So, Facebook now has advertising which is tailored to the user. OK, I’m an attached gay man. What ads do I see?
Back to the drawing board I think, chaps. Unless you think my wedding day should be something really special?
How can Microsoft stop us hating them?
So what do you think of Microsoft, eh? No, really. I want to know.
I have to admit I’m not exactly a fan. I’ll explain why momentarily. But Microsoft is changing, or at least wants to change, and I’m finding it hard to shed old impressions.
The Blue Monster cartoon is part of this changing Microsoft. Its creator, Hugh MacLeod, intended it as a conversation-starter — what he calls a social object. Steve Clayton from Microsoft UK says they use it to help Microsoft start talking about its own process of re-birth.
I’m cynical when software companies claim grand goals like “changing the world”. That over-the-top rhetoric was central to the first dot-com bubble. Usually, the bigger the rhetoric the crappier the product. Still, I’m willing to listen.
Another sign of a changing Microsoft is my friend Nick Hodge, who sold me my first Mac back in 1985. Nick now works for the Blue Monster as an “enthusiast evangelist”, and represents how Microsoft is embracing blogging and a new culture of openness — and actually having conversations with people instead of talking at them.
But can Microsoft really change and, more importantly, convince us to believe them?
Ignoring iYomu
Since I wrote about that social networking site iYomu and then predicted it wouldn’t go anywhere, I’ve never been back. The only “friends” who’ve tried to link to me there are two complete strangers trying to win the million dollar challenge. I stand by my prediction.
Flickr’s 2 billionth photo
I suppose it’s nice that the 2 billionth photo on Flickr is from Sydney, but does it have to be a picture of that stupid gold-plated dead tree in Chinatown? As an aside, there are now 4.1 billion photos on Facebook. Hat-tip to Peter Black’s Freedom to Differ.
Quote of the Day, 18 October 2007
Truly there is a Facebook group for everything. Including holders of special belief such as: An orgy with the Golden Girls would be awkward at first — but fun overall.
Politicians and Social Media: a catalogue of cluelessness
I’ll be in Perth on 27–28 October for PodCamp, the New Media Community UnConference, where I’m presenting a session on Social Media and the Federal Election.
While my first visit to Perth will be fun enough, I’m also enjoying researching my presentation. Australian politicians really don’t have a clue about this stuff.
Starting at the top of the food chain, John Howard’s MySpace profile is a disaster. The screenshot (right) records how it looked this morning — with a a broken rectangle obscuring part of the photo and adverts for the Labor party. Click for the full-size version.
MySpace is the world’s largest and best-known social media operation. Yet this profile doesn’t have anything to offer apart from a recycled media release. No blog entries. Not even any personal information beyond Howard’s age — reminding MySpace’s relatively youthful audience that he’s “old”.
How could John Howard’s personal profile not even mention cricket? If a profile contains even less information than we already know, why would we bother reading it? Why would we bother coming back?
At the other end of the spectrum — in more ways than one! — is Australian Democrats Senator Andrew Bartlett.
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