The 6 Social Media Sites You Should Explore – They are certainly leading the new social media revolution

Firstly, Foursquare – Ever heard of the term, ‘location, location, location’!? Well this is a location-based social network/gaming application that is gaining ground.  Members or  Users “check in” at local businesses and earn rewards for frequently visiting participating establishments.
Currently, the site is receiving greater than 1 million check-ins per week.  Business owners can get value out of Foursquare by offering incentives for users to check in, such as special offers for repeat visitors. There is also the ability to be crowned Mayor of an establishment!
i.e: What is the definition of a deal? One example, is a a free drink or appetizer or starter dish for the Foursquare user who checks in the most (Its the user who is called / hailed the Mayor).

Interestingly, this company has signed major partnerships with TV network Bravo and restaurant guide to functionality and usage.

In the video above, you can see Dennis Crowley, co-founder of Foursquare. Here he discusses the goals of this location-based social networking application.

Gowalla – According to Wikipedia: Gowalla is a location-based social-networking game created by Alamofire. Users ‘check-in’ at Spots in their local vicinity, either through a dedicated mobile application or through the mobile website. As a reward users will sometimes receive items from check-ins. Items have developed to become a promotional tool for the game’s partners e.g. Incase. As of March 2010 there were approximately 150,000 active users.

Rummble – Similar to the latter, the concept of trust and ratings is introduced. For example, their website suggests:

It is a bit like your social network, but based upon trust (or lack of) in peoples recommendations so you can discover cool stuff from thousands of people, not just friends or immediate trusted connections. Rummbling is really easy online or from your mobile phone.  Its the best to Rummble when you’re actually at a place you love or loath, then you can add a photo & if you want, share it straight away on Twitter, Facebook, Bebo or more…

Google Buzz – Buzz allows users to post status updates and upload pictures and videos to a Google profile, not unlike Facebook and Twitter.  A user’s network is formed by contacts they interact with frequently on Gmail. If a user makes an update public, the information also gets added to the “Buzz” layer now available on Google mobile maps.  Now, Google Maps users on iPhones and Android devices can view the things other Buzz users have said about businesses in the area.

Loopt – This is another location-based social service. It aims to connect its users with their friends by visually displaying their location and availability on a localized map. Users can connect with friends in the area, see reviews and recommendations of restaurants, and find events in the area that might be of interest.  Businesses have tapped into Loopt’s location data to offer targeted promotions. Loopt is already accessible on more than 100 mobile phones and currently used by about 3 million people, giving it the widest distribution of any of the location-based services.

Blippy – Blippy aims to connect people around the purchases they make.  I guess people will need to be very careful about what they say or what could be misconstrued! Blippy publishes the amount and location of customer purchases, with user permission -that the rest of the community can then react to.

Groupon – This site offers “collective buying power” by providing deals to groups of people who buy products and services in bulk from participating retailers.  The site uses social networking to get users to share offers with their communities, in order to reach the target number of customers the “Groupon” requires to activate.

Businesses could gain exposure and new customers by making offers on the site—if Groupon develops a large following. However, one observation is to take advantage of group discounts you will have to find members with the same interest first. While the revenue from the purchase is helpful, exposing a large group of customers to your product is even more valuable.

This is by no means an inclusive list, only 5 exceptional companies striving to change the social media landscape with fresh ideas.

Which up-and-coming social application are you most excited about? Who did we leave off the list that should have been included? Please leave a comment below…

Other new services include:

http://www.Intent.com
http://www.akoha.com/
http://www.traxo.com/
http://www.socialight.com/
http://www.communike.com/Messages.aspx
http://www.yoink.com/

http://www.wombeat.com/

What about linking Social Media to Augmented Reality!?
Our article and associated videos about the potential of Augmented reality can be found at:
http://www.drsavi.com/opportunities-with-augmented-reality/

The following articles are also fascinating, i.e:  The future of social networking – a concept investigation with Augmented Reality & http://imod.co.za/2009/10/01/social-networking-and-the-future/

NB The following mock-up images from the latter, say it all!

Jobnexus or http://www.jobnex.us is designed for both job seekers and agencies/employers.

The following is an extract from the Welcome page:

Join to SEARCH and apply for new job opportunities. Upload your cv and use multimedia (video, audio and images) to exhibit your skills. Use this social network to SHARE experiences, all in a drive to SUCCEED.

Job Agencies and Employer’s join Jobnexus to post vacancies and search for applicants. Service provider’s for example, training organisation’s also join Jobnexus to advertise their services.

By joining this network:

• Search for job opportunities in your chosen sector
• Make friends with other industry experts to exchange project and business approaches and ideas.
• Explore Career Options as a graduate / undergraduate
• Share knowledge about industry developments, for example, technologies, tools and techniques.
• Upload your cv viewable only by employers so that they can locate you.
• Customise your own page. Consider it as your multimedia curriculum vitae with your, images, video and audio files – orientated to outline your skills.
• Motivate each other to pursue new roles and career breaks.
• Join as a job agency to locate talent and outline new opportunities through the classified section.

Its free to join but for Agencies/employers there is a competitive rate to advertise jobs. The rate card is provided here.

In addition, the following audio promotion also clarifies the concept…

I hope those that join will help make it a success for all profiles.

Many people have decided to leave such social networking sites as they feel that they are either bored or feel that they may be staked! I know the latter sounds a bit extreme but by opening up your personal details, even if done innocently, these sites can allow other (non-friends) to find out about you (subject to how much you reveal on your public site).

A recent Ofcom report, which surveyed 8,500 adults and children, reveals that half of all eight to 17-year-old Internet users – about 4million people – have a personal profile. This compares with 22 per cent of adults. Ofcom said two-thirds of children using social networking sites were on Bebo, while another third were on MySpace and Facebook (Facebook is most popular with adults). The survey showed 16 per cent of parents did not know who can see their children’s profiles. A worrying 41 per cent of children admitted they did not use privacy settings and only 53 per cent said their parents set them rules for use.

NB ‘Non-friends’ can also be defined as commercial companies that can profile advertisements towards you. In addition, one should also consider that it has been reported that snooping by potential employers also takes place.

Another area to consider is the use of such networks in the workplace. The UK Trades Union Council has established some guidelines (see: http://www.worksmart.org.uk/rights/socialnetworking).

One a positive note, over the last 2 weeks I have managed to re-establish contact with a couple of really great business colleagues. It was great to catch-up with them, where they are now – NB Both after at least 10 years. One could argue and question why did it take so long to reconnect? The only answer I can give is that the world is a big place and we all get busy in our own lives.

In the future it is likely that Cyberspace will provide us with virtual worlds with advanced features that connect to existing networks – These worlds will allow people to interact in a chosen identity or identities, introducing the possibility of an even bigger potential for exploitation. I was recently told by an Internet security expert that

the problem with the Internet is that nobody knows if you are a dog and if you are a dog what kind of dog are you going to be!

With such power comes great responsibility – No, this is not just a throw away line or something that can be exploited by a Spiderman movies. It is true. Today we have more power at our fingertips than ever before and it appears that children are apt at adapting to the latest fads and openness offered.

A few years ago I was consulting at a government medical organisation.There an Instant Messenger service was established but on an Intranet only basis. A number of issues were raised in terms of its use:

1. Surely, some outlets need to be enabled to the outside world, especially for true dialogue with trusted partners.
2. The potential to send files instantly can open up security issues.

We again return to the issue of the need for greater guidelines. It is excellent that the TUC have taken a serious view on the risks of Social networking in the workplace but we need more information on the implications of information use being abused, protecting our children and the risk of exploitation from companies wishing to profile current and future customers.