The Ecosystem of Twitter

Every time Apple launches a new device, iPad included, a whole business ecosystem emerges and kicks into gear. Cases, stands, speakers, headsets and more. The Sony Walkman never achieved this.

On the Web, it seems Twitter is the Cyburbian version of Apple products. It’s spun off an incredible amount of associated services (here’s an excellent list);

- Twitter ranking tools
- Twitter clients (Browser-based, OS-based and Air-based)
- Statistical / Analytical services
- Follower services
- Aggregators
- Image & Video Sharing
- Games

But what about the money?  Well, not so much. You can buy some products, send money or use an eBay linked service, but these are volume-based services, with, I suspect, not much volume. Perhaps someday. Twitter has worked out a system, it would seem, for revenue. We’re just not sure what that is yet.

But an entire ecosystem has evolved around the service. While there are over 80 other microblogging services, none have created such a powerful ecosystem. Kind of like comparing Microsoft’s Zune to the iPod.

So while the theoretical side of this would say it’s very successful. On the practical side however, there’s little to no money being generated. No revenue makes a company a Non-Profit Organization. So why? Personally I’m not sure. Perhaps you have ideas?

(Author: G. Crouch)

You Don’t Need A Haircut in Cyburbia

Most of us can recall that saying / meme from the late 60′s that still percolates a bit today: “Get a haircut, get a job“. Remember that? George Thorogood sang the song.

That statement reflected an economic view of society that in order to be a participative citizen, you needed to have a decent job. So you could get married, build a family and consume products. Consumptive society. Capitalism. And yes, capitalism works very nicely.

But in Cyburbia, it’s not about  a haricut and getting a job. It’s becoming your Social Value. Valerie Maltoni discusses this in her Conversation Agent blog. How many services are giving out social rewards for participation…yes you too can become a mayor in FourSquare or get Karma points in Plurk.

In Cyburbia, it’s not the economic value of what you’re producing in terms of physical “goods” it’s how your participating. It’s what your contributing to the “social good.”

To those in the Boomer generation or front end of Gen X and the Lost Generation, that means just about nothing. To those generations such “Social Value” meant only having a few close friends, still does. Getting extra Karma or becoming Mayor of a location means very little. Social Value to these generations is measured in your economic or productive value to society. Not to Geny Y or Millenials though. That’s a shift. A big one.

We think, based on our research to date, that this is one of the first major societal shifts as a result of social technologies. One that will carry for a number of years. FourSquare may or may not last a long time, being mayor may be a short or longer trend, but the overall concept of your “Social Value”, however it is measured, will be important amongst Gen Y and Millenials.

(Author: G. Crouch, CEO)

Social Media: One of America’s Greatest Global Gifts?

The most popular and critical tools in Social Media (Facebook, Buzz, Twitter etc.) all came out of the USA. In fact it was in large part the Hippies coming back into San Francisco from their failed communes that developed the initial software that eventually lead to today’s social media revolution.

The impact has been global and is escalating. During the Iranian elections of 2009 it was Facebook, Flickr and YouTube that played a vital role in the democratic parties getting out the message. Democratic parties in Moldova tried to use Twitter. Pro-democracy groups in Egypt have done the same.

America is a model of democracy (set aside your partisan views for a minute) and represents freedom. We in Canada follow the same beliefs, as do all truly democratic countries. Key to good democracy is the ability for people to organize into groups, then to create their content and manage their activities. This is precisely what Social Media tools and services enable.

Although some other great Social Media tools and services have popped up out of Canada, UK, Germany and other countries, it is truly a gift of America. While there may be smaller wars raging, if America wasn’t the hegemony it is today, we’d be in far worse shape.

Social Media channels, tools and services will enable ever greater levels of democracy. Most importantly, these tools are giving people in fragile nations, emerging markets and autocratic states a chance to create global awareness and find help. Social Media tools may help in better managing globalization and systemic risk factors as well.

When I think of Social Media in global terms (setting aside consumerism) one can only conclude that of the many gifts American drive, panache and entrepreneurism has given us, Social Media is certainly in the top three.
What about you? What do you think?

(Author: G. Crouch, MD)

Culture & Ethnicity in Social Media

Understanding cultural and ethnic behaviours and uses of Social Media can often play a key role in developing an engagement strategy for Social Media; whether that be for marketing, general communications or other purposes.

In our research, we’ve found that ethnic and cultural groups use tools in similar patterns, no matter the group. What we’ve found is that either a cultural our ethnic group that resides inside a non-indigenous state will use a Social Media tool that can connect them globally across all cultures and also use tools that connect them just within their cultural or ethnic group. Yeah, so what does that mean?

We define Global Social Media Tools as those tools or services that are agnostic to a culture or ethnic group and enable communication in any language (text, audio or image) and have global reach – doesn’t matter what country you’re in, you can access them (for the most part). Examples would be Twitter or Facebook or Buzz.

Then you have what we call Group Specific Social Media Tools. These are tools that are language (usually indicating culture or ethnicity) specific or culture/ethnic group specific. Examples would be Vkontakte which is Russia’s “Facebook” or Sonico.com which is for Latin Americans and Portugese speakers or AbairThusa, a Gaelic speaking Social Network. Ameba is an example of a microblogging service in Japan that is like Twitter but for those speaking Japanese.

In the case of cultural and ethnic groups in countries like Canada, the United States or UK, almost all active people from cultural and ethnic groups also speak English and will have English friends and business connections and so will also use Facebook, Twitter or similar. But the majority of their activity takes place on services that are specific to their culture or ethnic group.

This is important when considering engagement in Social Media. Since you may also want to reach those people and measure activity, within their ethnic or cultural group. This adds a layer of complexity however, since you’ll need to understand their written language.

Think these groups are too small to really be concerned about? Not at all. Societally we all belong to different cultural, ethnic and social groups. Immigrant populations inside a country can be very positively engaged in their new home country. This can offer significant opportunities.

(Author: G. Crouch, MD)

Haiti, Social Media and Being Connected

As was demonstrated in Haiti’s earthquake crisis this year, Social Media can play a key role in evaluating crisis issues. Already fibre connections have been restored (many thanks to NetHope and their work) and there are Internet Cafe’s popping up in the tent cities people are still living in.

Think about that for a moment: people are still living in tents, yet they want to be connected to the world.

To me, this says loud and clear how critical Social Media tools have become on a societal level to citizens. These free tools are connecting families and relief agencies, enabling family ties to remain close in desperate situations. That’s powerful.

And from our research, prices are not ridiculously expensive for access. High, yes, but not much more so than pre-earthquake.

The most popular use of these tent city Internet cafe’s is of course, Social Media tools.

A large portion of Haitian Diaspora live in Montreal, Canada and then in France. Interestingly though, for donor nations, France is third for aid support behind the U.S., Canada and UK. And France is a former colonial government.

Haiti was a fragile nation before the earthquake, although just about at the tipping point of impressive recovery, now once again a very fragile nation. On the upside is that there is no threat of conflict from another nation.

Social Media tools are drawing our world ever closer, creating a level of global fragility we’ve never known. It is also enabling families to stay connected unlike ever before, and when getting access to communicating with family over having a house is a priority, well it shows the heart of humanity and our need to be connected to one another.