Nope, not the snake, but the apparent reason behind our engagements on social networks (and in real life).  Introduced to me by a post on business two zero, and billed by them as the reason twitter exists, and will survive, adda is “a form of intellectual exchange among members of the same socio-economic strata” according to the wikipedia definition.  A sharing of information between like minded individuals with common interests.

The only thing Ive got to work on now is making sure my exchanges are intellectual and Im there!

It makes sense though.  Loads of social tools survive, and thrive, when common logic suggests they shouldn’t.  Facebook for example, on the face of it shouldn’t really work.  And were you to describe its basic functions to a non user and explain how addicted some people are they would be amazed at its success.  Twitter too, many people don’t get it, but yet it is going from strength to strength and will continue to do so, all because of adda.

This is a great resource for coming up with ideas for how social media and social networking can be used in different markets.  An once you get past all the Facebook pages and groups there are actually some good ideas in here as well!

Interestingly the YouTube wii fit video “Why every guy should buy their girlfriend Wii Fit” is on the list under Nintendo suggesting that maybe it was viral which was produced by the gaming giant and not as innocent as they claimed.

List of Social Marketing Examples

To me, social media, social marketing, social networking or however else you want to term it is about engaging with your audience on a personal level, listening to what they are saying and bringing those learnings back into the business.  Too many people are deciding they want to be part of the social phenomenon without thinking whether it suits them, their audience and their product.  The first questions they should be asking are, what am I looking to achieve? Who am I trying to engage? where are these people interacting? Mars is a border line case and they have probably just about pulled it off but in many cases people are missing the mark by a long way just to be involved in the current craze.

I have been wondering how long this would take to occur since the massively popular pressure group was set up within Facebook’s own network campaigning for it to be removed.  It has not happened yet and there is no indication of when it will happen but it will be interesting to see what it will be replaced with.

An obvious option would be to remove the verb all together and allow the user to write whatever they want after their name.  But another option could be to have a drop down list of verbs to choose from when setting your status so that there is one for every occasion.  This way the Facebook traditionalists (if there are any!) can continue to use the “is” yet those wanting more flexibility should be able to construct whatevere status they wish.

Tags: facebook, social networking

• Reach: although the social networks have huge user bases they are unlikely to cover everybody you know, yet most people will have a functioning email address. There is therefore likely to be at least a few people within your group of friends you cannot contact through your network of choice.
• Flexibility: you can write what you want in an email, and can attach any type of file you wish, making it a much more flexible solution than the networks. They are however catching up through the various plug ins and applications that are sprouting up daily.
• Privacy: emails are more private than wall post, although facebook has the facility to send private messages as well.
• Length of message: wall posts are more like the text messages with emails as the phone calls. more detail can be added and more information contained and explained, the phone call still isn’t dead despite the popularity of texts.

I’m sure there are more to add to the list but none that I can think of right now. It will be interesting to see if the trend continues though and what this means to the email portals. Falling usage must also results in a fall in advertising rates and available inventory??

there is undoubted potential held in the targetting options availale through social networking sites and I believe this is the tool which will bring success if used correctly. Noone minds seeing ads if they are relating to something they are looking for at that point in time. Think about it, the ability to show and ad for gifts when you konw it is someones partners brithday in the coming weeks, or an ad for a dating site around valentines day only shown to single people who arent in a relationship. This is where the real strength lies in my eyes and if it can be harnest then the money will follow.

Social Network Ad Scramble
APRIL 19, 2007

With fierce competition, sites explore new ad models
Social networking buzz belies an impending sector shakeout, according to In-Stat’s “Social Networking: Finding Friends Online” report.

“In order for a social networking site to be successful, it must attain a critical mass, and competition is fierce to attract new members,” says Jill Meyers of In-Stat. “So far, sites have focused their attention on a younger demographic, which is finite, fickle and limited in expendable income.” Ms. Meyers says Baby Boomers are frequently overlooked when it comes to social networks.

MySpace’s demographics include plenty of wage earners at this point, and Boomers have social networks like Eons.com, but the In-Stat report raises an important question: How can social networks best monetize their memberships? eMarketer estimates that 2007 ad spending on MySpace will outstrip spending on all other social networks combined, so competition will be fierce.

One possibility is selling user data, according to In-Stat.

“Each social networking site collects a plethora of personal and demographic data on each member,” said Ms. Meyers, “and while selling these data to target marketing groups may be unappealing to site members, it may be the best route to profitability for site operators.”

Some social networks are still having trouble just getting their sites to grow. comScore Media Metrix data reveals a range of visitor growth of anywhere from 1177% (Sconex.com) to -40% (LiveJournal.com).

Even Microsoft is offering advice on how to increase social networking ad revenue. The Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions Group commissioned a Metrix Lab study of how social networkers use the sites. The study concluded that creating brand profiles (spaces) that can be forwarded to friends is effective, with a quarter of social networkers posting views on specific ads and a third forwarding spaces, ads or links.

eMarketer senior analyst Debra Aho Williamson says that the time for branded profiles is probably coming to a close.

“The notion of creating a MySpace ad profile page and collecting friends was popular in 2006 but will likely give way this year, as users tire of collecting ‘friends,’” says Ms. Williamson.

Third-party companies are also developing sophisticated modeling software to parse the things people write on their profiles and match ads accordingly.

However, there is a risk that innovative ad models like these will get shelved in order to give advertisers something they’re already comfortable with. MySpace sells “roadblocks” on its home page and even uses old-media speak to explain why advertisers like being there: “Marketers are really interested in the one-day cume they can get from the home page of MySpace,” Fox Interactive Media told eMarketer last year.

While such things will generate revenue, they fall short of the promise of the “one-to-one-to-many” nature of social networking.

For an in-depth look at social network ad spending, eMarketer Total Access subscribers can read the Social Network Marketing: Ad Spending Update report. If you would like information on subscribing, click here.