Blog Archives

Google’s social network finally revealed: The Google+ Project

Posted on June 29, 2011 by Nathan T. Wright — No Comments ↓

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!

Tags: ABC5, Beluga, Buzz, Facebook, Gmail, Google, Google Plus Project, Huddle, Katie Eastman, Orkut, Shane Reiser, Twitter, Wave
Posted in Blog, Des Moines, Digital Media, Social Media, Social Networks, Video

Youth privacy in the age of social media

Posted on March 30, 2011 by Nathan T. Wright — 1 Comment ↓

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?

Tags: 4chan, ALA, american library association, Christopher Poole, danah boyd, Facebook, Loida Garcia Febo, Mark Zuckerberg, Queens Library, youth privacy
Posted in Blog, Conferences, Digital Media, Events, Presentations, Social Media, Social Networks, Video

Three creative uses of QR codes

Posted on January 3, 2011 by Hillary Brown — 6 Comments ↓

Over the last year or so, we’ve seen increased integration of QR codes in traditional and digital marketing campaigns in the U.S. and even on a local level. You might commonly see QR codes in your local newspaper, on print ads, in magazines, at point-of-purchase, and on product packaging. Since QR, or ‘quick-response’ codes can hold more information than standard linear bar codes and can be read by mobile phones with the correct applications installed, the possibilities of how these codes are utilized are endless.

Below are three examples of creative and effective uses of QR codes. Note that these campaigns are all from overseas where brands have been using QR codes for years. While many brands may want to jump on the QR code bandwagon because it seems cool and innovative, it’s important to remember that QR codes should provide some kind of value to the user. QR codes are still relatively new in the U.S., and you will likely need to provide additional information to educate your audience on how to scan the QR code and help instruct them on where they can grab scanner apps.

Zoo Records in Hong Kong uses QR codes as a platform to sell alternative music.

Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) the largest mobile phone operator in Russia promotes its Red Energy tariff plan in Moscow with a QR Code treasure hunt.

The N Building in the Tachikawa district of Tokyo displays a QR code on the whole side of the building facing the street that uncovers information about the stores inside and special offers to those scanning.

What are some creative uses of QR codes that you’ve seen? How were the QR code campaigns marketed?

Tags: digital marketing, mobile marketing, mobile TeleSystems, QR codes, The N Building zoo records
Posted in Blog, Digital Media, Social Media, Video

A few thoughts on the iPhone 4

Posted on August 10, 2010 by Nathan T. Wright — No Comments ↓

After three years of desperately clinging to the 4GB first generation iPhone like some old curmudgeon, I finally upgraded to the 32GB iPhone 4 this weekend. I used it to records some of my initial thoughts on video (above). The things that impressed me about the device were practical stuff: much better battery life and processing power.

Have you snagged an iPhone 4 yet? What do you think? Here’s what a few people said about antennagate in Norah’s last post.

Tags: antennagate, Apple, battery life, iphone 4, processing power
Posted in Blog, Mobile, Video

Would you buy another iPhone?

Posted on July 21, 2010 by Norah Carroll — No Comments ↓

The Lava Row FlipCam came out from the depths of our office to make an appearance at last week’s Des Moines Tweetup at el Bait Shop. Apple held an iPhone 4 press conference earlier that day, offering up an apology for the functional issues many users had encountered in getting (and keeping) reception. Naturally, we wondered if our Des Moines tweeps would consider buying an iPhone again. Here’s what they said.

Would you consider buying an iPhone? Did Apple do enough to solve the problems with the iPhone 4? How should they win back the loyalty of their customers? Share your thoughts below.

Tags: Apple, Des Moines, Des Moines Tweetup, dmtweetup, el Bait Shop, Greg Hauenstein, greghauenstein, iPhone, iphone 4, Jordan Lampe, jslampe, Kate Schneider, kateschneider, Nathan Wright, nathantwright, Norah Carroll, norahcarroll, Rob Glazebrook, robbyg, tweetup, tweetups, Twitter
Posted in Blog, Des Moines, Events, Video