How will you be spending May 1st?

Did you know that on Monday, May 1st, it will be the 25th anniversary of the first Frequent Flyer programmes? An article in the New York Times looks back at the 25 years. Who cares right? Well there is an interesting human behaviour that this article touches on. We (you and I) will do some pretty irrational things for the promise of something free; for the illusion of something gained and nothing given in return.

There is something very curious about why we, as consumers, buy into these loyalty schemes from businesses. The article points to research that finds American travellers will spend an average of USD$170 more the cheapest fare to fly with the airline they get miles from. Do they not realise that if they went with the cheapest airline every time, they would have more money in the pocket which could be spent on an array of options not just travel (or even that quaint idea called savings)?

It just doesn’t make sense (to me). Yet, I think of how this applies to other areas of life. How many of the people we relate to are simply connections based on getting something from them for nothing? We always buy coffee when a certain barista is working at our local café because she gives us a free coffee every now and again. We associate ourselves with certain people because being able to say we know them gives us status, even though their character is less than what we would look for in other friends (and this may be particularly relevant if you belong to online social networks - personal, business, or otherwise).

While this post is a slight divergence from what I normally blog about, I feel there is merit in taking this opportunity to reflect on why we associate ourselves with certain businesses and people.

And remember, (and I remind people of all the time) the price structure of products and services is designed to cover the cost of loyalty programmes and give-aways etc. They are getting something for free, not us. Our Loyalty. Scratch that, we are actually paying them to have it.

The Thoroughly Modern Man

I am applauded even rewarded for being a flat-broke perverted pack rat with a bad marriage and no self-control - Robert Bruce

Why is it that poetry can sometimes capture complex truths about human reality that would take an age to extrapolate any other way?

Read the rest - knifegunpen

Best Sellers List

Ever wondered where God is in this world? Try the New York Best Sellers List

Brave New World

A friend was telling me about a book were society has been transformed to a utopia where humans live in a perpetual state of happiness. But as the story advances the protagonist begins to realise that maybe being happy does not mean you are content.

So why do I bring this up you ask? Well, over the last week I have come across a number of statements on the web that proclaim the Internet as the medium to lead the world to a place where individuals are more empowered, more knowledgeable and more connected then ever before. My conclusion from such statements is that this inevitability means people can live more enriched and ultimately more happy lives. Two such sources that point to this are Seth Godin and a recent Trendwatching briefing.

An article in the New York Times quotes the new head of operations for Google in China, Kai-Fu Lee, who said on his website just prior to his appointment

"youth + freedom + equality + bottom-up innovation + user focus + don't be evil
= The Miracle of Google."

Now don't get me wrong, I am all for the Intranet becoming a tool and resource that gives a person access to information, other people, and products/services faster and more efficiently than if they did not have an Internet connection. I am for the Internet being used as a platform to change how companies operate, how business is conducted, how mainstream media presents "truth" and I am for Internet being used as vehicle to pressure governments to have greater transparency and be more socially responsible/accountable.

But I have some growing reservations about the user culture developing and the affects of some well intended people who are driving the evolution of Internet from web2.0 and beyond. Now that more people have the ability to reach others with their opinions and now that creating a web presence is far more achievable for the masses, why haven't we seen any major social actions transpire. There are really basic needs still not being met and I worry that the Internet may become to insular and disconnected from the world we must live in.

The Miracle of Google? The Google story is amazing. Without Google, the Internet may well have been dominated by a evil global organisation out to bleed dry every user by charging them subscriptions for search and advertising them to death, or worst, it could have been Microsoft. But seriously, I think that my children (if I ever have any) will naturally assume that the Google homepage is actually the front end of the Internet to which every site is attached to. But until the majority of global Internet users throw their weight behind movements like Make Poverty History and help to see these sorts of visions realised, we will not see a real miracle nor a higher function to which the Internet could elevate to.

Reason or not

In a recent New Yorker article, Malcolm Gladwell looks at a new book by Charles Tilly called "Why?" which explores "our reasons for giving reasons."

The idea is that we have four different reasoning approaches

1. Convention (social formulae -"its not you, it me")
2. Stories (common sense narratives - "I'm really sorry, I've been having a bad day")
3. Code (legal formulae - "Company policy dictates that must comply with the standard”)
4. Technical accounts (specialised stories - "Because of the way our PBX system routes calls it caused the delay")

Understanding why we explain things they way we do, helps us to learn when certain approaches are beneficial and when others are inappropriate. This in turn makes our ability to relate to other people more effective and will determine the quality of our relationships to family, friends and colleagues.

Thin-Slicing the Internet

Want a piece of the action but don't have the inclination or time to invest in honing your Internet surfing skills? Webaroo has the solution for you.

In partnership with Acer, Webaroo is putting out laptops with 40 gig Internet cache packages that update when connected to the Net but can be accessed and read offline.

Its certainly amazing the path global connections to global information has put us on considering it's been less than 15 years since the first Web Site went live to the public

Worlds Collide

It’s going to be interesting to see how intervention by US lawyer makers and public-do-gooder groups in the operation of MySpace will affect the social networking environment.

If you have not been tracking what happening, here is a brief summation. There are bad people in the world who are intent on revelling in their evil ways. Ok, so you know this right? Well recently much media attention has been given to the potential (and illustrated) opportunities for ‘predators’ and online pornographers to take advantage of social networks, like MySpace, and exploit the young audience that they attract.

This is a clear and present danger in the online environment and I believe every online organisation has a social duty to protect their users and prevent people abusing their tools, whether it is spammers, malware creators, or sexual deviants.

But the approach to this social issue is, yet again, what I would consider a Band-Aid solution to a problem which is actually systemic of a wider issue facing humanity not just western internet users.

(Yes, the appropriative government bodies/agencies should be involved to ensure that standardisation of regulation endeavours by social networking providers are achieved. But no, new and exhaustive laws are not the answers to prevent malefactors from using site for sinister aims.)

Much the same as with gun use, laws curb problems but don’t stop them. Even though gun laws in the US have become stricter, they still have unparallel violent crimes rates involving firearms and handguns.

The issue here as with potential Internet anti-paedophile laws is that society must change in order for people to be safe. The type of people who make children and teenagers their victims will have no hesitation in developing ways to circumvent any legal restrictions emplaced on the social networking environment.

Switzerland have what can only be described as ‘open’ laws around gun ownership; a country where carrying firearms in the open is common place, yet the has very low crime rates let-alone ones where firearms are used. The United Kingdom on the other had has progressively increase its restrictions on firearms and handguns yet violent crimes committed with guns is increasing.

My point is that legislation around what online organisation (particularly social networks and search engines like Google) must do to remove the threat of paedophiles and other sexual predators will not change the very fact that these people exist in our society.

The US laws will make it a harder for them to gain access to potential victims. The laws will inevitability have global consequences on they way aspects of the web environment is run, but there is no evidence that they will correlate to there being less people living in our communities with depraved agendas waiting for the right opportunity.

This is an issue that nations must confront on a broader level than the mechanism where people interact like the Internet. We must find solutions that redeem humanity if we want the world to be a safe place for children to grow up in and become adults who make positive contributions to society.

Social Norms?

In a presentation I gave the other day, I spoke about how social norms dictate a users behaviour in a computer based collaborative environment and therefore there wasn't the need for traditional management practices as governance by social norms had proved to be very effective.

But I wonder if there is a deeper driver other than social norms. I think that given the opportunity, most people want to do the right things rather than having pressure placed on them to do so; even if it’s as subtle as some social norms can be. To work harmoniously with other people and collectively produce work or ideas that are worth being proud of is a powerful motivation to participate. It feels great when you succeed and can share the success.

Also, and maybe it's me, but I think that this is where (most) people want to be -an environment where people want things to work, where people work at making things work, where people feed off team/shared triumphs and where there is communal understanding that this is the way we ought to do things, whether it be in the workplace, schools, social or community groups.

The Viral Spread of Information

You may already know that suppressed information pertaining to Louise Nicholas rape case has been spreading throughout the country via bulk emailing, you may have even received it. A DominionPost article posted on Stuff claims this is part of a “sophisticated mass e-mail system”. This implies that the chain distribution through people’s social networks is orchestrated by some Internet Mastermind. There is nothing sophisticated about it. A quarter of the NZ population has access to the Internet at home, and then there are all those who use the Internet at work or Internet cafes or a friends place. Most of these people would have an email account.

It takes one of these people possess the information to set up an account on Gmail (creating a “bogus address” as the DominionPost calls it) and then send out to their personal contact list. The controversy and sensationalism of the message takes care of the rest.

The spreading of this email then becomes a simple mathematical equation. One Person sends it to 50. Of those 50, 30 send it on to a new group collectively totalling say 80 people. Of these 80, 50 people send it off to 5 new people. Now 351 people have the message. The 51st person is what Malcolm Gladwell would call a connector. This person has a diverse social network that spans many different professions, industries and communities. This person sends it to 63 people all with separate social connections to the first wave. The message now can spread in multiple new directions all at once. This is viral spread.

I heard on National Radio this morning that of the 30 people they polled in Wellington half had received information about the suppressed information, mostly through email at work.

This is not a sophisticated process. This is the strength (and a potentially weakness depending on how you look at it) of the Internet. The originator of the message obviously knew that this information had currency and would be passed on by most of the people who received it. I believe there are two reasons for this

1. they weren’t supposed to have it which makes it exciting and makes them feel like they are in a selected group of people; and,
2. for some it may be a case of dealing out social justice.

I have not received the email, and if I did I would not pass it on. It is illegal to spread this information and it has serious ethical implications. Right or wrong it’s undermining our legal system which I might have to rely on one day. Because you and I have the ability to choose to pass it on, we hold the “power” and therefore carry responsibilities as to how we participate in the web environment. We make it what it is; think carefully about what kind of place we want to be spending our time in.

Pushing Internet Interface and Design

What makes blogs so damn cool is the trackback. Following a trackback, or an instance where one blog quotes another, opens up (unleashing might be more appropriate) the blogsphere (or the blogging community).
Following a link from Seth Godin's blog I came across Viaspire - Strategy.Method.Experience. From here I went to this amazing site which will no doubt impress you also. This process is a way of thin slicing the Internet to find the most interesting material (to you) the easiest way possible.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the age of the blog is upon us.

P.S.
If you don't have StumbleUpon - get it now.

Good Advice

If you're unaware of the blogsphere, where have you been? Blogging is the new black of communication. Blogs provide opinion, not fact, but its opinion that’s tempered by being in the environment of public review. Two things can happen to a blogger:

1. if they are full of it, everyone will tell everyone to ignore the blog; or,

2. people acknowledge the honesty of the blog, and whether they agree or not, they respond by: a)commenting or trackbacks on their on blog b)subscribing to a RSS feed or making the site a favorite (del.icio.us etc) c) letting others know about the blog

Blogs are about being a discussion forum, but more than that they are about giving anyone with access to the Internet, and something to say, a web presence.

Seth Godin's gives this advice about marketing but I think it applies to anyone who needs to communicate and be heard by others.

"The worst
thing you can do is be boring and vague.

The second worst thing you can do is be boring and
verbose and obvious."

Blogs are not meant for mass communication, but they are about being able to connect to the masses. Blogs are personal as they give readers the right to directly connect and respond to the blogger.

There is so much more to say... I'll be back

Your help is required Directory

I'm trying to create a list of the current most effective/user-driven in the social networking/software space:

del.icio.us - social bookmarking site
Frappr -
Friendster - dating site
Flickr -photo posting/sharing site
Stumbleupon - web site ranking
MySpace - friend networking
LinkedIn - business networking

Meetro - radius and proximity based networking
Artboom artist networking
Ryze -business networking
Passado - friend networking (Europe based)
Open BC - businesses networking
Tribe.Net -friend networking
Xanga - friend networking
Facebook - friend networking through schools
Ecademy - business networking
Orkut – friend networking (currently mostly Brazilian users)

It has just occured to me...

With cell phones quickly becoming portable entertainment centers, how long will it be before video advertising is broadcasted to people phones? It’s really not that far away in terms of technology. The Telco companies will be the first, sending their subscribers video ads about the latest deals and products. It already happens by txt, and when video cell phones reach critical mass expect the bombardment to begin.

Think about it, direct marketing based on demographic information they already have about their customers. People carry their phones everywhere most of the time. No doubt if this happens, legislation will be developed to regulate or prohibit this, and the cycle continues.