Wednesday, March 04, 2009

What Should Facebook Do

Facebook is in news today for wanting to catch up with Twitter. Facebook has the mass and the volume, but Twitter has the buzz and the momentum, something Facebook has plenty of. Facebook is a great site, but it could do with improvements.

(1) Do Not Become Twitter

Twitter has its place. Facebook has its place. Facebook would do itself a major disservice if it tried too hard to imitate Twitter. Twitter can not become Facebook. Facebook should not become Twitter.

On Twitter the emphasis is on real time, on 140 characters. On Facebook much more depth is possible. That depth is Facebook's competitive advantage. It should not let go. Instead it should enhance on that depth.

You go on Facebook to better organize your social reality, and to enhance that social reality. You go on Facebook to arrange to meet offline. That offline part is key. Facebook should make event planning seamless. It already does a good job.

(2) Existing Friends

The idea behind Facebook has been that you are only supposed to accept friend requests from people who are already your friends. It is supposed to be a walled garden. It errs on both sides. It does not do enough of it, it does too much of it.

You should be able to accept friend requests from everyone you know, but you don't want your boss to see the same side of you as your college roommate.

On the other hand, what's the point about so many interesting people being on Facebook if you can't make new friends on there? I was at almost 1500 friends and then Facebook went ahead and deleted my account. I got a new one that now has 500, almost all of which are people I know offline.

Friend: now that is a broad category. Facebook should introduce the concentric circles idea. Anybody should have the option to become your fan, but those fans should not see all those many aspects of you that your friends might. Fans should get a much more limited view. And close friends should see more than not so close friends. There should be a whole category called colleagues.

(3) Making New Friends On Facebook

I think that is probably the largest untapped potential of Facebook. Facebook should be a place where you go to meet people. But it has to be safe, and it has to be gradual. You should be able to explore shared interests and conversations for a long time without having to reveal your name or face.

The Unfacebook

Facebook could morph to become the leading dating site. But it should not do so by becoming like the other dating sites. Facebook can become a job site, a place you go to seek talent. Once you get that many people at one place online there are so many things you can do.

(4) Status Updates In Real Time

I believe they have already decided to do that. Good. About time. Here Facebook could really give Twitter a run for the money, especially if it not only does status updates in real time, and makes it URL friendly, but also does a good job of allowing people to search just the status updates.

(5) Allowing Celebrities To Mingle

If you had a million fans, what should your Facebook experience be like? I think people who end up with a large fan base on Facebook should have special features just for them. A million fans should be manageable because of Facebook. How exactly you would do that, I don't know, but I got a few ideas. Fans are not just after the celebrities they are after, they are also after each other. Make that happen. Celebrities should be able to interact with their fans. They should be able to "zoom in" to perhaps interacts one on one, to meet, arrange to meet.

(6) Deepening Friendships

Facebook should be one of the tools that allow you to become better friends with people you are already friends with.

(7) Facebook For Family

Maybe Facebook should help you build an inner core to your profile that only a few close people get to see. Perhaps status updates should be layered. Maybe you want one status feed for the eyes of your spouse only.

(8) Safety And Privacy

Those are paramount. Add all the features in the world, but if you botch these two, you are in bad shape. The idea is not to stop being a walled garden, but rather being many gardens, some more walled, some less, some out in the open.

(9) Photos, Videos, Links

Facebook totally took off with photos. I believe there are way more photos on Facebook than on Flickr, and that happened a long time ago. Flickr made a bad move: it started charging.

If Facebook wants to compete with Twitter, it needs to compete in the aggregation and sharing of links. Links are the number one action on Twitter. Make it easy for people to post, share, search.

(10) Status Stream

That has to be real time. I believe Facebook already did that. Good.

TweetDeck, Power Twitter, Twitter Globe, Better Than Facebook
TCC: Twitter Community College
Twitter Tips: It's A Bird, It's A Bird
Mitch Kapor Now Following Me On Twitter
I Get Twitter

Monday, March 02, 2009

TweetDeck, Power Twitter, Twitter Globe, Better Than Facebook

TweetDeck

Twitter changed my life. Then TweetDeck came along and it changed my Twitter life. Twitter.com is you driving a car. TweetDeck, and you are in an 18-wheeler. You feel the power.

@paramendra

Power Twitter

That is when you really get it. Twitter is no longer a waste of time, but essential to your work and life. If you don't tweet, your career suffers a little that day. If you don't tweet, you are a little less happy that day, unless it is your day off. I recommend taking one day off a week.

@paramendra

Links, People: Twitter Planet

Bumping into great links, either to news or to information or sites - like Padmasree introduced me to Science Daily - is half the fun, the other half is bumping into great people. On Twitter I am a heat seeking missile looking for tech entrepreneur types. I have found some big ones, and several not so big ones, all exciting. Since I have never been a big fan of beer, this beats meeting them over beer. Or maybe not. I'd love to meet them in person. But Twitter is the only way for me to get to them one on one now. There is absolutely no other way.

But I am not just after celebrities, actually I avoid the non tech mini celebrities. Quite a few times I have ended up asking, excuse me, but are you someone famous? It is called not owning a TV.

One of my recent delights has been going on a Twitter world tour. And finding people in the top cities of the world. This beats New York City. In NYC you mostly see people from all over the world. On Twitter you actually interact with them, at will. I wish the NYC Subway were more like Twitter. I wish the subway was where you went for easy, impromptu conversations.

And, by the way, Brooke Ellison is a total sweetheart.
https://twitter.com/brookemellison/status/1273803450

@paramendra

I Speak More Languages Than I Thought I Did

Enter The Dragon: Google Translate.

I understand about 10 languages as is, six of them really well. But then one day I wrote to Steven in Chinese, he wrote back to me in Hindi. The guy does not speak a word of Hindi. In case you are wondering who Steven is, he is my very own personal emissary to China, my own Marco Polo, if you will.

I have tweeted in Russian, Portuguese, Spanish. To the world out there I say, bring it on.

Not long after I got on the flying saucer, I mean the TweetDeck, I went on a world tour. I went to some of the fanciest cities in the world, and checked out some of the top Tweets in those cities, started following some of them. My ranks swelled.

Since I really like to follow people I follow, I can't follow too many people. So for my next world tour, I think I will only visit cities and Tweet pages to read and comment. If some of that leads to me getting more followers, I am not complaining. Who wants to be a millionaire? Who wants to be popular?

@paramendra

Power Networking

Someone I met on Twitter who happens to have a Brown BA and a Columbia MBA is helping me find a top biz talent for my nascent corporate team.

@paramendra

Better Than Facebook

If I had only one hour to spend, and it was a choice between Facebook and Twitter, guess where I am going! Facebook does not even compare in terms of the online experience of tweeting. Twitter is more fun than Facebook, it is more fun than email, heck, it is more fun than search. Search is work, Twitter is fun work. Twitter is the smartest career move I have made this year so far. And this is not fun you later regret, like the morning after a bad - as in badass - college party. This is fun and thrill, as in the fun and thrill of knowledge, networking, great company, the feeling of living life on the edge. There is the feeling of uninhibition. Twitter is a drink that quenches and makes you thirsty.

@paramendra

TCC: Twitter Community College
Twitter Tips: It's A Bird, It's A Bird
Mitch Kapor Now Following Me On Twitter
I Get Twitter

@paramendra

Steve Case: AOL Founder

https://twitter.com/paramendra/status/1227962213

Padmasree: CTO of Cisco
https://twitter.com/paramendra/status/1227950181
https://twitter.com/Padmasree/status/1260569556
Joe Trippi: Dean 2004 Campaign Manager
http://twitter.com/JoeTrippi/statuses/1221127774
http://twitter.com/paramendra/statuses/1221187540
Huffington Post: Top Political Blog In America
http://twitter.com/huffpost/statuses/1221127779

JP Rangaswamy: CIO of British Telecom

http://twitter.com/jobsworth/statuses/1216881893

@paramendra

@paramendra

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

NYTM Mailing List Continued Controversy

NYTM

NY Tech MeetUp Mailing List Web 5.0 Controversy
NY Tech MeetUp: 02/03/09

RE: [newtech-1] Web 3.0 StartUp Seeks Round 1 Funding (2/16)

I was not even aware of this dust storm. My friend James Gillmore sent
me a Facebook mail to alert me and so I came looking what the fuss
was.

Alex Genadinik To Andy Badera: "total lol...I think this was a funnier
email than that lady who wanted to be taken off the list and didn't
know how. :)"
Andy Badera: "*wahahahaasplat* dang it, where's my monitor cleaner?"

Alex. Andy is my sidekick on this show. Take it easy, or take it with
a grain of salt.

Miles Rose: "the only way to do these small rounds is to put some
money in yourself and piece out the rest to friends and family as
first rounds are always the highest risk but also the highest return"

Miles. Any relation to David Rose? You are right about round 1 seeing
the best return of all rounds. I have limited family in the city, and
that is why I am trying hard to make as many friends as possible,
online as well as offline.

Robert Mah: "talk to a securities lawyer before raising money from
anyone outside of friends and family"

Why do you think I am trying to become friends with people first?

Robert. Any relation to Jessica Mah?

Miles Rose: "technically you may be right. I have a feeling the poster
isnt in the usa and im sure they haven't ever raised money before. is
it an offer or a solicitation of interest? I think the later. as i
thinks it a work in progress the advice to get a lawyer is prudent.
but its not a crime to ask, is it?"

Miles. I am very much in the USA, I have been for over 12 years. I am
in NYC. I was at the last NY Tech MeetUp. I am friends with Scott
(MeetUp) and Upendra (DayLife). Unlike what Andy said at another
mailing list, no, I don't have a Nigerian address. I have prior
experience. I was part of the dot com mania in the late 1990s too like
many of you. You are right, this is a solicitation of interest, hence
the scant details. The vagueness. You meet interested people, strike
friendships. Business happens much later. No crime. No crime. We have
to change the culture in this city. In the valley you raise money
based on a few lines on a paper napkin. And then get that money from
guess where? New York.

Matt Weinberg: "I got the impression that the solicitation, and the
posts about Web 5.0, were all just a joke."

No crime. No joke either.

Eliza Shevinsky: "Miles, it may or may not be illegal to "ask" but
Robert makes the excellent point that doing things by the book will
provide legal protection down the road. And in today's litigious
climate, Mr. Bhagat will need all the protection he can get."

This email feeler is designed to set up face to face meetings with
people to get to know each other. That is all. Business will be
conducted by the rules.

Andrew: "I think the poster is a bot. Or an experiment in satire."

This guy is a troll.

James Gillmore: "Well, he claims to be in the USA, as you'll read in
the quoted text from his blog below...But the real problem is that he
doesn't even tell us what product, service, web app, whatever he wants
investment for. He links to that "Web 5.0 is da Bomb" article, and
deep in it, near the end, he uncovers his business plan:.........My
favorite line is: "ENGINEERS YOU HIRE" "

I have hired a few.

Victor Shamanovsky: "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcq5tcOzito"

Who are these two guys? Victor and Bashar, what are they pushing?

James Gillmore: "Andrew, he's not a bot. You can reach him on twitter,
facebook, etc--and actually talk to him. He's a nice guy with a lot of
enthusiasm. I just hope he can learn a thing or two from how everyone
is viewing his actions and what he's saying....But it would be a great
idea to make a big automated experiment where all the tech communities
are pummeled by a hyperbolic example of a delusional tech newbie
looking for funding, teaching everyone along the way about what Web
2.87 is. The funny thing is just like all the attention we've given
him, he'd probably be able to scale his popularity as a tech celebrity
quite quickly and effectively. Think VH1, Valleywag, etc."

Ryan Clarke: "Great advice Rob. I find myself in the same situation as
the original poster but trying to go legit. Any good/reputable lawyers
left that any one can recommend? Just googled mine and found out he
swindled 26 families out of there homes. And he was a college friend.
Any advice appreciated."

A slew of companies like Google wrote off billions of their investment
in Clearwire recently. Did Google get swindled? They think not. Eric
Schmidt said they still feel that was a great investment. Not all
investments succeed. Actually most fail. Mine will succeed.

Andrew: "Just because "he" or "they" maintain social networking
accounts, doesn't make the behavior any less bizarre. I'm still going
with some kind of joke or hoax being perpetrated here."

What James meant was that I was in the US, I was in NYC. And that I
can be contacted. I can be met in person. Like a slew of people did on
February 3. Stan. Nate. Mark. Jeff Harvis. Etc.

Eliza Shevinsky: "There should be some way to remove this kind of
poster from our list. The last thing that I want is for us to
skyrocket this guy to VH1 stardom! I tend to agree with James that
we're dealing with a real person, albeit a real person who thinks
engineers are something that "you provide." Argh! But whether he's a
bot or just a clumsy newbie sending spam every other day, I think most
of us would like to keep this list both bot and spam free. Nate? What
can be done to be freed from the never ending Da Bomb postings? This
guy has insulted developers, and that's just the last straw... "

I think we just moved from tech startup territory to free speech
territory. When I said "engineers you hire," I meant entrepreneurs
hire engineers, like I have. I was not expecting James or Eliza to
hire engineers for me. I am not a newbie. I have a few flamed dot coms
under my belt from the past decade. I am rising from the ashes.

James Gillmore: "We can not respond to them...but I'll be honest. I'm
quite entertained by his threads, as a lot of us or we wouldn't
respond. I guess that's the VH1-Tabloid dumbing down of society
effect."