Todd Lyden

Put DOWN the Phone

tlyden — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 21:03:38 +0000

I know you have seen the signs at different banks, retail locations, etc where they ask you to stop your cellphone conversations to do your business.

I just took my daughter to the pediatrician and I SWEAR they had one of those in the waiting room. It not only ASKED but said your usage would result in cancelling the APPOINTMENT.

I remember when Bluetooths became the rage and it SEEMS to have died down. People walking around with hardware in their ears hasn't stopped but the texting and playing on the phone has seemingly taken its place.

I just could not believe that people have to asked not to fiddle with their phone when they are taking their kid to the doctor!

But that's the world we live in now apparently.

If you want a few reasons to STOP, check here:

http://collegecandy.com/2009/08/10/why-you-should-stop-texting/

We live in a world where you have to be ASKED to be polite and pay attention.

When we live in that world, what does it mean for how you are going to be heard?

Attention Deficit Disorders in Infants (everydayhealth.com)

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Moving on Up

tlyden — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 14:52:44 +0000

Image via CrunchBase

Not that people care too much, but I've decided to finally make the break between my more personal stuff and the social media stuff I've been posting here.

I had the domain name for a while, but you will start seeing my stuff OVER here at www.socialmediawannabe.com.

Toddlyden.com is going to become more personal and might be self-referential with links over to the other website, but I'm trying to make the distinction.

Too much of what I would like to talk about ISN'T social media, but at the same time I would never want to stop writing it.

I envision Toddlyden.com as being more lifestreaming, but haven't determined if I am keeping it at Posterous. I find the site overlimiting. Other's love it, but the interface is even harder to work with and customize than Blogger. I've found it wonky lately with posting to other places like Facebook. And, it doesn't play well with most other blogging plugins and addons like WordPress and Blogger.

Some day I might move over and TRULY try out WordPress, self-hosted, but until then I am sticking with blogger. Where else can you get a fully loaded website for the cost of a domain name alone?

PS. Google, got my sticker. Now I just need a notebook to go with it!

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Slow Death or Rebirth for Myspace?

tlyden — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 23:45:25 +0000

Are we really watching the slow inevitable death of Myspace?

With the integration with Facebook complete and the push towards what appears to be a mobile only function, isn’t it time to call this one?

One report says that Myspace is making $200 million less this year.

They are functionally giving up on Myspace Music, which was always their bread and butter. Without the music tie in, why would people BOTHER with Myspace?

I’m talking about it because my wife’s band has used every medium known to mankind to promote themselves online and Myspace has been nothing but dead weight from the very beginning.

Only bands and their most ardent fans go there. The rest are on Facebook.

There is talk of selling Myspace, but who in their right mind would consider it?

This will have some interesting implications for bands down the road. Many use Myspace as their de facto website, just pushing their domain name onto the customizable site.

Now apparently, Reverbnation, a North Carolina startup, has brokered a deal to integrate Myspace. Reverbation has become more of a place for bands to manage their online presence, but was already doing a GREAT job integrating their presence all over the web including Myspace.

With all the other sites performing the functions that Myspace is trying to integrate, can it realyl remodel itself as a hub instead of a destination or functional site for bands?

Myspace and Music – Still xoxo or Just Exes With Benefits? (socialtimes.com)
MySpace Introduces New Tools For Musicians (webpronews.com)
Myspace Wont Be Selling Music On Their Site: Concentrating on Music Recommendations (crenk.com)

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Is Gri.pe a Better Business Bureau for the Twitter-age?

tlyden — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 19:14:30 +0000

You got Yelp, Urbanspoon, and many other review sites that are offering a way to lodge a complaint or place a nice compliment about a servicer provider.

I’ve got to say I was impressed with Gripe as a new entry in the “review” niche of apps/sites.

Their blog highlights the effectiveness of the idea:

One complaint got turned around fast. This is ENCOURAGING companies to take control of the word of mouth found on Facebook and Twitter!

It is also a great way to measure your “influence.” Look at Whole Foods on Gripe:

The other thing I like about this system is that while it is mostly complaints it also allows for compliments. I posted one and look at how many people, conceivably (apparently) would see it:

That’s right- half a million people! Unlikely, but ok- it at least gives you the idea.

They are trying to distinguish themselves from the review sites by resolving complaints as a better business bureau would and considering the problems they are having lately, this is good news.

Google Hotpot Starts Competing with Local Reviews (bnpositive.com)
Yelp Goes Groupon: Who Will Be the Top Dog in Local Deals? (dailyfinance.com)
Asking for reviews (iowabiz.com)

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What Problem are QR Codes Addressing?

tlyden — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 02:53:25 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

"QR codes looks like a solution looking for a problem to solve."

Could NOT agree more with Carl Gunell over here: http://maximinllc.com/?p=259

Others think they are the bee's knees: "Forrester estimates that 1% of all internet users and 5% of smartphone users have scanned a QR code in the past three months."

The Gadget Guy thinks they can be useful but only if used properly.

There are examples of different large campaigns using them, but are they really that effective?

I've used Scanlife a few times with my new phone, but honestly- doing it was no less simple then to just type in a short URL in the web browser.

Here is a great discussion on the usage of codes via survey here: http://2d-code.co.uk/how-many-would-scan-a-qr-code/

The other day I saw an ad with the QR code right about the short, extremely short URL. Does it REALLY save that much time?

Dave Boike expressed this well over here:

http://www.make-awesome.com/2010/05/qr-codes-the-lamest-thing-to-never-reach-critical-mass/

Will they ever catch on with the masses?

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Nostradamus Ain’t Got Nothing! 2010 Predictions AGAIN

tlyden — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 05:05:23 +0000

Looking back again at 2010 from Social Media Today in 2009:

http://socialmediatoday.com/SMC/146209

1. Augmented Reality Applications Will Start to Go Mainstream

Really? Where are they?

2. Location-Based Applications Will Dissolve Into General Social Networks

"Location-based applications like Foursquare and Brightkite will not be the darlings of social media as some predict, but will instead turn into features and dissolve into general social networks like Facebook and Twitter."

This is probably half-true. They haven't taken off as gangbusters as everyone thought, but have they been completely assimilated? Not close. Are they generally only effective because of Twitter and Facebook, YES. Will they become more important to the mobile world? Definitely.

3. Enterprise Social Software Applications Will Become Commonplace

"Large software providers like IBM, SAP and Oracle will launch, or announce, the first enterprise-grade social networking and Web 2.0 collaboration applications/suites that will gain broad momentum and recognition in the marketplace."

Where are they?

4. More Social Media Regulation Will Follow the FTC's October Endorsement Guides

Where are they? Again?

5. Social Search Will Shake Out, and the Search Metaphor Will Change

"The whole metaphor for search will change. Search won't be a separate function. Instead of going to a site like google.com or bing.com, users will receive meaningful, personally relevant search results within the context of whatever they are currently doing."

Seriously, do people who write about this look at what average people are doing? Is it REALLY that hard to open a window or tab for a google search page?

Gimme some predictions for 2011 that you would stake your LIFE on in the comments!!

Looking Back at Techcrunch’s 2010 tech predictions

tlyden — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 18:39:22 +0000

Let’s look back at some predictions for this past year and how good or bad they were-

First Techcrunch: http://techcrunch.com/2010/01/01/ten-technologies-2010/

The Tablet - definitely, iPads are the rage and with others making the moves in the last year, they are the netbooks for the next year.
Geo: Sadly, not as much as you might want to think. Techcrunch REALLY pushed this as far back as 2009 and it is still not as prevelant as folks who use it think it is versus those that don’t.
Realtime Search- There is realtime searching? Yes, but do people really care?
Chrome OS It only took another year and they are finally doing it. Try again in 2011.
HTML5 Yes, but again- another slow burn. Seems to be a theme?Y
Mobile Video- Seriously?
Augmented Reality- Huh?
Mobile Transactions - Wha?
Android- most definitely. This past year and in the last few months saw a huge uptick. 2011 could be a huge year for Google powered mobiles, especially with the announcements around Google OS.
Social CRM- Not any bigger than it was? Is it?

Come back tomorrow, we’ll look back at another list!

Google Chrome OS (innovationslab.wordpress.com)
We’re Giving Away Chrome OS Laptops! (gigaom.com)
A Walk In The Cloud: My First Day With Google’s Chrome OS (e1evation.com)

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3+ Ideas on Being/Stopping a Comment Troll

tlyden — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 04:11:10 +0000

I wasn't going to do this, but as a learning experience on blogging, commenting and just communicating in general, I thought this might be constructive and educational.

I've had one dust up with a blogger over on his website- which I sort of talked about here. (The original comments are now off when the blog was switched, I guess.)

My gist of the article and I think the original discussion in that case is that sarcasm and satire online are HARD. Very hard to understand. I think it hurts REAL communication. Does it stop people from trying? No. But does it mean things get taken wrong, YES.

Now, I've had another dust up where I took umbrage with the way a government agency's twitter and blog were portrayed and was able to illustrate so.

I was contacted directly after ending the commentary on the blog post and told that arguing in that forum doesn't make anyone look good.

I'd post comments over there, but after being painted as a nasty troll, a-hole, bully, and someone who pisses all over a blog, I conceded and won't waste my time. I took the advice and am talking about it here.

The reaction on both parts resulted in the creation of two different comment policies.

This is Educational Point #1.

Have a comment policy. You can do what you like. Here is mine. I would DARE say, in this case I adhered to mine. You can think of your words in blogs as little babies and fain to protect them, but acting like they are sacrosanct is kinda silly.

I am inviting comments. I want to write better and learn from what others think about how I think. I invited thoughts a few months ago. Please rip me a new one, in as nice a way as possible please.

Educational Point #2

Pointing out an issue with someones blog post is not sarcasm, mean, or anything other than what it is (necessarily).

I said in my earlier post that too much of what I see as commentary on posts is just virtual back-patting. This isn't to say that you should beat on everything you come across, but if you disagree, pull the trigger and say so (within the confines of the stated comment policy).

This leads to Educational Point #3

Grow a pair.

I said it before and I'll say it again: "I'm not right and neither are you."

Until you "know" someone on the internet, you can't really be sure of how they might take ANYTHING you write. You could be trying to compliment and it's misinterpreted. You could just be saying you don't agree with them and they think you are a hideous, hateful troll spewing bile all over the place.

Educational point #4 (bonus)
Use a commenting system
A common reason people USED to give for commenting issues: anonymity. I don't see it as that common anymore. Sure on message boards and forums it is REALLY easy to be as anonymous as you want to be. With the variety of commenting systems that require some acknowledgment of who the commenter is, this is not much of an excuse. (Danny Brown talks about the big ones here). But then again, that doesn't stop someone from being a d-bag in their comments.

A huge short-coming of the internet: there are no interpreters to make sure your feelings are not hurt. If you are going to put YOUR thoughts out there, OBVIOUSLY you want them shared and thought about. Otherwise, stay home. But now they are out there, be willing to take the lumps, especially if you are be critical or praising. There is ALWAYS going to be someone who sees it differently.

Photo:kfawcett

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Groupon / Redbox Deal BAD IDEA?

tlyden — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 20:41:10 +0000

Ok, so the Groupon/Redbox came and went.

I got the text as a loyal Redbox customer:

Friday, Saturday and Sunday ONLY! Go to www.redbox.com/groupon to get 3 one-night Redbox DVD rentals for only $1. Txt STOP 2 quit.

And what did I get? A notice like others, but then quickly a deleted page.

The reaction was as immediate as mine online:

You can see that updated here.

I’m going to be VERY curious to see how this plays out for these two giants.

A great idea for BOTH of them, might have HURT both of them.

Not sure what Groupon limited the deal to, but loyal customers of both might feel VERY slighted. I did not get my Redbox text until at least two hours AFTER the deal went live.

Which tells me that Redbox was trying to reach more customers, but why share with THEIR customers.

For Groupon, this could be a nice win. Redbox fans who love the cheap movies will now know THEIR brand but who got the Groupon emails?

Groupon sends weird deals to different places.

Should be fun to watch play out.

One Good Wise Decision #reverb10

tlyden — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 19:51:10 +0000

#Reverb10 #10 What was the wisest decision you made this year, and how did it play out?

Now this I can play with.

Sorry about the last one.

I don't make decisions. My wife and I do. We might take input from the children if it concerns them, but we still make the decisions.

The wisest one we've made in a while is one that actually happened several years ago, but culminated this year.

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to be home a great deal for the first two years of our youngest's life. It has turned her literally into daddy's girl.

My wife felt some of the slight, but in large part because she was working not too long after she was born.

Not too long after, opportunity and chance made it so that my wife could stay home full time and we agreed that she would so long as the youngest was not in school full time.

Well, she entered kindergarten this year, YEAH!

And my wife was back on the job market.

It's worked out GREAT for us.

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