Can Travel Sites Truly Leverage Social Media?

By Mark Evans in Social Media 3 Comments Tags: , , , ,

The New York Times had an article last Sunday on how personal recommendation services are becoming more popular – driven by the belief that the best advice comes from people you know and those in your digital and personal networks as opposed to a service such as Yahoo Answers.

For anyone using Twitter or Facebook, the power and effectiveness of tapping into your networks is clear. To me, one of Twitter’s “killer apps” is being able to use the collective knowledge of the crowd.

Yesterday, I went to a start-up event in Montreal featuring three travel sites – Travellr, Viajeros and YowTrip.

One thing that struck me during their presentations is how travel is such a personal experience, and how the best travel experiences don’t come from guidebooks but, instead, the people you meet along the way that suggest places you’d never otherwise have discovered.

This makes recommendation services such as Twitter a natural way for people to get travel advice from an extensive network of people who have real insight into what to see, do and hear, and a willingness to share it.

The question is how online travel services can effectively integrate Twitter into their offerings as opposed to having it exist as a standalone. Traveller, for example, has a way to ask questions that can be published on Twitter but there’s current no way to integrate the replies from Twitter users into Travellr’s database so Traveller users can benefit from what people are saying on Twitter.

My sense is the tighter integration of Twitter into online services will be a powerful and effective way to enhance the information available while extending the overall community. In some respects, Facebook is working on it with Facebook Connect but the reality is we’re just scratching the surface.

Blogging Still Rules the Social Media Roost

By Mark Evans in Blogs 5 Comments

Steve Rubel
Steve Rubel caused quite the stir last week when he proclaimed he was leaving blogging for lifestreaming and a focus on social networks – a stance he appears to have retreated on already.

Not surprisingly, it led to some people to wonder whether blogging is passe if a high-profile and well-known blogger is abandoning ship. Computer World’s Sharon Machlis opined that:

Blogging doesn’t necessarily feel over the hill to me, but it’s certainly not cutting edge or real-time anymore. It does feel slow compared to the more instant give and take of Twitter.

For people who have been blogging for awhile, the statement above is not a surprise given people immersed in the Web are always looking for new, shiny toys when they get tired of what’s in their digital toy boxes. There are many people who like the give and take of Twitter, but the reality Twitter takes far less time, effort or, frankly, thought.

But while blogging may not longer be seen as sexy, it’s still a powerful and effective platform for individuals and businesses. It’s a dynamic and interactive way to provide information, insight, explore ideas and talk about what’s going in your world or the world in general.

Blogs are also effective ways to build strong corporate and personal brands. For individuals such as myself, a blog is the new business card. It’s the place where clients, potential clients and people may be interested in my take on the world can quickly and easily get a sense of what I think.

When I started ME Consulting earlier this year, my blogging activity slowed because I was busy trying to meet people and do work. What I soon discovered is blogging is one of my most effective marketing tools, which made it clear that it wasn’t something I could back away from. This is why I would never follow Steve Rubel’s path.

My thoughts about blogging are shared by Brian Clark, who has built a large following and a solid business with Copyblogger.com. When talking about Rubel’s decision, Clark said:

The impact of Facebook and Twitter is a powerful trend that shouldn’t be dismissed (in fact, content creators should be using at least one of them). But the story remains the same: people who mainly want to socialize, share links, and post pictures of their cat should be using social networks instead of blogging, and that’s exactly what’s happening.

Those of us with different aspirations continue to blog, and smartly use social networking sites to promote our content while adding value in those venues. Whether you’re trying to build an online business, market your stuff, or promote a cause, those who seek maximum influence know that creating valuable longer content is the way to go.

I’m a disciple of Clark’s approach to blogging and social media. To me, blogging sits in the centre of my social media world. Twitter, Facebook, et al are powerful extensions but they’re different tools that complement but will not replace blogging.

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Joe Pantalone, We Need to Talk

By Mark Evans in Social Media 4 Comments

Pantalone
As some of you may know, there’s 30,000 city workers in Toronto are on strike, which has shut down garbage collection, day cares, community centres and other services.

Like a good citizen, I fired off an e-mail to my councillor, Joe Pantalone, who also happens to be the deputy mayor, in which I outlined my concerns and criticisms. Shortly afterward, I got this automated response:

“Thank you very much for taking the time to write and share your thoughts. I appreciate that and will include them with comments from others in the community. Thanks again,

Joe Pantalone
Deputy Mayor
City of Toronto”

To be honest, it seems strange to receive an automated response given the world of social media where “conversations” are happening on an increasingly basis between companies and consumers. And it seem odd to get this kind of response given how Obama Barack used social media so effectively during the U.S. presidential elections.

Yes, I know Mr. Pantalone is a reall busy guy these days with not enough hours in the day to personally respond to every e-mail he receives but there’s got to be a better way to talk with his constituents about what’s happening.

It would be great if Mr. Pantalone was using social media tools to have “conversations” but his Web site suggests he’s not using Facebook, Twitter, a blog, Flickr or YouTube. You can e-mail him but there’s no way to have a “conversation”.

We’re living in a world of two-way communications, and I want to see my local politicians get involved. Heck, Toronto Mayor, David Miller, is a Twitter addict (in a good way!) so maybe he should tell his deputy mayor to get on the social media bandwagon.

It’s a Search Engine Bonanza

By Mark Evans in Search Engines 3 Comments

The search market is a fascinating beast: Even though Google thoroughly dominates, there’s no lack of new players looking to grab a piece of the action.

Over the past couple of weeks, Microsoft’s Bing has captured a lot of attention but it’s just one of many new search engines that have appeared on the scene. Some are trying to go head to head with Google, some are focused on Twitter, and some have adopted a hybrid approach by focusing on real-time search.

Here’s a quick overview of some of the new players:

- Bing: Much to a lot of peoples’ surprise, Bing has resonated with users by offering a solid search experience and some interesting features such as related searches. The jury is still out whether Bing will help Microsoft establish a more solid search foothold but the fact it is receiving an enthusiastic welcome is a good sign.

- Topsy: A search engine that bases its results on Twitter ReTweets. It received critical acclaim from TechCrunch.

- CrowdEye: An interesting real-time search engine started by Ken Moss, who led the search engineering team at Microsoft. CrowdEye results feature links to popular stories, as well as the latest Twitter updates. Here’s a Webware review.

- OneRiot: Another player in the real-time search market, OneRiot based its results on the links people share on Twitter, Digg and other social sharing services so it can provide fresh content. OneRiot is definitely worth checking out – the service works quickly and the results are solid and relevant. It’s not a replacement to Google but a good complement.

- Wolfram: Lots of hype and excitement but Wolfram, to date, has been disappointing. After attracting a lot of blog coverage, Wolfram fell flat, mostly because it did a bad job of positioning itself, and failing to control the suggestion it was a Google-killer.

- Collecta: A real-time search engine, Collecta falls into the dreaded trap of over-hyping its service rather than letting happy users spread the world. Here’s its promo pitch on the home page: “Collecta is not like other search engines. The web is alive with real-time information. So why search a stale archive? Collecta monitors the update streams of news sites, popular blogs and social media, and Flickr, so we can show you results as they happen. Give it a try.”

My experiences with Collecta have been disappointing. For example, a search for Steve Jobs took several minutes to generate a result.

For more the search engine landscape, check out VentureBeat, which look at nine new real-time search engines.

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Mike Zafirovski.’s Nortel Legacy: Fail

By Mark Evans in Telecom Equipment Makers 5 Comments

Mike Z.With Nortel deciding the only course of action is a fire-sale of all assets, Mike Zafirovski’s reign as CEO is about to conclude. Without being too harsh, it’s fair to say Mike Z.’s initial – and perhaps last – stab as a CEO was a colossal failure.

Sure, he dealt with some pesky accounting issues and reduced costs by laying off thousands of employees, outsourcing jobs to low-cost places, and selling a few assets. But the bold moves that Nortel needed to survive and thrive in a volatile and competitive marketplace never materialized.

A perfect example is how Nortel’s lack of M&A activity, especially given Mike Z. hired George Riedl, an M&A wizard, away from Juniper. When your biggest acquisition is Tasman Networks for $99-million, it’s obvious you’re not in the game.

In hindsight, Nortel had nothing to lose by playing it safe and conservative. With cash in the bank and a stock price that, at one point, rebounded to nearly $20, Mike Z. had lots of options to do something dramatic and game-changing. Instead, he stuck to a game-plan he knew from General Electric.

To solely blame MIke Z. would be unfair. If people are looking for scapegoats, Nortel’s board is the perfect candidate. Over the past decade, the board has been a huge disaster.

Here are some of the lowlights:

- It let ex-CEO John Roth go a multi-billion dollar spending spree, many of which were mistakes that Nortel wrote off or sold

- Dismissing Gary Daichendt and Gary Kunis’ aggressive corporate makeover

- The hiring Frank Roth and Bill Owens as CEO, who were unsuited for the job.

- Letting Mike Z. do nothing as Rome (aka Nortel) burned.

Truth be told, Nortel could have been saved if the right moves had been made. When Mike Z. took over, it was a $10-billion that needed strategic focus and a new, bold direction. Mike Z. was handed a huge opportunity to make his mark.

Unfortunately, he dropped the ball and, as a result, Canada’s flagship high-tech company is going to disappear.

For more, check out James Bagnall’s story in the Ottawa Citizen.

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Iran: The “Value” of Newspapers

By Mark Evans in Media 2 Comments

With all the noise (Twitter, Facebook, CNN, et al) coming out of Iran amid the protests over the presidential elections, newspapers are working hard to provide a sense of what it all means by filtering, curating and adding perspective and insight.

Of course, providing this kind of reporting takes trained talent and, if you’re the New York Times, a bureau in Tehran. There’s clearly value in giving people the facts in a well-written and insightful package to stand out from all the coverage provided by social media. Jeff Jarvis has a blog post looking at how newspapers are adding value in the “new news ecosystem”.

What Jarvis doesn’t mention is the cost involved for newspapers to provide this kind of coverage. It’s expensive to have bureaus around the world, and having talented reporters who can quickly and intelligently provide news with perspective can be expensive as well.

So, the question is how can newspapers provide the kind of coverage coming out of Iran that fits into the new news financial model? With advertising revenue declining and newsrooms getting smaller, how do newspapers do what they need to do. As Jarvis suggests, some of it has to do with building a network of sources and citizen journalists that can be accessed to gain the kind of information for the new news ecosystem – something that good reporters develop over time.

This would let a small team of good reporters to produce the kind of stories that would not be available elsewhere – giving newspapers the ability to stand and deliver at a cost that makes sense.

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