At the IPO: 5 Warning Signs of Facebook’s future

Mirror, mirror on the wall ....
What is Facebook's future?

The Facebook initial public offering (IPO) is the news this week, but for those who can buy stock (a privileged few) and those who cannot (most of us) this may be a good time to pause and look at some signs that this stock sale is not the best thing for Facebook or social media.

Five stories and opinions I read this week have me concerned about the future of both:

As Facebook grows, millions say, 'no, thanks', by Anick Jesdanun, Deputy Technology Editor at the Associated Press: If Facebook is to live up to its pre-IPO hype and reward the investors who are clamoring for its stock this week, it needs to convince some of the resisters to join. Two out of every five American adults have not joined Facebook, according to a recent Associated Press-CNBC poll.

Does going public change the way Facebook views our private data? by Shawn Hess, WebProNews: Facebook is a social network, if advertisers can’t take advantage of your personal connections and personal preferences what good would it be? A recent Associated Press-CNBC poll found that almost 65 percent of Facebook users either weren’t sure or didn’t feel safe purchasing goods through Facebook.

GM to drop Facebook ads due to low consumer impact by Ben Klayman and Alexei Oreskovic, Reuters: General Motors Co. says it will stop advertising on Facebook, because Facebook's ads had little impact on consumers. "This does highlight what we are arguing is the riskiness of the overall Facebook business model," said Brian Wieser, Internet and media analyst at Pivotal Research Group.

Facebook's Future May Still Be in Play, by Peter Suciu, E-Commerce Times: Half of Americans believe the social network giant Facebook is just a passing fad, and a similar number believe the expected asking price in its upcoming IPO is too high, according to an Associated Press-CNBC poll.

The Future Is More Than Facebook, opinion by Rich Karlgaard, publisher of Forbes on The Wall Street Journal: The time to make big returns in Facebook and in social media has passed.

So, what do you think? Is the future of social media a bigger and better Facebook? Or will the IPO be the high-water mark for Facebook and, possibly, social media?


Or, if you are a Facebook user: Is Facebook an essential part of your life? And, what, if any,  changes at Facebook would make you leave it?

Should student use of technology be banned in the classroom?

Students texting on smart phones or using their laptops and tablets to check Facebook has become seemingly ubiquitous in the college classroom.


But so has use of these technologies to look up more information to fuel a debate or research material for a writing assignment.


And while one student is clicking another may be distracted from the lecture or discussion of the moment.


What is an instructor to do?


Ban the technology outright?


Set strict rules about its use?


Throw up the hands and say it’s up to the students?


My colleague at the Rochester Institute of Technology Dr. John Angelis teaches in the E. Philip Saunders College of Business and he decided to ban technology in the classroom altogether.


This led to some heated debate and a Twitter hashtag campaign by students.


Reflecting on his decision John has written a thoughtful post about what to do next.


You can read it here: Technology in the Classroom: Blessing or Bane?

It’s April 1 and that can only mean …

A quick roundup of early April 1 fun found on the web


Conan O’Brien Buys Mashable, Ousts Pete Cashmore as CEOL: Yes, you read that right. It begins: "Hello, fellow Mashables. It’s Conan O’Brien, and I’ve got big news. Two hours ago, I purchased Mashable.com. I’ve taken it over." Mashable’s home page now also features a "Powered by Conan O’Brien" banner. 


Google Maps go 8-Bit: On the Google Maps page the top right clickable tab is Quest and it takes you to a beautiful 8-bit-style map that looks like it was made for the old Nintendo Entertainment System in your basement. Even the Street View images have been solarized and made into crazy color 8-bit views. 


Google announces driverless car for NASCAR: You may already be familiar with Google’s self-driving car project. So what would logically come next? A self-driving NASCAR race vehicle of course! Google announces the launch of Google Racing, a "partnership with NASCAR to help self-driving vehicles compete in the world of stock car racing." 


Google Street Roo - exploring the outback one bounce at a time: Google Australia finds a way to conquer one of the final frontiers on that continent - The Outback. The site announces that: "Over the next four weeks, more than a thousand Big Red kangaroos will be equipped with a 360-degree head camera that will automatically capture images when the marsupial is on the move during daylight hours." 


 And finally a game that asks the question… 


April Fools’ Day prank or real app? As more and more off-the-wall apps appear, it might be difficult to figure out what’s real and what’s not. So folks at The Next Web decided it’d be fun to play a game. The blog post offers descriptions of things that may or may not be real apps and at the end gives the correct answers. It’s more fun if you don’t skip to the end! 


Image from Mashable.com

For better or worse: Facebook Timeline is here!

Facebook Timeline is here for everybody this week (March 30) …. and for some it will be overwhelming.

As previously noted, this next evolution of Facebook, was not welcomed by all Facebookers, but was going to happen regardless because of the advertising opportunities it presents Facebook. The layout gives FB several prime advertising spots. Look for ads to start showing up soon (if you haven’t seen them already).

There are some things (some good and some otherwise) that Timeline changes about Facebook:

Apps gone wild: Facebook now has more than 3,000 apps that can be added to individual timelines. While this should make Facebook more fun there may be a downside (see the next point). In any case to learn more you can also visit the official Facebook Timeline Apps page.

Apps and privacy: As CNN Money reported on March 23 in Facebook strips 'privacy' from new 'data use' policy explainer a Facebook data policy document intended to make the site's methods more transparent is instead kicking up a fresh firestorm. It clarifies that Facebook's current terms allow apps to tap into all of the information that the app's users have access to.

  "This is a significant acknowledgement that Facebook is focused on data collection, data storage and data sales, because that's where they make their money," says Sarah Downey, a privacy analyst at security software company Abine. "They're more accurately describing what they do." Some 32,000 Facebook members in Germany issued the same one-sentence protest which roughly translated as: "I reject the changes."

Business pages: Timeline for business pages brings a lot of new functionality for business, but also takes away some features that were being abused. For a great summary of these see Adeo Group’s Facebook Timeline Checklist for Your Business Pages. In a nutshell Timeline should give business owners more flexibility and options for customizable content.

Too busy running a business? Business owners may think they don’t have the time to pay attention to Facebook’s evolution, but Forbes recently posted a great report by Mari Smith called Facebook 101 for Busy Business Owners that cuts through a lot of the confusion. This piece will quickly help business owners understand why investing a little time in a Facebook could pay dividends.

If you have just a litle extra time you should read 15 Must Know Tips to Rock Your New Facebook Timeline Business Page by Pam Moore. This is an excellant wrap up on the key things you need to know re Facebook business pages.

And one final warning: Don’t fall for the "Remove Facebook’s Timeline" scam that is now widely circulating. The scams range from getting you to click through to a scam survey to hacking your Facebook profile (so the hackers can spam all your friends). There is no going back to the old Facebook no matter how badly you want to. Read more at: Can you remove Facebook's Timeline feature?

Whether you've adjusted to the new Timeline or are still struggling to make sense of it, some previous posts might help:

Timeline basics: This looks at what the change means and how to clean up your past history on Facebook.

Privacy settings and friends: This examines whether you need to reconsider your definition of a "friend" and helps you re-examine your privacy settings.

Using Friend Lists: This looks at how to manage Friend Lists in two different ways.

Final preparations: A checklist to get ready for Timeline and how to set up regular reminders to check your Facebook privacy settings.

So, what do you think ? Is Timeline a good thing or not-so-much?

Google vs. Human: People should always win

My recent loss of access to all things Google thanks to some hackers has me thinking about what it is Google is and is not.

Some background: In mid-February my Gmail account was hacked (earlier post: I’m in Google Hell: A Cautionary Tale) and it took multiple attempts and 20 days for me to get the account back - minus all my contacts and much of my old mail.

During that time I had no access to Google+, Blogger, Google Docs etc. etc. It got me thinking about Google as a customer-centered company.

The company’s informal corporate slogan "Don't be evil" is so-often-quoted that it leaves the impression that all that Google does is for the good (and by default the good of its users).

However, my recent experience in Google customer hell would tell a different story. That this company has not direct human interface with its customers says two things to me:

1. Google prefers not to deal personally with the very people who make its business success possible

2. Google is run by people who are possibly uncomfortable dealing with people in any way other than electronic means (email, for example).

So, given that, here are some things that happened to me contrasted as what Google did and what a reasonable Human would do:

Google: When I went looking for information after my account was hacked, sent me to the Account Recovery Page. This page invited me to enter my email address to be taken to another page where I could answer a series of questions including some most of us would struggle with (The exact date you opened your Gmail account? The exact date you opened another Google-related account?)
Human: Send people to a page where they can have a live chat with someone who can likely resolve their issue on the spot.

Google: After six business days (not the 3-5 promised) I was asked via email for additional information to prove who I was.
Human: Use a Google search to see what comes up on the person contacting Google. If their Google account is high in the results (as mine was) and that account points straight to my Gmail email address that should be proof enough that I’m who I say I am. But wait, if the Google search turns up dozens of results and all point to me that should also be enough proof.

Google: Has human beings who answer the general customer service number – (650) 623-4000 whose main role seems to be to drive people back to filling out online forms.
Human: Have empowered human beings answering the phone who can actually resolve customer problems.

Being human would seem to be in Google’s best interest since it is humans that use the company’s services, provide the raw material for the business model and will decide today, tomorrow or sometime in the future if they want to be a part of Google’s online ecosystem.

I’m not sure what it means for a corporation to be “human,” but I have a sense it includes putting people and their issues first and living up to the slogan “Don't be evil.”

Related post
I’m in Google Hell: A Cautionary Tale