My own piece of the Internet
 
Tag: <span>facebook</span>

Tag: facebook

Facebook is for community, not advertising

I read recently that 13 million Australian’s visit Facebook a week. That is a pretty serious number and a good reason why marketers should take Facebook seriously. Right? Well perhaps, but not in the way you think. According to WebTrends, Facebook’s advertising click through rates (CTR) are 0.051%, which is well below Google’s CTR of 0.4% and the industry average of 0.1%. Still, with a reach of 76% in Australia, Facebook cannot be ignored. So what this means is that Facebook is not the place for your advertising dollars, but it should still factor in your plans to build an …

Why no one uses Google+

At the last count Google+ had 90 million registered users, 60% of whom “engage daily”. Whatever that means. The other 40% are wondering what the hell they can use Google+ for. Except of course the SEO bunnies who are using Google+ to jack up the rankings of websites. The jury is still out on both Google+ and the SEO benefits. So how could this happen? Google have been promoting Google+ heavily, they have linked it into their search pages, their lucrative ad network, and CEO Larry Page has been touting the platform in earnings calls as growing rapidly and one …

Why Facebook is still doomed.

Some time ago I wrote that Facebook was doomed because the business model relied on erecting billboards in parks. People were there to play, not be sold to. Since then, Facebook  has become bigger than many medium-sized countries and has been valued at more than $50 billion by investment bankers. Oh and my Dad who is 74, is now on Facebook. So if Facebook is bigger than most countries and worth a lot of money, how can I be right?  The answer is in comparing Facebook to Google.  Google has become uber-successful by opening advertising to the masses. Anyone with …

I really want to delete my facebook account

I really want to delete my facebook account. I was enthusiastic about the idea after all the changes the Zuck made to “privacy” this year and then I read this polemic by Jason Calacanis about how facebook is evil and the Zuck has Zucked his way to the top. I was kinda gratified because it meant that my suspicion and anxiety about facebook was felt tenfold over by an industry observer. It meant that my doubts about the business model were in part justified because eroding privacy for commercial gain is clearly unethical. And not being transparent about it is …

Why there are no stupid users online

When you’re one of the cool kids, it is pretty easy to forget that not everyone is in the cool club. In fact, some people are so far removed from the cool club that they haven’t heard of Twitter, social media, ecommerce, WordPress, Android, the Nexus 1, or the RunKeeper iPhone application. But generally, every human living in an advanced economy who can read has heard of Google and Facebook. We’re so connected these days that it is easy to forget that there are a bunch of people who are not connected; who are yet to realise the liberating potential …

Jumping the sofa, or how to be good at what you do

Once upon a time there was a Hollywood star called Tom Cruise who had the world at his feet. He was famous, rich and in love with a beautiful young woman called Katie. Being rich and successful, woman loved him and men envied him. Then one day late in 2005 whilst talking with talk-show host Oprah, Tom celebrated his success and the joy of life by dancing a jig on her sofa; by jumping the sofa. Tom’s fans were appalled and ashamed for him. This irrational exuberance was not the Tom they loved and respected, it was a freaky guy …

The buzz of social media

Google just released Google Buzz which has demands that we “go beyond status messages”. To me this appears to echo the feeling many people had, including me, when confronted with micro-blogging sites like Twitter – so what. It represents a profound misunderstanding of what a status message actually is. Status messages are really: part of a conversation the start of a conversation a cry for help a complaint a grandiose aphorism about what’s wrong with the world a proclamation of love and of course a comedy. Whilst twitter and Facebook might appear to a Google engineer to be merely a …

Wow, I can get a personalised internet address now

Sometimes something seems really really good but it’s actually really really bad; stupid in fact. So stupid that when you realise that it is so, you feel like bashing your head against a wall and cursing the gods while shaking your fist at the sky. Or something like that. A “personalised internet address”. Wow. Are you excited. And guess what, you can get one from Facebook. Wow again. So what does this “personalised internet address” look like? Well, it looks like a facebook URL as in facebook.com/yourusername. Mine looks like facebook.com/jonstribling and I am proud as punch. Hang on I …