Is Foursquare the New Friendster?

By Mark Evans in Social Media 4 Comments Tags: , , ,

I’ve never been excited about or, for that matter, into Foursquare.

The benefits of broadcasting my location to the world have never been compelling – not even the coupons that have become Foursquare’s “killer app”. This whole idea of location-based, real-time couponing has been around for more than a decade, and it still hasn’t stuck.

Yet, everyone still talks about Foursquare in glowing terms. They talk about how it has so much potential and how it could launch new features that will make location-based services appealing to the mainstream. Heck, it’s one of the finalists in several categories in the Crunchies awards.

To me, it’s just blah, blah, blah. The problem is no one has the balls to declare that Foursquare is never going to live up to a fraction of the hype it has attracted. It’s a niche service that will soon be supplanted by Facebook or a start-up that will crack the location-based services opportunity in a different way that will make Foursquare look like a “Model T”.

Think of Foursquare as Friendster, which dominated the social networking market before Facebook and MySpace appeared on the scene. Friendster attracted a lot of attention, including an acquisition offer from Google. before disappearing from the scene (other than a few markets in Asia).

Like Friendster, Foursquare is getting a lot of attention for being a first-mover but Foursquare’s inability to seize this advantage is becoming its Achilles Heel. This is why all the talk about Foursquare’s potential is frustrating – talk is talk but walk is walk. If Foursquare can’t create a compelling service soon, it’s doomed to remain a niche service as other players launch with more interesting services.

Aside from the lack of chatter among Foursquare, look at the numbers from Compete.com that show Foursquare’s traffic is declining. As a mobile service, maybe many people are using its iPhone application but seeing your traffic erode has to be troubling.

Nevertheless, there are still many people excited about Foursquare and what it could be. I think this excitement is misplaced; it’s not Foursquare that should be getting them stoked but the potential of a location-based service that delivers a variety of tangible, interesting and useful benefits.

To me, Foursquare is Friendster. What’s going to get me excited is the Facebook of the location-based service market.

Is Quora the Next Twitter or Foursquare?

By Mark Evans in Social Media 20 Comments Tags: , , ,

Is it just me or has Quora become the hottest thing in social media? All of a sudden, the cool kids have joined Quora, a social-fueled Q&A service that has the pedigree of being started by ex-Facebook employees.

So what’s the appeal? It’s not that a Q&A service is new. Yahoo Answers, anyone? But for whatever reason, Quora has captured the imagination of many people, including the digitally engage,d who were early users of Twitter and Foursquare.

The big question is whether Quora’s the real deal or whether it’s just the newest shiny toy to appear on the scene. You have to remember the high-tech world is always looking for the next thing so perhaps Quora has just become the latest obsession in the wake of anything else emerging.

Keep in mind that Facebook has gone mainstream, Twitter is getting there, Tumblr is wavering between niche and edging towards mainstream, and Foursquare is social media’s emperor with no clothes even though many people really want to believe it has potential to be something – whatever that something is.

This brings us to Quora, which has seen a spike in traffic over the past few months. As a Q&A service, Quora is interesting, although I wouldn’t describe it as compelling. I think a big part of Quora’s appeal is how it blatantly leverages social media – everything from pretty much forcing you register using Twitter or Facebook to offering suggestions about other people you could follow who are also on Quora.

The follow tool is brilliant because once you see familiar faces on Quora, the service is validated. When you follow someone, Quora is validated in the eyes of the person you just followed….and around and around we go.

Don’t get me wrong, Quora could be a very interesting service. Heck, Ev Williams apparently answered a question about launching a start-up at SXSW. The biggest danger facing Quora could be the amount of hype that it could attract now that it appears to be anointed as social media’s Next Big Thing. The hype could suddenly make Quora less cool because it will have been discovered by people beyond the leading edge.

At the same time, Quora could start to face unrealistic expectations about how the service provides value and – here it comes – how it’s going to make money. Sometimes, be careful what you wish for.

Let’s just say I’m not completely jumping on the Quora bandwagon. Despite my earlier pledge to not dive into new services, Quora is difficult to ignore but my interest will be pragmatic as opposed to enthusiastic.

Want to Capture the Spotlight? Be Successful

By Mark Evans in Blogs, Media, Social Media 1 Comment Tags: , , ,

Over the past two years, I have worked with a lot of start-ups looking to establish themselves and attract media and blogger coverage. After all, what better way to jump-start your business than quality coverage from high-profile newspapers and bloggers.

The problem is there are dozens, if not hundreds, of new start-ups looking to capture the spotlight each and every day. Even if you have created a better mousetrap, it doesn’t guarantee coverage. It can be a frustrating because there are start-ups with amazing technology and innovative services that fail to get even a sniff of attention.

The problem is there is too much digital noise and competition, which makes rising above the crowd challenging.

The start-ups that do get coverage in the New York Times and blogs such as TechCrunch are anomalies. For whatever reason, they have the right story at the right time, and it has little to do with the quality of their technology, service or the excellent pitches crafted by PR agencies.

So how does a start-up attract media and blogger coverage? The answer is simple: be successful.

It’s not enough to have an innovative product or service; what really matters is if you can attract enough users or customers to validate that what you are doing is interesting or, at least, newsworthy.

Only then will your story start to resonate with reporters and bloggers. It really boils down to what reporters and bloggers like: success or failure. If you’re wildly successful, that’s interesting. If you explode and make millions of dollars in venture capital disappear, that’s interesting. If you’re a start-up with an innovative service but few users, that’s not interesting or newsworthy.

Does this mean start-ups with few users give up on trying to get media and blogger coverage? Probably not. What it does suggest, however, is having realistic expectations about how much attention you will attract when there are few people using your product or service.

Rather than being disappointed when the world doesn’t beat a path to your door, a better approach is focusing on improving your product or service, and growing the business. Don’t worry about attracting attention from reporters or bloggers. If you’re business becomes a success, you can hit them again with a much more interesting story.

Bottom line: If you’re a start-up with no or few customers or users, getting media or blog coverage is a major challenge. It doesn’t mean what you’re doing isn’t interesting; it just means that it’s not newsworthy until more people endorse that what you’re doing is worthy writing about.

Why Less (Digital) is More (Time, Focus)

By Mark Evans in Blogs, Social Media No Comments Tags: , , ,

In 2011, less is going to be more….and that’s a good thing.

It’s a decision that comes on the heels of a happily hectic 2010 in which my business surged ahead, and a number of other projects (including the mesh conference) consumed time. It was a great year but it felt like a hurricane, leaving me with the feeling that things could be better organized, more efficient and more productive.

So less in 211 means:

1. Less time online. Given how much time I do spend on time, spending less time will still be a lot. Nevertheless, this means being online not because I should or it’s convenient but because there’s something to do. It means using the time for just fooling around online to read a book or a newspaper, play a game or call a friend.

2. Less time on the iPhone. I love smartphones but they’re starting to rule us rather than us ruling them. We have become compulsive obsessive about checking our smartphones all the day. How many times do you think people check for e-mail a day? I’d say at least 25 times. Our smartphones have killed our time to think and take a mental break because they give something to “do” when there is a break in the action.

3. Less apps. I’m a app-aholic, always looking for the new and shiny application that will do things differently or better. It’s fun to check out new toys but it also means spending less time when the apps that do the work. For me, this includes WordPress, DropBox, Freshbooks, Skype, Google Docs, Bit.ly and, hopefully, Manymoon. While it’s great to discover a gem that not a lot of people are using, it also take time.

4. Less time in the in-box. People may say e-mail is dying but not for me. The amount of time spend in my in-box is terrifying. That said, most of it is work-related. It’s managing projects, reaching out and talking with clients, responding to inquiries, and doing stuff like mesh. Still, I’m in the in-box most of the day as opposed to checking several times a day. We all tend to forget that e-mail isn’t going to disappear if it’s not checked hourly. At the same time, not checking and responding to e-mail may re-set expectations about quickly someone should respond to an e-mail.

5. Less social media. Now, here’s the elephant in the room. For me, social media is mostly professional and brand building vehicle. They are tools used to establish a stronger digital presence, consume valuable information and, as important, drink the digital Kool-Aid. After all, it is difficult to be a digital marketing and social media strategist if you’re not using and experimenting with the tools.

Still, social media is a time-suck. Blogging, my social bread and butter, takes up a lot of time and intellectual energy. I’m not really into Facebook so I’m good with the little time it does consume. That leaves Twitter, which I love but probably spend too much time scrolling through tweets looking for gems. If less is truly more, then less time in Twitter is the goal for 2011. I’ll probably create as much content – seven to 10 tweets a day – because it’s how build digital street cred but it’s the consuming that needs to be addressed.

We’re only into day three of 2011 so the “less is more” theme is a new and fragile concept. That said, I didn’t open my laptop after 5 p.m. yesterday until this morning so maybe it’s taking root!

What about you? Could less be more?

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