FCC Votes for Net Neutrality!

GUYS! GUYS!

The FCC voted for net neutrality!!!

Net neutrality is the principle that all websites on the internet should be treated equally, and big time sites like Netflix and Hulu shouldn't be able to pay for better bandwidth from ISPs. Essentially, this decision means that the FCC is treating the internet like a public utility.

This is a big deal. Although this definitely doesn't mean the battle for net neutrality is won (ISPs will likely bring suit against the FCC to try to finagle a deal that will allow for special treatment of certain sites.), this is a huge step forward for proponents of net neutrality.

Interestingly, this is an issue that has united both major internet companies like Google and Facebook and individual activists. I wonder if this has something to do with where these two giants get their money.... Internet companies would be in a stranglehold if they decided not to "play" in a non-net neutral environment. For example, if Bing chose to pay for speed, but Google did not... Bing could surpass Google in search over time because of speed discrepancies. Not to mention these large internet staple companies were once newbies, and in a non-net neutral environment, well they would have been in a very tough bind....

This is definitely a step in the right direction in my opinion, but it is also only a first step in this battle. It is also a step in the direct of more regulation of the internet in general, and that... well that's a little more ambiguous...

Check out Mashable's coverage of this decision here. 

Unlocking the social media potential of your bike lock!

The incident.

Seventeen weeks ago, I locked my bicycle over a subway grate in Flatiron, and right after I finished pulling the keys out to be on my way they fell down to the depths of said grate to be lost forever. Luckily some very nice New York City police officers witnessed the whole thing and rounded up a lovely gentleman from a nearby construction site to hack the lock away and free my bike, creating quite a scene I instagramed the incident to remind me of my idiocy and also to highlight the beauty of human nature and the strength of the U-Lock.

Given my incident, you can imagine my excitement when I came across the Mashable article this morning showcasing Bitlock, the bike lock of the future.With Bitlock you don't need keys to remove your lock, just a smartphone and Bitlock's app. One click of a button and poof your bike is unlocked. The app also seconds as a social network and tracks how far you have ridden and how many calories you've burned. The app also lets you grant your friends permission to unlock your bike to borrow it. In effect, the lock creates a mini community around your bike through social media.

While the company is quite new, I imagine that the data it gathers from its users will be valuable information and useful to, say city planners looking to install a bike sharing program. Or to companies looking to target the bicycling community at large.

Hashtag eCommerce - Tweet to Buy

A start-up called Chirpify is allowing consumers to make purchases via tweets and posts using a new kind of hashtag called "action tags." How it works: A business uses a hashtag like #Buy #Oreo in a TV or online ad, then consumers would post that action tag to their social network and a transaction would be executed through PayPal.

According to Nielsen, almost 50% of all smartphone users claim to use their devices while watching TV and almost nine in 10 homes have at least one smartphone or tablet that can be used as a second screen. Furthermore, Chirpify is seeing a 4% sales conversion rate on the 10,000+ products it's already offered, which is significantly higher than traditional web display conversion rates.

I think this will appeal to brand marketers for several reasons. First, it's instantaneous. Brands can translate the excitement and interest created by a great ad into sales simply and easily. Second, it will also serve as an opportunity to better measure the impact of TV advertising, which has historically been difficult due to the time lag between seeing the ad and the purchase. Third, it's a great way to engage with customers and can multiply the impact of the original ad.

However, I also think that there are some drawbacks that could limit the success of this concept. First, in order to compel consumers to make that purchase right away, I think the products are going to have to be limited edition or include some sort of discount. Second, I think the products will also need to be relatively simple and less expensive because if consumers need to research the product, they will be less likely make that instant purchase. Lastly, I just wonder whether this idea will actually catch on and people will purchase enough through this S-commerce platform for it to be viable. I'm a slow social media adopter, I'm not convinced I would ever buy this way...what do you think? Would you tweet an action tag to make a purchase?

In conclusion, this is a very interesting idea with great potential, though it does have some drawbacks, as every medium does. As a brand marketer, I'd be interested to test this, but I'd first need to understand the ROI implications, which I think are pretty complex given the multiple mediums (TV, online display, social) as well as the potential word-of-mouth that a brand could get out of a successful campaign. They've just signed several big brands, so it will be exciting to follow the new campaigns and see how well they perform.

For more information, read the Mashable article here.

Old Spice Guy vs. Fabio = Big Ad Win

In another sign of the impending apocalypse, Mashable reports that the latest incarnation of Old Spice Guy drew 22 million views on YouTube.

CBS May Be Making Online TV Even Cheaper

In a move that could spell even lower value perception by consumers for online media content, Mashable reports that CBS's Les Moonves is hinting that the price point for television programs may be lowered to $0.99 saying, "There are certain shows that will be sold on Apple for 99 cents."

The question is whether this shift, which Apple's iTunes has been pushing for, will be followed by other TV content providers. If so, as consumers shift more to watching content online and the value of commercials on traditional cable and network outlets becomes less and less, where will the money to create this content come from? And where will this democratization of content creaton lead the industry? How will we ever be able to produce such quality content such as Survivor and Fear Factor on 99 cents an episode?

Iran Goverment Bans Gmail

Google just cannot seem to keep its technologies out of the international spotlight (which I imagine is amazing for its PR business). First, China, now Iran. The Times is now reporting what Mashable did over an hour ago: the Iranian government has said it will permanently ban the use of Google's Gmail in the country.

How this will affect the ability of the Iranian citizenry to communicate via the internet is unclear, but it is my guess that the information coming out of the country will escape despite this roadblock.

The political and ideological implications of banning Gmail notwithstanding, it seems to me that any government trying to hold back the flow of information in this age of connectedness is a bit like trying to hold back raging floodwaters with your hand.

Crowdsourcing for Social Good

I recently came across a really interesting use of crowdsourcing by way of an iPhone app. Through "The Extraordinaires" app you can perform tasks that have been parsed into small elements for not-for-profits. These small individual efforts then accumulate to produce a larger result.

An example of the work that is being done on The Extraordinaires is shown at left where iPhone users can help scan pictures of individuals that are missing in Haiti. You can check out this and other similar apps on mashable and read up on other uses that The Extraordinaires are finding for crowdsourcing on their blog.

Immortality via Google?

As if it didn't already provide a ridiculous number of products and services, Google has yet another hot product -- immortality. Well, sort of. Mashable blogger, Stan Schroeder, wrote an interesting post today about his take on online immortality. While, with today's medical technology, every one of us must some day leave the physical world, each one of us could conceivably live forever on the internet.

Stan writes:

Think about it. Today, people, are writing blogs, commenting on other people’s blogs, sharing their feeds, conversing on forums, sharing photos on Flickr, sharing videos on YouTube, Facebooking, MySpacing, Digging, Redditing and Twittering. All this leaves a very tangible trail of data which is - unless private - quite easily obtainable.

So how does Google come into play in the grand scheme of things? Everything we do online is information, and Google stores this information and calls it back up when requested through a search request. From twittering, to Facebook shennanigans, to product reviews and even blog posts for a certain CBS class, everything is kept in some form just waiting to be seen -- whether you're alive or not.

While this does not guarantee instant immortality or fame, there are many things one can do to leave a bigger footprint on the net. For example, posting interesting pictures on Flickr, writing blogs that have high potential to get linked by others, and even throwing more sheep at your friends on Facebook will up your chances of immortality via Google. Just remember that while you may be a gracious, high-quality person in real life, the online you may indicate otherwise -- be careful of what you do on the internet. It could come back to bite you in the bum sooner AND later.

Sources: Mashable