WAYN is a social networking website that aims to unite travelers around the world. WAYN is an acronym for “Where Are You Now?” and was launched in 2002.

The founders of WAYN are Pete Ward, Jerome Touze and Mike Lines. WAYN has financial support from Steve Pankhurst the founder of Friends Reunited.

WAYN has members from 80 countries and its growth was mainly through word of mouth. Burst into success from 45,000 users in March 2005 to around 15 million members from 220 countries at present.

Development:

WAYN development was started in 2002 and released to public on March 2003. According to WAYN it has members from 251 countries and has 15 million members.

WAYN is the world’s fastest travel and life style social networking website and got initial funding from Steven Pankhurst.

WAYN raised $11 million from Brent Hoberman (co-founder of UK travel budget site Lastminute.com), Esprit Capital Partners, Adrian Critchlow and Andy Philip, David Soski and Hugo Burge and Constant Tedder.

WAYN spread in 250 countries has become a truly global brand today from a mere 45,000 members in 2005 and was re launched in 2006 adding more features and these helped to increase in its popularity.

Current usage:

WAYN is a travel community website. Here members can keep track of their friends and make new friends based on where you are now, where you have been and where you are going.

Using this website, you can discover new friends and keep your family and friends well informed about where are you and your activities.

Used by people to get more information about places they are to visit. WAYN contains photos, videos of places uploaded by other users which are categorized.

Due to its popularity in travel and life style social networking websites, this website is often called as “The MySpace of Travel”.

Future developments:

WAYN is the most famous travel and life style social networking website. The features may be changed in the future are:

1. Navigational interface: The user interface of WAYN may be more streamlined in the future for better navigation of sections.
2. Better privacy and security: The privacy and security of profile need to be more secure.

User benefits:

WAYN is a travel community website and offers the following benefits to its users:

1. Help to plan trips: WAYN contains information on places that can help the users to get information about places.
2. Users can share their travel experience with others.
3. Gives information about restaurants, hotel, events and transportation details about a place.
4. Can be used to inform your family, friends where you are and your activities.
5. Can be used to meet old friends and also make new friends.

Technical explanation:

You need to register at wayn.com to use full features of it. Registration needs your full name, email address, password and your location.

After you register, you need to confirm your email address by clicking on the confirmation email sent to you. Clicking on the confirmation link, you are taken to your profile page. From your profile, you can access all of features.

The profile displays your friends list, members near your location; you can select your theme. You can add trip details by clicking on “Add your next trip” which takes you to My Trips page. In My Trips page, you can enter trip name, description about the trip and destination start date and end date.

You can use the “Travel Guide” for searching hotels, flights, restaurants for your travel trip.

Using the People section you can view your friends, search for friends. Photos can be added by visiting “Photos” link on your profile. Photos can be added from clicking Add Photos from “All Photos” page.

Videos can be searched, browsed and uploaded by going to “Videos” section from your profile.

You can use web log feature by visiting “Blogs” section from your profile. In the page that appears, you can create a blog entry, view friend’s blog and browse all blogs.

Worldwide usage:

WAYN claims that it has members from 250 countries around the world. It says it has around 15 million members. According to alexa.com, wayn.com has 33% of its users from India, 10% from USA, 4% from UK.

Content by Mark Anderson,  Websites4results

]]> http://deepikadutta.wordpress.com/2009/12/16/are-we-ignoring-user-experience-or-the-users-have-become-smart-enough/ Wed, 16 Dec 2009 07:33:34 +0000 Deepika Dutta Kapoor http://deepikadutta.wordpress.com/2009/12/16/are-we-ignoring-user-experience-or-the-users-have-become-smart-enough/

Recently noticed most of the sites nowadays have moved away from marking the form fields as mandatory or required. Is this the change in design trend or there is a reason behind it? Are we ignoring user experience or the users have become smart enough?

Attribute of a designer – Provide a design to user which is self awakening and user-friendly. A user should be able to complete an activity in minimum clicks and it’s the responsibility and power of a designer to straighten out the complexes. In a project which is not conceptualized by a designer goes nowhere in the long run, we all know this with our own experiences. Fortunately, user experience and designers are now becoming essential for any good web designing firm that targets to reach the heights and survive there for long.

Power of good design – An intelligent design can change the perception of users. When the web world is facing North, only a designer can make web users turn to see towards South, such is the power of designer!

A quick peek into the user experience forms of the most appreciated sites during 2009, which have become a point of reference for most of the design boutiques

Beanstalk – Here I submitted the blank form to test what all fields I actually need to enter data and which ones I can avoid. Surprisingly all fields are mandatory to create an account excluding the Discount section. The instruction below Coupon Code field is very supportive for user ‘If you don’t know the code, just skip this field’. Similarly if a single line instruction was added above the form saying ‘All fields are mandatory’ would have saved the time of user to revisit missing fields .
http://beanstalkapp.com/

Blogfullbliss - This site has a neat Signup form. While I’m filling the data, the checks are happening in parallel – If data is filled correctly in mandatory fields, Checks on availability of Username, Error for invalid or missed field. I don’t have to wait to find what I have filled incorrectly after submission of ‘Register’ button. They have covered all the basic design requirements – marking mandatory fields with an asterisk and adding instruction line just below the form. A trick applied here – Instead of having a long Sign-Up form for user, it has been broken into 3 quick steps – Fill out form, Confirm email and Welcome.

Maybe Yahoo! can consider the same treatment instead of its never ending sign-up form.

http://www.blogfullbliss.com/

http://www.yahoo.com

No point in asking the user pointless information. If you want to collect a database for spamming, then this is not your place, go and buy it from sites that sell email ids but don’t make the user regret signing on your site. Just few essential questions are good for user to access the site. We are not referring to sites which have data related to national security. In case you want any information which might be required for showcasing data to user then do it in facebook style –  Below the birthday column (In Sign-Up form) there is a link ‘Why do I need to provide this?’ Click on it and you know the reason.

On the other hand WAYN missed this and on clicking Sign-up button a warning window appears above the page, which not only adds irrelevant scrolling for a small window but the way it has presented the content looks a job of a non-designer. The colors, alignment and complete presentation of the warning window doesn’t fall anywhere close to the site design. Are we missing carry forward of branding here?

Messaging Styles

Facebook – On submission instead of showing red text next to all fields, if one common line is used for complete form it can also be a good idea.
http://www.facebook.com

Fliggo – uses a typical style for error messages on submission of forms. A mandatory asterisk next to form labels could have avoided this stage but this also seems fine since the information asked are the basic ones.
http://www.fliggo.com/

MailChimp – Sign-Up form does give some supportive message to user.

http://www.mailchimp.com/

Mint – Shows error messages in reverse order
http://www.mint.com/
If I just click my cursor on Email field and move down to ‘Sign Up’ button. I submitted a blank form and in the below snapshot you can see, I first received a red cross next to ‘password’ field.

So I went ahead and filled password details and tried submitting the form again. On second submission I received red cross error for Zip code while other fields were given a green signal.

For “Create a new account form” a user is asked to Confirm Email apart from password, not sure why confirmation for email is required.

Qik – In case form is submitted incorrectly, the complete form shifts down and shows the error messages on top of form. Reminds me of my early days in internet world. Designers please make sure – the sequence of error messages is same as that of the form. It really bugs!
http://qik.com/

Below are some more examples of error messaging and form field instructions

TED – follows the style as per W3C with red asterisk next to form labels and instructions wherever needed.
http://www.ted.com

The sequence of error messages at top of form should be preferably in same sequence as the form flow – this part seemed missing here too. Just a bit of caution won’t harm.

I understand Skype and Twitter are built with different concepts but still I like their stylized presentation.

http://www.skype.com

http://www.twitter.com

Orkut Facebook Wayn Hi5 – there seems no end to the social networking boom. There are really soo many out there that I know a certain Mr J who has only 17 friends but is a member of 16 such networking sites.

Well he has a brilliant mind, he wanted to keep only one friend on one site. So he was wondering how to accomodate 17 such friends on only 16 sites. He came to me for a solution. I gave him the best one I had – ‘Forget your girl Miss K from today onwards (For God’s Shake, she is hot!), and you have only 16 friends to deal with.’

I was wondering what would have happened if Carly Simon had a Wayn account. I didn’t need to wonder much. What she would have done is rephrase her 1972 hit song

..You’re so wayn, you probably think this song is about you
You’re so wayn, Ill bet you think this song is about you..

I have nothing against Wayn but they came up with this weird idea of having pretty girls like Carly, Lidia and Marta as spam queens masquerading as friends in your friends’ list. They(and the girls too) can do better than that! I mean the girls are pretty and friendly but those robotic businesslike mails that they sent to each and every user — it kills me! It really does. I replied to one such mail expressing my long cherished ambition to be a part of the Wayn team and the reply was courteous, friendly, full of smileys, only it did not answer my question if there ever was one.

A study of 15 New Zealand teenagers has found that “social networking sites” such as Names Database, WAYN and MSN Spaces are quite popular with teens and their peers.

The study asking what activities teenagers enjoyed in their free time showed “Facebooking” (a social networking internet term) was a popular preference.

Asked whether Spacies are on the way out, Jock James appeared confused. “Space what?” he replied.

Reactions from other youth were similar.

“I just add friends and write on their walls and look at photos. It’s an awesome way to keep in touch”, Alex Sanders explained.

When asked if graffiti is getting popular with youth today, Sanders explained that writing on a wall is an important part of the social networking phenomenon.

“No, you don’t actually write on wall! It’s like on a website, on the internet, you know? Ah forget it.”

Whether graffiti will be on the increase as youths “write” on “walls” is yet to be seen.

This reporter however, is getting with it with her own Names Database account. It is the way of the future after all.

- Samantha Egglestone

Am ales sa pun acest material despre social networking ca modalitate de informare despre ceea ce a ajuns asta cea mai buna modaliate de promovare online: Social Networking.

Cu totii stim de Hi5, Myspace sau Facebook dar ce sunt ele in esenta si cum au aparut?

Raspunsul il puteti afla in paginile urmatoare!

To be updated:  Scuzele de rigoare pentru incadrarea defectuoasa a textului, va fi incadrat corect in curand.

Internetul ca mediu social:
Despre social setworking

O reţea de servicii sociale se concentrează pe construirea de comunitati online de
oameni cu aceleaşi interese şi / sau activitati sau care sunt interesaţi de explorarea intereselor
si activitatilor altora. Cele mai mari reţele de servicii sociale sunt web-based şi oferă o
varietate de moduri în care utilizatorii pot interacţiona, cum ar fi e-mail şi servicii mesagerie
instant.
Social networking-ul încurajat noi moduri de a comunica şi de a partaja informaţiile.Siteurile
web tip “social networking” sunt folosite cu regularitate de către milioane de oameni si care va
ramane parte din viaţa de zi cu zi pentru mult timp.
În timp ce e-mailul si site-urile web au cea mai mare parte a elementelor esenţiale ale reţelei
de servicii sociale, ideea de servicii cu proprietate incapsulata a câştigat recent popularitate.
Principalele tipuri de reţele de servicii sociale sunt cele care conţin categorii divizii (cum ar
fi fosta scoala de an sau colegii), mijloace pentru a se conecta cu prietenii, (de obicei pagini de autodescriere),
precum şi un sistem de incredere reciproca recomandata(trust-based system). Metodele
populare de a combina multe dintre acestea fiind siturile MySpace, Facebook, Twitter şi LinkedIn,
cele mai utilizate pe scară largă în America de Nord; Nexopia (mai ales în Canada); Bebo,
Facebook, hi5, MySpace, dol2day (mai ales în Germania), etichetate, XING şi Skyrock în unele
părţi din Europa; Orkut, Facebook şi hi5 în America de Sud şi America Centrală; şi Friendster,
Orkut Xiaonei şi Cyworld în Asia şi Insulele din Pacific.
Au fost câteva încercări de a standardiza aceste servicii, pentru a evita nevoia de a duplica
intrări de prieteni şi de interese, dar acest lucru a condus la unele temeri privind viaţa privată.
Site-urile de retele sociale precum Facebook si MySpace sunt in prezent mai populare decat
e-mail-ul personal, scrie Wall-Street. Ultimul raport Nielsen despre comportamentul utilizatorilor
de Internet arata ca 67% dintre cei care folosesc Internetul isi petrec timpul pe site-urile de retele
sociale si blogging.
Noţiunea ca PC-uri individuale legate pe cale electronică, ar putea constitui baza unei
retele de interacţiune socială mediate computerizat precum si elemntele de reţea a fost sugerata cu
mai mult timp in urma. Au existat multe incercari timpurii de a sprijini comunicarea prin reţelele
sociale mediate prin intermediul computerului, inclusiv Usenet, ARPANET, listserv, bulletin board
services (BBS) şi EIES: Murray Turoff serverul pe bază de schimb electronicde informaţii Service
(Turoff şi Hiltz, 1978, 1993). Serviciul de Informaţii Routing Group a dezvoltat o schemă despre
modul în care proto-Internet-ul ar putea sprijini acest lucru.
Site-urile de tip social networking au început sub forma de comunitati online
generale/generalizate cum ar fi The Well (1985), Theglobe.com (1994) , Geocities (1994) şi Tripod
(1995). Aceste prime comunităţi s-au concentrat pe apropierea oamenilor, pentru a interacţiona cu
ele prin camere de chat, şi de a partaja informaţiile personale şi a ideilor în jurul oricaror subiecte
personale prin pagina de publicare – instrument care a fost un precursor al fenomenului de blogging.
Unele comunitati au avut o abordare diferită a oamenilor care pur şi simplu se leagă de ele, prin
adrese de e-mail.
Aceste site-uri inclus Classmates.com (1995), cu accent pe relaţiile cu fosta şcoală şi
SixDegrees.com (1997), concentrându-se asupra legăturilor indirecte. Profiluri de utilizator putea fi
creat, mesajele trimise de utilizatori prin intermediul unei “liste de prieteni” şi a altor membri care
ar putea avea interese similare cu ale dvs. în profilurile lor. În timp ce aceste caracteristici au existat
într-o formă a venit înainte de SixDegrees.com in care aceste funcţii au fost disponibile într-un
singur pachet pentru prima oara. În ciuda acestei noi evoluţii (care mai târziu va deveni foarte
populara), site-ul, pur şi simplu nu este profitabil şi se închide. A fost chiar descris de către
proprietarul sitului ca fiind “inaintea timpului sau”.
Două modele diferite de social networking aparute in 1999 s-au bazat pe încredere, dezvoltat
de Epinions.com, şi pe bază de prietenie(trust-based / frienship-based), cum ar fi cele dezvoltate de
Jonathan Bishop şi utilizate pe unele site-uri britanice regionale între 1999 şi 2001. Innovatiile
incluse erau facilitati precum site-ul nu numai sa arata relatia de “prietenie” dar sa si ofere
utilizatorilor mai mult control asupra conţinutului şi conectivitatatii.
Între 2002 şi 2004, trei site-uri de retele sociale au apărut ca fiind cea mai populară formă de
aceste site-uri din lume, cauzând astfel de site-uri sa devina parte din mainstream( utilizatori la nivel
global). În primul rând a existat Friendster (pe care Google, a încercat să achiziţioneze în anul
2003), apoi, MySpace şi, în final, Bebo. Până în 2005, MySpace, emergentă ca cea mai mare dintre
toate, a fost raportata ca obtinand mai multe puncte de vizualizare (pageviews) decât Google.
Anul 2004 a văzut apariţia de Facebook, un concurent, de asemenea, cu creştere rapidă în
dimensiune. În 2006, Facebook a deschis comunitati bazate pe colegii non-US si fuzionate cu care
să permită dezvoltarea de aplicatii externe (add-on), precum şi unele aplicaţii grafice ce permiteau
unui utilizator crearea propriei reţele sociale – astfel, conectarea reţelelor sociale a devenit cea mai
mare şi cea mai rapidă metoda de creştere a unui website din lume, care nu se limitează de specifice
geografice.
Social networking-ul a început să înfloreasca drept o componentă a strategiei de afaceri de
internet prin martie 2005, când a lansat Yahoo Yahoo! 360 °. In iulie 2005 News Corporation a
cumparat MySpace, urmat de ITV (Marea Britanie) cumpărarea Friends Reunited în decembrie
2005. Diverse site-uri de social networking au scos de catering pentru diferite ţări şi limbi. Se
estimează că, există acum peste 200 de site-uri de social networking, folosind aceste existente şi
emergente, pe modeulul social networking, fără a număra retelele de nişă denumite si retele sociale
verticale, care au facut făcut posibile servicii cum ar fi Ning.
Twitter recent (2009) a eclipsat multe alte servicii de reţea şi socială, deşi lipsindu-i elemente care
au fost considerate esenţiale, accesul fiind public, prin intermediul API.
● Accesul la informaţii
Multe reţele de servicii sociale, precum Facebook, oferă utilizatorului posibilitatea de a alege de
cine poate vizualiza profilul lor. Aceasta previne accesari neautorizate ale unui alt utilizator la
informaţiile personale.
Pentru a edita informaţiile de pe o anumită reţea de servicii sociale, site-urile de retele sociale
necesită autentificare printr-un cont sau prin furnizarea unui cod de acces. Aceasta previne accesari
neautorizate la nivelul editarii unui cont, cum ar fi editarea imaginilor postate şi informaţii
personale.
● Prima retea sociala cunoscuta a fost Classmates.com in 1995 care te ajuta sa iti gasesti
fosti colegi de scoala. Actualmente sunt peste 40.000.000 membrii inscrisi din toata
lumea. Au aparut apoi Friendster (acum cu peste 29.000.000), si altele de acelasi gen
care puneau prietenii in legatura.
Rand pe rand, in jurul unor interese diferite s-au lansat o multime de situri de “social networking”
cu succes mai mare sau mai mic.
● Relete sociale de Afaceri :
LinkedIn – comunitate unde poti face schimb de contacte profesionale (peste 8 milioane de
membri)
Ryze.com – comunitate cu peste 500.000 membri in peste 200 de tari , activ inca din 2001
XING – comunitate de afaceri asemanatoare cu LinkedIn cu peste 1.500.000 membri. Ofera
acces la mailurile membrilor cu care esti conectat. Majoritatea membrilor sunt europeni.
I’m not from here. – comunitate de afaceri pentru persoanele care tocmai s-au mutat cu jobul
intr-un alt oras si vor sa-si dezvolte un cerc de prieteni
Eacademy – asemanator cu LinkedIn. Activ inca din 1998
● Alte tipuri de retele sociale:
BookCrossing – site al iubitorilor de carti care lasa carti in locuri publice cu rugamintea ca
ele sa fie date mai departe dupa ce sunt citite
Flickr – photo sharing (peste 4 milioane de membri)
Facebook – comunitate pentru elevi si studenti (16.000.000)
MySpace – comunitate cu peste 150.000.000 membri
Wayn (Where Are You Now) – comunitate a pasionatilor de calatorii. Lansat in 2003, are
peste 4.000.000 membri
Care2 – comunitate pentru ecologisti (aproape 7.000.000 membri)
GoPets – comunitate unde userii pot creste un animal virtual care “creste” pe desktop. Foarte
nice. (peste 400.000 membri)
Hi5 – comunitate de prieteni. In mare parte functioneaza ca un site de matrimoniale. Peste
1.000.000 de romani inscrisi.
Hi5 este un website cu statut de social networking care, în decursul anului 2007, a fost unul
din cele 25 cele mai vizitate site-uri de pe Internet.Compania a fost fondată în 2002 de Ramu
Yalamanchi care este de asemenea actualul CEO.
În decembrie 2007, hi5 a avut peste 98 milioane de membrii.
Pe hi5, utilizatorii pot să îşi creeze un profil online, unde pot indica informaţii precum
vârsta, interese, oraşul natal şi pot încărca poze, unde ceilalţi utilizatori pot posta comentarii.
Totodată hi5 permite crearea unor albume personale şi setarea unui music player pe profil. Prin email
un utilizator poate să trimită o solicitare de prietenie spre ceilalţi. Când o persoană primeşte un
astfel de e-mail, el/ea poate să accepte , refuze sau să blocheze persoana respectivă. Dacă o
persoană acceptă pe cineva ca prieten, acei doi vor fi conectaţi direct. Utilizatorul va apărea apoi pe
lista de prieteni a acestuia şi vice-versa.
Unii utilizatori optează pentru stabilirea profilelor lor ca să poată fi văzute de toţi. Unii aleg
ca profilul lor să poată fi văzut doar de către cei care se află în lista lor de prieteni. Reţeaua de
prieteni constă în prietenii direcţi(primul grad), prietenii acelor prieteni de gradul întâi (al doilea
grad) şi prietenii celor de al doilea grad(al treilea grad).

*Material adunat si tradus partial de Florian Zahorneanu – (Student an III – Jurnalism – USH)
Referinte/Surse:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_networking
www.succesdublu.ro

O lista cu site-urile de tip retea sociala poate fi gasita la adresa:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites

Una de las redes sociales de viajero mas conocidas y una de las primeras en aparecer (15 millones de usuarios),  Where Are you Now (WAYN), ha introducido recientemente algunas novedades para intentar recuperar parte del volumen de tráfico que estaba perdiendo. Hasta ahora y cómo el nombre indica, esta red estaba orientada en ubicar y seguir a tus contactos alrededor del mundo y conocer nuevas personas en base a los lugares dónde has ido o dónde estás.

Una de las principales novedades es la introducción del concepto “Plans”, que permite conocer cuales son los planes de tu red de amigos para los próximos días (fin de semana en París, de fiesta en Barcelona,…). Aunque novedoso en esta red, el concepto se parece mucho al que ofrece el conocido Dopplr, como bien indican algunos a modo de crítica. La ventaja de WAYN es el volumen de usuarios, que puede hacerle ganar adeptos que ahora utilizan Dopplr o otras redes verticales menos completas.

El resto de novedades siguen la dinámica 2.0 que nos inunda: la sincronización con las herramientas de moda cómo Twitter y Facebook (mediante el Facebook Connect), un buscador de amigos y algunas herramientas para el antes, el durante y el post viaje… en definitiva, no mucha innovación pero si una interesante integración de conceptos que permite gestionar la mayor parte del viaje desde un único punto, acompañado de un importante trabajo de usabilidad y diseño.

Pero seguramente lo más interesante de redes sociales como WAYN y DOPPLR es la información que estas aportan de los usuarios que las utilizan. Si ustedes fuesen empresarios turísticos, ¿no le gustaría conocer lo que van a hacer sus potenciales clientes con un poco de antelación para así hacerles propuestas segmentadas?

Más información de los cambios en aquí, dónde un video explicativo acompaña la explicación de las novedades en la red.

I have just helped a remarkable young woman – Lilou Mace of YouTube and Co-Creating our Reality fame – write a remarkable book. This has been quite unlike any other writing project I have worked on.

I mentioned Lilou in this blog, whereafter she contacted me and asked me to help her with her latest project. Believing in the “Law of Attraction”, Lilou, who had just been fired, had the idea of using the Law to find her dream job. Never doubting that she would succeed, she also wanted to record every step of the journey – every thought and adventure – to prove the efficacy of the Law of Attraction, and to help others find their dream jobs in this time of economic crisis.

Her audio and video journal was then transcribed. My job was to help Lilou turn these transcriptions, recorded over little more than a month, into a book. It all had to be done quickly, as Lilou wanted the book out in April. The draft back cover tells you more about the book’s nature and purpose:

Because the book is essentially a diary, it details how Lilou came across me and the brilliant young photographer, Jack Latimer, who took the cover shots. Here are the two pictures on their own, so that you can see a bit more detail:

Lilou in London: photograph for the front cover by Jack Latimer

Lilou with journal and an avocado: photograph for the back cover by Jack Latimer

Why the avocado? Ah ha! You’ll have to read the book to find out, but avocados are quite important in Lilou’s life!

I must confess that I have never worked harder on a writing project, sometimes typing through the night. It was an honour to help this unique young woman, however, and I believe that it will all be worthwhile. That is, of course, up to you to judge, when you read the book, but I think few people will be left unmoved. Lilou is not afraid to talk about her doubts and fears, which makes the overall message so much more credible and powerful.

I LOST MY JOB AND I LIKED IT: 30-Day Law-of-Attraction Diary of a Dream Job Seeker is now available for pre-ordering on Amazon.com, and will soon be available on Amazon.co.uk (possibly under a different ISBN) and on Lilou Mace’s createspace page. If you search “Lilou Mace” on Amazon.com, you’ll also find a range of meditation mp3s.

Here is Lilou video-blogging in March 2009. She has a massive YouTube following!

If you’ve just lost a job, or you’re looking for a better one, this is the book for you. If you are open to trying a completely different approach to life, this is the book for you. Whether you believe in the underlying philosophy or not, I am convinced that if you are willing to give Lilou’s approach a try you can only make your life “juicier”, as she would say. Happy reading!

Best wishes

Eric
P.S. I’m not the only one who recognises the merit of Lilou’s ideas. As you can see (above) Lewis Gordon Pugh (environmentalist, explorer and swimmer) and Jerome Touze (Co-CEO of WAYN), who both feature in the book (along with Oprah Winfrey and other luminaries!), have given Lilou quotes for the book jacket!

BioWrite website

By Mike Butcher

We’ve had OpenId to make the transport of your ID easier between Web sites. We’ve had initiatives on Data Portability to make it easier for you to move your data around between social networks and other apps. But what we haven’t had yet is a way to allow you to share your location between different platforms. That’s something that a new, largely European-inspired, initiative hopes to address. The alliance, called OSLO (Open Sharing of Location-based Objects) includes many of the players in mobile social networking and location-based social software. 

Twelve startups, all of whom serve their users with location-based services, have signed an agreement to enable their combined 30 million users to share location information and interact between networks. Currently users are unable to do so as location-based systems operate in a similar fashion to instant messaging systems like AOL and MSN which don’t work with eachother. So for example, you can set your location on Brightkite for instance, but your friends on Rummble wouldn’t see you – but they would if Brightkite joined the initiative.

While Ronan Higgins, CEO, Locle and Andrew Scott, Founder/CEO, Rummble are acting as spokes people, the other companies in the initiative are: www.aka-aki.com, belysio, Buddycloud, Mobiluck, Moximity, Nulaz, Palringo, Rummble, Service2Media, Skout, Tooio and WAYN.

OSLO has been in discussion with Google and Yahoo! about joining the alliance. Google of course recently launched it’s Latitude product, while Yahoo! has been working on FireEagle.

However, Oslo is not a competitor to Google’s Latitude as they’ve spoken to Google, Yahoo! and Vodafone and, according to Higgins, they all want to get on board.

Some of the theoretical benefits to OSLO are:

- Mobile advertisers would benefit from the combined volumes and an ability to better target their campaigns based on location, improving click through rate, ROI and user satisfaction.

- Connecting to people on other networks gives mobile social networking users a more exciting experience.

- Application builders can create better products on top of shared location information.

- Member companies can focus on differentiation and adding value to users rather than bothering with re-building another location system, which is a commodity anyway. The alternative is a fragmentation of technologies.

However, OSLO says, end user privacy and security remains not just a priority “but a pre-requisite”. So OSLO currently mandates that member companies should be able to query the location of users, as long as that user has opted-in to share their location with other OSLO services.

It will be interesting to see how this initiative develops.

Source: techcrunch

Wer sich zum Einsatz von Social Media informieren möchte, sollte das diesjährige Social Networking World Forum in London besuchen. Neben Beiträgen zu den üblichen Verdächtigen (Facebook, Xing, etc.) und Strategieansätzen, findet parallel eine Mobile Conference statt, die ausschließlich das Thema Mobile Social Networking in den Vordergrund rückt.

Passend zur Veranstaltung hat das Forum auch eine eigene mobile Webseite unter www.snwf.mobi gelauncht. Hier können aktuelle Änderungen zur Agenda, den Sprechern und weiteren Aktivitäten rund um die Veranstaltung eingesehen werden. Wer über die mobile Webseite bucht, bekommt zudem 20% Rabatt auf die Tickets.

In dem Panel “Mobile social start ups vs. large web social networks” werden Vertreter der Travel Community WAYN gemeinsam mit Aka-Aki sprechen.

I admit it. I’m addicted.

Before my days on Facebook I was wondering why I would get regular emails from random people around the globe. They were inviting me to join their WAYN or photo-sharing networks. Most of these requests came from people I had met on a beach in Florida or during some binge drinking in a pub on the Isle of Skye. However, the social communities were as long-lasting as I would remember their names (i.e. close to zero). The only reason I remember WAYN is because I still get messages from Carly, Craig and Paul.

Initially, I was wondering where on earth (quite literally) I had lost so many brain cells as to forget Carly, Craig and Paul. It took me a while and several “forgot username and/or password” requests to realise Carly and Paul are probably not real and Craig is requesting the attention of the owners of another two million email addresses. In any case, to this day I have turned down almost every request through such a network. Even from people I had actually met in person for more than two hours.

Am I completely off the track in saying that Facebook is probably the only social network to actually make sense? Making sense as to be so wide-spread and geographically not limited to one area. Well, having said that, Facebook is competing with a hugely successful StudiVZ on the German market. But why use a German network, if you can use an international?

I’m surprised that in the short-lived era of the internet quite a few people stick to their email addresses. This allows me to find friends on Facebook from my time in Australia 10 years ago. Back then, remember, the internet was for nerds. On the bottom line, these networks not only make it easier to stay in touch, they actually allow you to get back in touch with someone. And they are a great way to waste time sensibly.

Still amazed. Facebooked.

Kaynak

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Viajar é uma das melhores experiências e sem dúvida o melhor investimento que alguém pode fazer.
E podendo esticar este prazer, por que não fazê-lo?

Hoje em dia as viagens podem começar em casa, meses antes, e serem prolongadas bem depois do seu retorno. Tanto on como offline.

No meio online já é bastante alto o número de blogueiros que compartilham suas jornadas em detalhes, e trocam informações com aqueles que se interessam.

Kurt Smith e Carmen Witten contam de suas cool trips quase anualmente, ilustradas com fotos.
Andreas Mayer faz o mesmo, com foco em aventura e dividindo suas viagens em categorias: hiking, cycling, big trips.

E olhando este tipo de interesse crescer, empresas já têm criado negócios com o tema.
Real Aussie Adventures, na Austrália, é um site de um grupo de agentes de turismo independentes com a proposta de trazer aventura de volta às viagens na região. Sempre compartilhando experiências, claro.

Um dos sites mais legais sobre o assunto é a rede social WAYN - Where Are You Now?

Com fóruns, vídeos, fotos e muita interação, o site promove a conversa entre pessoas que estão em lugares, ou já passaram por eles. Você diz para onde vai, e outros te dão dicas. Ou te pedem quando você mora no local aonde estão indo.
É um site que cresce com as informações de usuários e tem ampliado cada vez mais suas ofertas.

E para quem gosta de manter diários e carregar guias, a recomendação é conhecer o Le Cool Book, uma forma diferente de carregar a viagem na bolsa.

Do tipo que dá vontade de colecionar mesmo sem viajar!

How many social networking sites have you joined? Do you have more than one??

Well, I used to have MySpace, Friendster, Hi5, WAYN etc. etc….

I am so curious to know beside keeping in touch with your long lost friends or getting to know new friends, what other reasons you join all these social networking sites and joining more than one sites???

I cancelled all my social networking accounts or at least not actively using it except FACEBOOK…

Yeah.. i love Facebook…

How about u guys?? Which social networking site you like and maintain??? Share with me would ya?!!

Chances are, if you’re reading this, you probably already know the story. Last week, I received an email invitation from one of my favorite Paraguayos to yet another social networking site I’d never heard of. Against what turns out to have been my better judgment, I joined, casually skipping the now ubiquitous “invite your friends” bit, deciding after about 30 seconds of poking around that there really wasn’t much to get excited about and I’d rather just email said favorite Paraguayo, and logged off. End of story, right?

Wrong! Within hours I was wading through a flood of emails–the rectal surgeon from the UK I’d done a logo for, my visiting teaching companion from 3 years ago, the landlord I fought tooth and nail over a deposit with–they were all joining this network. Turns out the sneaky buggers had “invited” all my “friends” for me…multiple times.

Over an over, from my sister-in-law to my print broker to a faculty member I’d been working with on a newsletter with, confused, frustrated acquaintances said the same thing; “I just figured since it was from you…” Even more concluded relieved responses to my attempted reparations with the similar sentiments; “I was skeptical, but I was about to join, just because it was from you.” One friend went even further; “I figured it must be really important because you’re not usually so persistent unless it really matters to you.”

As the responses have continued to trickle in, the magnitute of what these sneaky marketers have tapped in to has begun to crystalize. Granted, as far as I know, no actual money was exchanged in this fiasco, but they effectively “sold” their product using my reputation. It’s lead me to a couple of conclusions:

• Most of us probably have more influence than we think.
• Testimonials, even indirect ones, are truly powerful marketing tools [for whatever it is you might be "selling"]
• Endorsing/promoting/contributing to any kind of mediated effort [social networks, distance programs, open education resources, etc.] requires a person to engage/risk their reputation more than I realized–and there is an element of stewardship [on my part] there I had not considered.

So, while I have stopped deluding myself that the debacle is over [I'll probably be hearing about repercussions for months], at least I can say I’ve learned from the mistake.

Últimamente me estaban llegando muchas invitaciones para hi5 aunque yo ya hubiera tenido en algún momento del pasado una cuenta activa en esa red social. Me sorprendió el gran número de e-mails que me llegaban de gente, que sé que odian las redes sociales y lo ven (que listos ellos) como una pérdida de tiempo y algunos como una pérdida de la intimidad.

Confieso que las últimas relaciones de pareja que he tenido en algún que otro momento, han estado ligadas a estar en una red social (ringo, hi5, WAYN, fotolog, facebook, orkut) que durante un tiempo te ilusionan, haciéndote creer que volverás a tener contacto con gente que hace rato no tenías ni el intercambio de una sola palabra. Esto es secundario, ya que el principal motivo principal por el que entras en esa increíble máquina de hacer dinero, perfeccionada hasta el punto que universidades grandes, de estas de llenarse la boca con el nombre, de EEUU e Inglaterra, hacen cursos y seminarios sobre aplicaciones de facebook, (…… respira…..leñe….) eees: compartir fotos e vídeos propios, acercarte a “esa” persona por tus fobias y filias. Todo esto sin tener en cuenta que avanzamos hacia la publicidad personalizada. ¿Cómo? 

Ojo con la red social hi5

Cuidado cuando recibais una invitación para adheriros a la red social hi5, que se está promocionando para competir con Facebook. Cuando entras por el enlace de la invitación, enseguida te aparece una pregunta sobre si quieres invitar a tus contactos de correo electrónico. A pesar de clicar en el “no”, el sistema se mete en tu correo web, absorbe las direcciones y genera automáticamente otras tantas invitaciones, de manera que algunos de tus interlocutores de correo se preguntarán a qué viene que les invites a esto. Feo, feo, mala práctica, probablemente fraudulenta e ilegal de acuerdo con la ley de protección de datos. A hi5, ni agua.

visto en www.gabrieljaraba.typepad.com

… la respuesta es fácil, nos dejamos llevar ( creemos que estamos entre amigos o cerca de esa persona especial )… damos todos nuestros datos y estos son gracilmente incorporados a los bancos de datos de empresas que pagan la publicidad de esos sitios-web. Somos clasificados por grupo de edad, sexo, religión, entregamos nuestro e-mail(algunos hasta su dirección postal, números de teléfono), les enseñamos nuestros gustos en cuanto a música, tecnología, mi coche preferido, etc… Así pues, la publicidad estará cada vez más cercana a tus gustos y las cosas que te rodean.  

[Vaya paradoja, lo de hi5. Si me desnudo en público es porque busco atención, si me desnudo en un lugar habilitado para nudistas soy uno mas. Pero ellos te desnudan sin que tu quieras y comparten lo que saben de tí para desnudar a otra gente. Menuda orgía.]

                  Aquí nos topamos con el segundo motivo por el cual algunas personas no entran en redes sociales: la pérdida de la intimidad.  ¿Que ridículo, no?-dirán algunos.  Y pensar que hace unos años se reforzaban las leyes de protección de datos…        Ahora sin embargo se están dando casos en Alemania por los que personas inocentes van a la cárcel o pagan multas porque alguien se coló en su red wifi y desde ahí cometió un crimen informático. De ahí que la moda en Alemania ahora sea que todos tengan los routers cerrados…. Ahhh! como diría Ferrán Monegall, ¿qué ha sido de esa idea de wifi para todos? ¿De poder conectarse de cualquier sitio? ¿se redujo a una utopía?  Vaya, ahora que (hoy mismo) sacan a la venta el iPhone 3G con su internet “super-rápido”, ahora que hasta las consolas tienen acceso a wifi, ahora que la PSP tiene wifi… de que carajo les va a servir???   (A Ferrán Monegall le saldrían unos cuernos, se frotaría las patitas y soltaría un : Bua ahah ha ha aha ah aha haaaaaa!!!!)

Hace tres días, me echaron de fotolog. Y no sabéis que peso me he quitao de encima, por una parte me entristece perder fotos de hace dos años, pero esa cadena invisible que te ata a contactos de tus últimas relaciones o el poder ver como evoluciona (o no) tu ex es una soberana patada en los cataplines cada vez que actualiza. (Para el que no tenga fotolog o nunca haya tenido y nunca quiera tenerlo: actualizar es volver a colgar una foto. Se reduce a una foto al día el servicio gratuito de la página. Si no eres GoldMember y pagas una cantidad al ¿año? por poder colgar más de una foto al día. Otra cosa importantísima (jeje) es tu puto libro de visitas, cuyas entradas serán muy limitadas o poco limitadas según sin tu miembro es dorado o no. Hasta aquí para el lego) Porque claro está que ellos pasan de mí y yo de ellos, y que ridículo sería si yo me dedicara a ver que haces, que fue de tu vida, si sigues en la mierda o ahora estás divin@ de la muerte.  Otro tema que me molestaba específicamente a mí, era el uso de mis fotografías para ilustrar la vida de otros… puede que para cualquier otra persona que viva lejos de la importancia que puede llegar a tener una imagen no lo entienda, que viva inmersa en el mundo del zapping( ¿wow, zapping televisivo, zapping de parejas, zapping de emociones, zapping de países, zapping de alcohol,drogas…, el zapping que ha provocado el mp3? ¿esto es libertad de movimiento o potenciar la falta de atención, falta de concentración  y autodisciplina?), en el mundo de la foto digital, que no recuerda que en el carrete tenías como mucho 36 fotos… pensabas las fotos, pensabas en cuanto te iba a costar el revelado, pensabas si valía la pena sacar una foto o no….  (…respira….leñe…) pero para mí era casi un ataque personal.

Denke hacía referencia hace unos días a las diferentes tribus urbanas adolescentes y sus vestimentas, pues el paraíso personal de éstos, son sus páginas de fotolog, en la que se rinden a la desenfrenada exaltación de su yo indefinido. Se dedican a coleccionar contactos FF’s (Friends and Favourites) y “reverse’s” spammeando tu libro de visitas. Antes no necesitabas ser miembro de fotolog para dejar un comentario, así que los insultos, amenazas, vejaciones eran cada vez mas comunes en los últimos tiempos. Hasta que solo podías dejar comentarios si tenías una cuenta en fotolog. Un maldito emo me hizo el favor de poder desahogarme con él (o lo, según se vea), después de varios mensajitos, deseé su muerte. 

Mas concretamente colgué una foto de la película “Death Race 2000″ (1975), serie B, productor Roger Corman, con un desconocido Sylvester Stallone y David Carradine. Una carrera de los autos locos, pero en versión terror.  La foto: una cabeza de emo pelón aplastada por un coche.

Gracias pabloo_66

Amazon Acquires Fabric.com — US retail giant, Amazon, has acquired online fabric store Fabric.com in a bid to further its range of products. The deal, which was closed for undisclosed terms, will see Amazon expand its current selection of sewing, craft and hobby items in the US with patterns, fabrics and sewing accessories. “Over the years, we’ve seen a growing interest in this segment from our customers,” says the VP of Amazon.com’s home and garden division, Chris Nielsen, speaking about the acquisition. Fabric.com CEO, Stephen Friedman adds: “We now have the opportunity to significantly expand our breadth of inventory, as well as benefit from the technology, fulfillment and customer service expertise of Amazon.com.”

Microsoft Acquiring Semantic Searcher Powerset For $100 Million: Report — Well if it can’t get Yahoo’s search business… Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) will acquire semantic search engine Powerset for more than $100 million, according to Matt Marshall at VentureBeat. His exact language is that the company “has agreed to acquire” the company and that it will be announced next month. SF-based Powerset has been something of a media darling, despite the fact that it hasn’t taken off yet. In 2006 it raised a $12.5 million first round from Foundation Capital and The Founders Fund, as well as various angels, including Esther Dyson and PayPal founder Luke Nosek. Despite years of interest in “semantic” or “natural language” search, this area is a long way from proving that it works much better than current search technology. VentureBeat also reports that its first round valued the company at $42.5 million, so this wouldn’t be a huge win for the investors. But given the uncertainty of this area, and the cash requirements of an independent search engine, this might’ve looked like a pretty attractive outcome.

Microsoft To Buy Portuguese Mobile App Firm, MobiComp — Microsoft has agreed to buy Portuguese mobile app developer MobiComp for an undisclosed sum, marking its latest push into the mobile software industry. Founded in Braga, Portugal, in 2000, MobiComp develops mobile applications, including a backup service and tools to create and share content. The 40-strong private company claims to be profitable and counts Vodafone, MTN and Nokia among its clients. 

eBay Acquires Media-Sharing Firm VUVOX — eBay has quietly acquired media-sharing and mash-up firm, VUVOX. The deal – which was closed for undisclosed terms – will see VUVOX integrated into eBay, allowing users to embed VUVOX media tools into their personal listings. VUVOX’s staff will join eBay’s design and development teams in California, says eBay employee Richard Brewer-Hay on the auction site’s official blog eBay Ink.

Nokia Buys Location-Based Social Network Plazes — Nokia is acquiring location-based social network Plazes for an undisclosed sum, pursuing its expansion into the mobile services and location sector. Plazes will remain in Berlin and join Nokia’s services unit which includes staff from gate5, a navigation firm that Nokia acquired two years ago. The acquisition follows Nokia’s announcement last month that it expects to sell 35m GPS-enabled phones this year.

Liberty Media Acquires Party Site Celebrate Express For $31 Million — Another e-commerce buy for Liberty Media… this time it is buying out small, publicly traded Celebrate Express, a party supply retailer, for $31 million. At $3.90 per share, the deal represents a 69 percent premium over the company’s $2.30 closing price. Celebrate Express, which traded in the $20s just a few years ago, operates under such brands as Birthday Express and 1st Wishes. The new company will be attributed to the Liberty Interactive Group, and it will be combined with Liberty’s BUYSEASONS business, which operates in the same area. Liberty has made a number of deals for e-commerce companies, including its taking a major stake in BodyBuilding.com and outdoor retailer BackCountry.

Providence And Carlyle Confirm Takeover Talks With Informa — UK publisher Informa is negotiating an all-cash sale to a consortium led by Providence Equity Partners and the Carlyle Group and including Hellman & Friedman. Based on Informa’s stock value on Fri (20 Jun), the firm is worth GBP1.85bn (USD3.65bn), which would make the takeover one of the largest deals in the history of UK publishing industry. However, the bidders say talks are “at an early stage” and there is “no certainty” that they will eventually make an offer.

The Orchard Buys TVT Records Out of Bankruptcy — The Orchard, the digital music label, has bought out TVT Records after a New York bankruptcy court declared its bid the winner on Thursday. The company will gain control of TVT’s catalog, artist contracts and physical record distribution infrastructure, but will not receive holdings in its music publishing subsidiary.

Getty Images Shareholders Approve PE Buyout — Getty Images, the Seattle based images and multimedia giant, has a shareholder approval on its $2.1 billion sale to private equity firm Hellman & Friedman. About 75 percent of the shares represented at the shareholder meeting were in favor of the deal, representing 96 percent of the votes cast.

Fandango acquires Movies.com from Walt Disney — Fandango, the nation’s leading moviegoer destination, today announced that it acquired Movies.com, a leading movie content site previously owned by the Walt Disney Internet Group, a unit of The Walt Disney Company. The synergy of these two well-established and popular movie sites, both launched in 2000, will create new opportunities for exhibitors, studios, advertisers and other partners to reach the movie-going audience, and will provide additional information and entertainment for moviegoers. Fandango’s advertising sales force will represent both sites with a wide variety of advertisers.

IPC Media To Acquire Mousebreaker Website — IPC Media, the UK magazine publishing arm of Time Warner, is to buy Mousebreaker, a gaming website, the Financial Times reported. IPC declined to comment on the deal size, according to the newspaper. The item appeared alongside an article about Yell Group. The deal could take place today (24 June), the report said. The deal size is believed to be in the in the range of GBP 1m (EUR 1.27m) to GBP 10m, according to the report.

Travel Social Network WAYN Admits To Takeover Talks — Travel social network WAYN has held talks with unnamed suitors over a possible takeover, the firm’s chief executive tells StrategyEye. CEO Peter Ward reveals he has met a number of interested parties, but says WAYN wants to grow its business further before selling itself. “We have had a lot of inbound interest and we have met with many other companies,” says Ward. “We believe that to maintain our positioning and grow the business from now holds a lot more value for us than to sell.” However, he acknowledges that selling the platform is definitely part of the firm’s long term strategy, without disclosing a timescale.

Social Media Ad Firm ViTrue Buys Rival UGENmedia — ViTrue, the social media ad firm backed by Comcast and Turner Broadcasting, has acquired competitor UGENmedia for an undisclosed sum. Founded in 2006 by former DoubleClick executives, UGENmedia helps clients develop, deploy and distribute social media marketing programs. Atlanta-based ViTrue says the deal will enhance its ability to offer turnkey social media solutions while providing a strategic New York presence.

Preparar un viaje con tiempo, documentarse y leer sobre los habitos de vida, son experiencias gratificantes, a veces casi tanto como el propio viaje.

Internet tambien ha mejorado esta parte del viaje. Las guias de viaje cuentan con hermanas digitales que se actualizan más a menudo que las de papel y que muestran videos y mapas interactivos. Mas aun, han evolucionado a comunidades de viajes que se alimentan de los UGC y se complementan de maravilla con ese otro gran negocio de las opiniones de usuarios.

Las opciones se multiplican: Tripadvisor, Trivago, TravBuddy, Minube, Boo, IgoUgo, VibeAgent, WAYN, Travellerspoint, Driftr, Wikitravel, Zoomandgo, Virtualtourist, eDestino, GLOBOsapiens, la oferta de sitios con contenidos de destino subidos por usuarios es impresionante. Incluso American Express ha lanzado su comunidad.

Las guias clasicas parecen solventes en sus expertas opiniones pero a veces queda la duda de si son imparciales. Las opiniones de usuarios parecen transparentes y espontaneas pero queda la duda de si son solventes. Ambas se complementan y desde luego son una fuente inagotable de información. Pero desde mi punto de vista son insuficientes, porque no son capaces de mostrar la cotidianeidad.

Una vez satisfecha la necesidad de obtener informaciones prácticas y datos historicos y socioeconomicos por medio de las guias, y una vez resueltas las dudas acerca de donde dormir, que parques visitar etc, en las páginas con UGC, sigue quedando una laguna de curiosidades insatisfechas.

Esta laguna se puede (y debe) tratar de cubrir leyendo literatura relacionada con el destino. En el caso del viaje a Japón que estoy preparando, por ejemplo, se puede leer a Haruki Murakami, pero para mi, el verdadero descubrimiento mientras me documentaba sobre Japón, han sido los blogs.

Para el viaje a Japón que empiezo mañana, me han dejado alguna buena guía y he comprado la última edición del Tokyo Guidebook de TimeOut, pero tras tres meses de lectura de blogs de Japón, por primera vez, me dispongo a partir con la sensación de que se me escaparán menos detalles de lo que vea a mi alrededor, que dispongo de más elementos para entender la realidad que me circunda. Soy de los que gustan de ‘perder el tiempo‘ callejeando y admirando las diferencias, precisamente el tipo de observación que recojen los blogs y que no recojen las guias más que en su sección de curiosidades, y que no recojen las comunidades de viajes porque los que hablan son viajeros que estan de paso, con menos tiempo para observar que los que viven alli. Para muestra de lo que quiero decir: la luz verde de los semaforos de Japón, ¿es verde o es azul?.

Quizas habría que distinguir entre los blogs que hablan de muchos destinos y los que se centran en uno. Para mi, estos últimos, son el complemento necesario a las guias porque, junto con la literatura, son los mejores observadores de la cotidianeidad.

Blogs de Japón:

• Kirai – Un geek en Japón por Héctor García
  
• Un español en Japón por David Esteban
• Ajapon por Alain García
• From Japan with love por Germán
• Motomachicakeblog por Yito y Vito
• Un Gato Nipón por José Manuel Segura [actualizado: 18/6]
• Japonato – Japón para torpes, anónimo
• Lost in Japan – viaje por Japón, anónimo
• Japonyol, anónimo
• Crazy Japan, anónimo
• Japoruga por Victor Hugo Balmaña

¿Alguna recomendación sobre Japón?

I have an invitation on my desktop to join something called WAYN (where are you now?) I’m on LinkedIn, I’m supposed to join FaceBook and MySpace. It was recommended I hook up to Twitter. I’m a moderator on three Yahoo e-groups and a member of 6 more. And somehow I’m supposed to get work done in the middle of this.

And, of course, according to “People who know these things” I am supposed to Blog daily. Oh, and I put out a newsletter for my clients once a month.

ARRRRRRRGHGHGHGHGGH!

What happened to running a simple business? I started Pacific Rim Seminars way back in 1989. I walked out of a perfectly good day job and decided it would be cool to be worried daily for the rest of my life about where my next speaking or consulting job would come from. I sat alone through marketing classes. I sat alone brainstorming ideas to find ways to get the word out that I’m here and available to say stuff to your people, in exchange for money, of course.

I would have given my eye teeth for ONE networking opportunity.

Now, with an embarrassment of riches in the social networking world, I don’t know how to choose. Does FaceBook make sense for me? Does it make sense to keep doing a newsletter? Is anyone even reading my blog? (Well, no one ever writes, so I have no clue other than the thousands of hits I see on the analytics…)

At least with the Yahoo egroups there is an exchange. That’s the definition of Communication: “An exchange of meaning or understanding.” Without exchange, I find it hard to be motivated to engage.

Then there are those warnings – too many kids are giving away family secrets on these sites. So much information floats around in cyberspace that the word ‘privacy’ means nothing anymore. and I’ve seen my spam numbers increase dramatically just since I started this blog.

So – where do you begin, dear readers? How do you decide which ones make sense? What is your time worth? What is the payoff? For Facebook? For Myspace? For a blog like this? Who has time to read all these things? I can see LinkedIn’s usefulness, finally. At first it seemed silly. But now that a lot of my colleagues are using it, it’s a handy online resume.

I would say you ask yourself these questions before joining a group:

• Does it connect me to the people who can help me or my business?
• Do I have something of value to offer to this group?
• Does it provide the level of privacy and security I need and want?
• Do I have time to utilize all the features that make it useful for me or my business?
• Are those features easy and intuitive? Can I learn them quickly?
• Is there a way to get off this group or out of this site with a minimum of effort?
• Do I care?

If you can answer ‘yes’ to most of these questions, then it may make sense to get involved with that group. If you answered ‘no’ to more than half, wait. You can always join later.

It’s really basic Critical Thinking: What do I expect to happen if I join this group? and “What are the expected and unexpected consequences?” Finally – “Is it worth it?”

Only you can decide.

Let me know what you think,

Beth

~~~

Beth Terry, CSP, is a Professional Speaker and Corporate Trainer with offices in Hawaii and Phoenix, AZ.

© 2008 Beth Terry Seminars, Inc. All US and International Rights Reserved.

On Tuesday last week, after an application and judging process lasting several weeks, where TechCrunch UK, Doug Richard (Dragon’s Den), UK Trade Invest, Oli Barrett and Polecat all put their heads together to work out which of the many applicants could most realistically do meaningful business in the US, TechCrunch announced the 20 companies selected for Web Mission 08, and GroupSpaces was on the list (at the top)!

The judges also assessed the companies based on their business viability and the strength of their management team, and it’s going to be fantastic for Andy and my credibility now that we’ve successfully run this gauntlet.

Sponsors Heller Ehrman issued a statement saying:

“The sheer volume of applicants provides convincing evidence of the depth and breadth of emerging growth technology companies in the UK. The shortlist of companies selected demonstrates that the UK is able to produce credible web businesses.”

As the mouthwatering agenda takes shape, this is building up to be one of the most exciting weeks of my life, and it all starts on April 19th.

We’ll be staying at the Clift Hotel in Union Square, San Francisco, and the hotel is home to the Redwood Rooms, a plush bar we first visited with Kirill Makharinsky last year.

The week kicks off with cocktails sponsored by TechCrunch on the evening of Saturday 19th, followed by a few days hardcore networking with Valley start-ups and VCs. On Wednesday we’ll have the chance to attend the Web 2.0 Expo, and that evening we’ll be having drinks with Michael Birch at Bebo (or should that be AOL?). Thursday contains some PR, accounting and legal masterclasses then we’ll be flying back home on Friday.

Picking up on Michael though – he’s a fantastic example of what British entrepreneurs can achieve. Having graduated from Imperial College London with a Physics degree in 1991, he’s now just sold a $850M company. And when you think that Bear Stearns is selling for $236M, that ain’t bad.

Hopefully Brent Hoberman and Michael will be just the first of a long line of highly successful British Internet entrepreneurs. Is the next one going on Web Mission?

The final list of 20 companies is (in the order TechCrunch listed them):

GroupSpaces – Web-based tools for groups

Tioti – A social network around TV

Exabre (TheFilter) – Advanced music recommendation

Coull – Interactive video platform

Zogix – Employee services platform

Byteplay (dotHomes) – Real estate search engine

Trampoline Systems – Enterprise software harnessing social behaviour

Hubdub – News prediction social network

WAYN – travel and lifestyle social networking community

TrustedPlaces – Venue recommendation network

Slicethepie – Enabling bands to raise money directly from their fans

Mydeo – Mainstream application for storing and sharing video

Skimbit – Research and share decisions

Huddle – Enterprise 2.0 collaboration

Rummble – Mobile social networking and recommendation

Zebtab – Desktop TV application

Silobreaker – Contextual and graphic search results

Kwiqq – Social Website builder

edocr – Making business documents interactive

ShortFuze – Online movie creation tools for social networks

We already know Douglas at Byteplay and we did some filming with Alicia from Skimbit at the BBC recently; however I’m really looking forward to meeting another 17 awesome companies next month.

Doug Richard said:

“some of these companies are as good as anything coming out of the Valley”

So as Mike Butcher entitled the post on TechCrunch.com – The British are Coming. America – watch out!