involved, send them a box of crisps and ask them to eat them, rally a party around the chips, get other bloggers in on it and spread the word slowly to all their readers via the subsequent posts.Print would even have worked better than radio. More people will sit near a computer while reading a newspaper/magazine than will be listening to the radio, so why put it on the radio? You are probably driving in your car when you hear about the Doritos fan page, not sitting by a pc with internet access. Bad move.I did try to contact Doritos, the admin of the group or anyone but no one responded. I gave them a few working days. I'd love to know if they consider this campaign to be successful or if they are looking in to recovering from the flop that I see?

Vision - small companies vs big corporates

I've decided that for my age, experience, ambition and work-related desires small companies are for me. Larger companies verging on corporates are just too vague, machine-like and dehumanising.

Big companies and why I dislike them

I have freelanced for some large newspapers, worked at large broadcasters, travelled to some big companies around the world and worked for a major publisher and to be honest, they aren't for me, not at my age and not for the things that I want to achieve.Large companies are like large and impersonal schooling environments. Each employee, just like each student, is a number amongst a million others. I hate this because I make a point of standing out and it is hard to pro actively stand out on a large corporate that has rules, rulers, regulations, hierarchies and bureaucracies.Standing out is not the issue, the issue is how pro actively you do it. Large corporates, in my experience, don't like people to stand out. They like people to put their heads down, make little noise and do their job that is in line with the company's vision. The problem is, many of the people keeping the company afloat don't know or understand the overarching company vision.This is problematic for me because I am not the type of person who is dedicated to "Do as I say not as I do." I like to do as I comprehend. So if I am able to comprehend why you want me to do something I will do it until it is the best damn thing in the world. I will work weekends, nights and holidays to ensure that the task at hand is complete. I'll do this because I can see where my little job fits in to the company and the vision that I am apart of.It often happens that in a large corporate that people don't feel a part of a team or vision, they feel as if they are being forced to be part of a goal that they will probably never see come to fruition. They are only there because the company is paying them to be there and they need the salary. This, in my opinion is never a good idea and is always an avoidable outcome.

Small, established companies and why I love them

Small companies that are well established are the closest that you will get to owning your own company and running around with that much freedom. The individual is becoming a threat to the corporate and that is a great feeling.The likes of Google and Facebook possibly taking on Microsoft in the future is a great example of this. Two people starting small companies, becoming big companies and taking on large corporates. That is inspiring and that is a main reason to get involved in a small company and feel like you can change the world, instead of wanting to take over the world.Small companies have the ability to grow a person and mould you in to the type of skilled specialist that you want to be. You have the ability to take on serious responsibility and proper tasks. You also have access to your superiors. There are no glass doors or big offices and PA's to get past and make bookings with. You simply walk in to your boss's office (don't forget to knock). This sort of access to experience and knowledge is priceless when coupled with leadership and control of your own projects.Over and above the positives there are some positive downsides to working in a small company. You have to work. If you don't there is no one else to blame. You can't simply sit at your computer, in your cubicle shifting papers or saving documents that don't exist. If you don't reach your targets or achieve the goals set for you there is no one else to blame.There is also massive potential to grow the company as you grow. You can start on your own, running "your own division" that consists of you and your e-mail and take that division to soaring heights. If you are up to the job of course. If you aren't up to the task (and this is the downside) everyone in the company will know it, and the powers that be will get rid of you. It's that simple. Succeed and flourish, fail and leave. There is often no room for a middle ground when it comes to employees at a small company. Every employee is an annual salary that if not profitable needs to be used somewhere else.

The end result

It's fairly simple to write down, but probably more difficult in practice: Start niche, small, nurturing and move on to the big fish when you can catch the small ones. Going straight in to a large corporate can make or break you early on in your career. It might just end your will to thrive and your ambitious and innovative hopes. You may end up crushed if you enter the corporate world of big business and don't cut it. So why not change the world with a small company that you fit in to and when you have the skills, desire and experience move to a large company that can break your bank by paying you the salary you think you deserve.The other option is move up through the ranks of the small company you start at and blow them away with your youthful exuberance. By the time you are ready to move up you will have the knowledge you need, the experience you wanted and the skills that everyone else thinks you should have. Then you can really begin to plot your take over of the world (all the while changing it for the better).The world has become a more entrepreneurial place, it seems like the world is smaller and anyone has become a threat to everyone, anywhere in the world. For this reason I say join a small company or start your own. You might not succeed immediately but you will learn more, faster.

Facebook issues and errors

Strange things happened today:click image for full sizeWonder what that's all about?

Funny Inspirational Pictures that are in poor taste - The best FB Group EVER!!!

I have managed to find almost the best use I've ever had.Please have a look at these.Disclaimer: If you are easily offended, sorry, this post isn't for you. I am not the one saying ANY of the things below, I am republishing things I've found. Laugh, or laugh it off. This is the best Facebook group ever. There are hundreds of these posters. I was chuckling to myself all evening last night. Brilliance.

Facebook, Cape Town and the Monopoly Board

I am really not sure why but I freakin' want Cape Town to clean up this whole Monopoly Board thing.If you don't know what I am on about then let me briefly explain why I am writing this post. I was invited to join the Vote for Cape Town on the World Monopoly Board group on Facebook. I did, that was about two weeks or so ago.At that point there were under 100 people in the group and Cape Town was situated in the top gagillion for the Monopoly board. I then blogged the situation on SA Rocks and at the same time the Facebook group took off. Since I joined the group there have been more than 4000 people join and begin voting daily for Cape Town.The effect that this has had really impresses and astounds me. In fact it renews my opinion that Facebook can be a great place to rally and market around a product, point, belief etc etc.Cape Town has gone from nowhere to a peak of #8. We now site at a great #9 and will surely soon be climbing further. With over 4000 people voting daily for our success it is almost ensured at this point. With 25 days of voting left, if you haven't voted yet or haven't been voting all day I think it's best that you get started.In general I am absolutely blown away by the success that the Facebook group has had in such a short span. Let's hope that they can pick Cape Town up in to one of the top three spots. Then we'll be top on the Monopoly Board for a very long time to come.

When Facebook profiles go bad

This is just too much for me. It took me 3 or 4 minutes just to find the guys wall.All I wanted to do was write on his wall. I gave up. Look at all the applications:

Journalist pages on Facebook

Many of us in SA (over 600 000) have Facebook pages. I personally know a host of journalists who live double live. One life on Facebook, socialising and another in real life being journalists. Why hasn't anyone linked these two facets of life?Facebook has indeed done so. I just read and noticed that Facebook pages cater for professionals as well as brands, companies and others. You can now have a Facebook reporters page - here's an example. Instead of garnering yourself friends, you gather "followers" who watch your every professional move.I personally think this is a great idea but wonder how effective or relevant this might be.There are a few angles to take here.Firstly there is a sort of "representation" view. Where the more journalists a media organisation has on Facebook, the more presence and representation that organisation will gain. People can then become accustom to journalists and their beats as apposed to magazines and their genres or themes. Thus allowing readers and Facebook users to familiarise themselves with specific content written by specific people.The other is that people do (and especially journalists) lead double lives to a certain extent. What if a journalist is writing an "object" story about the state of the American presidential race. Their personal political views aren't reflected on their professional FaceBook pages but will be present in their personal page.Now we get in to the area of media restricting employees. This isn't preferable as most employees enjoy a level of separation from their work on sites like Facebook.For me the line has been blurred already as I dislike Facebook immensely already. So I took the decision to make my personal profile as barren and empty as possible so that nothing questionable would pop up on my page and affect my professional profile on Facebook.What do you think? Would you like to follow your favourite reporter or writer on Facebook? Bullard? Ronge? Anyone?I think this is an interesting development and one that should be considered by media organisations.

Bloggers Who Like to Get Beta Testing Invites

I found this interesting Facebook group.Many of us bloggers are what we like to call "early adopters". This means we like things quickly, we like to be the first and we like to break the story in some way.This Facebook group sources beta invites and try to link up bloggers with beta websites. Blogging about the website's beta is seemingly optional but owning a blog is a prerequisite.From the group:

Are you a blogger that loves to get in to test new sites first? Many of those sites are trying to reach you too - but they get lost amidst all the press releases for stuff you don't care about.This is an exclusive group for those bloggers who want to try out some of those new Web2.0 sites that are starting everyday, and MAYBE blog about them. Whether or not you choose to blog is up to you ... but at least you'll get the invites first. To join this group, YOU MUST HAVE A BLOG.

Mentez.com, a FB app competition and ownership issues

This sort of thing is really dodgy sometimes and thanks to the Sharepointexpert I got wind of this one.The idea that Mentez.com is proposing is immediately enticing. Especially when R40 000 is up for grabs. But at a second look the terms and conditions are somewhat concerning.The competition seems to be run in rounds. First you send in an idea, then the best ideas are accepted by judges then you have until sometime in January, 2008 to develop the app. Then, simply by entering the compeition you:

11. By submitting a registration form, each Participant fully and unconditionallya. Agrees to these Terms and Conditionsb. Authorise Mentez to use their personal data for the purposes of running and promoting the Contest this year and/or in subsequent years;c. Will be deemed to have read, accepted and agree to be bound by these Contest Terms and Conditions. Participants are advised to print and keep safe these Terms and Conditions.

The full terms and conditions are available here. But let's move on.To me, the R40 000 is miniscule when considering the potential of a brilliant local FB app. IT feels like the website is asking brilliant SA developers to write these apps. Then host them with Mentez and negotiate a contract regarding the app thereafter. Hmmm... and who owns the app? The competition winner? The writer of the app? The company, Mentez, who?

15. For the applications that are selected to pass to the development phase of the contest, the participants will have to sign a development, hosting and monetization agreement with Mentez.com. This agreement is readily available for your review and is required to qualify for the second stage of the contest.

Then it seems that if you are unhappy with the outcome of the event you are not allowed to say anything:

22. Participants must not act in any way or fail to act in any way or be associated with any cause or group which would have a negative impact on the reputation of Mentez, the Contest or the Judges.

What happened to freedom of speech? We've seen this before on the local scene with the podcast competition earlier this year and others. Now can these competition people stop taking us for accepting, naive bafoons and realise that if we are going to make FB apps, we want the glory, which probably equals more than R40 000 if the app is great. Just my thoughts.I invite Mentez.com to email me and let me know their thoughts and clearly explain the terms and conditions. I am intererested to focus on the questions of hosting the app, ownership and profit share specifically.What do you think?