Facebook decides what you want... again.

Okay, so Facebook made another big change that is confusing everybody.  They've done this before, everyone complains in their status updates for a few weeks, a few hundred new "bring back the old Facebook" groups get created, and then eventually everyone gets used to it and shuts up.

You may have noticed that a friend's post from yesterday is appearing above one from 5 minutes ago, or certain posts aren't showing up at all.  Well, here's the quick & dirty explanation of the latest change:
"News Feed" vs. "Live Feed."

The central "meat" of your facebook home page is now divided into these two tabs.  The default is "News Feed," which is a filtered feed of what FB has determined to be of most interest to you.  The "Live Feed" is a more traditional stream in REAL TIME, of every single post within your network as it happens.

The initial reviews are VERY mixed for this latest change.  Some people (presumably the ones with hundreds, if not thousands of friends) welcome the selective "News Feed" addition so they don't have to get bombarded with all the useless status updates, quizzes, mafia wars invites, little farm requests, and other minutia that clogs up their feeds.

But others (myself included) are a bit put off by this and have quickly reverted back to the more comfortable "Live Feed."  My main problem with the "News Feed" is the question that most of you have probably been asking as soon as you realized what was going on...

"How the hell does Facebook know what I do and don't want to read in my feed??"

Well, of course, like so many other websites in recent times with an increased focus on metrics and behavior-based content targeting, Facebook thinks that they can do a pretty good job of it.  I disagree.  Now don't take that to mean that I fall into that "paranoid" group who doesn't understand the tracking business and considers this an unsettling, "big-brother" invasion of privacy.  That's not me.  I get it.  I just don't think FB is very good at it yet.  It's going to be a challenge with something like Facebook, believe me.  Just because I haven't interacted with a certain friend for a long time, doesn't mean I don't want to see their latest post that might be an important personal update or link of unique interest to me.

For now, I'll stick with the "Live Feed," and keep my own control of deciding what I do and don't want to read.  Where do you stand?

Coke Zero's Marketing "Ishtar"

Okay, so maybe "Ishtar" is a bit strong, since the jury's still out, but all signs are pointing to barfs-ville.

The concept, in this facebook-frenzy social media world that we live in, was, for lack of a better word, "cool."  Go to the Coke Zero website, upload your photo into the "facial profiler" database, and they'll use special "next gen facial recognition technology" (wtf?) to match you with your doppelganger from somewhere around the globe.  You can find your secret "twin."  The concept is, at the very least, "intriguing."  Is it really useful for anything, other than a few minutes of empty-calorie, time-wasting webtertainment?  Maybe not.  But that's pretty much the case with all interactive gadgetry of Marketing WEbsites.

But here's the RUB (and it's a big one).

There's no PAYOFF!  I mean, literally, you don't get ANYTHING.  WHY?  Excellent question.  When you upload your picture, you get a thanks and they tell you this:

"we haven't collected enough faces to begin the matching process.  When we do, we'll notify you directly.  In the meantime, invite your friends, family and co-workers to join this one-of-a-kind social experiment."

What?  They show a fancy status bar that tells me their database is 22% full, (two weeks ago) and is now up to 29% full.  Do they tell you how many that is?  No.  Do they tell you how full they need to get before they can start matching people?  No.  Does it need to be 100% full?  Who knows?  Are we ever going to get any results?  Maybe not.  If we do, will we have forgotten about it or will anyone care anymore?  again, No idea.

Maybe it's all just hype and there isn't actually any "facial profiling tool."  Perhaps this "one-of-a-kind social experiment" is actually just an experiment to see how many people will blindly fall for the empty gimmick that ends up being absolutely nothing?  Now that is a question that I can confidently answer, without a shadow of a doubt, "probably."

"Why do I need to be on Facebook?"

All of my friends/family/colleagues who still refuse to enter any aspect of the social media world need to read this:

http://mashable.com/2009/10/16/social-media-changing-lives/

We all have a few people in our lives who continue to throw out the following questions/excuses:

• Why do I need to be on Facebook?
• I don't want all these people from my past finding me.
• Why do I need that when I can just email people?
• I don't understand the point of Twitter.
• What is LinkedIn?  I don't get it.
• I don't have the time to go set it all up.

And the list goes on...

In about 5 years, all of these statements and questions will seem foolish.  They will be the equivalent of someone today saying "Why do I need to have an email account?"  (and I know a LOT of people who said that just 10 short years ago.)

RIP 800 Numbers?

I was just thinking, are 800 numbers becoming obsolete?

With the evolution of wireless phones and the evaporation of long distance and roaming fees, people are using their mobile phones for everything these days.  Many people are getting rid of their land lines at home.  "What's the point?" they ask.  "I use my mobile phone for everything anyway, right?"  It's true.  Why would you pay for long-distance service on a home phone when you can make limitless long-distance calls for free as part of your cell phone plan?

So, when I heard an 800 # advertised on the radio today, I had a similar thought - What's the point?

In the past, businesses would set up 800 numbers as a service to their customers, so that people could reach them easily without the worry of having to pay long distance charges for the call.  But personally, I don't even think about that anymore since I make all calls on my cell phone.  If I had to call an out-of-state business today, I wouldn't even take notice of whether or not they had an 800 # or a local area code #.  It wouldn't make a difference to me.  I'm sure this is already having an effect on certain businesses and small businesses choosing to go without an 800 # and I'm wondering if it's a trend that will continue all the way to the elimination of 800 #'s.  If we get to a point in this world where there is no such thing as "long distance" calls being any different than local calls, there will be no need for them at all. 

I predict we'll be there in 10 years.  At the end of the next decade, we'll say stuff like, "Remember 800 numbers?" and my kids will say stuff like, "What's a long-distance call?"  Or maybe even scarier, "What's a land line?"

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