It's easy to get caught in the web.

THEINTERNETDOTCOM.NET takes a big-picture approach to the web. No viral videos, no social networking tips, no product reviews--just simple insight.

Join the conversation by leaving a comment or getting in touch.

TAKE THIS ANYWHERE
MOST RECENT
Top
Thursday
19Mar

The Brave Approach

DateThursday, March 19, 2009 at 1:29PM

People are giving themselves all types of titles online these days: social media expert, interactive marketing guru, online fundraising master, blogging pro.

Expert, guru, master, pro...

These are serious words, and they worry me. For one, I don't think anyone knows enough about these spaces to call himself the authority. Anyone truly knowledgeable and thoughtful about these issues will understand that there is no magic sauce, and nothing is certain to succeed.

Online marketing companies can promise unbelievable results, and they usually fail. They may land the contract, but everyone loses out in the end--goals aren't met, and nothing is learned.

Then there are groups that take the brave approach. They say, "Look, we know a lot and we've had a bunch of success, but every case requires its own naunced strategy. Let's get creative and make our best effort. It may not turn out perfectly, but at the very least we'll have a bunch of small successes and something to learn from."

Businesses don't work like this, but they should. Don't look for experts, look for experience. Don't look for gurus, look for go-getters. Don't look for masters, look for master minds.

Expertise is not about knowing all the answers, it's about discovering them in the process.

Authorelliotg | CommentPost a Comment |
in tagged , , , |
Wednesday
18Mar

Speak When Spoken To

DateWednesday, March 18, 2009 at 12:27PM

We like when people know our preferences.  It makes transactions easier and it just feels good to be understood.  When someone can tell us what we're looking for, we feel a connection there, and we feel we can trust that person.

But what if that someone were a something?  A computer?  An application?

This requires caution.  When technology makes suggestions based on your preferences, there's a great opportunity for discovery.  That's the exciting part.  The not-so-exciting part is feeling violated, feeling like you're being pressured, and feeling like the suggestions are just plain wrong.

Applications like Pandora are great because you're in control.  You're saying, "I'm here because I want to listen to music, and this is the type of music I'm looking for."  You expect to have suggestions thrown your way, so you're more understanding in general. 

Don't let technology make preference-based suggestions if your users don't expect it.  Or else give them a warning and a chance to opt out.  They're in charge.

Authorelliotg | CommentPost a Comment |
in , tagged , , |
Tuesday
17Mar

Make It Easy

DateTuesday, March 17, 2009 at 12:51PM

Where are your customers/readers when they're interacting with your email/blog/website/product? At work, at home, on the train, in a coffee shop?

It matters. If they're at work, they're between projects and in and out of meetings. They're thinking about business. If they're on the train, they're checking email on their cell phone, or reading the morning headlines--they're passing time on the way to where they want to be.

Do you take these things into consideration?

Television ads work because advertisers know exactly where their audience is: at home, on the couch, with limited distraction. They don't ask you to write a letter to your congressperson because they know 1) they don't have your attention for that long 2) you don't have a pen and paper handy 3) you just aren't in that frame of mind.

How much time does your user have?  Does your user have other distractions?  What mode is your user in when you have his or her attention?

Your task is to make sure your product fits into your user's day.

Authorelliotg | CommentPost a Comment |
in , tagged , , , |
Monday
16Mar

Authorized

DateMonday, March 16, 2009 at 3:33PM

It wasn't so long ago that the Web was an impersonal, you-could-be-chatting-with-a-murderer type of place.  When we were kids, my cousin and I would enter AOL chatrooms and stage domestic disputes as "husband and wife".  We annoyed and alienated a bunch of people, but no one was surprised. Being anonymous was just part of the online fantasy.

Anonymity is still possible, but we're moving toward a Web that demands authorization.  Facebook and LinkedIn force you to be real, and that's because your friends and contacts legitimize your existence.  If they don't know you--or have reason to doubt who you are--then you don't establish connections.  Nobody talks to you.  It's in your own interest to be truthful, or else you risk online isolation.

Facebook Connect is just one of the first steps toward bringing this type of authorization to other parts of the Web.  Sure, using your Facebook login credentials is just more convenient.  But it also allows you to bring your real life elsewhere online, and it will become a standard by which to measure true identity.

An increased level of trust will change how we operate online, and open up opportunities that we doubted only years ago.

Authorelliotg | CommentPost a Comment |
in tagged , , |
Friday
13Mar

What Hasn't Changed

DateFriday, March 13, 2009 at 4:14PM

Twenty years ago this month, the World Wide Web was conceived with a single document by Tim Berners-Lee, "Information Management: A Proposal". The plan was to give academic organizations a platform to organize and share electronic documents. Within a year, the Web was born.

So much about the Web has changed, and continues to change at record speeds. Think of what we can do online: play games, buy clothes, chat with our friends, read the news, watch movies. And that's just for the everyday user.

But what remains central to the online experience?

The web will always value two things: innovation and exchange. It began that way, and it will end that way.

Innovation is key to any successful product, but the Web was actually built to be dyanmic. Because it was designed to accomodate new ideas on both a structural and an ideological level, it must be ever-changing at its core. The Web stops being the Web the minute we stop building upon it.

Exchange is the easy part, and we see this happening more and more. YouTube is a great example. People aren't just watching videos, they're rating videos, leaving comments, rating other people's comments, recommending videos to friends.  Arrows are going in a million directions.  We've extended sharing documents to sharing opinions, ideas, cultures, and experiences.

 

Source: CERN

Authorelliotg | CommentPost a Comment |
in tagged , , |