Open The Dialogue

Just because it’s Friday doesn’t mean we are taking the day off! Here are some of the social media stories that got bookmarked by Dialogue Media this week.

One is the Loneliest Number, but One Billion is a lot Happier

In case anyone is still trying to convince you that social media is a fad, new numbers suggest that two of the largest sites in the world could both pull in 1 Billion Dollars in revenue in the coming years. It seems that Facebook is geared to hit the 1.1 billion mark in 2010 while YouTube could hit the magic mark in 2011 ( and have Google keep 700 million in the process).  Not bad for a fad.

American Idol’s Social Profiles Get a Facelift

After establishing profiles for each of the 24 contestants earlier in the season, American Idol has apparently consolidated their entire operation into one account on each major network.  Fans of contestants were greeted by “Thanks so much for following me! All my updates from now on will be on our Official Ai9 Twitter Page”. Some are wondering if follower counts were taking away some of the mystery that AI usually enjoys.  We’re wondering if this will affect how fans interact with the brand down the road.  What do you think?

Foursquare and Owalla to Battle for World Domination at SXSW

Well… not really.  But after unveiling last year at the conference, both have rolled out new features in anticipation of this year’s party in Austin.  Techcrunch is reporting that Owalla has done a major redesign while Foursquare has added a category functionality.  And the word on the street is that both are rolling out new mobile apps next week.  We’re happy using both, but it will be interesting to see who wins this battle of the buzz.

What were some of your favorite PR or social media stories of the last week?

Tomorrow the world’s most important tablet since Moses will descend unto the frothing masses from Apple. Yes, the long awaited iTablet is no longer a whispered about dream, it appears to be a reality. And it appears that the social media elite just can’t stop talking about it. Gizmodo and Mashable both have dedicated tags for the mythical beast and if it does launche tomorrow say goodbye to the front page of Techmeme. But for a true look at the enormity of the iTablet, we need to use D.Insight to track the iTablet.

To get a comprehensive look at the conversation over the last thirty days, I punched a few iTablet and Apple related keywords into D.Insight (as powered by Radian6).

Trends

While rumors of the iTablet have exsisted for years, it wasn’t until January 3rd that Apple got everyone’s attention, in the middle of CES 2010! Since then the rumor mills have slowly been turning, before going into overdrive yesteryday.

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Don’t let the numbers fool you: Facebook’s steady rise to the top of the social media heap wasn’t by magic or luck. Instead Facebook has grown from Harvard’s Ethernet to 350 million users by aggressively trying new things, for good and the bad.

For a while it seemed that the one thing that Facebook would never get correct would be the privacy issue.  As Facebook has grown from a college-only hangout to a widely used networking tool for everyone, Facebook has had to reconsider their privacy policy along the way.

After a few miscues (cough Beacon cough)  it seems Facebook has understood that controlling privacy is one of the best ways to keep their expansive user base. Now with several changes, they’ve made privacy so easy that even an orangutan can do it.

1. Shutting Down Beacon: Facebook’s Beacon was meant to be the start of social media advertising but ended up being too pervasive.  Facebook has since shut down the service and settled a lawsuit surrounding Beacon’s privacy practices.
2. Marketer’s Beware!: Facebook change the rules on marketers may protect Facebook more than the user, but with all the different contests I’ve been seeing lately maybe this is a good thing.
3. Scam Crackdowns: One of the best and worse things about the Facebook platform is the apps. That’s why its great that Facebook is cleaning house and getting rid of apps that are scammy. Now if someone could just get rid of Farmville (someone had to say it!).
4. Eliminating Confusing Policy Rules: Getting rid of all the network mumbo-jumbo and simplifying the system makes sense.  At one point I was on three different networks and controlled each privacy setting individually.  Now with simple controls for each piece of content I put up and easier privacy language, most people are going to feel a lot safer on Facebook. More importantly this plan has been discussed since July, meaning that Facebook may avoid the backlash they’ve felt every other time a change has been made.

It is this concern over people’s privacy that have allowed Facebook to grow to 350 million people worldwide.  By tweaking their privacy, Facebook has taken the lead on an issue where other major social networks like MySpace ended up failing.  Now the question is: can it last?

What do you think about Facebook’s privacy changes?  Do you feel safe online?

Happy Friday everyone!  There are only 15 days until Halloween or more importantly only 68 shopping days until Christmas.  Until then, enjoy these links of the day.

• The Internet Advertising Bureau has come out against the recent FTC guidelines. The IAB argues that new rules unfairly regulate the online media more than offline.

• In other FTC guideline news, one service called CMP.ly is attempting to establish a standard format for all disclosures by using their 6 different disclosure links.  For more on CMP.ly make sure to check out PRNewser’s recent interview with the co-founder, Tom Chernaik.
• The Official Google blog shares tips on Managing Your Reputation through Search Results. The first idea? Make sure you want your personal info online.
• Finally, as the fervor around the Balloon Boy continues to swell as the “it” viral discussion of the moment, make sure to take the time to check out such gem’s as the T-shirt, the Fresh Prince Rap and of course this stunning re-enactment (See below).

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As we reported on Monday, the Federal Trade Commission updated their compliance guidelines for the FTC Act, the first such update in 29 years.  While the changes do affect a few outdated rules the main goal of the document was to cleanly define what bloggers can and can’t do online.  The guidelines state:

The revised Guides also add new examples to illustrate the long standing principle that “material connections” (sometimes payments or free products) between advertisers and endorsers – connections that consumers would not expect – must be disclosed. These examples address what constitutes an endorsement when the message is conveyed by bloggers or other “word-of-mouth” marketers. The revised Guides specify that while decisions will be reached on a case-by-case basis, the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement. Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service.

The need for these rules is clear and somewhat past due. As marketing becomes more conversation oriented, we need to protect consumers from unfair and unethical claims.  It is why we believe in transparency and the Blog with Integrity movement. Unfortunately I’m hesitant to embrace the guidelines as fully as blogs like Mashable have done. Specifically, I’m having trouble with three big issues:

1. Scope- The term blogger is being used very loosely here.  Under these guidelines blogs, Twitter, even Facebook fan pages could be under the discretion of the FTC. While I understand the need to tackle many web properties at once (since updates are infrequent), I don’t know if the best way to lump everyone in together.  Considering that anything that is considered a “material connection” could be scrutinized, how is everyone supposed to comply? How many people even know about these guidelines in the first place? And where do rating sites like Amazon or Yelp fit into all of this?
2. A Double Standard? –  Why are bloggers being singled out? As Jeff Jarvis points out, “The FTC also concedes that it treats critics at publications differently – less stringently – than bloggers.” Most bloggers don’t consider themselves journalists and don’t make their living reviewing things like some journalists do, but why compound the point and have two sets of rules. It just doesn’t make sense.
3. Enforcement- Eleven thousand dollars is a lot of money to most people and makes it seem like the FTC might be the “new” RIAA. Some fines will be covered by brands, but considering that these fines will be judged on a “case by case” basis, it is hard to guess where the first strike will land. Will a Twitter mention receive the same discretion as a blog post? Will the little guy get hit with large fines as much as the big fish?   With the FTC ‘s Richard Cleland telling book blogs to return books after reviews, how much will people need to disclose to avoid a potential fine? As much as this guy?

I think that the new guidelines are clearly a step in the right direction. With some additional edits and clarifications, this document could protect many consumers without hurting the online conversation.  However considering that this is the first update in almost 30 years, I think that the FTC should re-evaluate how their perception on how social media works.  Who knows maybe at the next update in 2038, we will see some real progress!

What do you think of the recent guidelines? Will it change how you blog?

Photo Courtsey of Robyn Gallagher.