Oct

30

How I bookmark the internet

Filed Under Misc, Social Media, Web | Comments

I think bookmarking can be an art. Since there are always new web services and desktop apps being released to help people manage information online, it’s an always evolving process. I frequently spend my spare time browsing the web to stay up to date on the topics I care about and without bookmarking I’d feel completely lost.

More importantly, I’m constantly adjusting the news sources that I subscribe to on Twitter, Netvibes, and via email to keep things manageable (I support information environmentalism). For example, I used to subscribe to TechCrunch by email and follow Mashable on Twitter. I unsubscribed to both because it was simply too much to keep up with and found I usually stumbled on the most of the important articles from there anyway.

Here is what my bookmarking habit currently looks like:

Safari

safaribookmarks

My Safari bookmarks are probably the least updated. The Bookmarks Bar organizes the sites I most frequently visit (forums, personal accounts, social networks, etc.) and the many subfolders I have such as Social Web, Blog, Cars, Apple, Web Dev, Work, and Misc organize all the sites I want to keep handy.

Twitter

twitterfavs2

I follow a lot of people who share interesting things. That little star next to every tweet may not get a lot of use from most people but for me it’s used to bookmark tweets I want to check out later. My favorites usually include blog posts, articles, video’s, and the occasional good quote.

Instapaper

instapaperfavs

Love Instapaper. I now use it daily when it comes to long blog posts or articles that I can read during down time. I save these to Instapaper using the site or the incredibly easy Safari/iPhone bookmarklet. Because of the ease of use, Instapaper has quickly become one of my most used iPhone apps while commuting. Syncing is usually flawless and cool app features like auto-tilting and several sharing options make it miles ahead of most of the other popular News related apps.

Delicious

deliciousfavs

I use Delicious (lie a lot of people) for articles that I’ve read once then want to save and possibly refer to later. I think it’s too time consuming to try and include descriptions so I stick to relevant tags which help me easily filter my 900+ bookmarks. Sometimes I bookmark 5-10 articles a day, and sometimes my account is dry for days. What you find here will typically double-up with my Twitter and Instapaper bookmarks.

Other Thoughts

Of course, there is no right or wrong technique when it comes to bookmarking but I find this system works well for me. So how does all of this relate to marketing a new site or content online?

Marketers :: most social media strategies right now focus on trying to get more Diggs, Facebook fans, and Twitter followers. Some Twitter apps like Tweetie are now including an easy way to see other people’s favorites, so I think it will slowly become a more popular way for users to discover new content. I usually keep a close eye on who’s bookmarking my blog posts on Delicious and I don’t see why any brand or blog wouldn’t do the same. Just like Quantcast and Compete, Delicious can also be used to gauge popularity of any site (Ex. TechCrunch vs. Mashable or Apple vs. Microsoft).

Publishers :: although an app like Instapaper still has a small user base, it should be on your radar. In the same way the DVR has disrupted TV, apps like Instapaper that get rid of ads and place all the content on one page instead of 6 will continue to gain in popularity. The most frequently bookmarked articles on Instapaper and Delicious are also great places to get a sense of what people are reading and sharing online. Any publisher on Twitter can also see who’s favoring their tweets using Favstar.fm.

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Mar

21

Scoble uses Friendfeed to give away $5,500 to people in need

Filed Under Misc, Social Media | Comments

You may have noticed lately the growing number people on social networks who are organizing efforts to raise money for a good cause or to help recently unemployed people find jobs. One recent example was when Robert Scoble decided to give away $4,500 of his own money, which he later increased to $5,500 because of the response. The money was from a video project he did for Cisco (which he says we’ll hear more about soon) and he had no obligation to give it away but that’s what he did.

It started with this message on Friendfeed:

Although this amount of money isn’t enough to significantly change someone life, the post still led to a response of over 1,400 comments. When I saw he was giving it away on Friendfeed, I was interested to get Scoble’s thinking behind this approach so I asked him a few questions:

After you decided to give the money away, was doing it through Friendfeed your first reaction? Why didn’t you just give it to a charity?

I wanted to do something online instead of just giving money to a charity. I think it worked out wonderfully.

Do you think it would have worked if given away through Twitter?

Twitter wouldn’t be usable because I wouldn’t have been able to group replies like this. Also, I like Friendfeed a lot more and it’s more reliable and nicer for conversations.

One of the winners, Margaret, is using the money to help bring an Egyptian girl who suffers from a condition called arthrogryposis multiplex congenita (like her own son) to Philadelphia for the surgeries. The condition affects 1 in 3000 and results in multiple fixed limbs and joint contractures. The $1,750 that she will be getting from Robert Scoble is only a small chunk of the $25,000 needed to cover all the trip’s expenses, but it has certainly gotten her a lot closer. You can find out more and donate money at the Big Life, Big Spirit website or follow @bigspirit on Twitter. I asked her:

Would you have ever thought being a Friendfeed user would have helped you get closer to your fundraising goal?

I have had more luck leveraging Twitter, Facebook and Friendfeed for donations and awareness than my associate has with letter writing. It really was a fluke that I saw the contest. I hadn’t been on FriendFeed in awhile and just logged in. I saw the contest and realized it was ending that day. Any chance I get to promote Dolagy and the AMC community, is worth a shot. I posted the story and honest to god, I was speechless when I saw I won. The kindness of strangers sometimes blows me away. Actually since my son was born, my life has changed so much for the positive. Thanks to FriendFeed, Twitter, etc. I have gotten contacts to help publicize our efforts, look for Luxor-based videographers to capture her living conditions now (no luck yet but still hoping) and dozens of ideas on how to continue our efforts.

I think the social media community is so much tighter and willing to help each other. You would be amazed at the number of emails, tweets and messages I have gotten from people offering to help look over content, call a friend, offer a few dollars. When I started this project back in July I never honestly knew how valuable my online community would become to me. The full story of Jude, Dolagy, Shriners and myself is truly powerful and a strong example how you can be connected to someone you never met.

The other two winners were just as deserving – a student from England who will use the money to help pay for tuition and an art studio that was damaged during a California wildfire.

Her example is solid proof that all charities should now be putting a majority of their fundraising focus on social communities instead of traditional methods. In this example, Friendfeed made it easy to create an open thread that was easy for Scoble to read through and filter later on.

Connect with me on Twitter @jsmakr. Further Reading: Well Wishes $2 You & Neighbors + Neighborhoods.

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Mar

4

5 things people like to TwitPic

Filed Under Misc, Social Media | Comments

The image hosting service TwitPic has become one of the most popular 3rd party services for Twitter. Because of its popularity, most of the mobile Twitter apps that are available offer an easy way to upload pictures directly to TwitPic to post along with your text update.

While breaking events and celebrity photos generally get the most views, you can browse through the hundreds of the pictures being uploaded every couple of minutes by typing ‘twitpic’ into Twitter Search. Without any stats, I thought a little about what people are most likely uploading the most to TwitPic and came up with these 5 things (click on them to see the latest Twitter search results or click on image to enlarge).

1. Sunsets

When you get to witness a great sunset, your first reaction is likely to take a picture if you have a camera. For Twitter users, that first reaction is taking a picture, uploading it to TwitPic, then posting it to Twitter. Almost as frequently as sunsets, people are tweeting pictures of rainbows.

I love Arizona sunsets, even if photographed from a cell phone. on TwitPicShare photos on twitter with TwitpicWatching/taking pictures of the sunset at the beach on TwitPic

2. Dessert

What is it about desserts that makes us want to remember what they looked like before we devour them? Probably because for most of us it’s a rare occasion. Thanks for making everyone else on Twitter jealous but just remember who is going to be feeling better after it’s all gone.

Share photos on twitter with TwitpicShare photos on twitter with TwitpicShare photos on twitter with Twitpic

3. Puppies

Puppy pics might be a close tie with cute babies. Either way, Cute Overload should be paying attention.

Share photos on twitter with TwitpicWatch out! It's the abominable snow puppy! on TwitPicShare photos on twitter with Twitpic

4. Driving

Probably not the a great idea (especially while holding onto an iced coffee) but people are doing it anyway. Hopefully your next tweet won’t include a TwitPic of your car accident.

Share photos on twitter with TwitpicMini road trip with new to me car offered a chance for caffei... on TwitPicShare photos on twitter with Twitpic

5. Drunk Photos

Why only regret drunk dialing or texting one of your friends when now you can reach several people at once through drunk Twittering? I say do whatever you can to share these funny moments with everyone (Twitter can be too serious), just don’t drop your iPhone doing so.

My stepdad is SO drunk! LOL!! on TwitPicDrunk people like to lick beer on TwitPicMe - Very Drunk on TwitPic

We should also start to see more drunk videos posted through Qik, Seesmic, and 12seconds.tv as more phones come with video recording options. This is only going to continue to get more interesting as Twitter adoption grows and as mobile phones come equipped with higher resolution cameras. I hope TwitPic considers adding a better way to sort and view the best pictures being uploaded.

Any other common or funny trends that you have noticed lately?

Leave a comment below with a link to some other good Twitter search results or TwitPic’s you have come across. Connect with me on Twitter @jsmakr.

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Feb

16

Happy employees get their own book

Filed Under Culture, Management, Misc | Comments

I recently came across another video with Zappos CEO, Tony Hsieh, being interviewed informally by web entrepreneur Loic Le Meur. The interview, which is 20 minutes long and was recorded during the TED conference, can be found on YouTube.

In this interview, Tony Hsieh talks about the several ways the company differentiates itself (many of which are widely known but others not). He also goes on to mention that Zappos releases a book every year called The Culture Book that consists of authentic employee responses when they are asked what the Zappos culture means to them. I got a hold of this year’s book by emailing Tony. After browsing the book and reading through some of the responses, you immediately get the feeling that Zappos employees are very proud of working for the company no matter what position they hold (book is organized by departments).

So why put this book together? The answer to that is not clear, but the book says it does get “distributed to employees, prospective employees, business partners, and even some customers.” So that alone should tell you it’s very likely used as an effective way of recruiting new employees and further proving to the business world that Zappos is onto something.

Your employees are happy and they are not afraid to tell their story, why wouldn’t you want everyone to know?

Besides this interview, there is already tons of discussion on what differentiates Zappos as a company and now as a major brand, but I keep finding myself amazed at how seriously they take employee and customer satisfaction and how open they are with sharing their reasons for success. Tony’s presentation from a conference last year on how they got to $1 billion is sales is even available on Slideshare.

When I posted about the Zappos Culture book on Twitter, Julio Fernandez (@SocialJulio) replied with this important question:

Whatever happens, I think the Zappos story is becoming more valuable as time goes on and as they continue growing with very little marketing. Email Tony to get a free copy of The Culture Book (he replied to me within a few hours and I had the book in 2 days) or buy a copy on their site.

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Nov

7

Online cell phone activation

Filed Under Misc | Comments

After purchasing the iPhone and activating it online through iTunes, I began to think about this activation experience and how it compared to the other methods we are used to. I remember the days when I used to handwrite all new contract forms by hand working for Radio Shack many years ago. It was very tedious and timely. I also remember working for AT&T, and often something would go wrong with the activation process leading to many dissatisfied customers.

Why aren’t all wireless carriers offering a similar online activation option for newly purchased cell phones?

Sure, no other company has iTunes to incorporate into this process, but it should not be very hard to build a website specifically for this purpose and have it mimic what Apple and AT&T have done with the iPhone. This will drastically cut the time needed for a customer to be in a physical store or on the phone once their new cell phone is in their possession. Also, another advantage of giving the customer the power to choose their own calling plan and features is the elimination of common employee errors.

I could understand how this might not be convenient for everyone. Only because some people like to leave a store with a working cell phone. In most cases now, everyone should have a working old phone until the new one is activated. Also, if you are porting a number over from another wireless carrier, it usually takes some time for the number to transfer over. Most people would not want to wait in a store for that period of time to make sure it has transferred successfully. Porting my number from Verizon to AT&T took less than an hour and I was sent email updates of the process which was added security.

I think this new activation process that Apple and AT&T introduced for the iPhone is being overlooked because of all the hype about the phone itself. I hope wireless carriers are quietly taking notice. Customers are more informed now about their cell phone options and do not need the help of sales associates to make decisions on purchasing and activating.

As companies make this type of service available, it is up to them to make sure people are aware of it. Apple did this by releasing one of their video tutorials, which is how I first found out about activating the iPhone at home. If this is adopted by companies and consumers, I can imagine this option could save wireless carriers millions of dollars by decreasing employee labor and possibly decreasing retail space.

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