Some reports (notably here) have this as a reaction to the defamatory tweets which were being plastered across the homepage during the twitter trial, I beg to differ.  The guys at skittles had to know that by allowing people access to their homepage they were going to get jokers who were going to get a kick out of writing “skittles suck” or much harsher words and seeing them displayed for all to see.  I don’t believe a multinational brand wouldn’t have thought about this.  But the fact is, most tweets were present for less than 30 seconds and so they didn’t get much air time really.

I believe the guys at skittles are still in a testing period and they probably always planned a test with the Facebook page as part of the trial.  After all, there have been occurrences in twitter downtime of it being redirected to a Wikipedia page about skittles.  They are obviously undertaking a larger social experiment than just what we saw with the twitter search.  What exactly they are playing at, and whether it is anything more than a viral marketing exercise, I don’t know.  Hopefully things will become clearer in the coming days and weeks.

With all the stories about gangs, bullying, adultery it is nice to come across a story which celebrates the true value of social media, connecting people.

The BBC has picked out 3 Facebook success stories which show the true power of social media and social networks for connecting people who cant be together or have lost touch.

Read the full article here

Im obviously talking about twitter, the latest social tool to be all the range in the digital world, and big news in the mainstream media as well.  I expect the purchase rumours, twitter needs it if it is going to stay ahead of the game and solve its infrastructure issues.  But it seems every second article I read now is about why twitter is going to replace Facebook, or why it is the tool to end the search engines dominance online, but I am not really buying it.

I use twitter, I am on Facebook, I use Google and pretty much any other online tool of any great use as well, and I can safely say, no one of those which I use has reduced the amount I use the others or replaced them in any way.  I use Google for my search activity (or live search if I get bored), I catch up with old and distant friends on Facebook, and us twitter for industry news and general commentary on life.  So why does everyone want to merge them, compare them, or pit them against each other in a social media/online battle?

Fresh Egg ponders whether twitter might take business away from Google, techcrunch taks about Facebook stealing twitters market (although suggesting it isn’t likely) and many other bloggers and social commentators debate why and who twitter is going to replace.  Can they all not co-exist on their own merits without the desire to imitate, acquire or destroy one another?  Or is it just a symptom of the evolving social world we live in where every new venture is set to be bought by one of the more established players?

Now I’m as big a geek as the next man.  I love finding the latest social tool to have a play around with.  I Twitter, use messenger, have a Facebook and a MySpace account (although the latter as been redundant for a long time).  But the thought of a family sat around on Christmas day silently tapping away on iPods and laptops depressed me slightly.

I don’t think I’m being too old fashioned when I say that Christmas should involve spending time with the family and actually engaging in some form of non-digital communication!  And it is not just in this scenario I see this happening, the workplace is just the same.  People emailing and messaging colleagues a question when they are sitting on desks less than 5 yards apart.

It seems strange that the ability to engage and communicate with people thousands of miles away means we communicate less with those closest to home.  Is this the way of the future?  Digital chat and social media replacing old fashioned speech and face to face engagement?

I sincerely hope not.  As much as I love using online social media tools I’m also rather fond of meeting and speaking to people face to face.  I have technophobe friends who refuse to have a Facebook account or personal email address giving the response, “If I want to speak to someone Ill just ring them.”  Whilst I am not going to go to that level of extreme as I see the benefits of social media tools away from connecting with friends, I hope for all our sake that the picture painted by the BBC reporter is not a sign of things to come.

It certainly has the audience for it, with nearly double the unique user figures of Facebook there is an audience there to be tapped into, but impressions are what the modern day advertiser is after.  It is also most certainly not what the small business advertiser is after, I know from experience that if a small business is investing £100, then they sure as hell want £200 back.  They do not have large marketing budgets and they don’t give a hoot about brand building, they want a return on investment.  And I’m not convinced Myspace can give it.

For a start on Myspace there is less browsing involved.  On Facebook you are looking at news feeds, checking out updated status’ and searching for groups, and this is the time when you are most likely to be tempted to click and ad.  With Myspace there is less of these type of actions involved, at least there is how I use it.  And you are generally there to view a particular persons profile or catch up with a contact, and when you have a purpose, you are less likely to be tempted to click an ad, no matter how well targeted.

Also, the garish nature of Myspace profiles means that it will take something special for an ad to look right on the page, this will make users opposed to the ads and less likely to accept them as useful.

I suppose the idea of the ads, much like Facebook’s similar programme, is to utilise the profile information to target your audience effectively and I buy into this, use all the information you can to show the right ad, to the right person, at the right time.  I’m just not sure Myspace has the layout and the typical user actions to support such a programme.  And certainly my experiences with Google Placement ads on Myspace haven’t shown me anything to suggest otherwise.

POUTING: Presenting such a provocative, sensual symbol indicates someone who wishes to be acknowledged in a sexual way – seeking intimacy or a partner. It could also indicate being a very tactile person

WITH AN ANIMAL: A person who displays themselves as capable of caring and nurturing, indicating need of an outlet for these tendencies and a broody nature.

DANCING: To display yourself on display, so to speak, is the ultimate invitation to be watched. Those who show themselves dancing are likely to be strongly extrovert. Additionally, in Western Culture, dancing has strong connotations toward leisure and freedom, denoting a hedonistic, pleasure-seeking streak.

WITH A BOYFRIEND: A popular picture type with serial monogamists, and signifies searching for a deeper or more committed relationship.

WITH A GUY (NOT BOYFRIEND): As well as a simple flirtatious contact, a picture with a potentially ambiguous meaning shows a love of creating stories, and playing games with the social fabric. In short, one who thrives on gossip.

DOING AN ACTIVITY: This is someone who identifies with their abilities and experiences rather than emotions or relationships. It may also indicate an unwillingness to commit or settle down.

ON HOLIDAY: Those who identify themselves with a carefree holiday may have a tendency to over-stress in their everyday lives. This could also indicate escapist fantasies or a dreamer disposition.

LOOKING AWAY FROM CAMERA: An unwillingness to be caught and posed in the conventional way is indicative of someone headstrong and confident in their approach to life.

NIGHT OUT/FANCY DRESS: This image represents the social, extroverted aspects of a personality; denoting that they value confidence and attention highly.

Just one missing from the list for me, the one where the picture is taken from the best possible angle making the person look 200% more attractive/slim/muscular than they actually are in real life! God knows Ive seen a few of those knocking around Facebook!

I cant imagine he is the first to do so, and I dont think he will be the last, but it did highlight to me the other side to reuniting people from the past which is often eclipsed by stories of reunions with old school friends and long lost relatives.  Social networking sites are another communication tool, much like mobile phones, email and instant messaging which people use to connect with each other.  For single people this is likely to involve flirting with members of the opposite sex and connecting with the girl or boy you met in the bar last night.  But for people in a relationship this is another means by which individuals can enbark on extra marital affairs and connect with people out of view of their partners.

Thats the fact, give people a means of communication and they will use it as they choose.  But the article appeared to place some of the blame on Facebook for this occurrence.  To quote the article;

“Lee admitted to her that the fling was down to the site.”

No it wasn’t, it was down to two grown adults deciding that they wanted to pursue each other even though they were attached.  Don’t blame Facebook, it was purely the vessel for the communication.

And what does the jilted mother do to get her own back? Does she petition against Facebook and curse its name?  No, she starts her own group “I hate Stephanie Burton” (that’s the other offender if you hadn’t guessed)/

Well, Im sorry Facebook, although I do speak English as requested, thats about as far as my language skills stretch, maybe you should use some of your targeting capabilities to find your translation team?

facebook uses social networking to translate its pages

“My theory is that young users spend so much time on social networks that they don’t have time to look at adult sites.”

..is a little far fetched in my opinion.  If someone is interested in loooking at pornography online then they will find the time to do so!  My opinion is that is just the sheer volume of users now engaged in sites like Facebook and also the fact that they are enticing people who never used to spend too much time online to use the Internet a little more.

Interesting to see that the Internet is not as porn dominated as it once was but it is still pretty dominant as the second most popular online past time and will take some shifting.