Video Post: The Gap Flap

Another week has come and gone since our last video post, and Gap has been the company making a splash the last several days...but not exactly for the right reasons.

The short version of the story is that Gap unveiled a new logo design that was ripped by the social media masses. Gap then decided to crowdsource new logo ideas via Facebook submissions, before ultimately scrapping both their new logo and any Facebook submissions and returning to their original logo.

The issue here isn't necessarily about ascetics or Gap's design savvy (or lack there of), it's about re-branding. Preparation is crucial, and it's especially important to have a plan in place in the event of a social media backlash.

To view the AdRants.com survey cited in the video, click here.

Are Long Posts Finally Acceptable?

For years, the rule of thumb for anything you post online had been "keep it short and sweet." Videos had to be less than 2 minutes, blog posts had to be a couple paragraphs maximum, even legitimate news organizations had been shaving down their online articles to keep pace with our short attention spans.

Here's the problem...I talk a lot, I admit it. And if I really get into a story, it tends to turn into something resembling a novel more than a blog post.

Normally, those long-winded blog posts would have me concerned that my readers might get bored and move on halfway through a story. But just like we saw a cultural shift from longer newspaper-style articles to short Twitter-esque posts, we are now seeing the pendulum swing a little more the other way with a renewed focus on lengthier stories.

One innovation we have to thank for this is the rise of bookmarking apps and websites like Instapaper and Evernote that allow people to easily bookmark stories to read later. The way they work is simple; you see an article you like but don't have time to read it (or are working and shouldn't read it) so you send the link to one of these services and you can read them from your computer or smartphone when you have the time.

I've been using both Instapaper and Evernote for a few weeks now and it's been great for me as a reader, but they are even more important to me as a writer, That's because they open the door for me and every other blogger out there to write more in-depth. The reality is that it's extremely difficult to analyze anything in two or three paragraphs, and this emerging trend of social bookmarking alleviates the pressure.

So there you have it, a long-winded post about how it's okay to write long-winded posts.

Twitter's Billion-Dollar Question

"A million isn't cool. You know what's cool? A billion."

This is one of the more famous lines (albeit paraphrased) from the Facebook movie The Social Network, and I think Twitter co-founder Evan Williams must be a fan of it based on his recent comments.

When asked whether or not Twitter could hit a billion users, Williams did not hesitate in affirming that it would. And while he didn't give a timetable for this goal, there's still the question everyone is now asking: Can Twitter hit one billion users?

Let's look at where Twitter's at right now. In June, Twitter COO Dick Costolo reported they had 190 million users. That's a solid number already and it continues to grow, but it seems rather bold to predict a billion users when you're less than a fifth of the way there. Mark Zuckerberg didn't even say Facebook would hit a billion users until it had already crossed the 500 million mark.

The other factor revolves around user retention. There was a recent infographic making its way around the Twittersphere, and there was one point specifically that was garnering a lot of attention. According to the infographic, only 3% of users have more than 100 followers. This is a problem because Twitter's success comes from higher levels of involvement, and low follower counts are often a sign that the engagement is lacking.

This illustrates the over-arcing obstacle Twitter faces in hitting their billion-user goal; Twitter is hard to get into. Sure, making an account and following a bunch of friends or celebrities is easy enough, but getting the most out of the service requires much deeper levels of engagement.

But there is hope. Twitter continues to grow with a very successful new redesign and increased ubiquity in our online culture. And if more users can get past that steeper learning curve and really become more involved with it, it's hard to doubt Twitter's potential to one day answer this billion-dollar question.

Google Goes Knight Rider All Over California

In true Knight Rider fashion, Google has been developing self-driving cars. And this isn't a rumor or plan for the future, they've been testing these cars on actual California roads for months now.
As a tech-geek, you can bet I've read the slew of articles about Google's new endeavor and am very curious/excited/salivating-over the what this technology may bring. But I won't get ahead of myself, because there are a few issues to address before we see swarms of robot-cars on our highways.

The first, but potentially most divisive, question is also the simplest: Does the public want self-driving cars?

Here's a few different takes on this question, starting with why people do want cars that drive themselves:

• Safety concerns: Over a million lives are lost each year to road traffic accidents (according to the World Health Organization). It's hard to think that self-driving cars wouldn't help bring that number down significantly.
• Stop the texting menace: In the same vein as that first point, there's a big push these days to stop people from texting while driving. Cars that drive themselves would eliminate the threat that texting causes.
• Far more productive traffic jams: Not having to drive would allow people to actually get work done during those long morning commutes, which could have a big impact on overall productivity.
• We're a techno-centric society: In our modern world, innovation breeds aspiration. If it's new, a lot of people will want it solely for that fact.

On the other hand, here are the obstacles Google will likely face:

• Safety concerns: Yes these cars could save some lives, but as with any new technology there's a margin of error, and the thought of being in that margin while cruising along at highway speeds will deter people.
• For the love of the road: Sure, it might make those morning commutes and road trips more tolerable, but let's not overlook how many people honestly love driving. A lot of people like hopping in the car and going for a drive, and this technology practically eliminates it.
• 'Green' technology: I'm not talking about hybrids here, I'm talking about money. Remember, Google is a business and businesses need to make money. Google has admitted they're not completely sure about monetizing this technology, and expensive experiments like this need strong financial backing to avoid an early death.
• The times they are a-changin' (but we don't like it): With the millions of people in this country, it's a given that wide, sweeping change is usually met with hesitation and scrutiny, and game-changing technology like this won't please everybody.

So whether you're already planning to be the first in line to buy one of these self-driving cars or writing an angry letter to Google as we speak, I offer the following advice. First, let's stay realistic, because we won't see these cars hit the public for a few years yet.

More importantly, both sides need to take the others' point of view into consideration, because regardless of who or what's controlling the car, we all need to drive on the same road.

Facebook Friday: All About Groups

The social media headlines the past couple of days have been dominated by stories about the new Facebook groups feature. And even as a social media professional, it took a while for me to wrap my head around the concept.

But for those who haven't heard (or just aren't sure what it's about), here's a brief breakdown:

• You can now create groups of friends centered around a certain topic (for instance, I'm part of the MN PRSA group).

• Members can post comments on the group page that other group members are notified about.

• There's a new group chat feature, where any and all members of a group can chat with each other rather than having to talk to each individual in separate chats.

That's the basic three-point breakdown of what these new group features are, but will they be a welcome addition?

An early complaint involves those notifications I mentioned in the second point. If you're part of a particularly large or talkative group, you may find yourself bombarded with emails and notifications about new posts and comments. You can limit these notifications or turn them off completely, but you must go into the group and do this manually.

Likewise, membership to the group is now opt-out as well. This means that if someone invites you, you're instantly added and must manually leave the group. And if a friend adds you to one of those large/talkative groups, chances are your inbox will be full of notification emails within minutes.

The one new feature here I do like is the group chat, which is effectively an AOL Instant Messenger-style chat room. I, like many, have had to deal with the frustration of having to chat with several mutual friends about the same topic in separate chats, but this group chat should eliminate this problem.

Regardless of how you feel about them, these changes will have a big impact on how Facebook is used. Naturally, it will take some time before we get a good handle on just how useful it really is, and we will definitely revisit this topic in the near future.