2007 December | Social Desire

Archive for December, 2007

How to Create Desire in Social Media

Photo by sarchi

A big Thanks to Dan Zarrella for this wonderful guest post.

If we are going to talk about how to create desire with and in social media, we must first understand what it is we mean when we say “desire”. In memetics the closest term is probably attention, but that concept is not completely analogous, desire stimulates and is borne from attention. In Fruedian terms, desire is what drives a person to seek pleasure and avoid pain, and to Kant things that purported to make a person’s future better are desireable.

For us to desire something, it must be attention-getting, pleasure-inducing and promise a better tomorrow (or at least a better next few moments), but it must also be compatible with existing mental and social frameworks. We will not view a meme with an open mind if it contradicts an idea or belief we’ve invested attention into, nevermind desire it. This also works at the social level, most people won’t give an idea the time of day if it disagrees with something my social group accepts. Apple fans will not be convinced that windows is better, so its pointless to try, instead try re-framing your meme to prevent resistance. You’ll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

The creation of desire, or the process by which a person is induced to desire something come in two models, in one desire itself is a meme capable of transmission and assimilation from person to person and in the other desire is an emotion caused by memes.

In the latter model it can be assumed that if you create a pleasure-inducing and future-enhancing meme, you will stimulate desire. In social media pleasure induction generally comes in the form of entertainment (a funny video) or social proof (being the first in your clique to know about a new rumor), and future enhancing typically takes the form of empowering things, like hassle-reducing gadgets (think iPhone) or HOWTOs.

In the former model, the “desire meme” must be engineered by encouraging the outward expression of desire, both at the individual and the cultural level. Human empathy and a desire to “fit in” and “belong” to a social group with similar motivations will stir desire in people exposed to other people who are already infected with the “desire meme”. Apple has done a great job of stimulating an “us vs them” mentality which leads to strong expressions of group and individual desire, which in turn brings more fans into the fold. The entire Ron Paul meme is about evangelism also. I allowed people to leave comments on the USB Absinthe Spoon site, proclaiming why they wanted one and many of the reactions to the site focused on how much people wanted one rather than the product itself.

In a review of Sade’s Reason, the philosopher Maurice Blanchot said

“For passion to become energy, it is necessary that it be constricted, that it be mediated by passing through a necessary moment of insensibility, then it will be the greatest passion possible.”

In social media it is a challenge, some sort of friction that turns simple want into powerful desire. Things like scarcity and exclusivity, as well as Veblen-based price structures can turn a lukewarm following into a frothing mass of lunatics. Invite-only web services like gmail have taken advantage of this phenomenon to spread widely with very low distribution or advertising costs. My USB Absinthe Spoon campaign was able to drive desire in a specific following by emphasizing the scarcity of the product.

Dan Zarrella is a viral marketing consultant and if you liked this post you can read his blog and vote for it at the SEJ search blog awards for Best Social Media Marketing Blog.

Technorati Tags:social media, social media marketing, viral marketing

Posted in Guest Posts, Social Media, Social Media Marketing | 6 Comments »

51 Favorite SU, Sphinn, Twitter & Facebook Posts of 2007

Friday, December 28th, 2007

Photo by luc legay

2007 will be ending in the next few days and 2008 will be beginning. It has been an amazing year for me. It was In 2007 I became very involved in Social Media Activity. I am looking forward to 2008 and everything that it has to offer, but before I can simply say Hello to 2008 and Goodbye to 2007 I wanted to list my favorite posts from all of my favorite Social Networking sites…. StumbleUpon, Sphinn, Twitter, and Facebook. *Keep in mind that these posts are my favorites and nothing official.*

Favorite StumbleUpon Posts of 2007

StumbleRank - Ranks the Top StumbleUpon Users.

A Comprehensive Guide to StumbleUpon: How to Build Massive Traffic to Your Website - Maki of DoshDosh wrote this mini guide on StumbleUpon because he thought StumbleUpon has enormous potential in maximizing brand exposure while fitting nicely with a long term site building strategy.

How to Use StumbleUpon for Your Business: The Definitive Guide - Tamar writes this great post for 10e20.com.

The Why, How and Who of Marketing in StumbleUpon - Garrett French writes this very in depth post regarding StumbeUpon and using it for Marketing purposes.

Building Your Blog With StumbleUpon - A ProBlogger Guest post by Skellie showing how to use StumbleUpon to increase your Blog Traffic.

Stumbleupon mathematics for stumblers - Tim Nash gives us his thoughts on how he believes the StumbleUpon algorithm works.

How to Use StumbleUpon to Promote - David Risley of WebbyOnline explains in detail how to Use StumbleUpon.

StumbleUpon Will Love Us Even When Google Doesn’t - Brian Wallace writes about the effectiveness of StumbleUpon.

5 Tactics For Driving Traffic From StumbleUpon - Cameron Olthuis writes for Search Engine Land showing you how StumbleUpon is a great way to bring large amounts of traffic to your site…. at times even bringing more traffic than digg.

How to Set Up a Domino Effect of Traffic - Vandelay Design writes how he greatly increased his traffic by setting up a Domino Effect with StumbleUpon.

25 Reasons You Get Thumbs Up - Andy Beard comes up with a list of 25 reasons why you might get a Thumbs Up on StumbleUpon.

Analysis: StumbleUpon’s Top 50 Stumblers - Glen Allsopp felt there wasn’t a lot of information on StumbleUpon on how to become a Top Stumbler. Glen researched and posted his findings.

6 Reasons to Love StumbleUpon - Marty tells us the 6 reasons he loves StumbleUpon.

Writing for StumbleUpon: High Impact Content “Above the Scroll” in Four Easy Steps - Muhammad Saleem points out that with StumbleUpon having your important content above the scroll is extremely important.

How Important is StumbleUpon? - Rose Sylvia shows us how to use StumbleUpon to its fullest.

Favorite Sphinn Posts of 2007

Sphinn - The Social News Site Every Search Marketer Should Be Using - Rand writes in detail 10 reasons why Every Search Marketer should be using Sphinn.

Please Don’t Ask Me to Sphinn Your Stories (and How to Use Sphinn and Similar Social News Websites) - Tamar writes this excellent post about Social Networking Etiquotte.

Why Sphinn Needs a Dumbass Button - Digg has a "bury it" button…. Greg Boser suggests a "Dumbass Button" for Sphinn.

Fool Proof Sphinn-Bait Tactics to Reach the Front Page - Kelvin Newman writes in detail how to reach the front page of Sphinn.

A 5 Pack Of Sphinn Interviews - Todd Mintz Interviews 5 members of the Sphinn Community.

How to Dominate Sphinn in 4 Easy Steps - David Harry comes up with the Sphinn Domination Plan.

The First (un)Official Sphinn Awards - Day 1 - Jeff Quipp at Search Engine People offers days 1 of the (un)Official Sphinn Awards…. freakin hilarious.

The (un)Official Sphinn Awards Part 2 - David Harry Holds Part II of the Sphinn Awards at his site and it is equally as funny as Day 1.

A Very Beginner’s Guide to the Sphinn Network : Tips and Tricks - Mack offers up some tips to New User’s of Sphinn.

Sphinn: In Depth Traffic Analysis And Advice - Matt Jones did his research and offers his traffic analysis and some Sphinning tips.

20 Top Sphinners You Should Know - Here is a list of 20 Sphinners and their sites that you might not know, but should.

Sphinn Google Gadget - As if I didn’t adore Pat of SEOish enough he comes up with this amazing Sphinn Google Gadget.

Favorite Twitter Posts of 2007

The Big Juicy Twitter Guide - Caroline Middlebrook puts together a very detailed guide to Using Twitter for Marketing.

Guide to Twitter as a Tool for Marketing and PR - Lee Odden puts together a great post with tips on using Twitter as a Marketing Tool. Lee’s community offers tons of wonderful Twitter Tips!!

The Several Habits of Wildly Successful Twitter Users - Bren at Slacker Manager offers tips and advice for Successful Twitter Wanna-be’s.

Eight Ways Twitter is Useful Professionally - Anne Zelenka offers 8 ways to use Twitter Professionally.

Use Twitter To Boost Your Marketing Strategy, No Really - Chris Bennett offers his ideas to user Twitter as part of a Marketing Strategy.

The Top 5 Ways Smart People Use Twitter - Sharon Sarmiento suggests focusing on these 5 smart uses of Twitter to keep from falling into the Twitter abyss.

Is Twitter TOO good? - Kathy Sierra writes this post showing her struggle with Twitter…. In this post you can see her struggle with Twitter being a waste of time and the rest of the world chanting Twitter’s wonderful goodness.

Twitter vs. Pownce: Who Pwns? - Tamar takes a close look at Twitter and Pownce and compares the two.

Twitter is Paying My Rent - Marshall Kirkpatrick writes how he uses Twitter to come up with stories to blog about. At the time of this post 6 out of his 7 last posts wint to the front page of Digg… the same stories he came up with thanks to Twitter.

Twitter CAN be Useful! Who Knew? - Due to Twitter coverage of the fires back in October Jennifer Laycock saw an incredibly useful way to use Twitter….. Her brother and his wife were able to subscribe to the Twitter Feed and quick and easy access to instant updates as they drove across the country safely.

Favorite Facebook Posts of 2007

The Facebook Marketing Bible: 24 Ways to Market Your Brand, Company, Product, or Service Inside Facebook - If you are looking on exactly how to Market on Facebook this is a "Must Read" by Justin Smith.

12 Ways to Use Facebook Professionally - Judi Sohn explains why Facebook can be a great addition to your web working toolbox.

How to use Facebook to Promote your Blog - Brian Wallace compliles some tips on how to promote your blog using Facebook.

Not many people know this, but I invented Facebook - Lyndon says, Let us all rise up and shout, “I INVENTED FACEBOOK.”

Your Private Facebook Info Isn’t So Private - Lisa Barone shows why adjusting your Facebook privacy settings may not be enough to keep people from seeing inside your Facebook Windows.

Seven Steps to Graphing Your Facebook Strategy - Dave McClure offers an indepth look at Facebook. This is a great post for anyone new to Facebook.

A Successful Facebook Marketing Campaign - Social-Media-Optimization.com compares a successful Facebook campaign (Target) with an unsuccessful campaign (Walmart).

How to Develop a Hit Facebook App: 29 Essential Tools and Tutorials - SoftwareDeveloper.com comes up with Resources to help you build a successful Facebook app that users will love.

You too might be a Facebookaholic, if: - Dave McClure gives us 17 hints that we might be a Facebookaholic.

Who needs Google? Facebook’s stealth ad system - ValleyWag gives us the details on Facebook’s Ad System.

Mash Pets, SuperPokes, Vampires, or Zombies? What are Your Social Network Ice Breakers? - Mark Laymon shows us how he uses certain Facebook applications to "Break the Ice".

A Girl’s First Time….. being Poked - Ok, this post is one of mine. Sorry, I just crack myself up.

Is The Horde At Facebooks Walls? - Tim Nash writes this post for Clicks.ws. on the how-to’s of Advertising on Facebook.

Web Strategy: What the Web Strategist should know about Facebook - Jeremiah Owyang tells us what we need to know about Facebook as a strategic marketing channel.

Technorati Tags:social networking, social bookmarking, stumbleupon, sphinn, twitter, facebook, 2007, social media, social media marketing

Posted in Facebook, Humor, Link Love, Social Bookmarking, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking, Sphinn, StumbleUpon, Twitter | 19 Comments »

Merry Christmas

Tuesday, December 25th, 2007

Image courtesy of krisdecurtis

I wanted to take a moment to wish all who celebrates a very Merry Christmas. I hope everyone enjoys this time with their families. If it’s anything like my Holiday with my family it will be wonderful food, plenty to drink, great company and lots of time spent putting toys together.

Have a wonderful and safe Holiday. Merry Christmas!!

Shana Albert

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

My Love / Hate Relationship with Social Media

Monday, December 17th, 2007

Photo by Fabbio

I love you so much I hate you!! Or, I hate you so much I love you!! Oh boy, is my head Sphinning!! I keep Stumbling over things and getting Mixxed up because my head is totally in the Social Media clouds. Let me explain my battle a bit…

I love you, Social Media…. Let me Count the Ways:

People – I have met so many people from all over World. Many of these people I would consider a dear friend and/or Colleague.
Traffic - With the correct Social Media Marketing Strategies you can bring a lot of amazing traffic to your site.
This is Work?? - I can call Social Media part of my job, but yet it is so much fun.
Voyeurism - I can be a Voyeur and it’s okay…. Watching where my friends have been and what they did while they were there. (StumbleUpon, MyBlogLog, etc…)
Conversations - Conversations via blog comments, Instant Messaging, blog posts, facebook, twitter, blah, blah, blah.
De-Stresser - Take my mind off of my Stressful Work / Life.
Not all about Google - No longer have to rely on Major Search Engines for all of my traffic.
Keep Updated - Easy to keep up with new and updated information on the topics that interest me. RSS Feeds
Link Building - Building Links is fairly easy with Social Media and a lot of fun. No more emailing for link exchanges.
Creativity - I feel More Creative now than I ever was.
Sweet Dreams - I love Social Media so much I even dream about it at night while I’m sleeping.
Opportunities - Joined in on projects with fellow colleagues I have met online
Standing Out - Social Media Activities can make you Stand Out - A successful Article or Blog Post can do very well on Social Networking Sites which can make you stand-out in your Niche.
Social Media Fame - Having a Blog with a Readership can make you feel like a Superstar.

I hate you, Social Media… Let me Count the Ways:

Pressure of keeping up the Pace - Feeling if I slow down I will get lost and no one will be able to find me.
Inevitable that someone will be unhappy - This is very difficult for a people pleaser such as myself. Unable to make everyone happy. If you make someone unhappy you might hear about it in a follow-up post or a blog comment.
Voyeurism - Just like I can watch other people travel through the Blogosphere, people can watch me too. Knowing this makes me feel a bit weary about popping on to someone’s blog or StumbleUpon Profile too many times in a row. Not sure why, but it does.
This is Work!! - Social Media is very time consuming. And, even though it is a lot of fun it is so much work!!
People - Most people that I have met online have been wonderful!! But, not everyone is as nice. Some people pretend to be your friend because ultimately they want something from you. Don’t use me!! I hate that!!
RSS Feed Reader is Too Full - As I mentioned in #8 above I use a RSS Feed Reader to keep updated. However, my Feed Reader has become so full that lately I have been missing important posts. Because my Reader is so full I tend to read the Titles of the Posts to see what sounds interesting enough to read and landed up missing some really wonderful posts.
Poor Time Management - What little Time Management Skills I have had in the past have totally went down the toilet since I added Social Media Activity to my To-do list. UGH!! I think I’ve already complained about this in the past, huh?!
Productivity - Productivity on some of my other duties has begun to slip.
Sleepless Nights - Don’t get enough Sleep. Even my dreams are overcome by Social Media Activities.
Social Media Pressure - The pressure to achieve a certain Social Media Status or keep this status is incredibly intense. Sometimes it is hard to enjoy the fame due to the constant fear of losing it.

I will be following this post up with other posts detailing the specifics on each of these Love/Hate dilemmas.

Technorati Tags:social media, social networking, social bookmarking, sphinn, stumbleupon, social media marketing, blogging

Posted in Blogging, Facebook, Humor, Mixx, Social Bookmarking, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking, Time Management, Twitter, Web 2.0 | 21 Comments »

12 Cool Analogies to Help Explain Social Media

Friday, December 7th, 2007

Yesterday I wrote a Post on Collective-Thoughts, Wow, Social Media is a lot like High School!! . It is a humorous look at how Social Media has many similarities to High School. Both Social Media and High Schools have Popular Crowds, Clubs, The Bad Boys, Rule Breakers, Goodie-Goodies, Parties, Peer Pressure, and Gossip. I hope the readers enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I’ve learned that using analogies is a great way to explain things that are normally difficult to explain. There are many people on the net that find Social Media and Web 2.0 very confusing. Analogies help explain something confusing to an individual by comparing it with something they already understand. So, here I have listed 12 articles that use cool analogies to explain different aspects of Social Media.

Join the Conversation or Break Into the Conversation? - Sean at Grin & Grumble compares Social Media being a Pool and Bloggers being the different types of swimmers in the Pool of Social Media.

The “symphony” of social media - Dee Rambeau at CausePlanet.org writes a creative analogy comparing a symphony orchestra with social media.

Why Corporations Should Blog (Hint, it’s not SEO) - Josh Hallett at Hyku uses your love for your significant other to prove a point.

Marc Canter’s vision of the open social network - Chris at Particls Blog comparing Facebook and other Social Networks are like Shopping Centers.

Fly-Fishing Where the Fish Are - Ann Handley at Marketing Profs Daily Fix writes about fishing using flies was not unlike marketing using the tools of social media.

Social Media, the Pond Analogy and the Old Media Disconnect - sean at Scrollin’ On Dubs compares Marketing with the spreading of ripples in a glassy pond.

The Ethics Of Social Bookmarking - xrayspecs at The Internet Marketing Neophyte compares a new site to a piece of driftwood.

Social Media Marketing is Similar to a Fishing Tournament - Mark Laymon at Collective-Thoughts

Bookmarking Solutions: Quick Access vs. Long Term Storage - Jay White at Dumb Little Man compares Social Bookmarking to paper filing systems.

Advertising Tips (with Sex examples) - talisman.org explains what marketing is using Pick-up Lines and the such.

Online social networking, an extension to human evolution? Arun Radhakrishnan at TechRepublic talks about the relation between social networking and human evolution.

The Virtual world and the Real World - An Analogy - Karthik Vijayakumar at Water Droplets compares The virtual world to the real world.

Technorati Tags:social media, social bookmarking, social networking, analogies, social media marketing

Posted in Blogging, Facebook, Humor, Social Bookmarking, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking, Web 2.0, Websites | 8 Comments »

Social Desire

Archive for December, 2007

How to Create Desire in Social Media

51 Favorite SU, Sphinn, Twitter & Facebook Posts of 2007

Favorite StumbleUpon Posts of 2007

Favorite Sphinn Posts of 2007

Favorite Twitter Posts of 2007

Favorite Facebook Posts of 2007

Merry Christmas

My Love / Hate Relationship with Social Media

I love you, Social Media…. Let me Count the Ways:

I hate you, Social Media… Let me Count the Ways:

12 Cool Analogies to Help Explain Social Media

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Shana Albert

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