This post was prompted by Steve Gillmor’s article ‘Rest in Peace, RSS‘ posted on TechCrunchIT on May 5, 2009. In the article Steve Gillmor argues that RSS service has no place in this world and instead internet users should switch solely to Twitter to get their daily dose of news and information. Although I disagree with Mr. Gillmor, he is not completely wrong; he does note that Twitter serves as a better system of disseminating new content earlier. However, there are two issues that Steve Gillmor doesn’t consider in his argument. First is the questionable process of content delivery via Twitter. And second is that this process is human powered.
Twitter is great for disseminating early content before it is even published on blogs, newspapers, heard on the radio or shown on TV. However, to get the whole sense of what is going on, the users need to follow breadcrumbs in the discussion between Tweeple. A great example would be reporting an earthquake or a fire. Although the mainstream media won’t be able to report it as quickly, twitter users (aka Tweeple) are able to spread the message of first-hand accounts across their Twitter network. The problem with distributing this type of content via Twitter is that it is human powered.
In order to spread the content, Tweeple need to be active on Twitter. If no one is logged in, no content gets spread. If users don’t have followers, or enough of them, again, the content doesn’t get spread. To really take advantage of early warning content delivery from Twitter, users (or influential ones at least) need to be hooked up 24/7 to get the content out to the masses. Although possible, but somewhat unrealistic for someone to sit and monitor thousands of discussions on Tweedeck live and wait for new content to arrive. People have jobs to go to and lives to attend to. A couple of other issues arise from human powered content delivery. The reliability and credibility. It is at users’ discretion to spread the content, and to spread accurate content. Sometimes people are not fast enough or are able to deliver most accurate information.
RSS is not dead. It is alive and well. I learned about Steve Gillmor’s article via my subscription to TechCrunch RSS feed on my Google Reader, not through Twitter. For the reasons below, RSS will continue to flourish and stay alive:
- Subscribe to any type of content you want to see. Eliminate noise.
- Content arrives as soon as it is published.
- See it all in one spot. No need to visit multiple sites or follow breadcrumbs.
- See it whenever you want.
- Get more than 140 characters of info.
- Faster delivery for published content.
Both Twitter and RSS feeds are killer tools. The best practice is to use them in harmony to maximize the speed, credibility and reliability of content delivery.
This post was inspired by Oprah Winfrey’s (@oprah) lack of tweets on Twitter in the last few days. Oprah joined Twitter during the big race to million followers between Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk) and CNN’s Breaking News (@cnnbrk). Oprah tweeted for few days and suddenly stopped. Perhaps she doesn’t need Twitter to stay in touch with millions of fans or is too busy to post updates. Those are just speculations. However, to expand on this thought I decided to compile a list of reasons why people leave a social network soon after joining.
Poor User Experience. When new members have unsatisfactory user experience upon joining a social network this reason alone can make anyone leave. Making it difficult to navigate the site, poor layout, sub-standard graphic design, tedious sign up process are some of the factors that contribute to poor experience.
Not Contacts. One of the main reasons why anyone joins a social network is to connect with people they know or want to get to know. But if there are not enough contacts that new members would like to connect with, they will leave.
No Value. Users expect to receive value from their social network. It will depend from user to user on what they value in a social network. It could be anything from connecting with childhood friends to using the network to find a job or generate business leads.
Existing Memberships. When new users are already members of other social networks they now have to divide their time. New social network would have to fight for new members’ share of activity and attention. If a new network cannot keep new users engaged and active, these members will revert to their existing memberships or devote less time to the new network.
Bait-and-Switch. One of the biggest turn offs is when a new network appears promising all kinds of things from a pipe dream; but when it attracts a big enough membership base it completely switches gears. The social network site operator may alter the terms of agreement, spam the users, push sales of unrelated items or services or sell your data, just to name a few.
Lack of Transparency. When a social network fails to disclose what it intends to do with user data and keeps everything else a mystery raises flags among users. Consequently, users acquisition and retention drops.
Lack of Privacy Controls. Lack of these controls also raises suspicions as much as lack of transperancy. Users want the ability to control who gets to see their profiles. Social networks that do not implement these are doomed to fail.
Hype is Over. Like Oprah, some users join a network due to hype on impulse. Then they disengage from the social network as soon as the hype is over. Social network needs to find a way to live up to the hype and find ways to retain members and their level of engagement.
Technical Difficulties. A nightmare for any social network operator, are the technical difficulties. When a social network is plagued with downtime and errors user will move onto something else. In a real world, if a product doesn’t work a customer will return it for a refund. In an online world, if a social network service doesn’t work, users will leave.
Lack of Engagement. A social network must provide the tools necessary to facilitate engagement among users. Building a site where users just list their bios and favorite movies for example can’t be called a social network. Give them tools to interact with one another such ability to share pictures, post notes, create groups, and so on.
With an upcoming release of the 4th installment of Terminator movie franchise, Terminator Salvation is stepping up its online viral campaign. Terminator Salvation infiltrates a number of online properties and deploys various web marketing tactics to spread the word, promote and generate buzz about the upcoming movie which lands in theatres starting May 22, 2009.
Official Warner Bros. Terminator Salvation Website has information about the film, latest trailers, desktop wallpapers, photo galleries and more. Tribute.ca has also created its own version of Warner Bros. site. Official Sony Pictures Terminator Salvation Website contains similar content and links as Warner Bros. site, except Sony site looks and feel much different. Terminator fans can also play Terminator Salvation Game online against other human fans. Choose a side (Resistence or Skynet) and eliminate your opponents.
Skynet Research is a viral marketing website. The ‘official’ website of fictional company that originally developed robotics technology to improve the lives of humans but in the future it becomes self-aware and wages war on humans with its army of Terminators. The goal of this site is to engage Terminator fans by way of user generated content. Fans can submit their robot designs and videos. Skynet Research also has a Facebook Fan page. Another component of the viral campaign is anti-skynet movement located at resistorbeterminated.com Fans can join the resistence here, engage in community forums and learn tactics.
Terminateyourself.com is another viral marketing website. On this site users can submit pictures (mug shots) of themselves; then images can be altered to look like damaged Terminators. Users can share the results with friends or use the picture as a profile image on social networks.
Terminator Salvation is also present on popular social networks. On Flickr, Skynet Research account showcases user generated robot designs submitted to Skynet. Youtube also showcases user generated videos submitted to Skynet Research. Show your love for the movie by becoming an official fan on Facebook Terminator Salvation page. And finally, fans can follow Terminator Salvation on Twitter.
