From ‘Data Candy’ to ‘iArnie, the 400 pound cyborg’. I take a look back at the rise of the social web and what it might mean for our digital future.

But firstly, let’s deal with the ‘Data Candy’ These days it’s so easy to get caught up in the growing shadow and influence of Facebook and the never ending release of info graphics. Showering us in ‘data candy’ – tasty statistical snippets that we can’t refuse.

• 1 in every 13 million people on earth is on Facebook.

• Every 20 minutes 1 million links are shared on Facebook.

• 750 million photos uploaded over New Year’s weekend. …and on it goes.

It’s always about volume. The Twitter ‘Data Candy’ follows the same trend.

• Twitter nears its 50 Billionth tweet on its 5th Birthday.

• 460,000 new Twitter accounts created in Feb 2011.

• Lady gaga becomes the first person to have 9 million Twitter followers in March 2011.

We seem to have an insatiable appetite for phenomenal crowd movements, of course it’s only natural. But I think this is taking our attention away from the direction of the social web and what it might mean in the future. It’s like these ‘volume trends’ stand in front of us waving shiny data candy, so we miss what’s going on in the background. Maybe we are missing something important here and I’d like to take a more detailed look at the direction the social web is heading and the relation it has with us.

Our identity crisis Kevin Kelly @Wired made an interesting point during a keynote speech at a Web 2.0 expo, (I paraphrase) “We put so much of ourselves into the web, our status, shares, location, correspondence. Are we approaching an identity crisis? Where do ‘we’ stop and where does the ‘internet’ start?”

It’s an interesting point, perhaps a little too provocative for everyday consideration, but it hints at a future vision, a vision that might very well be the future social web. To tackle this further, it’s worth back tracking a little, down the evolutionary path of the Internet and exploring our access to some of the corresponding technology that has been powering it. It’s worth doing, because it’s interesting to observe our relation to the web and technology and how that’s changed. How it all seems to be getting closer, as if it’s being pulled together by a kind of cyber gravity.

Let’s begin the back track at Web 1.0 Web 1.0 was all about accessibility of information. The boom of the global library and the rise of email as the modern communication alternative to the telephone. We could log on through our dial up connections for a look around, accompanied by modem sounds akin to loading a ZX spectrum game through the tape recorder (for those of you who remember Jet-set Willy . We could even Yahoo!

But any form of interaction with the technology and the data on the internet at this stage was seriously limited. It was a read only era. The content of the web was contributed by the few (comparatively) and managed by few developers, who held all the responsibility for content contribution. Back in those days if you mentioned open source, most people probably thought you were referring to new product development for Ketchup.

Then Web 2.0 arrived Web 2.0 was and still is mainly about interaction and connection with the network. The Wiki model, the contribution of the crowd toward collective intelligence. Co-creation begins and starts to lead to crowd-sourced models for business and for fun. Dell turns their business round with IdeaStorm and consumer power. Threadless and Spread Shirt start to create a demand and supply model for T-shirt production, completely created, voted and powered by the crowd.

The rise of the social web It was also the rise of the social web and the billowing of public content contribution. This trend of social sharing brings many more of us into an active connection with the web, a social and more personal relationship with the technology. Bringing us closer to our own data and closer to our friends and our associated tribes data and content.

Blogging and social network activity on social platforms or integrated onto websites was starting to fill the network. It still is on an increasing trend to become the majority share of web content. As of 16 February 2011, there were over 156 million public blogs in existence [Wikipedia].

As we all start to populate the Internet more, the network starts to become our repository for everything. Calendars and scheduling ahead of what we will do. Logging, organising, conversing, inviting and attending. Then capturing our locations, our moments through comments, tagging, photos and sharing, both while we do it and afterwards. TechWatch have recently published a report which reveals that sites like Facebook and Twitter accounted for 12.46% of all web traffic in January. But with 1 million links being shared through Facebook every 20 minutes, social media is becoming a huge traffic driver for the rest of the Internet.

Technology became more flexible The technology has also brought us closer by becoming more flexible, more useful to us. We saw open API’s start to arrive on the scene, allowing developers to tap into existing functionality and data, rather than re-creating it. Google allowed developer access to their maps application, creating a phase of map mash ups. Flickr open an API on their photo streams, leading to a big social boom in sharing photo moments and many more APIs open up.

A project was launched from Mozilla labs called Ubiquity, talking of an intelligent application layer at our fingertips. Based on a common command layer principal, whereby you have an intelligent layer of access to all your applications. This was a project predicting a future where you no longer needed a developer to create bespoke functionality, linking applications – like linking your calendar to your map, to plan an event for instance. Ubiquity meant you could do it yourself, when you needed to. All your applications and data pulled together, calendars, friends, places, maps. it’s a project that has been shelved by Mozilla for now. Certainly many applications are now built with this kind of socially linked support.

Technology now enters our reality But the command layer ethos, is something that has re surfaced in the form of Augmented reality. The Yelp iPhone app had a hidden ‘easter egg’ application. If you shook it 3 times, it revealed a layer of location aware ratings through your iPhone camera view. It was one of the first experiments into a live overlay of technology on our view of the world. Many more have followed.

An intelligent layer of support from the network. Connecting our actual view and experience with reality and influencing our decision making. So the cyber gravity increases as we are pulled closer and closer into contact with technology and our relevant social data.

The network not the website The social web and the ‘cloud’ that we are moving toward now, is not so much about the Internet any more. Well what I should say, is that it’s not so much about ‘websites’, the front face if you like – the reception area of the network. It’s now more about the network that sits behind the Internet. Because thats where the data and content sits, the website is merely one of many ways to access that data. Your TV, mobile, games console, cash registers, your various Apps, your Sat nav, even your fridge and domestic appliances. All accessing and linking to YOU through your social profiles.

Open id connects us further to the social web The rise of Open id platforms has also had a dramatic effect on the social connection on the network. Facebook connect, Twitter connect and others have meant an exponential growth of social connections with any new internet application, site or device. Everything is plugging into the network. YOU are plugging into the network, but your connection to the network only brings you into closer contact with YOU, your data, your socially connected data, friends, likes, recommendations. And so the pull of this cyber gravity between YOU and the network increases.

The social web and YOU This social web and YOU are now starting to become almost inseparable. Try this… have a little think about your past, some, if not many of your past experiences reside on the network, on a server somewhere, in some shape or form, even though you may well have forgotten about many of them. They have now become part of your digital subconscious. You may well have found old pictures on Facebook in someone else’s gallery and had a little chuckle, remembering that day. You realise that your life has left a trail through the social web, a series of memories and digital foot prints, living on, on the network.

Ok, so that’s the past, but what about your digital future. Let’s take another example – Your next cultural fad – The drumming group you haven’t found yet. But you will, you will find it on Meetup.com next week. In the future you will attend that event, but that event is already set up and waiting for you, that exists already, on the network.

Semantic – bringing meaning to data And the interesting thing about the network, full of all our data, is that it’s getting more and more intelligent. The semantic web is about intelligent data, where data and the technical structure that supports it starts to understand its own meaning. This means that the network structure starts to make some decisions for us, to help us find more relevance and even bring relevance to us – without us going to find it. With this our reliance and connection to the social web deepens further.

iArnie, the 400 pound cyborg This is not an apocalyptic prediction. This is not a scary prediction of technological destruction from iArnie the 400 pound cyborg, wearing his all-seeing pair of Augmented Reality Googles

It’s just evolution, a series of facts. Evolution is purely our successful ability to survive and adapt with or against our circumstances. Well surely technology deserves to take its place in that bracket of evolution with us. It’s amazing, just waking up and being able to find, meet and discover new ideas, people and places, that fit you, that you will love. All before you’ve reached your front door to leave your house and find them. Assisting our ability to heal, learn and improve – that’s evolution alright.

A glimpse at a social web future In my opinion the social web is giving us a very clear glimpse into the future. A future where technology will converge further with human behaviour and human reliance. Where the social web will become more and more an important and treasured part of our lives. Where our relationship with the social web can only get closer together.

Sure it will have its faults and flaws that will be exposed from time to time. But is that not just displaying the human characteristic of error? Evolution learns just as much from mistake, as it does from success. So maybe the social web is pointing us to a place where the line of identity between us and technology does get a little blurred.

“I’ll have the Italian renaissance excursion chip put in please. Yes, I’m off to Milan, always wanted to see it, how it was back then. You know… meet a few of the renaissance greats. …. and oh yes, of course, I’ll also take the Italian translation node… “

Grazie mille per il vostro tempo.

What do you think? Is our identity starting to blur with technology and the social web?

Nick Bennet – From SocialMediaToday.com

One briefing, two days of brainstorming, fights, disagreements, tons of hard work and a presentation later… we were declared winners!  I was undeniably excited, thrilled & over the moon about making our colleagues proud and putting Bates up there in the spotlight. After all the initial hype died down & I descended back to earth slowly from cloud number 9, we were on our toes constantly with in-house training sessions & all possible preperations of various kinds. However I was in no way prepared for what was awaiting us at Spikes Asia. The entire process can ony be described in one word- overwhelming! I’m truly at a loss for words.

Having competed with other talented industry professionals from the Asian reigon, witnessed amazing creative work and listened to top industry professionals share their thoughts and experiences over a span of three days, made me actually think through many things.

Firstly, the power of an idea and its amazing capabilities if implemented correctly. Its not about latest technology or big budgets, its about clarity and most of all simplicity.Almost each and every award winning campaign was based on one or more powerful ideas. Ideas capable of swaying millions and connecting with people on an emotional level, resulting in tremendous response, way beyond expectations! The power of the human mind is indeed unfathomable.

Secondly, I feel that being caught up in the day to day rat race and running to out do one another, we often tend to rush and buckle under pressure, trying to stick to the impossible & unrealistic deadlines at times. Conventional is indeed easy, but does it really satisfy us? Its a tricky question and in my case, as a creative individual, the feeling of innovating and trying out something new is a rewarding experience, as there is so much to learn through its process. But sadly,creativity sometimes pays the price for loss of time.

Having seen the unconventional, bold & in some cases heart-tugging work at Spikes, maybe we need to consider the fact that its not about a 30 sec TV commercial or a half page ad anymore, maybe its all & only about one powerful idea….. that actually connects..awakens and evokes response at the same time..

Just something to think about…

Udara Hettiarachchi

The difference of FMCG and IT

FMCG companies use Public Relations and advertising to drive a primal response in their communications.  They understand their customers and our habits, movements, motivators and urges.  They use PR to weave their promotions into the fabric of our lives because they can step outside their own realities and view themselves through the eyes of the consumer. IT companies consider themselves too complex to stoop to this level thinking “it is too techy to talk about”. I have observed IT companies have not yet fully embraced the “emotional” element in promoting their brand. They are more technology solutions focused and lack the advantage of been a business solutions provider. The best examples are the latest Apple iPhone advertisement and the Windows 7 launch where they connect to the public through Theodore Levitt ’s augmented product concept, the iPhone features are connected to our daily lives, combining functionality to the DNA of lifestyle.

Public Relations for technology companies are not the same as PR for FMCG. For Technology companies the buyers, consumers and the kinds of stories that interest both are vastly different. The depth and complexity of knowledge are beyond different. Which results strategies and tactics used by each organization should be tailor made accordingly. With all these factors unique to the high-tech market, it is inevitable to select a proper knowledge consultant for ones brand, product or service.

Mr. Indika De Zoysa Country Business Manager – Sri Lanka Intel EM Ltd – Sri Lanka Liaison Office, “Public Relations is valuable for IT companies like Intel to differentiate and inform the public about not only our solutions but also to educate our stakeholders about our company values and commitment to the community”.

Content

PR in the IT Industry gives the IT company an opportunity to express more substance and content to the wide audience vis-a-vis an advertisement or a campaign.  For industries such as IT where it’s more B2B as opposed to retailing, PR gives the length and breath to talk about a diverse array of activities. IT industries are diverse and dynamic, PR is a great way to express this diverse and dynamic elements.

“Strong employer brand – makes you competitive” – Madu Ratnayake -General Secretary and Director SLASSCOM

In a competitive environment for the best talent for the IT industry a strong employer brand is essential for attracting, retaining and inspiring employees. This is even more important, for a service organization where the main asset is its employees. A well thought out strategy and a message consistent with reality, is paramount in building a strong employer brand. Your best brand ambassadors for an employer brand are your employees. They can only be ambassadors if they are believers and inspired with what the company practice and stand for.

Firms that specialize in high-tech thinking have a better understanding of the tech industry

The Sri Lankan IT literacy rate is escalating steadily expanding across the country and into the homes of your consumer. Developments in electronics and Internet marketing have made PR firms to consider these changes in their business environment, and consumer behaviour, resulting in practicing cutting edge – technology PR – PR 2.0 platforms.

Selecting a tech savvy PR agency will enhance your business through expanding editorial coverage using PR 2.0 platforms, building conversation with your brand and your customer.  As marketers, we were always used to get through to our audiences with our messages, but the era of this concept in marketing has changed where we have to listen to what the pulse of our consumer is, they say what they experience about your brand this is a considerable feature through the expansion of new techy avenues. This results in global exposure and buzz for your brand – your activities. Most importantly it increase sales and enhances your marketing plan with a range of options to reach to your publics.

Technology PR agencies have the knowledge and allow you to show your potential the whole world, plus develop customer loyalty by integrating new technology with traditional advertising and marketing strategies.

How could IT companies maximize buzz?

Changes and introduction of “new” channels of communication results marketers to take into consideration the ever growing and popular “social media” which is also known as User Generated Media (UGM) Consumer Generated Media (CGM) communicating there brands promise and further engaging with their target audiences. This paved way to PR 2.0, how public relations integrate with technology and the internet. Public Relations thus has a new meaning when it comes to using these new communications avenues to influence the prospect.

For IT companies it creates more value, as the internet was born as a result of technology innovation. This makes sense for IT companies to use elements such as blogging, white papers, viral marketing, social networking sites and search engine optimization to communicate to your target publics, blending the traditional and new media relations to reach journalists as well as consumers.

Ashan Kumar

Home for the holidays as a Christian who sits by the front door till the neighbours bring in the plates full of Avurudu goodies, I found myself bored with the fare on cable. It was nice that this time I could sleep in till late and wake up just in time for the neighbourhood fare. Even my mom who fixed kiribath more as ‘it’s not nice to not cook kiribath on avurudu no’ and not to any auspices time was secretly peeping through the curtains, absent-mindedly mumbling to herself if the price of goods these days makes it possible for people to make a hundred and one things like they used to. Bummer! So this means more kiribath and less of the other treats like athirasa my favourite, and mun-kevum and those useless kokis! That is one food item which I firmly believe is quite overrated. So much so I wish we could pass hints at the neighbours at how little we appreciate Kokis!

And so while I was seated there, waiting for the plates to arrive, and when I had wished all and sundry via text and chuckled over a few funny messages I received in return, I half heartedly reached out to the remnants of the Sunday news paper that was lying beside me on the couch. The section I happened to pull out was the one entitled ‘Plus’ and the main article was something I wouldn’t have read on any other day. It was all about how this New Year the soldiers are home to celebrate the new years. But the sheer boredom I was feeling made me read on until it dawned on me. Bloody hell! This is in fact the first time in over 30 years that a soldier or a member of the armed forces can actually celebrate Avurudu without worrying if he will ever see his children or family and friends again.

The results of the recently concluded general elections were an eye opener to even the die-hard non believer. Regardless of who didn’t vote and who voted and whose vote counted and whose didn’t and whether the whole process was free and fair, there was one glaring fact that came to the fore every time an electoral result was declared with the most sickening of victory margins. That fact is that despite what we chose to believe and kid ourselves with, despite the antics of Mervyn or the verbal diarrhoea of Wimal, despite the lack of qualification of Pabha and most importantly the fact that an equal party to the war victory is dining on prison fare, the people are just simply and sincerely thankful to the regime that brought the war to an end.

And today, all over the countryside are servicemen who have come home for the holidays. Spending these days at avurudu uthsava and visiting relatives. Their children are probably looking up at them and asking them to recite stories from the battle front. Their wives and mothers might be making a cup of tea with an extra spoon of milk. Their fathers might be stealing glances, full of pride, at their offspring who fought valiantly for this country. This is pure happiness. A festival of new beginnings after all these years of fear, pain and despair. This is probably what some amongst us just don’t understand. Whatever said and done, the opposition ridiculed these battles, belittled their sacrifices, begrudged the victories and were jealous of the heights the present regime was scaling in the mindset of the masses. This is why today that opposition is reduced to a paltry 40 odd number of seats and the possibility that there might never be a UNP government.

The family of a service personnel is not and never limited to that particular family. For a serviceman is loved and cherished by his or her girlfriend and their families as well, by their group of friends and their families and in most cases by entire villages. By survivors of the heroes that laid their lives through all these 30 years and by those that guide an injured soldier through the battles of their now, civil lives. And we haven’t even discussed those not belonging to the services but were affected by the war in one way or another.

Suddenly those results that perplexed my lifelong UNP mom and dad suddenly makes sense to their equally lifelong UNP son who for the first time went against the family tradition of voting green and instead voted for some other colour that accompanied the Trophy. While the son still does not fully understand how the populace deserted the most obvious hero, he does understand the need for the masses to pick a side and stick to it. Sadly for the general it wasn’t his side.

Many are the lessons to be learned from this nations’ recent past. Many are the messages that lie between the coloured bars of election results. The need of the moment is not to stick to this party or that but to look to the future with a new sense of positivity. The people who voted for the UPFA are by no way my enemies, the kind of thinking I would have subscribed to in the past. But a majority who saw something more than I did. Whether what they saw was right or wrong or misguided will be judged by the sands of time. And most of all, as a person who was at the forefront of the protests in support of the General, I have faith that the populace of Sri Lanka will never just sit and watch. We have two bloody uprisings to prove that when push comes to shove, we will shove till our hands our bloody. Likewise the present government or its exalted president should not for a moment be complacent. The onus is now on them to chart the future of this splendid little island nation, I so fondly call home.

‘Gedara Kauda?’ Ah! Here comes the first plate. And thank fully, no Kokis!

Dinesh Perera

The Chartered Institute of PR has gathered together some of the UK’s foremost social media thinkers and contributors to provide input into the Institute’s policy guidance, education and training.  Led by CIPR board member Rob Brown, the panel will look at issues such as online reputation developments, convergence in marketing communications and best practice social media measurement.

CIPR President Jay O’Connor said: “A core theme in our three-year strategic plan is social media and the impact on the public relations profession. Rob joined the CIPR board to lead our efforts in this area, feeding into our policy, research and training. As part of this, Rob has set up the Social Media Panel – a group of some of the UK’s foremost social media contributors, who will debate and input, ensuring our guidance reflects the very best thinking and practice.

“Things are moving quickly. Reaching out to practitioners who can offer their insight so that we can guide our members and the profession appropriately is key.” The panel is a diverse group comprising some of the best thinkers and practitioners.

http://www.profile-extra.co.uk

A deep fried shrimp fritter on a grounded lentils and chili mixture formed into a concave disk, commonly known as “isso wade” is a relatively simple food item. Today however it ceased its simplicity and became a desirous temptress, a bringer of internal conflict and an instigator of an in-depth stream of consciousness which lead to inner turmoil, revelations and an acute awareness.

It was with great difficulty that I made up my mind to get off the comfortable chair and engage in some exercise, a concept alien to me until the dire need for it presented itself in my mirror. So with a lot of excuses valiantly dismissed, and the mind set of a Jeddai in place, the walk was embarked on. Initially I felt good about myself. In fact, I was highly taken up by this “exercise” thing- good for the body, good for the soul. So I was told. Thus, I was taken quite unawares by the ‘Isso wade’ seller accost my path- seemingly set on ambushing my new ‘healthy life style’ with his tempting delights. Deep-fried until golden brown and crusty in all it’s crispy goodness, the mouth watering aroma filling the air, eager consumers flocking around happily –munching. I felt like I had been whacked across the head.

This was so wrong. I was supposed to be exercising, living a healthy life, staying away from the fatty foods. And the (overwhelming) though of indulging in an ‘Isso wade’ in the middle of walk…well that’s just preposterous! It was with great discipline and restraint that I walked away from the peddler, somewhat disappointed but adamant to stay on course.  The strenuous exercise in defying every bone in my body however had gotten the wheels in my mind turning. The “isso wade’ man, standing at the right place at the right time, showcasing his products with all its sensory delights was in fact engaged in the best form of advertising. He had it all figured out. Location to attract target consumers, (i.e.; people hungry and tired after work or sports) strategy and tactics (fresh fritters making, arousing sight, sound and smell) and accessibility, (side of the road, on your way home)

So I started looking around. Everywhere I turned there was a ‘communication’. A product or service staring you in the face. But nothing seemed to work for me. The life size billboard of Dushyanth Weeraman endorsing Rollo cake was most inappropriate. The neon sign pointing to a club nearby looked uninviting and unattractive. The entry board to the Halal restaurant looked too cheap. The entry board to the coffee house looked too expensive. The infinite rows of election posters, distorting the environment, defied every possible aim of positive communication.  The explicit spray painting on the walls lacked any notions of expressive art, and only succeeded in seeming vile and frustrated. I wondered why were all these methods of communication (or advertising, so to speak) so far away from the desired impact. How was it that only the ‘isso wade’ man got his point across?

Advertising is a crafty game as it is. Once in away you’ll have to pull a Mephistophilis on a Faustus, or a Calypso on Odysseus. It is often about tempting the consumer to purchase products that he may not really need. It always about creating the need in a place where it doesn’t exist.  Advertising is a game that puts Milton to shame, but the most important thing is that it be done right. The medium maybe small; a poster, a sign, and photograph- but it should be classy, it should be different, it should be relevant and it should communicate the right message to the right person. These are just a few realizations I had on looking around me during my stroll (for that was what it had become- a ‘stroll’ as opposed to an energetic walk-But don’t find fault- my mind was busy at work!) Something positive had transpired, at least I had started looking, and thinking. So today I picked up a copy of Conrad Levinson’s “Guerilla Advertising”- I plan to open a manioc chips and candy floss stand next to the ‘isso wade’ man!!!

Anandi Jayawardena

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/01/tribal-manageme.html

Brand management is so 1999.

Brand management was top down, internally focused, political and money based. It involved an MBA managing the brand, the ads, the shelf space, etc. The MBA argued with product development and manufacturing to get decent stuff, and with the CFO to get more cash to spend on ads.

Tribe management is a whole different way of looking at the world.

It starts with permission, the understanding that the real asset most organizations can build isn’t an amorphous brand but is in fact the privilege of delivering anticipated, personal and relevant messages to people who want to get them.

It adds to that the fact that what people really want is the ability to connect to each other, not to companies. So the permission is used to build a tribe, to build people who want to hear from the company because it helps them connect, it helps them find each other, it gives them a story to tell and something to talk about.

And of course, since this is so important, product development and manufacturing and the CFO work for the tribal manager. Everything the organization does is to feed and grow and satisfy the tribe.

Instead of looking for customers for your products, you seek out products (and services) for the tribe. Jerry Garcia understood this. Do you?

Who does this work for? Try record companies and bloggers, real estate agents and recruiters, book publishers and insurance companies. It works for Andrew Weil and for Rickie Lee Jones and for Rupert at the WSJ… But it also works for a small web development firm or a venture capitalist.

People form tribes with or without us. The challenge is to work for the tribe and make it something even better.