December 2007

All of my posts here that are about the event, and all of the photos that I’ve been taking are going to be tagged:

webcom07 apparently Teresa has been tagging things with wcf07 “for a long time.” So disregard my tweets and posts, and use wcf07

If you’re uploading or posting to something that is taggable, use this tag and we can all find it.

Thanks Jeremiah for reminding me to post this!

Welcome to our community! If you like what you see, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed!

With Facebook’s Platform launch, employers can now tap the Facebook audience like never before. Jobster has helped employers build networks of job candidates on Facebook using the viral social networking features on Facebook since February, 2007. During this period, we learned a lot about what Facebook members want (and don’t want) in a careers service on Facebook, and we worked with dozens of leading employers to understand how to best help them reach the Facebook audience.

We learned that:
Facebook users want opportunities to connect with employers, but this has to be done carefully, in manner that maps to the way that Facebook works.
Facebook users do NOT want potential employers trolling their profiles.
Facebook users want ways to get noticed by employers, to interact with employers, and to get ahead in their career.
Employers are very interested in reaching the coveted Facebook audience.

We’ll talk about tips and tricks to get you and your organization noticed on Facebook.
·         Are you and your company on Facebook?
·         Are you networking?
·         Are you joining groups and commenting on strings?
·         Do you have a company fan page?
·         Are you publishing your company blog on Facebook?

I’m sitting by the entrance to Bell Harbor right now, finishing up the little bits and pieces that always show up at this point. One of those bits (or possibly pieces) is making sure everyone is up on where the coverage is and is going to be the event today.

We’ve set up a special twitter account (username: @webcomforum) that you can follow on twitter for bite-sized quotes and updates from throughout the day. Teresa and I will also be tweeting the conference from our personal accounts: @tetesagehen, @jasonp107.

Incidentally, our tweets are going to be rolling through the top of our index page during the event. Pretty cool, neh?

I’ll be perusing the internet throughout the day, and I’m going to create a list of all the posts (& tweets, and anything else that shows up) I find as they show up throughout the day. - You can make it easier for me to find your post by linking to our blog!

Here’s the list so far…

Ariel quizzes us on the buzzwords surrounding Facebook. Apparently she’s heard several of them already! Oh noes!

I wrote a shamelessly promotional post on my blog.

tastybit Justin Smith: “You are going to need to be creative about new ways for people to engage with your brand.” 1 minute ago from web

Weave Sitting here at the Web Community Forum, it’s SO CLEAR TO ME that big brands could totally leverage social capital to EVERYONE’S advantage. 14 minutes ago from web

Jeremiah has posted the slides for his keynote presentation for everyone’s perusal.

Mike Germano posted yesterday that he was excited to be here. We’re glad to have you, Mike!

trishussey Good lunch … time for Facebook Fad, Frenzy or Future … gee do I have to answer that? 2 minutes ago from Snitter

tastybit Is it possible to be a “long time Web 2.0 guru”? Is a couple of years a long time? 6 minutes ago from web

trishussey BTW–I’m covering @webcomforum on blognation http://ca.blognation.com/ about 2 hours ago from Snitter

iphazard Loving the idea from @webcomforum about starting your own “What’s wrong with my product” forum. about 2 hours ago from web

tastybit Honestly, I believe it needs to be respected by app developers, but for the end user it is less of a concern than some believe. about 2 hours ago from web

tastybit McClure is spot on about the way people are becoming numbed to privacy concerns. about 2 hours ago from web

trishussey Note to all speakers…cell phones and wireless mics don’t like each other! Turn em off or airplane mode. about 2 hours ago from Snitter

tastybit but then i’ve had my identity stolen enough times BEFORE I was on Fb and all the socnets. More ID is stolen in the phys world than online. about 2 hours ago from web

tastybit This is an interesting panel-like thing about power using Fb. about 2 hours ago from web

trishussey Facebook for professionals … maybe how not to get fired because of your profile! about 3 hours ago from Snitter

Weave Rodney Rumford suggesting that FB developers FORCE users to invite friends. He sez that it’s a tactic that pisses off users but works. 12 minutes ago from web

jowyang Microsoft is looking to extend existing applications in Facebook. A bank is also launching an application –a game for users. 2 minutes ago from web

The new marketing is here at the Web Community Forum. Welcome!

Lish is hanging out in Seattle for our Conference for the first time in years. Welcome back!

Tris Hussey liveblogged Jeremiah’s keynote. It was a great presentation.

tastybit On building a Fb app: it is a constant evolution. You can’t just throw it out there. 3 minutes ago from twitterrific

tastybit @jowyang just wrapped up. Nice one. 27 minutes ago from twitterrific in reply to jowyang

I WOULD LIKE TO ATTEND A SESSION LIKE THIS — BUT I CAN’T LEAD IT.

A session that focuses specifically on paid advertising on Facebook. Strategies, success stories, failure stories, lessons learned.

- CPM vs PPC
– When to use one vs. the other
– Does position matter? CPM displays ads in Ad Space OR News Feed. PPC displays in both.

- Targeting
– Keywords (impact/consequences/benefits of using)

- Images or Not

- How FB Advertising Differs from Search PPC

- Lessons Learned (if any so far)
– Success stories
– Failure Stories

- Social Ads vs. Non-Social

- How FB Could Improve the Paid Advertising Program

I’ve said before that one of the big problems with Facebook’s advertising plans is that they don’t really have a lot of profile data to go from.

It turns out I’m not the only one that thinks so. Alex Iskold over at ReadWriteWeb just wrote up a good breakdown of Facebook’s ad system and the problems they face going forward:

There is a myth floating around that contextual advertising is going to help Facebook justify its $15 billion valuation. The myth goes something like this: because Facebook knows everything about us, it will always be able to serve perfect ads. However, the reality is more like the following:

* Facebook does not know much about us
* The data that Facebook has is not structured
* People are not coming to Facebook to click ads

He’s absolutely right. Facebook does not know that much about me. And Facebook is unlikely to have a lot of success selling CPC ads because people aren’t going to Facebook to click on ads.

1) Trust in Social Environments: what is assumed and what is stated?
2) Best Practices: developing and communicating your privacy point-of-view
3) Why Respect is good for business…especially in social environments
4) Recovering from mistakes: how to respond when “learning opportunities”
arise

UPDATE: The Google has the marker ON THE WRONG PLACE for this spot. FOLLOW MY MAP.

In case you’re wondering where the meetup is tonight, it’s at The Local Vine, a cool little wine bar within walking distance of the conference center.

In case you need it, here’s a handy little map:

Speakers and attendees — and really anyone else who is interested — are welcome to join us at The Local Vine in Belltown tonight for a pre-event gathering. The fun starts at 5:00 p.m.

As many of you know, tonight is the first night of Chanukah. I’m going to assume that we have at least one Jewish attendee who is away from home and does not have a menorah to light this evening. Based on that assumption, I will bring a small menorah and some candles.

If you are interested in lighting candles with me, leave a comment here, drop me an e-mail at teresa [at] webcommunityforum [dot] com or call me at (206)-229-9335. We’ll find a quiet corner somewhere and make the menorah thing happen.

If you’re curious about why Zuckerberg went to court to get 02138 Magazine to take down court documents from its web site, it’s probably instructive to have a look at the files.

The November/December issue of 02138 includes a profile of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Called “Poking Facebook,” the article examines the origins of the hugely popular social networking website, and reports on a lawsuit filed against Zuckerberg by the founders of a competing website, ConnectU.com, who charge that Zuckerberg stole the idea for Facebook from them.

The page is here.

The 2007 conference is fast approaching. Actually, I hate that phrase. The event starts Wednesday. What does that mean? That means it’s time to get everyone up to date on what’s going on in the evenings, because believe me, we aren’t going to let you come to Seattle without having a good time.

December 4th, 5pm

Yes, I know this is the night before the conference. But if you’re local, or you’re already in town, or if you’re passing through for unrelated reasons, feel free to join the Web Community Forum team and other assorted awesome people at The Local Vine, a great little wine bar mere blocks from our venue.

It’s an informal gathering, but we’ll put up a sign so you’ll know you’re in the right place. It’s open to conference attendees, speakers, or anyone interested in the social media marketing space.

December 5th, 5:45–7:45pm

After the conference on the 5th, we’re inviting everyone across the street to the Seattle Waterfront Marriott for drinks in the library. It’s a no-host reception for all of our attendees and speakers, and again it should be pretty easy to find.

I’ll be at everything, of course, along with the rest of the Web Community Forum Team, and we look forward to seeing you there!

OK, quick 20 second review:

1. Beacon is Facebook’s system that tracks and publishes your online purchases
2. Users complained because it was near impossible to avoid, and nobody asked if they wanted Beacon anyway
3. Facebook changed Becaon so users could opt-out more easily

SAI is still calling for universal opt-in.

Personally, I think this is one of those “good enough” situations (most of the stuff going on now is probably just “they’re too successful” backlash). The changes to Beacon are going to be good enough for most people. They’re good enough for me, at least for now:

Users must click on “OK” in a new initial notification on their Facebook home page before the first Beacon story is published to their friends from each participating site. We recognize that users need to clearly understand Beacon before they first have a story published, and we will continue to refine this approach to give users choice.

If a user does nothing with the initial notification on Facebook, it will hide after some duration without a story being published. When a user takes a future action on a Beacon site, it will reappear and display all the potential stories along with the opportunity to click “OK” to publish or click “remove” to not publish.

In other words, it’s not exactly opt-in, but it’s not going to start publishing Beacon purchases without me clicking the OK. That’s good enough.

I know that there are a few people like Fred Wilson, who think Beacon is just fine, and in one sense, I have to agree with him: I’m all for Facebook using the data they have to make a better user experience for myself and my friends.

I think Facebook’s error in all this is communicative, not structural. They didn’t learn their lesson with the Newsfeed, but maybe they’ll learn it this time. Their product is an interactive web service. They are not Apple. They cannot release something pretty and go “take it or don’t,” because there’s such a small barrier to change.

People have this innate sense about hardware that changes are slow, expensive, and essentially impossible to “beta.” By contrast, people look at Facebook, throwing their perceived privacy out the window, and they go “how hard could it have been to ask me?”

The answer, unfortunately for Facebook, is “not that effing hard.”

They need to figure that out.