NOTE: I had an awesome time at Social Media Dev Camp last weekend! As soon as I get some source footage, I will post it on my blog and various social networks. Also, if you haven’t checked out Scott Bishop, I am STILL blown away by our co-hesiveness during the presentation. We were put together in the last second, and I’m humbled by the fact that we share the same values in our Social Media spaces.
Check out his blog http://realtimemarketer.com/ and his Twitter http://www.twitter.com/thescottbishop
This blog post is going to expand on some of the points that I made during the presentation.
There was an article that brought a smile to my face.
The company behind FarmVille and Mobster Wars had a bit of a challenge to their conscious, relying on ‘scam and spam’ opt-in adverts to generate revenue. I already had apprehensions playing ‘online games’ to begin with. For a few reasons being the lack of professionalism it displays on your facebook feeds, and two the lack of experience it provides it’s users, along with bucking the trends! I knew inherently the goal was to entice players / users with free offers or some kind of validation (i.e. I beat your ass at this game, and all of your friends know you’re a wuss!) in hopes to bait them for advertisers. Even the early games on facebook relied on using the fabled ‘viral effect’ to exchange value after inviting 15 friends to play this ‘game’. The game itself becomes of no value to it’s users, because it’s diminished by the true premise of developing a warm market for Advertisers. Casinos (slot machines), Strip Clubs (look but don’t touch!), MMORPGs (to an extent) all use this tactic to generate revenue. Except, in the online world, when people tune out of the banner adverts or counter-program them (adblock them), they get desperate and become more pervasive. Providing users with an opportunity to opt-in advertising in exchange for in-game currency to me is a violation of ethics, not to mention moral grounds. Not even World of Warcraft does that, and it’s one of the most addictive games on the planet!
My proof of this? The reaction of the heads of these various outfits in response to being questioned. They respond in anger, which tells me that at some level, they know what they are doing is wrong. They wouldn’t want to be treated that way as a consumer, but quick cash and a viable excuse “well, they were stupid enough to buy it anyway” to me is not a viable business plan. It amazes me that regardless of the potential liability, people are still trying to find a way to separate fools and their money using Social Media, when there is nowhere to hide once the damage has been done.
I would like to point out that regardless of case studies and stories of people looking to the number of ‘eyeballs’ on Social Media as an opportunity to sell CRAP as opposed to engaging with them has dire consequences. These people and businesses do not last long. From the Spam Kings of the AOL days, to the myspace invaders of the 90’s, they have all been caught, and their effectiveness diminished. While we can’t provide a user guide to every user on every network, there should be a zero-tolerance policy regarding this kind of behavior. Social Networks need to remain vigilant and stop these people, regardless of the money involved, because the damage to one’s reputation to me is far greater than any amount of money that could be received. I sure as hell would not want Facebook to become the Myspace of the new millennium. Although, as trending seems to show, younger generations are already wisening up to this fact and beating us to the punch.
Even scarier, the game changer might come in the form of the Federal Trade Commission changing the rules for endorsements and advertisers. In attending Daliah Saper’s presentation during Social Dev Camp Chicago this weekend, I remember distinctly a question from the audience, asking “How is this going to affect affiliate marketing?” I’m sure the people on the borderline of ethics are scared out of their wits. Read More Here about the FTC.
If you notice, I’ve joined the trends of InteractiveAmy.com and NetworkinChicago.com (hosted by Gizmo Design) and have put on my website an event calendar!
So without further ado, here are some events I think you should be aware of.
First of all, Social Media Club Chicago is having an 1-year anniversary party, this Thursday October 22 at the Kimball Office. I’m quite sure the whos-who of Social Media will be there to celebrate! Tickets and information are available here. http://smcchicago1stanniversary.eventbrite.com/
Secondly, Gary Vaynerchuk, host of winelibrary.tv, and now author (yes, this is a promo party for his book, but hey, you get to mingle with the guy) is coming to Chicago! My friend Kelly Olexa is putting together the event, tickets are available here. You get food and a copy of the book for the ticket price (which was much more to say than the previous engagement. . . ). Here’s the link http://chicagocrushit.eventbrite.com/ (PS. I have my tickets already)
Thirdly, I’m going to be speaking at SocialDevCamp on November 7th regarding “The Art of the Conversation” which is just a basic etiquette online 101 course in developing your social presence online. You can check out the site http://www.socialdevcampchicago.com/
That’s all for now.
Twitter Wall Flyer from Domino's Pizza
Ramon has done it again!
If you don’t know Ramon DeLeon, you should. He’s the best example that I can point to of what Social Media is about.
First of all, he sent pizza to my birthday party at District (do a search for #wbdayparty on twitter).
But even MORE awesome is now my quote is going out on various pizza boxes on his flyers! (see above).
THANK YOU SOO MUCH! YOU ROCK!
Will English and Ramon DeLeon
An average technician repair for a computer with ‘viruses and spyware’ will cost you anywhere between $100 – $200 minimum.
But did you know, all most techs are doing is running scans for said viruses and spyware that usually resolve the problem? Did you know these tools are free? Some technicians are making a fortune doing incident repairs on computers that maintenance scanning would do wonders for.
Before you take your computer in to get fixed, or call in the calvary, download these free tools and run the scans associated with them. If this doesn’t resolve your problem, then call in the good guys.
If it’s a trojan horse, then here are some free tools to try and remove it.
AVG Anti-Virus http://free.avg.com (Never pay for an Anti-virus program! There are plenty of free alternatives. This is the best one for my needs and it works really well)
Ad-aware from Lavasoft http://tr.im/hhNX (for Ad-aware)
Spybot Search and Destroy http://tr.im/hhOd (for Spyware)
CCleaner (which is awesome for getting rid of temp files and freeing up harddrive space) http://tr.im/hhOx
Another tip to greatly reduce spyware and adware is switching to a non-internet explorer browser (Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Opera works) and loading an ad-blocking plugin. I like Mozilla and Ad-Block Plus, along with the Targeted Advertising Cookie Opt-out plugins.
