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Why Facebook Is Awesome

Recently I’ve been using Facebook a lot more than usual, in order to:

Reconnect with old friends
Arrange ‘real world’ meetups
Plug gaps in my network that I should have filled ages ago
Build a page for Digital Cortex (right here!)
Organise my contacts into groups
Do a bit of peer-analysis (spying)
Try some FB apps and tools for work

Now that I’ve got all of my contacts sorted, I thought I’d try one of those friend wheels, just out of interest. I chose the one with most users, which is called Nexus, and I’ve gotta tell you – it is seriously good!

Nexus creates a interactive image of your friends’ interrelations, their shared interests, and their profile information. It is really powerful, takes about four minutes, and it’s results are guaranteed if not to please, then at least to look cool.

Here’s my Nexus analysis, with some text roughly labelling my groups:

If, like me, you use Facebook as a life-management tool, you may find it interesting to see your whole network presented in this way.

I was surprised at how this complex display of some 460 connections made me really nostalgic (soppy, I know) and has driven me to reconnect with people I haven’t thought about in ages. Seeing everyone like this revealed that this is basically who I am: a series of connections. So you could say, this friend wheel has reaffirmed me as a human! Who thought Facebook could be so deep?!

Where do you fit in to the wheel? Let me know if you recognise yourself amongst the connections. I’d love to know!

P.S:

Inspired by all this, I’m adding a new icon to Subscription Options, my WordPress Plugin, in the next release.
It will allow bloggers to create subscribers to a Facebook page.
Try it by clicking this icon, and subscribing to Digital Cortex.

The Subscription Options Plugin

My aim is to make my views on Digital Media, Branding and Emergent Technologies as accessible as possible not only to industry types, but to the blog-scouring early-adopting masses. My ongoing series on Augmented Reality has been relatively successful in boosting both the visitation and the subscribership of this blog.

Aside from the content I’ve written this month (May 2009 has been my most prolific since this blog’s inception) I have also started an SEO and social media strategy to extend the reach of the content I write here. I’ll share details later…

Anyway, the key element I want to tell you about in this post is my third strategy to make Digital Cortex portable to readers. I’ve started to provide readers with a range of subscription options, since the most common way for readers to subscribe to any blog and its content are through RSS, Email or Twitter. That’s when I came up with my brand new WordPress plugin.

I realised that my subscription solution might be useful to others also looking to grow their subscribership, so I created this:

The Subscription Options Plugin

I’ve turned my HTML code into a PHP-based plugin for all WordPress users that has the exact effect I aimed to achieve – to look good on a page, and for blog readers to easily grasp what each icon stood for.

Once installed it can be placed in any widget-ready area, allowing users to link to their various subscription options with ease.

PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR FULL PLUGIN DETAILS

@lifes4sharing #trafalgar was awesome

Wow – the singalong was huge.

T-Mobile attracted a huge 18,000 visitors to the event last night in Trafalgar Square, who were informed of the happening through an integrated twitter, viral seeding, PR and Mobile campaign. Subscribers and visitors to the lifesforsharing YouTube channel were also informed, as were members of existing Facebook fan groups.

Here are my best images taken from the front. There is no denying that this was a highly polished media affair, but it was carried off with enough honesty to create what I think was a truly positive feeling. Even Vernon Kaye was brilliant, and I usually hate him.

Introducing… DVB-H

Problem:
9% of UK mobile subscribers accessed video on their mobile last month, but just 0.8% accessed Broadcast TV on their mobile.Although the demand exists, broadcasters can’t create an audience for Mobile TV due to technology constraints.

Solution:
DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting – Handheld) enabled devices have an inbuilt chip (top right) that picks up TV signals.They use the same frequency as Freeview, so images are immediate and crystal clear, effectively offering consumers a portable Digital TV.

Market Readiness:
DVB-H is a key feature of Nokia’s new N96 and N92 (bottom left), and we can expect more DVB-H enabled devices in 2009.
Uptake will be slow however, since operators will initially charge users to access the service.
Deals already in place see users spending £2/day to access their partners’ video content, so there is no incentive for operators to promote the service.

Potential for Advertisers:
Mobile TV is no threat to the dominance of ‘at home viewing’ (3.5hrs avg. usage/day) but the behaviours are very different.
The ‘Mobile Audience’ will watch most during travel times: 0800-0930 and 1630-1800, so broadcasters should schedule programming to meet viewer demands.
I predict this will result in mobile-specific variants of existing channels, where popular programs are scheduled during travel times.Advertisers should therefore consider mobile specific creative, tapping into the users’ on-the-move psyche with a firm call to action such as “go in-store now!”