Entries Tagged 'Technology & Gadgets' ↓

Over at Digg.com this afternoon there was some social unrest in the social media world. You’ve probably read stories about how a relatively small percentage of Digg.com users are responsible for the majority of the popular posts that people see on the first few pages. This is not news. What’s interesting about today is that users are heavily ‘Digging’ stories about the system not working - or being undemocratic.

As of 4:15PM EST today there were two of these stories on the front page of Digg.com. The second story, which has been dugg by over 1,400 users is about how the author’s story wouldn’t appear on the home page due to Digg.com moderators silencing his message. The author also published a story about a ‘flaw’ in Digg.com’s ’submission model.’

Meanwhile, over on the very top Digg.com story, user Taylor Hayward shows us how the top Diggers are consistently promoting each other on to the top of digg.com. HOW THE DIGG SYSTEM IS BEING GAMED BY A SMALL NUMBER OF USERS.

What’s all this mean? Is social media just showing us the undue influence of the long tail? Or, is this simply a newer rendition of Pareto’s principle at work?

My question for you is this. How much do you feel this is already happening on similar sites like Newsvine? If it is happening, what can Newsvine or the communities of other social media sites do to stop it? Or, is there any reason to stop it at all - is this just Social Media Darwinism at work, and if so, should we just let the laws of natural selection play out without interfering? Be sure to let us know your thoughts on the subject.

Shortly after originally publishing this story on my Newsvine Column, Kevin Rose, the founder and chief architect of Digg.com, posted a reply on his blog to Digg.com’s detractors. You could find this blog post because it was right at the top of Digg’s home page, right next to the stories questioning Digg. As you might expect from a social media leader, Kevin’s calm reasoned tone and response was just what the doctor ordered (to the tune of 1,754 diggs as of right now). Not only did Kevin’s message explain Digg’s current practices and ranking algorithms, it also highlighted changes that are coming to Digg that will help quell user concerns like the ones being ‘dugg’ by so many readers. If you have a blog, a wiki, or even a traditional marketing and PR team, then you have probably already inferred that Kevin’s methods are ‘best practice’ for the social media space. Pay a lot of attention to conversations about you and your brand on the Internet so you don’t miss out on these conversational Tropical storms that if left ignored, end up Cat 5 Hurricanes in the back yard of your Trailer Park. React swiftly, acknowledge and be part of the community, defend your position without being defensive, contribute your ideas, and support what you’re saying with facts and reason. If you take this kind of action, you’ll likely end up OK, if not the better for it.

Another great example of this kind of social media optimization is Mike Davidson, CEO of Newsvine. Like, Kevin Rose, Mike is flat out like a lizard drinkin’ when it comes to responding to conversations on his brand and product on the Internet. When I posted a story on my personal blog about Newsvine being out of commission last Saturday, he quickly found my story and commented on it. Not exactly the kind of thing we’re used to from a CEO now is it? When I posted my story about Digg.com on Newsvine and asked Newsvine users if Newsvine would follow in similar foot steps to Digg.com, Mike D. was right there again - only an hour and a half after I posted my story. On that topic, NO, Newsvine community members do not think that Newsvine will experience the same kind of issues that Digg.com has seen.

Why do I say that? Because I asked them in a poll on my Newsvine story and the result is a 64%/36% vote in favor of Newsvine keeping out of user hot water…

Technorati Tags: Social Media Darwinism, digg.com, social software, newsvine, digg, social media, social media optimization, social unrest

We all want to stay connected as conveniently as possible. Take the BlackBerry, which has proven that when you solve a need (like HAVING to e-mail), and extend your capability (staying easily connected while also Golfing or watching your kids dance recital) that you can achieve cult-like popularity.

We’ve gotten a taste with connection devices like the BlackBerry but it’s not enough. It’s far too easy to say, I’d love my BlackBery SO much more if it had X.

If you spend a lot time online like Shannon and I do (and we know you do because you’re reading a blog), you get really excited when you see technology unveiled that offers cool new tools to connect to people online - in a convenient, flexible way. A lot of devices and technology fall short of this goal, either in application, design, form or function (or in every way). But we appreciate the effort, knowing that each device that misses the mark, either by the broadside of a barn or ever so slightly, brings us one step closer to an almost singular melding of technology, man and utility.

We think Sony’s new entry, the Mylo, short for MY Life Online, has just the kind of features, form, utility and gee-whiz appeal (did I mention uber cool stying) that will spark the interest of youngsters and old farts alike - because it answers some of our convenience questions. The Mylo lets you stay connected to the web from your broadband connection, lets you gorge on all sorts of web based content, along with hooking you up with IP phone technology like skype, a killer instant messaging app, music, video, and more. Combine that with lots of storage, room for more, plus a handy size and a functional keyboard and it could be the next must-use platform (ala BlackBerry).  Check out what Om Malik has to say about the Sony MYLO here.

UPDATE:  See the Mylo video from Gizmodo here.  Did you know that you can even share files wirelessly with other Mylo users?  Very cool!

technorati tags: Sony Mylo Mylo wireless recruiting

There is no getting away from the fact that most job seekers begin forming their opinion of you as an employer from the first click of their mouse on your corporate web site. As such, how your “online candidate experience” measures up has become one of the hottest topics in recruitment this year. CareerXroads just came out with their list of the top 25 careers sites, reviewing the ability to “Target, Engage, Inform and Respect the job seeker.” According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal on the same topic, the type of experience that a job seeker is looking for is one that:

1. Acknowledges them
2. Provides an easy process
3. Targets their interests or considerations
4. Protects their information
5. Provides details
6. Informs them about your company
7. Makes them feel wanted
8. Has a quick and easy application process
9. Application process is ONLINE
10. Has job listings that are easy to locate on the site

Most corporate careers sites don’t even come close to meeting these job seeker “bill of rights”. In fact, most are woefully pitiful with horrible navigation, lacking in updated information, confusing instructions regarding the ways for the candidate to connect with a recruiter that may be interested in them…etc. The result? A SAD overall candidate experience. Today I found something that might go a long way to helping all that.

Remember CareerBuilder’s Monk E-mail? Hilarious right? This fun viral campaign (one of the best CareerBuilder.com campaigns ever from a creative perspective in my opinion) was created by their agency Cramer-Krasselt along with the technology from an interactive company called oddcast. The Monkeys that you could add audio to and have them say whatever you wanted, is an example of the “talking avatar” products that oddcast develops. Their products can be delivered to any device including browsers and mobile devices, clearly enabling companies to personalize online communications.

Oddcast has ads running on Technorati for a new product that they have created called SitePal. According to oddcast, SitePal Avatar is:

…a virtual talking character that you can easily add to your Blog, Website, Flash movie, or even MySpace profile to express yourself online. SitePal avatars help you connect with your visitors (readers), impress your friends, and bring your website and blog to life, or just to be cool!

Such a component on your careers site could be used to provide job seekers with live audio information on where to quickly find jobs; give information about benefits; fun stories about working at your company; instructions on how to apply; and yes - even give job candidates information on next steps after they apply.  An annual subscription to SitePal is about 1/3 of the cost of a recruitment newspaper ad for a single sunday.

Go on over to the site and look at their examples. You have to see it to really get how this would work. You can see how sites are using SitePal to help close sales here (just translate this to say: how to use SitePal to sell candidates on your company and positions). You can even incorporate these into your recruiting blogs - see how one blogger is using a SitePal avatar here.

Adding a “SitePal” might be an interesting way to interact and connect with your site’s visitors and online job seekers.  Very Cool - very effective.

technorati tags: oddcast sitepal Careers Site Recruiting Blogs

While we are not coders or programmers, Julian and I affectionately think of ourselves as “A Couple of Geeks”. We love all gadgets, computers and I have a particularly soft spot in my heart for software and ATS.

My first real encounter with Julian was actually during a National Conference in Phoenix back in our Knight Ridder Digital days (now they are McClatchy Interactive - or as we call them, “McRidder”). One of our leaders couldn’t get the projector working with her laptop in order to start the presentation. Who were the 2 people that ran up to the front of the room? Yes - you guessed it. Sparks flew the minute we began taking a look at the computer hardware and figuring out why they weren’t talking to each other. The room of people knew it too. It was a great Ah-Ha moment.

Why of course, they are both Geeks and PERFECT for each other.

Anyway - enough about us. Still coming down off the high from posting on the JobSyntax blog about the current state of Recruiting Software Engineers for the Week 2: Blog Swap - I came across this great post on The Retrospector called: Top 10 Ways to Motivate Geeks. Be sure to go to the post to read more:

1. Geeks are curious. Let them feed their desire to learn things

2. Geeks like to be self-sustaining. Let them figure things out on their own.

3. Geeks are creative even if they don’t know it. Give them a chance.

4. Geeks need tools, good ones. Give them more than they need.

5. Private, yet collaborative. Geeks need to be left alone, but not too alone.

6. Free stuff. T-shirts, food, desktop widgets, whatever.

7. Control

8. Geeks need recognition

9. Freedom

10. Compensation - Saved this for last, but geeks gotta live too

The Recruiting Animal ponders recruitment marketing for a bit and asks in his recent post:

I haven’t seen any recruiters raving about MySpace. Maybe because they’re not recruiting teenagers. Most of us focus on LinkedIn.

But will something more be needed to find and market to the candidates of the future, Peter Altieri’s YouTube Generation?

As many of you know by now, I am the oldest of five kids. My youngest siblings are 24, 22, 18 and 16 (Yes, I was the woops child and there is 7 years between me and the next kid). Anyway, I talk to my sisters and brother about where they spend their time online. With the 24 and 22 year old, their media consumption habits aren’t all that different from mine. By and large, they don’t spend hours on myspace, but they actually don’t know what LinkedIn is either. I find that interesting about the two of them - I absolutely would have known what LinkedIn was at their age, but I am much more computer savvy and wired today than they will ever be.

As for the teenage siblings, they spend their time on myspace and their cell phones texting each other. It is their wireless devices that I really see as the main conduit for connecting to these candidates in the future. My youngest sister covets my new Internet ready, Mobile Windows 5 carrying Cingular 8125 - immediately asking, “Can I get into myspace on that?” (you can) “Wow, that is so cool.”

How will this effect recruiting? The cell phone is just how they connect. This generation will never have landlines. Sending them a text message is not an intrusion, it is just how you get a hold of them. This is how they will receive their email and soon browse the web. I see most of the connections happening via wireless devices that we still call “phones” today.

The Wall Street Journal just ran an article about a new TLD that was approved - New Domain Name — .Mobi –Could Spur Wireless Web. Similar to dot jobs, I see this development as BIG for recruitment:

Executives at Mobile Top Level Domain, headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, believe that consumers would be more likely to tap into the Internet from their cellphones if doing so were easier and faster than it is today. Monday, the company opened registration for companies that want a dot-mobi domain name.

In a matter of hours, thousands of websites were signed up, including Yahoo.mobi and Hotjobs.mobi. For now, registration for dot-mobi Web sites is open only to members of wireless industry trade associations, which include wireless carriers, handset manufacturers and media companies, including Yahoo Inc., that want to make money from providing content to the wireless Web.

I haven’t found a WHOIS for .mobi suffixes to be able to see everyone that has registered their name, but I do find it interesting that HotJobs made the list.

Even more interesting to me, if you go to the mobile friendly Google on my 8125, there are no PPC text links.