Strategic Public Relations

Google+ First Impressions

Less than 48 hours of field testing Google+ and I’ve got more questions than answers. But here are my first thoughts.

DESIGN: The interface resembles a clean version of Facebook. And, while there’s more breathing room now, you can assume the extra space has been reserved for paid advertising. The home page makes sure you can easily access your profile, circles (contact groups) and photos by displaying these options prominently.

INTEGRATION: One thing Google Buzz did well was integrate with your existing Gmail account. They’ve built on that with Google+ and Gmail power users will enjoy how well they work together. In fact you can access your Google account from Google+ to see what services you’re using and your overall preferences.

PRIVACY: While Google Buzz had its moments, it’s initial privacy issues stopped it from gaining much traction beyond Google’s user base. Google clearly learned from this and it not only makes privacy settings obvious, you can dial them up and down based on your personal preferences. It’s also made a big deal about its Data Liberation capabilities. This section allows users to back up the data they have on the site by downloading Picasa Photo Albums, Profile Data, Stream Data, Buzz and Contact Data as well. You can also easily determine which accounts are connected to your Google+ account.

CIRCLES, SPARKS & HANGOUTS: Circles are simply easy to create groups of users. This allows you to compartmentalize content you share across your network. So if you only want your family to see pictures of the newest addition to your family, you can use Google+ to do this. Similarly, if you only want your colleagues to know you won an award for filing the most TPS Reports, you can do that too. This addresses Facebook user concerns about the difficulty in compartmentalizing your professional and personal lives on the site. But when it comes to the Internet and Privacy remember there are no guarantees.

Sparks is a curation feature that taps into its search capabilities to deliver you content of your choosing. Google+ notes it’s “a feed of just the stuff you’re really into. So when you’re free there’s always something to watch, read or share. The only thing I’m curious about is where it is pulling the content from. It’s unclear if it comes from search, other users’ content streams, Google News or a variation of the three.

Hangouts takes Google’s video chat options and pulls them directly into Google+. This makes it seemingly simple to conduct video chats. Unfortunately, as a field tester, I’ve been unable to align my schedule with my contacts that also have Google+ access. But it appears to be a point of differentiation for Google+. I can imagine it opens an impressive amount of ad opportunities for Google via YouTube alone.

MOBILE: The mobile app is also being touted. Unfortunately for me, it’s only available on Android right now. It’s a refreshing change of pace for iPhone users that are used to have first access. I’m sure Google is enjoying the ability to roll out in this fashion. And while some would argue this is a bad move. Turnabout is fair play, in my opinion. And they score big points with loyal Android users.

So with all of the above positives, there were some issues or questions that came up based on my experience. Google assumed this would be the case. Upon accepting my invitation, I was greeted with a welcome message that included this: “It's very early, so there may be some bumps along the way, but you'll be one of the first to test drive Circles, Hangouts, Sparks, mobile, and more!”

Google+ and -
So with the above in mind, I’m here to offer feedback and not to pick Google+ apart (as the blogosphere is inclined to do with a healthy dose of keyboard courage). As a field tester, the rollout seemed a bit mysterious. And learning the network is a bit self-serve with 11 different videos available to explain the how to and the why behind some of its features.

How many men are known for reading directions? Hopefully video will get more views than a set of instructions. I’m told that making the experience more discovery for the field testers was done on purpose. More features will be rolled out and some might even be rolled back based on our feedback.

As I noted earlier, I like the integration with your Google account. But there could be too much integration. It initially served up all of my Google account’s contacts. I assumed the contacts were all other Google+ users as well. I was wrong. You can still share with these individuals through Google+ and add them to circles. It simply sends your non-field testing friends an email instead. And I can tell you it’s interpreted as less helpful and more “nyah, nyah!” as these contacts cannot comment or engage with you based on what you’re sharing.

It’s obviously similar to Facebook. You can argue whether or not this is a plus or a minus. But keep in mind, all social networks will share common traits. Is it similar to Orkut too? Some may wonder if it’s also similar to Google’s social network launched ahead of its time. Orkut is still wildly popular in Brazil and India and is still actively used today in these countries. But Google+ is more nuanced and less about a walled community and more about sharing across the web – through your Google account of course.

If Google’s Finally Nailed Social, Will It Matter?
Never say never. But the deck is stacked against Google. Any new social networking entrant immediately becomes “yet another social networking service” YASNS. It’s tough to break web users habits and get them to start using a new social network exclusively – even if it is integrated into their Google account.

In fact, Google integration could create a branding issue. Taylor Wiegert, a fellow Word of Mouth team member at Empower MediaMarketing, is quick to point out that Google is known for its utility. It’s more of a tool you use when you need email or search or another of its services. But it’s not known as an engagement platform that you spend an extended period of time using to find and share content with friends.

Time will tell if it breaks its streak of having successful product launches – for everything but its social media products. But Google+ clearly has the best chance of competing with sites like LinkedIn and Facebook. If you extend the paid media opportunities it could bring, it’s worth waiting to see what happens.

The Candy Everybody Wants?
While Google is offering limited access during the launch to finalize the product and improve it, they are also hoping it will create more curiosity and desire to access Google+. Don’t take the bait. While the platform is a clear improvement over Orkut and Buzz, Google+ is essentially a new flavor of Facebook. It’s a worthy opponent because of the sites foundation – an enormous user base using a well-established portfolio of services/products and the potential for paid media. And as of launch, these assets are invisible to the user experience. If you don't have access to Google+ you’re not missing anything. Not yet.

Related Articles from: Wired, Searchengineland, AdAge, Mashable and NYTimes

Cross-posted at my work blog.

Word Choice, Semantics & Social Media Bullsh!t

Earlier this year I put together some new patio furniture. There were no extra parts, everything lined up as it should. This is not always the case with products noting “some assembly required.”

Anyone who’s purchased items from IKEA or put together toys during the holidays can relate to the feeling when things don’t quite match up.

This experience relates to word choice. During my business to business days, the phrase “aviation tolerance” brought to mind exacting accuracy and surgical precision. Then I visited an aerospace manufacturing facility to see a plane built and I realized my definition was inaccurate.

Close, But Not Close Enough
While aviation tolerance does equate to a high standard of quality and safety, it doesn’t mean that every plane always fits together perfectly. Sometimes more rivets are needed than planned and shims are commonly used when edges don’t meet exactly as they should. The phrase still holds its meaning. Any safety specs comparing flying to driving prove this point. But my definition wasn’t as accurate as the real thing.

In a world of acronyms, buzzwords, text messaging shorthand and slang, the challenge to say what you mean increases. And the opportunity to unintentionally mislead or misinform your audience increases exponentially. Usually if your word choice isn’t lining up with the intended meaning, it simply becomes noise. But if the content takes root and gets attention? A social snowball can increase in size and speed as your message is shared, liked and syndicated across networks.

Social Media – Too Broadly Defined?
We want to avoid either scenario. Judy Shapiro writes about her first SXSW speaking engagement to show what can happen when the snowball hurtles downhill.

“As the session progressed and the conversation heated up, I realized that much of the "tussling" was simply because there was no consistent understanding of what "social media" was. >SNIP< In the middle of this "exuberant" discussion, my frustration with the term "social media" reached a tipping point. I had come to hate the term because it has become so undefined and unusable resulting in much confusion. In short, for me, the term had outlived its usefulness.”

My Own Influenza
That’s where I’m at with the word influence. The topic is important. But the word is misunderstood and misdefined. At SXSW, my panel discussion experienced the same issue as Shapiro. If we’d simply defined terms up front we could have focused more on the topic (and gotten through more content). Panel discussions that require a glossary are a bad sign. But defining terms immediately ensures everyone makes assertions based on the same definition.

More to come about influence. In the meantime, this is another reminder on the importance of clear, concise writing. We risk creating ineffective content -- or worse.

Bagging Blogger/Brand Stereotypes at Savvy Blogging Summit

Jessica George and I are hitting the road on behalf of our employer, Empower MediaMarketing, and will be en route to Denver in July as part of the Savvy Blogging Summit.

Our presentation is called “Paper or Plastic? Bag the Blogger/Brand Stereotypes and Get Serious.”

We’re focusing on how bloggers can create and improve relationships with brands based on our own experience doing so for several Empower clients. And, based on our perspectives, we'll also take an irreverent look at the stereotypes on either side of the blog post.

In the meantime, the industry is still having much discussion around the topic of influence. What is it? Who has it? How do you get it? We’ll also discuss this topic with attendees to help them move from a one-time transaction into a full-blown business relationship.

We’re looking forward to connecting with the other #sbsummit attendees and soaking up some of the other content. More to come!

5 Things You Can Learn On A Photowalk

Over the weekend, Cincinnati Social Media held a photowalk within downtown Cincinnati. We had amazing weather for it and, in two hours, I took 120 pics and walked a little over a mile with more than a dozen #cincysm members and Instagram fans.

While I've planned a ton of events over the years, every one is different and you can still learn something new each time. So here are five things I learned on the #cincysm #instameet.

1) Cameras Are Not Required: While I was inspired to organize this event by Instagram, it didn't matter if you had the app, or an iPhone -- all forms of capture were welcome. Others had Androids or their SLRs in hand. But a high point of the day was when I realized two children were using their Nintendo DS' to take pictures. The kids were accompanying their parents on the walk. 

2) Back Stories Make Big Stories: It was great to meet some folks for the first time that day as well as others I'd known online, but had not met in person. One attendee had not been downtown for about five years. So it was great to get his perspective on how much the city has changed and improved. Everyone seemed to contribute a lesser known fact about buildings as we walked. This gave a great back story to the pictures we took and we got to know each other better in the process.

3) New Perspectives Will Find You: I've spent a lot of time downtown over the years and knew the path we took has plenty of photo opportunities. But there were still certain spaces, perspectives and details I saw for the first time. Photowalks are great when you're out of town, but they can also reconnect you with a space so familiar that you don't pay attention to it.

4) Promotion Before Makes For Difficult Follow-Up After: Events are shared  and overshared via social media. This one made it to LinkedIn (which serves as CincySM's web page), Facebook (not everyone targeted were CincySM members), on Instagram and all of these pushed to a MeetUp site to keep it organized. This is fine -- even without the context. But it makes it tough to track everyone down post-event. All 12 attendees have different online preferences and a different point of reference for the event online. In addition to Flickr and Instagram, we're using DropEvent for a spot to aggregate images (h/t Christiaan). But even if everyone agrees to a single hashtag and rallying point post-event, you still find yourself repopulating the same sites you used to promote the event with this update.

5)  Organizing For Flexibility Is Critical: With a lot of events -- from weddings to conferences -- your attendance can change at the last minute. So I had multiple routes in mind in case we needed to split up into smaller groups. And as we walked our route, we tried to tweet/instagram a few pics so folks could catch up to us. This worked out well. But for the next photowalk, I'll also designate a single way for late comers to communicate with us so they can catch up more easily during the event.


The event was great and it was a blast taking a ton of pictures with Cawood, FranToh, Stuku56, Castlepoint, JustThinkChris, TorenCastle, GlennaVonHenna, Kathy Jo love blue, Tattooprincess and Pezhunter. Stay tuned for the next one. We'll definitely be doing more.

10 Instagram Hacks

In December 2010, I installed Instagram on my phone.

Six months and more than 215 photos later, I now enjoy using my mobile phone to take pictures as much as I enjoy using my digital camera. And in doing so I join more than five million users of a photo app less than eight months old.

What’s the big deal? Some suggest it’s Polaroid nostalgia. But the app’s power is in its utility, simplicity and community. Instagram is an easy to use, but powerful, social camera. It allows you to point, click, edit using one of 11 filters and share all within a single app. It’s essentially a microblogging platform focused solely on pictures.

Regardless of what you call it, Instagram introduces you to its community and their stories one photo at a time. Here are 10 things I’ve learned using Instagram that will make your experience with this app even better.

1)  Community: Check out Instagramers.com to meet new, passionate fans. Created by Phil Gonzalez, the site features users and includes tips, tutorials and a photo of the day contest. It’s a great way to connect with people and to see how creative users are getting within the apps constraints. Or if Facebook is more your style, check out the Instagram Community fan page.

2)  Ambient Awareness: From fashion, music and luxury brands to news outlets, non-profits, startups and some of your favorite beverages, there are a lot of brands on Instagram. And with any new platform; it’s interesting to see how brands use it to interact with fans. We’re already seeing examples of news releases, activism and extreme branding.

3)  Stats & Back (that pic) Up Hacks: Instagram’s open API has inspired a flurry of sites that create a richer web-based experience for this app. There are more than I can list in a single post without losing your attention. But if you only check out one, make it Statigram. It provides you with analytics around your Instagram account.

For those of us that want to back up our photos for archival purposes or just to make it easier to share with others, we have a couple of options. Facebook fans can use Instasync to create a Facebook Photo Album. Dropbox users can tap into Instadrop to automatically make a copy of your Instagram pics as they’re posted. Or use Copygram (currently in beta) for a more universal back up option. These are great when you find yourself with too many pictures on your phone.

4) Flickr: Yep, for me, Instagram and Flickr provide two different things. In this case, head over to Flickr and check out the Instagram group. If you’d like to mash up the two sites, Gramjunction is worth checking out. Juan Sanchez tapped the Insta-API to create a site that takes your Flickr pics tagged with Instagram and serves them up in a stream. Clicking through takes you to the Flickr page/account for that photo. This allows Flickr Fans to continue to focus on their site of choice and still parse out their instagram pics.

5) Instaview Sites: By far the web-based sites allowing users to interact with and view Instagram pics are the most popular choice for developers tapping into the API. There are a ton of these “Instaview sites,” but most require you to be a member of Instagram to access them.

Regardless, I enjoy using Inkstagram for its interface (it doesn’t work on IE, fwiw). But there is something for everyone in this category from sites including Extragram, Gramfeed, Webstagram, Instagrid, Listagram and a viewer that lets you view popular photos by filter used. You can even create a screensaver (web-based or Mac-based) with your Instagram pics. Or create a widget to bring your pics to your blog.

6)  Novelty View Sites: Novelty view sites are like Instaview sites but they come with a twist. Are you a cat person or a dog person? Anecdotal evidence tells us there are more cat people using Instagram but maybe it’s better to compare kittens and puppies?

Or view pics based on geography (map-based), color or geo-location (near you). Hot or Not fans will appreciate Instawar and Pic A Fight. Or if you just want to gaze at the popular crowd, visit Rrrewind to do so across a variety of social content.

7)  InstaMake Sites: If you thought the novelty view sites were cool, a host of sites take it offline to create Instagram souvenirs. Teeny Tile and Stickygram offer magnetic attraction. Instatees and IGTees let you wear your Instagrams. Hatchcraft and Keepsy allow you to frame your pics or make them into a scrapbook.

And while Instaprint was one of the first options for printing your Instagrams (using a pre-identified hashtag), it has been joined by Postagram, stickers, Instamaker and other Instagoodies as well as posters and contact sheets from Printstagram, Social Print Studio and Printo.

8)  Challenges: I can frame this section up with a single name: Josh Johnson. @JoshJohnson is a photographer with daily tips and a rotating set of photo challenges that get the Instagram community congregating from around the world. Challenges are one of the best ways to engage with Instagram (participation = social media satisfaction, hmmm, sounds like a meme) But while Josh is the most active and prolific Instgramer I know, Spenser Kaufman @deceivexxdeny, also provides some interesting opportunities amongst others.

9)  Tag It: Much like Twitter, hashtags are a critical device with this app. They’re used very creatively on Instagram to tell stories. All of the challenges rely on tags and tagging your location is a great way to meet folks in your community using Instagram. That can come in handy for photowalks.

10) Photowalks: Photowalks take the Instagram community offline and in person -- where it's most important and powerful. They're an amazing way to get inspired, meet other photographers and take a ton of pics. There was a global Instameet earlier this year. But you don’t have to wait until next year to have one. Just head to Instameet and create your own. Or find one to participate in. Psst, the Cincinnati Instameet is on Saturday, June 25th. Join us!

Instagram is APPtastic
Phew! In an earlier post, I focused on mobile photo apps and left out Instagram. And now it’s probably obvious why. It’s inspired an ecosystem of sites Now it might make more sense if I tell you that, on average, 10 photos are posted to Instagram every second.

To check out the above link storm, uh, hacks in a curated page, check out my Scoop.It on Instagram sites.

It’s a far from exhaustive list, believe it or not. So if you have a site to add, do it there or share it in the comments below. Or post about it on Instagram and copy @prblog.


Cross-Posted at My Work Blog

Google, Twitter, LinkedIn & The Shiny Buttons

In less than a week, Google, Twitter and LinkedIn announced “button strategies” – making it simple to deploy platform-specific actions on other sites.

The seemingly basic news means each site can be distributed broadly across the web, keeping users connected to their sites through simple, lightweight user actions.

The Heft of Lightweight User Actions
Lightweight user actions make it simple for users to do things like register at a site using OAuth with the push of a button or view photos on a lightbox – eliminating clicks and all without leaving a page.

Facebook tapped the power of lightweight user actions when the site retired “fan” and made Like the single action across the site to connect to a page or to promote content.

This was more than semantics. Facebook statistics showed users would like something much more frequently than they would become a fan of something – as much as a two to one ratio. Consider this concept when applied to Facebook’s more than 700 million users.

Button, Button Who’s Got the Button?
And the button strategies unveiled by each site are designed to make them as much a distribution hub as a destination – without losing traffic, but increasing site participation and encouraging certain user behavior.

Lightweight user actions can be applied offline. What are other ways to make it easier than ever for customers to do something? Eliminating the friction from the customer experience through concepts like this can go a long way.

Image courtesy of Fotolia.

 

Mobile Photo Apps Get Serious

Smart phone photography offers users a set of near professional grade tools thanks to the continual "bigger/better/faster/more power at less cost" evolution of technology. In this post, I'm singling out iPhone apps as that's my mobile device (don't be a h8r). And I'm not even touching on Instagram as it merits its own post.

A slew of low- to no-cost apps to help your pics look their best are introduced on a near daily basis. While there are a ton of novelty apps, most offer multiple options allowing you to take pictures, edit and share within the app. This seemingly basic capability has helped photo sharing become as common as placing calls on many mobile devices.

Here are just three mobile photo apps that have made the biggest impact on my picture taking:

• Camera+   A colleague introduced me to Camera+ after I'd been using CamerBag (which is a fine filter app). But if I had only one app, it would be Camera+. It allows you to easily edit and apply a ton of filters to your pictures. And combined with iPhone's HDR capabilities, it's made my Instagram pics look better than amatuer at times.
• Diptic   Diptic lets you combine images. Think of "before and after" shots or a series of shots that tell a story. It's flexible and dead simple to use. There's also a Flickr group dedicated to this app.
• PhotoShop Express   It's a basic version of Photoshop that lets you shoot/edit and share. It's the only free app in my top three. But it's connected to Photoshop's online tools and makes for a very handy companion if you're using those tools.

There are a ton of niche apps I use from time to time that complement the above apps.

• Halftone   A fun app that turns your pics into comic strip panels.
• Panorama 360   The simplest, most social panorama app I've ever used.
• Labelbox   Scrapbook-inspired, it lets you put captions on your images.
• ToonPAINT   Turn your pics into somewhat abstract drawings. You can paint them afterwards as well.
• Slow Shutter Cam   For anyone that's been dying to create streaming light pics, this is your app.
• mogophoto   From slow shutter to fast, mogophoto takes 20 pictures in 1-2 seconds for stop-motion photography. It's great for sporting events and live action shots.

All off these apps are good at what they do. But they're just the tip of the app store. I've also played with picfx, Picture Effect Magic, Color Splash, Photo Mess, myPhotoBooth, LEGO Photo and even The Threadless Threadcam.

These apps have impacted the quality of my pictures and even how I use sites like Flickr and most recently Instagram. They're fun to use and have inspired my creativity. What are your favorite photo apps?

Intel's "Museum of Me"Facebook Campaign - FTW!

Intel's "Museum of Me" Project is being dismissed as "narcissistic" by Mashable and creepy by nearly everyone reporting on it. But the seamless execution combined with how it plays into individual Facebook users' personal world to make its point is why I think it's a total win.

Seamless Exeuction
The design and technology combine into seamless user experience. I clicked a link to the site, accepted O Auth and a few seconds later the above video played (with music. I muted the audio for the above due to tech issues on my end).

Of course this dead simple experience with fast, jaw-dropping aesthetics is the whole point. The video ends with Intel's "Visibly Smart" tagline. And for a company selling me something inside my computer, it's found a great way to show me why they make a difference.

Haters Gonna Hate
As these things go, there are (always) haters. Mashable is digging on the site due to Intel's servers being overloaded by demand. But if a different brand was behind the campaign, I'm willing to bet Mashable would suggest this outcome meant it was a viral hit? This could be a bigger issue for Intel vs. a non-tech brand. But it's the online equivalent of preferring too few seats at your event vs. too many so you can report a "standing room only crowd."

Like Acquisition
The site's sharing components make it simple for visitors to create a Facebook Photo Album as a souvenir of their visit to Intel's museum. This has a powerful impact.

Intel's Facebook page Likes jumped from 1 million Likes in late May to 1.3 million Likes as of earlier today. And in less than 12 hours I saw the Museum of Me site likes jump from 25,000 likes to 125,000 likes. Consider the reach of 100,000 likes distributed through 100,000 news streams. What's the math on how many potential Facebook users might see the campaign?

It all morphs into a smart branding campaign with a whole lotta like behind it.