Facebook - Why?

I have just visited my Facebook homepage.

No big deal there then. Except it's my first visit for about two weeks. And looking at my 'friends', I am not alone. Activity over the past two weeks has been, well to be pretty blunt, pretty slack.

Is this a coincidence or is it a trend? This is not a debate for today. I will however monitor activity over the next few days. I keep reading about Facebook's 'repositioning'. I am in the game, but even I do not know what this actually means. Maybe its members don't either.

Have 'user privacy' concerns hit home? That's one, I guess, for the future debate. Let's monitor and try and work that one out.

Facebook Gets Traction

Microsoft's recent investment in FaceBook values FaceBook at about US$15 billion. Is this realistic?

Anecdotally, I have found myself using FaceBook more recently than any other social network. Others have too. Microsoft's own employees have been using FaceBook long before any investment was discussed. The same applies to the leaders of New Zealand's interactive advertising community. FaceBook would appear to be their 'social network' of choice.

What impact might this have on the wider Internet landscape, particularly on Google? Social networks and search are two separate functions for most users, but will that last? Can search be integrated into social networks in a way that is seamless and adds value to users? I believe it can.

The skirmish that has prompted so much corporate and investment activity in this area can only grow as these platforms consolidate. From my perspective, and with the positive impact for its advertising network under the terms of its share purchase, Microsoft has got a bargain.

Blogs v Social Networks

I Blog. I am also a member of two online Social Networks, LinkedIn and FaceBook.

Over the past few months, I have seen an interesting trend amongst the use of both 'channels' by people I know. Is this just a coincidence, or does it mark a more widespread shift in terms of online engagement?

Essentially, the move has been in favour of the Social Networks. This is particularly marked in the UK. Regular 'bloggers' have become almost obsessive 'social networkers'. I think in part this is down to the increasing number of interactive features and applications which have been created for these networks. Blogs, I suspect, are seen as being fairly passive, whilst social networks provide significant more opportunity for individual and group interaction.

From my point of view, I enjoy the benefits of both. For those familiar with this Blog therefore, I thank you for visiting and sharing my thoughts.

For those who would prefer to make more direct contact, then you can join my Social Networks via the following two links:

Peter's LinkedIn Profile
Peter's FaceBook Profile

To those, I look forward to meeting you soon.

Facebook Gets Personal

The Wall Street Journal ran an interesting story on Friday. Facebook are planning to create an advertising model based on their user's personal profiles.

I read the same story on the Techcrunch blog over the weekend. This is not new thinking. We have been adopting this model for over one year now. Welcome to the World of Pingar!

Targeting personal profiles works. Pingar is based on this online advertising model because it makes sense to both advertisers and content owners. Personal privacy is assured by providing advertisers with a range of generic demographic details, not personal information. This model matches most advertisers existing marketing strategy. It maps campaign against demographic profile.

It's the way to go.

Facebook faces

I reckon that Facebook held a pretty good party in Reading last night.

This morning, I received email invites from both Claire O'Halloran and Steve Clayton, both of the Microsoft UK Partner Group to join their Facebook networks.

Being a Microsoft UK Partner, but living in Tauranga, has its moments. During Claire's recent visit, she talked about the need for Microsoft UK and Microsoft NZ to engage more closely. I believe that this can definitely be achieved through the Partner channels. Hence I have bookmarked and read both Claire and Steve's blogs regularly. It is good to know what they are thinking 'up north'.

Prompted by the two invites received this morning, I have sent out some of my own. Let's see what new faces these bring.