My life cycle on the internet for the past 15 years looks a little bit like this…
It all started with AOL and chatrooms (AIM circa 1994 – smokeymacpot10) and the wise Encarta. Google made the internet searchable and MySpace made it social. Napster killed the CD star and YouTube took a bite out of TV. Eventually Facebook (thefacebook.com) brought all college students together.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of presenting The New Social Customer Care Plan to members of The American Teleservices Association. A special thanks to Keith Fiveson for inviting me to participate in the discussion.
Google Wave was introduced as an early preview to developers last month at Google I/O 2009. The first 20 minutes of the video show you the new features of this groundbreaking product – imagine an email client that allows you to integrate real time chat, document sharing, and play back functionalities on threaded conversation. I can’t do the preview justice so if you haven’t seen the preview yet, check it out below:
Although there is not yet a clear new opportunity to engage consumers through Google Wave, one thing is certain – users will be having more conversations on the web. Obvious marketing opportunities are centered around new ad placement and the ability for marketers to join in more conversations but the question is – will there be a new way to engage customers? Google introduced the product to developer first for a good reason, as Matt Kapko from iMedia Connect points out on his article, The undiscovered marketing power of Google Wave. Google decided to make Google Wave open source to let develops built upon it. As we have seen from the thousands of applications developed for Twitter and Facebook – many catering to marketing and PR professionals, developers will surely conjure ways to bring more marketing value to the Wave.
Can you think of ways Google will monetize Google Wave beyond contextual ads? Will Google develop a system that can deduce logical meaning from conversations as they happen on Waves to deliver real time ads? What applications do you predict developers will create to compliment Google Wave and add value to marketers and customers?
UPDATE: Keep track of all Google Wave Gadgets and Updates on Wavety and @Wavety on Twitter
How to get and invitation to Google Wave?
DEVELOPERS – use this form
THE REST OF US – use this form and wait for several months
This mini-movie is filled with outrageous fashion, murder and incredible cinematography.
Lady GaGa – Paparazzi Music Video (Via PerezHilton)
How do we know Gaga didn’t intend for the clip to get out yet? One clue is that she Tweeted, “Stop leaking my mother—-ing videos,” on Thursday while in Australia. The clip for the singer’s new single was reportedly set to premiere on U.K. station Channel 4 on June 4.
The federal government yesterday launched The U.S. Government Channel on YouTube. The channel aggregates videos from more than 25 federal agencies. You can find government jobs, community service opportunities or learn how to apply for government benefits all from YouTube. Information Week today pointed out that the launch of a government channel on YouTube came after Google decided to create a government version of its embeddable video player that does not deposit a cookie on the viewer’s computer until the video play button has been clicked.
In the video below Macon Phillips, White House Director of New Media, gives an overview of how the Obama Administration is using new media to connect with people and deliver on their promise of transparency and openness in government:
Other government sites and social media applications:
Data.gov – Yesterday the office of federal CIO Vivek Kundra launched Data.gov, which allows public access to large data sets of information from all federal agencies. If the site grows as predicted, it could offer incredibly valuable information for businesses and non-profit organizations (e.g. market research, consumption surveys, etc).
WhiteHouse.gov – the blog is the main source of information, featuring recent news and a behind the scenes look at White House Operations. The site delivers content through videos podcast and live streams.
Recovery.gov – track the spending and impact of the economic recovery act
TroopTube – a video sharing site to help connect soldiers with their family and supporters
Serve.gov – find volunteer opportunities
Blogs – More than 30 federal agencies are blogging
Flickr – Library of Congress photostream (amazing pictures!)
Peertopatent.gov (Patent & Trademark Office) – Enables the public to submit information and comments on pending patents
USA.gov – online chat, email and phone to answer questions about government
Widgets – The FBI is offering widgets to spread information about missing people and most wanted fugitives
Twitter – @USAgov, @dipnote (State Department)
Facebook Apps: The National Park service developed a Facebook app to allow you to share stories and photos from trips to national parks and The State Department uses Facebook to engage the public in discussion surrounding world wide meetings and diplomatic events.
