Promoted Personal Posts & Narcissism.

"Every day, news feed delivers the stories you post to your friends and subscribers. Promote important posts to help people notice them. Promoted posts appear higher in news feed, so there's a better chance your audience will see them". So goes the pitch for Facebook's Promoted Posts.

Makes sense for FB to tweak EdgeRank & throttle Organic Reach, using relevance as an alibi, and force Brand Pages to pay for incremental reach via Promoted Posts. This option is also being beta tested on select personal accounts (see image).

Now, people claim to share information about themselves on Facebook as one of the ways to maintain relationships. Although in reality, the tendency is to overshare or share selectively the updates that help curate identities.

So what would us humans make of people using the option of promoted posts to push their updates into your eyeballs?

Without getting into a heavy debate about "Does Facebook Turn People Into Narcissists? & Promoted Posts  even more so, I'd argue:

• People spend time, effort & money on grooming, wardrobes, accessories, toys and experiences to stand out. Some even plan a holiday with a particular status update in mind. Anyone who claims they are not looking for huge responses on posting an important update just sold you a fish story. So why not? Especially when they couldn't be arsed to game their ermm.. *EdgeRank* .
• On the other hand, if all that one's friends & connections see are update after updates labelled *Sponsored*, you know who's on the slippery slope to becoming lonely & sad.

NFC, Smart Phones & the Apple iPhone 5

Since it's recent launch, there's been debate on the exclusion of NFC technology in the new iPhone 5. More so, because competitive Smart Phones have it in their feature set.
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For some pundits, it's a decision the company will regret.

For some, it's a smart move given the slow rollout of NFC at merchants.

The NY Times blog even has a post on why it cant feature NFC with  it's current design.

If the notion that any new adoption yet to spread beyond early adopters, is still technology, NFC qualifies. Behavior change is hard. Habits and behavior regarding money even more.

So NFC technology as a substitute for cash and cards may be ready, but a majority of people are not. At least not in the next 6 months I could argue. By when the new batch of smart phones would be getting ready backstage for the catwalk, the playing field to be reset and for time to tell if Apple's choice for this season was smart.

Why I'd lose my regard for Lance Armstrong?

Across the world, brimming with confidence & the arrogance of youth, athletes start off with the belief they can be at the very top of the game. But in cycling they also contend with the extraordinary achievements of one Lance Armstrong aka the Lance Effect. An effect that flames many a young cyclist's dream when they start. And quickly burns most through the lure of doping.

Yes, professional cycling is a demanding sport. It's also the most tainted, with smart doping turning mules into thoroughbreds. And rushing fading champions onto a rapid downward spiral, whilst they vainly hold on to that ephemeral high of a podium finish.

But, time and again, sports reveals Great Champions. One such is cyclist David Millar, who's seen the highs and lows first-hand and now helping to save this tainted sport. I admire his courage to come clean, and being candid to say he didn't have the courage to give-in but choose to be caught through carefully planted evidence.

If you have 30 mts to spare, listen to this fascinating BBC interview:

For years Lance Armstrong and the USADA have been playing catch me if you can in public. On August 23rd, Lance Armstrong dropped his fight against doping charges citing the toll it's been taking on him and  his family. This to me is a sad development. The media has gone to town, but the only one who knows the truth is Lance Armstrong.

I still admire Lance for all that he's achieved under difficult circumstances, and he has my benefit of doubt. But if he's been too clever, he's done more damage to cycling and the lives of many a young cyclist than good. The day this is true, my respect for Lance will cease.

Responsibility for Fan Posts & Comments

The best know form of marketing is advocacy, when a converted recommends a brand to another - usually to someone they know personally.

Now fans apparently can't advocate brands on Australian brand pages, as it could be considered advertising. If they do, brands will be held responsible for content posted by fans. The ASB was ruling based on a complaint against a liquor brand.

Whilst the ruling clearly defeats the spirt of brands being on social, brands will find it impossible to fund the new levels of staffing for the requirements of community management. Even if they have the funds, next to impossible to find this volume of talent.

With the pre-moderation required, brands can also kiss goodbye to any sort of real time engagement. Besides the ruling also opens up the field for sneaky competitive trolls, out to derail each other.

Surely, this blanket ruling needs to be reviewed and contained soon.

Image Courtesy: Google Images

The Social Olympics, London 2012. #NOT

This Summer Olympics are being touted as the most Social Olympics ever. Faster, Higher, Stronger. Now designed for Likes, Comments, Shares.

Yes, the official Olympic channels are well set up:

There's charming content to drive conversations. More great stories of champions, underdogs, triumphs, heartbreaks, guts and glory will follow in the days to come. 

But actively policing & blocking 20 seconds of a shared highlight  that can spark conversations on your behalf? Come on IOC! 

If the IOC weren't so stifling with copyrights & sponsorships, the Summer Games had the opportunity to be truly participative. Perhaps, we have to wait until Rio.

Douglas Adams on how we think about technology

Way back in 1999, Douglas Adams penned this great piece on How to Stop Worrying and Learn to Love the Internet

It's a great way to view technology. Gist of which is:

1. Everything that's already in the world when you're born is just normal
2. Anything that gets invented between then and before you turn thirty is incredibly exciting and creative and with any luck you can make a career out of it
3. Anything that gets invented after you're thirty is against the natural order of things and the beginning of the end of civilisation as we know it until it's been around for about ten years when it gradually turns out to be alright really

Now apply this list to movies, rock music, word processors, TV, phones, the internet, mobile apps, multi-player games, smart phones and your age is bound to show.

If not physical, your mental age for sure *<):o)

Tom Cruise, his divorce, search & sentiment

This video is hilarious. Yes, people fall in and out and go nuts when in love.

And news just broke over the weekend, Tom & Katie divorced.
So how much of this sudden spike in search for this video this week is fueled by the cynic in people?  To the OTT PR act he put up on Oprah and otherwise for the world?

Judge for yourselves, with these recent comments:

Now, I'm not judging Tom Cruise, his PR antics or his private life. Just reporting with some simple, publicly available data.