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Author Archives: Nathan T. Wright
Google’s social network finally revealed: The Google+ Project
Yesterday Google launched their much-rumored push into the social networking space: The Google+ Project. I was interviewed by ABC5‘s Katie Eastman (video embed below) about the new network and how it stacks up to the main competition – Facebook.
Here are a couple of quick takeaways and initial reactions to Google+:
No friend requests. Unlike Facebook, Google+ doesn’t require mutual friendship acceptance. Users can subscribe to each other’s updates without defining one another as a friend (similar to Twitter), thereby removing some of the initial social navigation barriers, drama and decision-making. Note: Google+ users still have complete control over how their profiles appear, down to specific individuals.
Small groups. Google+ has baked a feature called Huddle into the network, which lets you create small groups of colleagues or friends to interact with. We’re seeing an explosion of group messaging apps right now, and Facebook’s recent acquisition of Beluga proves that the major players want to have a presence in that space. Beluga is something we find quite useful here at Lava Row (we have a Beluga “pod” for our work group and one with a client team). Facebook has not yet integrated Beluga into it’s standard messaging system, so it appears that Google has beat them to it with Huddle – at least in terms of layering it on top of existing products.
Where will the users come from? The biggest challenge is 750 million+ active Facebook users that “live” in that ecosystem every day. Google will need to focus on user overlap (similar to the symbiotic relationship between Twitter and Facebook) because there’s no way to shift that many people overnight. Integrating Google+ with popular, existing products such as Gmail will also be key.
So what are your thoughts on Google+? The company has been stumbled of late with their Buzz and Wave products, but they’ve been quietly succeeding outside of North America with Orkut. Please leave your comments below.
The Launch of Google+ from Katie Eastman on Vimeo.
ABOVE: Video of the ABC5 interview with Nathan T. Wright. Watch for the Shane Reiser man-hug at the end!
Upcoming Lava Row Lunch: Location-Based Networks 101
On June 8th, the latest installment of our Lava Lunch series will be a discussion about location-based networks such as Foursquare, Gowalla and Facebook Places – and the big opportunities for businesses and brands. We’ll discuss platform features, usage, and demographics, as well as share examples and case studies of how businesses are currently taking advantage of the these new tools.
Refreshments and catered lunches will be provided. We’ll get started at noon, but feel free to stop by between 11:30 and 12:00 for some good, old-fashioned networking.
Tickets can be purchased at the bottom of this post for $30.00 per person, plus a nominal Eventbrite fee. Or, skip the fee and pay us with Dwolla. Full event details and directions can be found on the Lava Lunch page.
To get primed for the event, you may want to read Foursquare For Dummies in the Des Moines Register, featuring our own Norah Carroll. She answers questions such as “So, um, what is it?” and “Won’t burglars know when you’re not home?”
Hope to see you on June 8th!
Above image credit: nanpalmero via flickr
Five reasons to attend the Des Moines 140 Conference
Deb Brown and I are organizing the Des Moines 140 Character Conference (#140conf), which takes place Monday, May 9th at the Civic Center’s Stoner Theater. I may be a little biased, but here are five reasons why you should attend.
1.) A first for Iowa. Originally created by Jeff Pulver, 140 is a national conference with localized events in different cities, focused on real-time technology’s transformative power over business, government, culture and our personal lives. Each speaker has 10 minutes to present, and it’s a full day of speakers. This is the first #140conf in the state.
2.) The cast of characters. Deb has done a great job assembling a diverse speaker line-up, featuring familiar local faces and many new ones.
3.) The agriculture voices. We’re in Iowa – so this makes sense, right? I’m personally excited to hear from Jeff Caldwell (Successful Farming), Shannon Latham (Latham Hi-Tech Seeds) and Tara Litzenberger (the infamous @JohnDeereTara on Twitter) about how new media is changing their industry.
4.) A day of networking. You’ll get to meet and mingle with attendees representing all sorts of industries and backgrounds, from businesses small to large.
5.) A Monday off. Sort of. This type of event fits perfectly under “professional development.” Tell your boss that. Hell, bring your boss!
Tickets ($65 per person, $15 student rate) are available here. We hope to see you there!
Youth privacy in the age of social media
Above is a presentation I gave last week at the American Library Association‘s youth privacy summit in Chicago. I addressed how teenagers are currently using social and mobile technology and their varying views of what privacy actually means to them.
You can’t dig deep into this topic without coming across the mountains of research done by none other than danah boyd – and I referenced her work often. This presentation was only meant to be a conversation starter, and I highly recommend danah’s publications and research to anyone wanting to explore the complex issues behind youth privacy and emerging media.
Some of the questions put forth in the session were:
- What digital footprints are we leaving behind online through our participation in social networks?
- How will this data be used in the future? (Potentially integrated with non-tech brands such as Kraft, OnStar and Safeway.)
- Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) and Christopher Poole’s (4chan) opposite views on authenticity.
- How do teenagers define privacy? How does this differ from other generations?
- How do teenagers navigate social networks to protect their privacy?
- Where are they learning these skills? (Typically peers, not adults or the social networks themselves.)
- What new, more private forms of online media are they migrating to next, while still maintaining a Facebook presence?
- Do teens actually use email?
Below are few additional remarks I made after the session in an interview with Loida Garcia Febo from Queens Library New York, referencing how individual teenagers are tweaking their Facebook usage in interesting ways to maintain their own personal sense of privacy.
I would love to hear your opinions in the comments below (especially from parents). Are teenagers failing to understand long-term privacy implications of using social technology? Or are they smarter about privacy that any other generation before them?
Five apps to watch at SXSW 2011
The South by Southwest Interactive festival has consistently been a proving ground for launching new social networks (most famously, Twitter in 2007 and foursquare in 2009). Each year, pundits and conference-goers try to predict what the next breakout hit will be.
I’m not smart enough to figure that out, but I have noticed a common theme: These networks helped you figure out what parties and panels your friends were at. This is how Twitter was first used in March 2007 via the #SXSW hashtag, and foursquare gave us “trending locations” all around Austin in 2009.
So this year I’m keeping my eye on a couple of apps that center around group chat, proximity-based chat, and location-based heat mapping. Here they are!
Ask Around
This comes from (surprisingly) Ask.com and I’ve been playing with it here in Des Moines for a few days now. Essentially, it’s a proximity-based chat room that lets you adjust the mile radius around you – allowing you to 
chat with people within ten miles or less than a mile. Facebook integration is fast and seamless. Should be fun in packed venues down in Austin.
Yobongo
This app is similar to Ask Around (and officially launched on the exact same day), except that it’s taking a foursquare-esque approach to city rollout. Yobongo is starting with San Francisco, Austin, New York and Long Beach (for TED).
Beluga
Beluga is a group messaging app that lets you share messages and media (photos, video, etc.) with groups of friends. Think of it as really powerful, fast and robust text messaging platform that completely bypasses SMS and mobile carriers. And, oh yeah, Beluga was just acquired by Facebook – which fits with the social networking giant’s plans for simplifying messaging across email, text and Facebook messages.
Localmind
Here’s another proximity-based chat application, except that Localmind is positioned more around knowledge share and local expertise. It lets you ask questions of people checked-in to specific locations, ie. “What’s the wait like for tables?”
Domo
Domo wants you to be able to connect with strangers on Facebook at parties, events and on campus, focused around likes, interests, and hobbies. (All pulled and aggregated from your Facebook profile once you sync it up.)
I’ll definitely be experimenting with all of these at SXSW, and it will be interesting to watch which ones (if any) break away from the pack. Are there any new apps or social networks that you’re excited to try out at the festival?
And let’s not forget, the old school handshakes, hugs and hellos still work, too!
Photo credit: johanl on flickr.
