Make or Break Your Career with Social Media

all is fair in love and social media domination

Hey there, Parker here.  Sharing my thoughts on current events, marketing and social media.  Also, my DVR didn't record yesterday's daytime Law & Order episodes so I have an idle hour or two.

Anyway, the most popular and respected search engine company just upped their game and are playing for keeps.  Google easily chopped Alta Vista in half, turned dogpile into a dog pile, and had Ask Jeeve's asking "what happened?".  They KO'd their opponents but they've tipped their hand with this latest development - all Google employees are tied to the success of social media.  Wow.  They sound worried.

bing. meet. facebook

Now that Bing and Facebook are best buddies, I guess social media is the most logical step in securing global online domination.  Google is asking employees to enlist the help of family and friends to push social product releases.  If they aren't soliciting feedback I would frown upon the practice of manipulating or skewing data by asking friends and family to vote favorably just for voting's sake.  But knowing Google as well as I do (see my previous love for Google post), I'm sure they are truly testing products for a better user experience, and not just popularity.

Face it folks, we all know building a following using social media takes time and consumer trust and I'm a blatant fan of all things Google. However, my personal experiences with their social media channels have been hit or miss.  For instance;

this is a real thing

I tried Orkut because it was a default add-on while creating my Google Identity.  No one in my social circle was on it (or even heard of it) so that was the last time I bothered to log-in.

Picasa was cool when signed up and I still like it.  Sometimes I want to share photos independent of Facebook and Picasa serves my efforts well.

Wave was all mystery and I was green-eyed that I never got the invite while EVERYONE ELSE I KNEW was asked to test it.  Then I found out what it was and sort of wished I'd stayed in the dark.

i use it

Gmail chat is awesome!  I love the ease of using chat right within my Gmail screen.  And the video chat was as simple to use as a click of a button.  Literally.

Blogger - um, duh! You're reading my blog now.

YouTube's embed feature was my first experience with embedding video or any widget on a web page and loved the simplicity of it.

+1 brings out my inner paranoid conspiracy theorist.  Sometimes I don't want to know what my 'friends' have read nor do I want them to know what I've read. If I post online, it's fair game, but if I'm browsing the web, much like a library, I have an expectation of privacy.

i see google making more money

Buzz made me mad.  Unlike Facebook, I couldn't hide much of my information from search engines (or anyone).  So I worry about buzzing on non-web or professional matters.

No one asked for my two-cents but that has never stopped me from spreading the wealth.  I'm all for their decision.  Top down and bottom up - all administrative, professional and middle management employees have been drafted and will be held responsible for Google's social media efforts.

I can dig it.  I'm watching them closely and I'm taking notes.

I won't be surprised if in 2-3 years we find ourselves ranking Orkut (or whatever new platform they develop or buy) as our preferred vehicle of online conversation and community.

Best,
Parker

Thank You Open Source and Freeware

Hi all, Parker here.  I’m taking this moment to say thank you to all open source software developers and the global communities that support them. Big shout-outs to a few of the content management systems I’ve used – TYPO3 and Drupal – that have taught me the importance of separating content from design. Flexibility and scalability are essential keys of managing corporate websites and the sharp minds that troll the forums answering my every question deserve this moment of praise.  I'm talking you UltimateTech_GuruLord1408!

I’m raising my glass to interactive digital media software like Issuu and SlideShare because they have made my websites dynamic and my documents easy to share. Who knew folks would miss the old-fashion way of turning a page by hand so much that they would seek out the interactive flip version of a PDF over a regular PDF? Bravo, team. Bravo.

Let’s all give a round of applause to my favorite photo and video sharing applications Flickr, Picasa and YouTube. Actually, your universal name recognition speaks for itself. I’ll just stand up and slow clap until everyone else in the room joins me. Clap…. clap…. clap….clap…

Finally, to my first free web service Hotmail – email accessed from any computer, anywhere in the world (with an internet connection). We have a long history, me and Hotmail. My account dates back to the mid-90s:  pre-marriage, pre-kids, pre-talithaparker.com. Who knew we would stay together so long? I’ve grown up. Hotmail’s transformed. Yet we're more connected than ever because of the iPhone.  Here’s to you Hotmail!


Best,
Parker