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Posted September 14th, 2007 by Andre
Here’s a quick new app. that I just finished for the F8 platform:
It’s called SoDex, short for Social Index.
It’s quite easy to use: all it does is allow you to list links to your profiles in other social networks. Simple, isn’t it? Interestingly, one of my colleagues asked me if there was such a thing and I hadn’t seen it implemented previously. So here it is, SoDex!
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The concept was to create an application to test out the F8 platform and what it can do to help us as web marketers. The result was about 400 lines of code that created an incredibly simple yet useful application.
Facebook allows developers to build upon their existing platform and to create applications complete with ready-to-use forms, buttons, and even tabs; all of which use Facebook’s signature blues to blend perfectly with the rest of the site.
I’ll admit, their documentation for the platform leaves quite a bit to be desired. But, if you are proficient with PHP, or another supported client library, you just might want to look into it.
If you feel so inclined, check out this page for a quick step-by-step guide to getting an app up and running.
And for more information check out their developer resources page.
From time to time, I’ll post updates on how we integrate the F8 platform into our digital marketing and how you could leverage this new platform for your own uses.
Posted May 8th, 2007 by Andre
Don’t have a 512Mb video card and 2gigs of RAM? Longing for old school RPGs where the characters were 2D sprites? Compulsive MySpace/Facebook checker? Do you like anything Anime style?
Gaia Online is for you.
Gaia Online is a cross between an old school RPG and a social networking site. You can build a member page, ala MySpace and Facebook, communicate with friends, and meet new people, but at the same time it offers things that other social networks don’t: continuous gameplay.
That’s right, you can do quests, buy, sell, or trade items, build up your avatar with the newest and most awesome items, armor, clothes, and weapons. You can interact with other people in a 2D world, you can fish, gamble, play slots, earn money and a multitude of other prizes to gear up your avatar.
Here’s what they have to say:
“Founded in 2003 by a few comic book fans in a garage, Gaia Online has become the fastest-growing hangout on the web. Millions of teens come to Gaia every month to play games, make friends, and participate in the world’s most active online community.”
Source
Gaia has millions of members and boasts that it has “nearly two million unique visitors… each month” and that “three hundred thousand members log in to Gaia every day, and those members spend an average of two hours on the site daily.”
Two hours, that’s a ton of time when you think about it in context of daily web surfing. How long do you usually spend on Facebook or MySpace once you have been using it for a few months? You check your friend requests, group requests, answer some messages and maybe a wall post or two. Total time? For me, that’s about 15 to 20 minutes a day, every other day, then I’m gone.
What does this graph say? Well, that Gaia Online’s usage by its members per day is growing at 3 times the rate of MySpace’s usage and 300 times that of Facebook.
So what’s the appeal? Well, there is just that much more to do in Gaia Online.
From the site’s about page:
- Online Hangout: Millions of teens spend hours a day on Gaia, exploring, chatting and just hanging out. Whether they’re posting on our forums, participating in special events, or playing our multiplayer mini-games, there’s always something fun to do.
- Endless Customization: Gaia revolves around creative customization. Every member can create their own virtual character and dress it up with over five thousand items: clothes, accessories, pets, masks and just about anything else imaginable.
- Thriving Community: Gaia Online boasts one of the most active forum communities in the world with over one billion posts to date. Members can chat in our online games, post messages on our forums, or send each other private messages.
- Gaia Gold Marketplace: Gaia Online is free to join, and members earn free Gaia Gold for everything they do on the site- posting, playing games, or just hanging out. Members can buy thousands of items in our virtual stores, or they can set up their own shops. Our virtual auction house lets members buy, sell and trade their items– over 50,000 auctions are completed every day!
- Fun and Games: Members can interact, have fun, and earn Gaia Gold with our quick and casual online games. They can also go head-to-head in our Avatar Arena to see who can make the coolest virtual outfit, or test their talents in the Art Arena, where thousands of members vote on the best original artwork.
With a thriving economy, endless items and engaging games, there’s always a reason to stay an extra 10 minutes on Gaia.
Here’s my avatar:
He likes to rock the Scythe, but he has a softer side, shown by his love for his “mimzy,” one of the collector items that were introduced to Gaia Online to promote “The Last Mimzy” movie.
A social network exploding in size is nothing new, but now that they are aging, keeping those same users interested and logging on will be the make-it or break-it for many fledgling networks.
Link to my original post
Posted April 13th, 2007 by Andre
When I needed to study for the SAT, I bought a book. Not to say I used it, but I at least had the thing. Kids these days have another choice: B4Class.
Launched and promoted by 18 year old Sofia Loginova, this new website has gotten a lot of publicity around Boston, unfortunately, some of it, as reported in Boston.com, has not been so great.
It is billed as a social network whose goal is to “provide a fun and interactive online community that is user-friendly and allows members to freely and safely meet other great people.”
What makes this site different is the way they are targeting the teen market: offering “something nobody is offering … free online tutoring for your GMATS, LSAT and SAT’s.”
Young entrepreneurs have always been a part of the social web. MySpace, Facebook, and many other very popular sites have all been created by young people with big dreams. The problem has become that these days, everyone is trying to capture the magic that the two social networks mentioned above excelled at generating.
There are many sites flooding the social network space that have no real distinguishing features, quality layouts, or most importantly of all, user appeal. As these “out-of-the-box” social networks become cheaper and cheaper, social networks are becoming the “must-haves” of the web2.0 for everyone, right in line with blogs.
The problem is that just having one is not the important thing here. It’s execution, execution, execution. Having the platform is not enough, you need the content, the users, and of course, the plan to make it all work.
Posted March 13th, 2007 by Andre
If you have read any blogs or checked out industry news in the last few days, you have probably come across a 4 letter acronym quite a few times: SXSW. South by South West, or SXSW, is a major festival in Austin, Texas, held every year and celebrating Music, Film, and Interactive Media.
It attracts big names like blogger and now notorious Twitter-user Robert Scoble, legends in gamer circles like Susan Wu, and even folks like speaker/guy who never blinks, Ze Frank.
SXSW is unique in the way that it’s not simply one event; it is really three events in one. It’s a place where musicians, film makers, actors, bloggers, gamers, and anyone in between can get together for a few days and devolve into each other’s experiences. There are concerts, screenings, lectures, panels and chances to meet people whose work you’ve known only through the web in person.
SXSW started on March 9th and will go on until March 18th. I for one wish I was there. After all, who could pass up a chance to rub shoulders with the likes of Scoble or Scott Beale?
On a side note: congratulations to Twitter, for winning the SXSW Web Award in the Blog category!
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