He has a small chip on his shoulder, about some friends of his.

After all, he invented the “friends”. (love that line)

Mark gets to thinking about Facebook and whether Google Plus will do to him what he “did” to MySpace…

Genius.

• Will it make life harder or easier
• How much harder or easier
• Can I do it myself without paying vast sums of money?

The answer is…maybe. But if it is difficult this rather cool wordpress plugin will help. Called the FaceBook Tab Manager it allows you to configure a tab for Facebook in WordPress and then copy and paste it into Facebook.  This should allow WordPress lovers a much more familiar and convenient way of managing a Facebook page (we hope!)

Heres how it looks :

And heres the official description:

The Facebook Tab Manager allows you to create landing pages and other types of content to be displayed within Facebook, particularly within the tabs that appear on Facebook business pages and pages for other types of organizations. This provides a way of putting more interesting layouts and functionality into your Facebook pages, without the need to get too deep into fancy programming.

The Facebook Tab Manager was specifically designed to take advantage of a recent Facebook page redesign that added support for iframe tabs on Facebook pages. Optionally, you can now also specify content to be displayed on an associated canvas page.

Tab content can include any WordPress content, including output from Shortcodes and other plugin functions.

Nice one!

FaceBooks notification reads:

Profile and Page Roadmap Update

The final aim = To convert visitors to consumers.

If they do not become consumers then they should be converted to one of three things if possible beginning with the most important.

Primary Goal

• Purchase and item or order

Secondary Goal

• Email subscribers on the blog
• Facebook Fan page members
• Twitter followers

The Company Blog

With the inclusion of the blog we must look at it as the hub of the social media efforts.  It is the content provider that is used to compliment current promotional campaign efforts and as such is the focal point where visitors are sent.

Currently we are discussing sport as the next marketing effort.

To begin with, content about sport should be created in the generic form.  Rules about the sport or competitions and some history of the sport and its development are good areas to cover. Then, content should be aimed towards more up to date news about the current leagues, teams or individuals and their standings and form. Eventually and if possible, interviews are an excellent form of content from players or teams as human interest pieces are the most “sticky” and also it is the easiest content to produce as the players themselves fill in the blanks.

While being exposed to the content then visitors should also be exposed to the opportunity to choose one of the three options listed above AFTER they have been offered the possibility to purchase and item or make an order on the company site.

This is achieved by the placement of text or attractive graphics at the end of content articles linking to the necessary product order pages on the main commerce site. Should this option not bear fruit then the secondary options should be available for consideration at little to no effort for the visitor via floating sidebars or unmistakable icons placed on the page and linking to the relevant profile.

The FaceBook Fan Page

Once this drive of content is in place we must begin the social media effort of talking about sport on the FaceBook Fan Page (not exclusively but enough for it to be a major subject).  This can be achieved by adding in the content form the blog automatically to the Facebook page and asking the current fans if they are involved in a sport or know anyone that is.

Of course, much more of a response is forth coming the more fans the page has, so I would strongly recommend that the mail shot to the current client base be completed at the earliest opportunity in order to establish a base and solid foundation to work on in the FaceBook ecosystem.  Having this available allows more depth and feedback to be gathered and more reaction to different promotions and campaigns assessed quickly and honestly from the user base. Indeed, it can be an excellent way of helping to generate sales as old clients are reminded of the excellent service and quality provided by the company though simple conversation.

In regards the administration of the page one person will responsible for this at the initial stages.  By administration we mean that conversations will be monitored and keep in the realms of decency and on point and of course, members that single themselves out to be particularly abusive or have little or now positive input can be removed.  allow this may sound ominous, due to the members on FaceBook carrying their own names and faces, this rarely happens as it did in the past on anonymous forums whereby users posted on fake or unidentifiable names.

Other FaceBook Groups and Fan Pages.

In conjunction to this the company then need to source and join some sport or sporting related groups and engage these groups in conversation about the sport.  the engagement should not be overbearing or pushy at this stage.  It should be a process of listening, engaging and assessing the groups nature and context by reading the information already available on the wall then asking a series of questions such as:

“How are the team doing this year?”

“Who has the best average score per game?”

“When is the next match?”

“Are any matches local to my area (put the specific area)”

Gradually this may lead onto things about the team and its events commenting on the team strip and mentioning how the company have supplied other sports teams and showing the results of this service via photos or links to the product itself on the company website or blog.

This whole process can take seconds and be done in a single burst if the group and users are active or it can happen over several days as comments and replays are made and the company react to them. Several groups can be run at once of course and by several it can be two or hundreds depending on time and resource and if those groups are exist.

The group sourcing aspect can be facilitated by searching or asking your direct network for advice but the actually conversational process must be completed and maintained by the company are it is the company that are most familiar with the product, service and price.

Beginning with Twitter

At this early stage twitter must be considered a fall back option.  It is an excellent tool for networking and locating individuals to connect with so it should be available and maintained to some extent at this stage in order to gather and increase its natural follower count.

The account can be maintained via the blog as the content created there, much like Facebook, can be automatically feed into the Twitter profile updating the status and increasing the visible content.  Twitter should be monitored on occasion for information requests (all of this will arrive via email regardless) until such times as the the company account can be run effectively and in a more hands on manner.

American Mom Media

American Mom’s have taken up the social media mantle and are using it to track their children when at college or university to ensure that they make every effort to succeed and stay away from potential problems.  Some American Media Mom’s have even went further and integrated themselves into their children’s lives with alter egos to ensure they have a more direct influence on their development when out of physical reach.

Watch this concerning development and the story behind it right here:

Facebook, Twitter Revolutionizing How Parents Stalk Their College-Aged Kids

Now seriously… I hope your laughing.  I sure as hell am.

The campaign begins

If you live in the UK then the situation will be quite familiar. The program broadcast in the UK called X-Factor (much like American Idol in the USA) has for the last 4 years dominated the prestigious number 1 spot on the Christmas Charts releasing classic ballads and songs “in the spirit of the season”.  This seems to have annoyed some people.  No, actually, its annoyed a lot of people… and they had enough.

What started out as a idea on Facebook, quickly gained momentum across a range of social networks and the group exploded with discussions and encouragement by users to support the idea and help make an impression on the music industry.  Twitter picked up momentum using the hashtag #ratm4xmas or #RATM and there was a Rage Against the Machine For Christmas Number 1 Website available as well.

The crux of the situation can be seen in the numbers below over the sales figures below:

• (Series 1 – 2004) Steve Brookstein – Against All Odds– 250,000 copies sold
  
• (Series 2 – 2005) Shayne Ward- That’s My Goal – 742,180 copies sold
• (Series 3 – 2006) Leona Lewis – A Moment Like This – 571,253 copies sold
• (Series 4 – 2007) Leon Jackson – When You Believe – 490,000 copies sold
• (Series 5 – 2008) Alexandra Burke – Hallelujah – 576,000 copies sold

All of these Christmas Number 1 results where as a result of the X-Factor and basically, enough was enough, for people and they took a stand. The final results, as accurately as we can make them at this stage anyway are:

(Series 6 – 2009) Joe McElderry – The Climb – 450,838 copies sold

Rage Against the Machine (released 1992) – released by popular demand and a Facebook campaign Killing in the Name – 502,000

Source for figures: Unreality TV

The 2009 Christmas Number 1

The final result, based on these figures is that Rage Agasint the Machine not only achieved the number 1 single for Christmas in the UK, they also created the record for the the first exclusively download-only single to hit number one, after pulling in more than 950,000 fans on the Facebook page along side which a  JustGiving page was created to raise money for UK homeless charity Shelter which, as of 19 December, was reported to have raised over £50,000 (approximately $80,000).

Finally, Rage Against the Machine have promised to hold a Free Gig in the UK as a show of thanks for the support and passion shown by fans in the UK.  They are also donating a proportion of this unexpected “windfall” from the singles sales to the Shelter charity.

The current affairs behind it

The whole episode has created a stir with media interest reaching fever pitch as Sundays chart announcement drew closer. Simon Cowell was reported as having branded the RATM campaign “stupid”, “cynical” and even “bullying”.  According to the Guardian Newspaper Cowell stated:

“If there’s a campaign, and I think the campaign’s aimed directly at me, it’s stupid. Me having a No 1 record at Christmas is not going to change my life particularly,” Cowell said. “I think it’s quite a cynical campaign geared at me that is actually going to spoil the party for these three.”

How things can change.

GigWise reported tonight that Simon Cowell called the creators of the campaign, Jon Morter and Tracy Morter and thanked them for making it the most interesting chart battle for years.

The big winners out of this though are of course SONY, although the more fanatical are citing this as a problem, at the end of the day, that’s another issue to address.  There is always next Christmas I guess :P

For your Christmas viewing pleasure.

Rage Against the Machine “Killing in the Name” – Pure brilliance.

So What?

The point behind all this was that a feeling of expression was stirred in the world of social media.  People utilised the medium to effectively rally behind a single cause and make their opinions heard rather than simply accepting the Status Quo and accepting something that many thought was inevitable consequently affecting the final outcome and making their voices heard.

The obvious power behind this type of movement is and has amazing potential for the future and certainly is not the first time that its reach has been felt.  To say that this will happen again would be full hardy, but the fact is, it has happened and as many of us know, the proof is in the pudding. Social Media has again had an effect on the “real” world and will most likely continue to affect and influence public opinion and information distribution and syndication in the future.

Kidnapping Photos

Ikea decided to utilise the existing function of tagging photos in Facebook to run a branding and buzz exercise around the Malmö store manager, Gordon Gustavsson and the new store opening in the area. By uploading photos of the display areas they allowed people to tag the items in the photo and whoever tagged it first with their own name, won the item. Simple.

This achieved six important and complementary goals.

• It introduced Gordon Gustavsson to the local people in Malmö and made him “real” and approachable. Suddenly he was your friend.
• It created excitement and urgency in the rush to tag the photos and get the piece of furniture you wanted.
• It made people go to the IKEA site or catalogues and compare the items there with the items on the photos increasing brand and product awareness.
• It caused the fan page to be populated virally in case future offers where announced so it would not be missed in the future thus increasing consumer loyalty.
• It created social endorsement as people tagged items with their OWN names.

Heres the video explaining the concept in more detail.  You will have to agree, it was quite an inspired method of PR and a really exciting competition.

Few remember, but FaceBook started out as an invite only system for college students in America, beginning at Harvard, then expanding across the Ivy League schools until it finally opened itself up to anyone over 13 years old. Used primarily and initially as a means to stay in contact with close family and friends, FaceBook has expanded and grown to the extent that it contains a huge list of different functions, groups, pages and even businesses.

Now if they would just get rid of the stupid “send a gift” function…

Check out more Social Media Icons Badges and Buttons.

As usual, click any of the images to enlarge it then right click and select “save as” to download the icon to your computer.

Source: credits for the sites and artists who made these cool icons badges and buttons.

Check out the full article about Facebooks new design.

I have checked the new format and have to say its a relief. Its actually using some of my screens real estate now rather than packing in 50 things to a column the size of a finger and stretching into bloody infinity while causing you to search frantically for the telephone number for spec savers to resolve the issues you have developed with reduced vision capacity. Thank goodness for that…

So without further adue I visited the site of the groups protesting about the new design layout to see their point of view…

Group:Petition Against the “New Facebook”

Size:1,108,846 members

Type:Common Interest – Beliefs & Causes

New:158,129 More Members, 223 Board Topics, 2,955 Wall Posts

Well blow me down, thats alot of people with an opinion about design (even thogh its a tiny segment of the overall community). Lets see what they say…

Would I be wrong in commenting that theres alot of people out there who dont like change?

No, I dont think I would…