Josh Chandler Blog - Latest Comments

Re: Are RT’s on Twitter about to lose their relevancy?

joshchandler — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:23:51 -0000

Alex,

I think you may be a little misguided if you are presuming "all our followers" are following @scobleizer and @mashable. It may seem likely, but there are many times when I see questions about "Who is Robert Scoble?" and "Why Should I Care?".

I always treat every new follower to my Twitter account as an unknown, never presuming anything!

Thanks for your comment :)

Re: Are RT’s on Twitter about to lose their relevancy?

facebook-838045693 — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 13:11:29 -0000

Great post Josh. I really feel that you are striking a fair balance.

In response to tweets being RT'd from huge accounts (@mashable, @scobleizer), I wonder if we need to retweet at all! We all follow these people, as do our own followers. To retweet a tweet that is already going to be seems like a waste of space!

And agreed as to Twitter making a mistake with their RT feature. Not a single person that I have talked to likes it. We shall see.

Re: About

johnhaden — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:37:52 -0000

Kill 'em w/ kindness... love it. Nicolema sounds like a d-bag! No where in your "About" section did I read where you were asking for writing critiques! People can be lame !

Re: MyOnePage.com Review – Been there, done that, the service is nothing special!

joshchandler — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:25:21 -0000

Oo, thanks for stopping by to check out the review!

So, there are multiple points you make which just don't quite make sense at times. One is that you don't "want to be another social network", and would rather be a "point of contact". I am pretty sure if this user is smart enough to know how to operate a blog then they can make a much richer engaging experience with added contact information.

And, the way you put that OnePage "shows all the places online a user is on", you are reverting back to becoming much like Friendfeed but without the content (and people need that as a judgement call for that user).

On the issue of Realtime data flow, if you as a startup don't enter the real-time data market soon your idea will not work, simple as. People choose to consume content at a much rapid pace then they used to, and seeing that your service only offers static data flow is a huge letdown.

And yes, congrats on the "View a Random OnePage", very well-though through, and obviously inspired by the great Stumbleupon.

I look forward to seeing how this service develops, but take my advice with a pinch of salt and listen closely to your user feedback BEFORE mine (I'm overly opinionated, and I know it :P)

Thanks

Josh

Re: MyOnePage.com Review – Been there, done that, the service is nothing special!

ositanwoye — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 07:28:22 -0000

Hi Josh, I am Oo, co-founder and CEO of OnePage. I would first of all like to thank you for taking out time to review OnePage and giving us your feedback. I would like to respond to some of the issues you have thrown up.

Concerning the similarity with FriendFeed: OnePage is NOT aimed to be another social network (I think we have enough of that ;) ). OnePage is aimed to be your primary point of contact through which people will decide where they would interact with you; be it LinkedIn, Skype, Twitter, Flickr, email, phone, YouTube or your blog.

Concerning pulling the masses from Twitter and Facebook: While FB/Twitter tells your contacts "you have to interact with me on FB or Twitter”, OnePage says "Hey, see all the places I am, choose where you want to interact with me"

Concerning the design, Real-time and other issues: We are grateful for you pointing them out. OnePage is VERY FAR from completion as the beta tag indicates. OnePage is following the lean startup philosophy which proposes putting out the minimum viable product and gradually adjusting the product according to customer feedback. The "view a random OnePage" feature you like was actually suggested by a user. I would request that you create an account (if you haven't done so) so you can please give us more feedback; so together, we will shape OnePage into what a lot of people will love and find useful.

Thank you once again.

Re: Thoughts on Tomorrow’s Web, and my first blog post at the site!

joshchandler — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:51:31 -0000

:), my pleasure Grant. I think the website is truly a great testament to you and Rob. I can't believe the amount of video response on Youtube you generated for a first time conference, mainly from your target market! Very inspiring to watch :)

Re: Thoughts on Tomorrow’s Web, and my first blog post at the site!

twitter-6801242 — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:20:55 -0000

Glad to have you on-board Josh! Thanks for the kind words.

Re: Will someone give Google a raise after “Google Fast Flip Launch”? Not likely!

eff — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 23:49:06 -0000

right on! i am a news junkie, but fast flip seriously could be the most ridiculous thing ever. Google Reader does me just fine and is a great way to read things.

Re: Apple’s September Event tomorrow – Please, no iPod with Camera!

scottgould — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:47:47 -0000

WOW! New site! I got stuck in RSS land!

Josh great peice. Unfortunately, what you wanted didn't happen - but reading this has made me far more informed about Apple's sales. Cheers!

Re: If a celebrity didn’t update their Twitter account once in a single day, what would happen?

joshchandler — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 15:35:33 -0000

And we know those who are truly valued in the Twittersphere are those who:

DON'T:
Overtweet
Follow Everyone regardless of mutual interests
Send Auto-DM's
Send spammy tweets
Tweet only about themselves

DO:
Promote other user's web content
Discuss with many users. and have plenty of @replies to people on their profile page
Put forward meaningful and provactive discussion points for people to think about.

I certainly found it rather interesting hearing how Brandon Mendelson of AMillionHighFives.com was discussing in a recent interview with me his views on Ashton Kutcher's "Rise to Fame" on Twitter, it is worth checking out:

http://www.joshchandlerblog.com/2009/07/intervi...

I certainly hope more and more celebrities will realise that there is a degree of trust being placed by clicking the "Follow" button, and they cannot abuse it by being impersonal, over the top etc etc!

Re: If a celebrity didn’t update their Twitter account once in a single day, what would happen?

scottgould — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 15:22:20 -0000

Josh loving your points and the reaffirmation that it is passive v
active. Those two classifications do help to seperate the issues

I certianly don't agree or think that social media is about "anyone
bcoming a celebrity"- those were Ashtons words. But social media has
made Gary Vee a celebrity, as it did those early myspace stars like
Tilla Tequilla etc

Thing is, we have loads of social media users who want to be a celeb-
they want to be popular. Hence tons of content, over the top, follow
all, etc etc. Of course this reminds me that is the truly social who
are unique!

Scott

Re: If a celebrity didn’t update their Twitter account once in a single day, what would happen?

joshchandler — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 15:01:45 -0000

Scott,

Of course, we know that the average celebrity certainly wants to involve themselves in a passive community setting (i.e live text web chat, video on uStream.tv), but introduce the immediacy of Twitter, the nature of following update by update over a longer period of time and you get a new level of interactivity and communication unfolding that celebrities are slowly but surely tapping into.

It's moreso a point of whether or not celebrities view Twitter as a personal chance to take hold of their own brands, or allow "people to tweet for them" and utilize their social influence in the real world for immediate effect in the social networking space, for instance within the first few months of 2008, the Twitterati became infested with celebrities such as Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton who wanted to get the word out about different events, campaigns and press calls.

I certainly am starting to think closely about your mention of "glossy celeb magazines", I mean most of the Micheal Jackson death coverage came from Twitter, the overpowering strength of the immediate information far outweighed any coverage from print media (yeah, yeah same old story of print dying I know, I know!).

It's certainly more personal to hear directly from a celebrity then it is through some "publicity agent" or "press release" in a newspaper.

It definitely signals a big change for the rich and famous, but those who don't realize it will lose out, much the same as any average business or individual out there exploring Twitter.

But, I fear as many others do that we will hit a unhealthy balance of Twitter users simply following celebrities update, and not being an engaging unit for us to communicate further with.

Finally, on your point of "anyone being a celebrity on Twitter", I wonder if you can name any recent "non-celebrities, turned celebrities" because of Twitter. I hate to think you assume that Twitter is becoming some overwhelming "jump into action" platform where people clamor for attention and fame, because I just don't know that Twitter alone would guarantee that, it is a combination of factors (blogs, Facebook, video, audio podcasts)

Re: If a celebrity didn’t update their Twitter account once in a single day, what would happen?

scottgould — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 13:19:14 -0000

Josh,

As I said before I'm still thinking this through, and we are all adapting to this giant shift in celebrity.

Since the beginning of time, social hierarchy as existed, with 'celebrities' being those who are famously recognised in society (wikipedia). From the heroes of ancient Greece to Katie Price, they are who people talk about at the water cooler. The whole idea of celebrity is one wrapped up in marketability. The A-list compromises the most marketable, and so on. And indeed there are niche celebrities - Guy Kawasaki means nothing to my wife but what I call 'digitalls' (literally, people who are digit-all) know full well who he is.

Social media has increased social interaction and media consumption of news, for example, in the following ways (and I'm sure there are more):
- speed (news breaks fast)
- frequency (new news is always being churned out)
- availability (news is available on the mobile)
- accessibility (I can tweet the news reader)
- width (I can get more diverse news)
- depth (I can get deeper views on news)

The natural fascination of the 'masses' with these celebrities means that the people behind each celebrity's brand can use these new social tools to generate more awareness, stronger advocacy, and more measurable action.

And we have to realise that this *will* happen, and is already a huge part of Twitter. Glossy magazines turned word of mouth hear say into rumours on a page. Twitter will take them off a page and make them immediately available on your phone. And there is nothing that will stop this.

Social media is the name given to a set of tools - however it is also associated with the concept of this new, fast, and public communication. So whilst on one hand, when Ashton says 'Social media means anyone can be a celebrity' and I cringe, it is true. The tools of social media do allow anyone to become 'someone who is socially recognisable', and the tools of social media also allow celebrities to increase their profile and engage more with their fans. But the concept of social media as we know it, is not supposedly about celebrity. The word has been tarnished, and we are instead using the word 'influence'.

I still have many things to think through on this - but this discussion is stimulating my thoughts!

Re: If a celebrity didn’t update their Twitter account once in a single day, what would happen?

joshchandler — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 08:03:37 -0000

Hey Scott, thanks for your comment :)

Yes, it is true that the social acceptance of celebrities on Twitter is perhaps misjudged, and sometimes we do need to take the time to consider how celebrities are using Twitter. I mean, I am impressed that apart from @britneyspears, most celebrities are actually being human, and mainly connecting to fans in a big open way, the walls of transparency are broken down!

And yes, it is important to NOT be a celebrity watcher, because you quickly lose focus on the most important social connections out there on your social networks, and you can have an uneven balance of communications occuring!

Thanks again for the great comment, really enjoyed reading it!

Re: If a celebrity didn’t update their Twitter account once in a single day, what would happen?

scottgould — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 01:30:19 -0000

Hey Josh - thanks for the video!

I'm not actually a big celebrity follower, and I'm still thinking through how celebrity and twitter works.

What I *do* know is I am far more concerned about being engaged with people like you, and the other 50 people or so that I am talking with on a regular basis.

Re: Blerp is now out of alpha, declared “real milestone for us” by Steve Hoffman, CEO of Rocketon

joshchandler — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:30:20 -0000

Rachel, I agree, this really is a mind-blowing web service :). What
was the name of the web service this reminds you of then? Something
that could have been, but wasn't??

Re: Blerp is now out of alpha, declared “real milestone for us” by Steve Hoffman, CEO of Rocketon

rachellevine — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 14:46:49 -0000

Love the article Josh! Thanks for letting us know about another mind-blowing web service. This reminds me of something I'd see years ago, but much better. I like the idea of having a plug-in that lets me comment anywhere and ties back to my social network and Twitter feeds. Yeah!

Re: Interview with Scott Gould of AaronGould.co.uk, an experience marketing company.

scottgould — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:12:30 -0000

We're working on a digital model at the moment. Whilst you're right to
a certain degree that there are 'no rules', fundamentals work in a
proportional sense- eg if a site is highly innovative, then other
'fundamentals' might be lower becase of the innovative nature

Scott

Re: My Test Video Post at TwitCam: My Initial Thoughts on the site

joshchandler — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 14:55:57 -0000

:), yes it's definetly worth checking out. I will watch out for a link on your Twitter profile, and come and join the chat!

Re: My Test Video Post at TwitCam: My Initial Thoughts on the site

dcfemella — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 14:54:57 -0000

Ill have to try this tonight. #twitcam

Re: Interview with Scott Gould of AaronGould.co.uk, an experience marketing company.

joshchandler — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 10:34:32 -0000

I wonder what the framework will become as the internet proliferates
into something much more far-reaching, I assume that there will be "no
set rules" for companies to follow. Much like there isn't with using
social media tools right now!

Re: Interview with Scott Gould of AaronGould.co.uk, an experience marketing company.

scottgould — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 09:23:21 -0000

You are very right that many companies are using experience, albeit in
a very alpha form, and without a framework.

Experience is becoming a key point of differentiation and top
retailers like Apple and GAP understand this and are leveraging it to
a certain degree.

Re: The State of Online Philanthropy on Social Networks in 2009 so far

joshchandler — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 07:23:00 -0000

Yes, the power *and* influence is the web is growing to a catastrophically powerful resource for charitable organizations. I mean, two to three years ago I had never even considered donating to charities (I took part in the odd charity event here and there), but through being introduced to work charities are doing on the web via medians I could consume more effectively such as Youtube.com videos and Flickr.com images, I found myself more interested in learning more, and hearing the story of the charity concerned!

I think your quote "It really is a small world - we need to work together to heal, support, and protect ... the social Web gives us the power to do that right from our own homes. Amazing. " says it all for me :)

Re: Interview with Scott Gould of AaronGould.co.uk, an experience marketing company.

joshchandler — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 07:19:17 -0000

I like that idea of "subtlety" you suggested, it's very much the unobvious things in a business that always make the strongest effect on it's customer. I certainly agree that experience marketing is undervalued, but in some way I think many company are doing a small degree of it, via a very 1.0 approach. Should be interesting to see how this median of marketing develops in the next few years!

Re: The State of Online Philanthropy on Social Networks in 2009 so far

JamieLee — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 01:17:34 -0000

Josh - thanks for the tip off on the Philanthropy article. I just happen to be in search mode for this type of information because it relates to a few projects that I'm working on right now.

I echo your wish to see more support for charities of all kinds. The Web makes it so easy, there's hardly any excuse for non-participation. I'm so excited to hear about the increased revenue some of these prominent charities are experiencing due to their social media efforts. I hope that smaller, more independent organizations will be able to benefit from using these same tools.

It really is a small world - we need to work together to heal, support, and protect ... the social Web gives us the power to do that right from our own homes. Amazing.

Thanks for sharing.