How can this be? How can the most visited site on the Internet also be among the most despised?

The complaints against Facebook are familiar. There’s the well-founded privacy concerns, the confusing and repeated changes to the interface, the intrusive advertising and silly games. But these foibles amount to the quirky yet sometimes annoying traits of a creature we otherwise love. Facebook is like a beloved puppy that decides to munch on your new sandals for lunch, if you will. Facebook is the husband with a tendency to leave his sweaty gym socks on the bathroom floor. While these are not among our favorite traits, they aren’t enough to make us abandon puppy, hubby or social network for good.

Facebook has become an indispensible “social utility” to many people (approximately 500 million). A great achievement for Facebook but it’s hard to unconditionally love an entity that large and powerful. This is why the recent backlash is predictable, just as backlash is predictable against any “utility” of Facebook’s size. Perhaps the results of the ACSI survey only reinforce that fact that Facebook has become a permanent and essential part of life, just like cable TV and airline travel.

And while a “social utility” like Facebook clearly isn’t as important as say, the fresh water supply, it is a practical, efficient way to track down and connect with family, friends, acquaintances, colleagues and the like. Something this universally useful is not going to go away quickly, if ever, despite complaints about unsympathetic changes to privacy and user interface. Note the recent failure of Quit Facebook Day.

One could argue that Facebook has transcended “social media” and is now simply a regular, everyday part of life for people young and old, man and woman. It is for this reason that Facebook finds itself in the same boat as airlines, cable companies and the IRS, and why the (albeit sometimes tumultuous) relationship between Facebook and its users will continue to endure.

So many questions… But this much is clear: if there’s a company with the resources and talent to develop a real Facebook-killer, it’s Google. And given that social has proved to be the hardest nut for Google to crack, we have a few suggestions for those genius Google developers to consider if they are, in fact, building the next “super social platform”:

#1: Give it your best and seamlessly integrate Google’s greatest tools in Google Me

• Photo sharing – Allow users to easily upload photos to their Google Me profile via Picasa or previously established Web Albums
• Tap into Google’s renowned Search capabilities – utilize search in a more meaningful way by giving users deep, individualized results drawn both from the web and also within users’ personal networks… Searching on “New Zealand Vacations”? Results should include not just the typical tourism and travel agency sites, but also suggestions to contact friends and other personal network connections who’ve mentioned New Zealand in their profiles. Rich.

#2: Get granular for the gurus

• Analytics – give advertisers deep insight into traffic on their profiles or fan pages
• AdWords – provide advertisers with granular control over their audiences

#3: Play well with others and give users the ability to connect with their existing assets on other social networks. Allow users to quickly and easily import info, photos, notes, friends, etc. from their profiles on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Flickr etc. With so many people already deeply invested elsewhere, Google Me should let users try something new without starting over.

#4: Create clique-ability and let users easily establish groups for a variety of purposes – work groups to collaborate and share documents, mommy groups to share photos and parenting resources, team sports clubs to share schedules and workouts, etc.

#5: Keep good design in mind – Dear Google: we are so over your “Leisure Suit Larry” era icons. If you want us to socialize with you, please invest in some fresh design. Thank you.

#6: Be concerned with privacy and make privacy profiles simple and understandable. We’d love to see the ability for users to set up multiple privacy “identities” for designated types of connections, such as colleagues, neighbors, dart buddies, college friends, etc.

#7: Put ‘mobile first’ and deliver equal or enhanced functionality for mobile. Make sure there’s seamless interaction between Android (and other mobile devices) and Google Me. We want to see anything that can be done on Google Me online being done on a phone/tablet and flawless sync between web and mobile.

Still, even with all these features, it will be a tough battle for any new social network to face-off with Facebook… And convince loyal users to make a switch.

What do you think? What features would you like to see on a social platform from Google? What would make it worth your while to change networks?

Related articles:

• More Fuel Added to Google Me Rumors (mashable.com)
• Google Me, Facebook Competitor, Confirmed by Former Facebook CTO (The Huffington Post)
• Google Me to be the Googlish answer to Facebook? (engadget.com)

Crowdsourcing philanthropy

The exclusively Facebook execution of  ”Chase Community Giving” last year (what Kimberly refers to as crowdsourcing), also ties in well with one of our recent blog posts, Four Metrics for Determining the Value of a Facebook Fan, as it relates to avoiding the misleading measure for successful social media marketing by imposing a monetary value on Facebook fans (“To effectively use social media as a marketing tool, marketers must be able to demonstrate the value that a follower base delivers to their clients”).

I’d bet Kimberly Davis would argue that even the possibility of driving financial business in the future captured immeasurable value, not to mention the unquantifiable value of demonstrating thought leadership by diving right in – “Others have stepped into the crowdsource space,” said Davis, “but they’ve done it very gingerly. They’ve put one toe in the water. We put our whole foot and leg.”

A passion to change and engage

Davis stepped into the role of president of the JPMorgan Chase Foundation in 2006, ready to cultivate a “futurist view” of philanthropy. She’s shifted the foundation’s portfolio from broad causes to more focused contributions to education and community development, which she hopes will eventually feed the financial business. And Chase Community Giving has certainly generated plenty of brand awareness among all those Facebook voters.

It was thrilling to read about Davis’ core passion; according to Invisible Children cofounder, Laren Poole:

…She showed up at 6 a.m. and talked to every single volunteer about what they did at the organization. It was so clear that she’s the heartbeat behind the whole thing. She got it in a way that I didn’t expect. “It,” of course, is how to connect corporate philanthropy efforts with a young generation more passionate about grassroots activism…

And this passion has helped her foster a very adventurous view of the new world we find ourselves in (at age 50 to boot). It was downright inspirational to hear someone saying out loud that we should be taking risks – especially from the president where “as a firm we’re in the business of managing risk”. Davis says, “Philanthropy is where we should be taking risks, but there were a lot of questions about the level of transparency needed to run this in an authentic way. Raising the blinds on the entire crowdsourcing process made a few bankers nervous…”

Staying transparent and authentic

In these times of general unrest over financial trust and leadership, Kimberly’s position on transparency and authenticity are not only important for maintaining engagement, but potentially has the power to be a first step in exponentially changing public impression. For me, Kimberly’s understanding of the power of “crowdsourcing”, or engagement leading directly to brand loyalty, is what conversation-centric marketing is all about. To be able to encourage activism on the scale Community Giving did… priceless.

Related articles:

• Feeding the Moral Hunger: Strategic Social Marketing for the Greater Good? (logicaljuice.com)
• The 100 Most Creative People in Business 2010 (fastcompany.com)
• Chase Community Giving Kicks Off Summer 2010 Program (eon.businesswire.com)

Just as eMarketer was making this prediction in January, Media Logic was ramping up a strategic social marketing effort with Healthways SilverSneakers Fitness Program® that would help prove its validity and demonstrate how social media can effectively engage the older adult crowd. By implementing a collaborative marketing approach and launching a site specifically designed to encourage information sharing in a safe, supportive online older adult community, SilverSneakers witnessed active engagement on its Facebook page grow from fewer than 500 fans in December 2009 to nearly 12,000 fans today.

The success of our work with SilverSneakers supports the upward trend of social media adoption among older adults while highlighting the value of social media as a marketing tool enabling conversation-centric, two-way models of communication for membership-based organizations.

Working Social Marketing Into a Mature Network
As far as membership organizations go, the award-winning SilverSneakers Fitness Program was thriving – offered to Medicare Advantage plan members through their health plan clients at more than 9,400 participating fitness and wellness centers across the country, SilverSneakers provides an innovative blend of exercise classes, health education and social opportunities to help mature adults maintain active, independent lifestyles. Studies have even found that older adults who participate in SilverSneakers are admitted to hospitals less frequently, have lower overall healthcare costs and experience a significantly reduced risk of depression.

SilverSneakers was already a hugely popular program, but the strategic use of social marketing has provided the organization with new and effective ways of connecting with potential members, and perhaps more importantly, encouraging loyalty to the program, ongoing member participation and involvement.

“The program is an inherently social experience,” according to our client and Healthways’ senior manager of Member Engagement Marketing, Michelle Eckert. “Introducing social media has allowed our participants to further enhance their social connections by sharing stories, photos, tips and notes of encouragement to others. Our experience supports the research that shows older adults citizens will adopt social media and participate, provided they see content and groups dedicated to their needs and interests.”

Managing Social Media Without Breaking a Sweat
While SilverSneakers began experimenting with social media late last year, the program needed a systemic approach, guidance, and support to create stronger interest and active participation. In January, the organization partnered with us and deployed Zeitgeist & Coffee^sm, our social media management suite specially designed to help organizations ramp up their social media marketing efforts, making them more effective and easier to implement and sustain.

Since implementing Zeitgeist & Coffee, SilverSneakers has realized…

• A significant spike in Facebook fans
• A dramatic increase in fans’ levels of engagement
• More fans who are potential SilverSneakers members visiting the Facebook page to learn about the program
• Friends and family members of SilverSneakers participants are joining the Facebook page to lend support and enthusiasm

SilverSneakers’ experience with Media Logic and Zeitgeist & Coffee has meant the difference between having a Fan page and having an active community.  By providing the methodology, marketing expertise and technology to fully leverage social media as a marketing a tool, we’ve made it easier for organizations to engage older adults and foster a meaningful social presence with the mature audience.

Related Articles

• Engaging the Aging: Creating Conversation for SilverSneakers (logicaljuice.mlinc.com)

So what does this mean for marketers? Moms’ blogs and time online provide a plethora of listening opportunities – and provide a wakeup call to brands everywhere. Women are the CFOs of most households and make most purchasing decisions on their own; being active in social media is becoming a must-do for any brand that wishes to remain relevant. Why? This group doesn’t have dormant pages on Facebook but are in fact among the most active on the site. A few quick facts:

• Over 67% of this audience is on Facebook at least 2-4 times a day
• Over 30% are on 5 or more times a day
• Only 5% are annoyed by or dislike ads on Facebook

All of this activity and this open-to-advertising view provide marketers with ample opportunity and reason to use Facebook’s targeted advertising to reach this critical audience.

Another key fact uncovered by this research? Moms want to interact with brands and are actively looking for deals or reasons to become fans. In the open-ended areas of the survey, the target showed a lot of savvy and insight, providing clues for marketers to take advantage of. A few highlights:

Provide exclusive offers (e.g., printable coupons, etc.). Exclusive offers would entice me to respond to the message (not just read/glance at [it]), and I might look them up on Facebook and become a fan.

[Be] more interactive. Starbucks is a good example – they just had a Facebook campaign where you could send a coupon for a free Starbucks ice cream to a friend on Facebook.

[Be] a little more targeted with online store specials.

The bottom line? This is an incredibly active, vocal and influential group in the social space. They are the most likely to seek out and share opinions on products, brands and services with those most likely to buy them. They are looking for brands to speak to them and provide them with a reason to start talking to them or about them. So it’s up to you: be a part of the conversation… or become irrelevant.

Learn how to integrate, manage and maximize your company’s total social marketing universe. Request your Zeitgeist & Coffee demo now.

The NBC Tonight Show dust-up has shined yet another light on the power of social media.

Most of the noise provided empathy and support for Conan O’Brien, clearly the victor thus far in the court of public opinion… as Jay Leno and NBC execs get painted as villains or village idiots.

Witness the grass roots growth of the Facebook fan page “I’m with Coco.” I checked the fan count a couple days ago — more than 166,000 people had signed up to stand up for their high-haired hero. That’s pretty astounding, given that the page had only been a few days old! Today, that number topped 489,000. Feel free to check out the latest fan count.

And fellow celebrities have joined the fray, voicing their support for Conan on their Twitter streams. And in the meantime, the #TeamConan, #GoConan and #Coco hash tags are flying freely. Just do a search on Twitter.

Throw in some public insults from NBC exec Dick Ebersol, and this appears to be a classic example of a bad situation made worse. Faster and fiercer than anyone ever imagined.

Which leads marketers to ponder how we may one day need to address a similar uprising — either intentionally trying to rally customers/fans around a cause, or working to manage an unhappy constituency. This we know: in the new social world order, we’ll need to act fast. For the battle will be instant.

At Media Logic, we decided it would be a good idea to begin offering overviews of mobile apps that interest us. These apps may have marketing implications, or they may just be cool, fun apps that grabbed our attention.

For our first app review, we’ll be talking about Foursquare.

Foursquare is a geolocation-based application that allows you to “check in” to places you visit (e.g., restaurants, amusement parks, etc).Your whereabouts are then shared with your friends that follow you on Foursquare. You also have the option to allow the app to update both your Twitter and Facebook accounts, alerting your friends that you’ve checked in to a location. Once checked in, you’re then able to share your experiences with your friends. Did you have a great sandwich at the sub shop, or was the service sub-par at that new restaurant? Let them know!

When you check in, you also earn points, and unlock badges. If you check in enough at a certain place, you can even become the Mayor. Now you may be saying, “That’s great and all, but who cares?” Well, you’d be surprised. Businesses are starting to sign up, and offer free goodies to the mayor of the location. These free goodies can be anything from a free cup of coffee, a free meal, or anything else that business may offer. (Not all businesses offer freebies, but it’s starting to catch on!

It’s not hard to imagine that some businesses would like to offer rewards on Foursquare, but think that it might be cost prohibitive. A plausible solution would be for businesses to assist each other, not unlike sponsorship or underwriting in a quid pro quo to reap the positive net effect of participating in the community.

Haven’t tried out Foursquare yet? Head on over to http://www.foursquare.com and download the appropriate version for your phone. It’s currently available for: iPhone, Android, and WebOS platforms. A Blackberry version is in the works. Or, if you’d prefer, you can login to the mobile site: http://m.foursquare.com. Give it a try, and let us know what you think!

Heard of an app that you haven’t checked out yet, and want to know more about? Let us know, and maybe we’ll pick it for a future app review!

Here’s an article about the potential end of “free TV,” as the nation’s top networks contemplate moving to a cable-like pay-TV model to compensate for declining viewership and lost ad revenue.

The lesson for marketers on the road ahead: we’ll have to be flexible, as old rules are cast aside and new opportunities emerge.

I’m struck by today’s images of protesters in Iran, some of which are no doubt captured stealthily via cell phones and smart phones. By actual witnesses and participants… not professional journalists.

The lesson for future marketers: authenticity and immediacy can trump slick and polished.

I’m bemused by this story about teens working to curb their Facebook obsession. Hopefully, they’ll share their advice with their increasingly obsessed parents and grandparents!

The lesson for soothsaying marketers: social media has inserted itself firmly and fixedly into the mainstream. We must embrace this, and leverage its potential.

Indeed, technological and behavioral changes have quickly, profoundly changed how we market products and services. And yet, at the core of all this evolution, consumers still exhibit a fundamental desire for engagement (such as fabulous cable shows like Breaking Bad or Mad Men), truth (from the front lines of Iran or anywhere) and a social connection (online and in real life). These are the timeless tenets of effective marketing. Stick to them, and let’s go boldly into the new decade!

Ahem…after I check my Facebook Live Feed.

But for the last 4 years the victor has seemed almost pre-ordained, as each Noel found the winner of that year’s  “X-Factor” show sitting atop the heap. And up until a few weeks ago, this year’s winner, Joe McElderry, must have been feeling pretty good about his chances to repeat the cycle.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the quorum…

Jon Morter is a part-time DJ and rock fan from Essex. In 2008, on a whim, he tried to gather online support to make Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” that year’s Christmas #1. He failed, but was intrigued enough by the response he got to try again this year – opting this time, to promote Rage Against the Machine’s expletive-filled 1992 track “Killing in the Name.”

His plan? A coordinated social media effort to generate an extreme uptick in sales during the one week it would matter.

Jon started a Facebook group dedicated to his cause and quickly started to see the power of a motivated ”brand community.” The group grew exponentially – in both awareness and support – simply by nature of the message (and the media). Then on December 15^th, successful comedian Peter Serafinowicz rallied his more than 268,000 Twitter followers to act. With Peter’s goose, Morter’s no-budget awareness effort snowballed into a popular campaign that eventually gathered the support of thousands of fans, former X-Factor winners and even Sir Paul McCartney.

When the smoke cleared, more than 500,000 copies of a 17-year-old song were sold over the course of a single week – and “Killing in the Name” was the new Christmas #1. Rage Against the Machine, the unknowing benefactors of the achievement, even pledged to give all profits from their single to charity.

Does this mean that Social Media is always going to be more effective than the traditional marketing machine that drives “X-factor?”

Of course not. Morter’s campaign played off a brand built via traditional media, and no doubt was juiced by many mentions in the traditional media.

Yet this story does highlight the communication power of the exponential networks of friends and followers to which almost all of us are now attached.

Harness the power of social media. Register for your free presentation today and find out how you can use social media to build your brand and business.

“Love this Media Logic! So fun and so festive… Great idea.”

“Fantastic!…Happy Holidays and thank you for another great year of partnership.”

“Priceless! Brought a real smile during my humdrum work day. Please extend my best wishes to the team. (PS – some of you should probably keep your day jobs!)”

“Oh my goodness… Talk about raising the bar. Fabulous job team ML. Happy Holidays.”

“Kudos! This is amazingly, wonderfully creative and fun!”

“You’ve outdone yourselves this year. What a great e-card! Thanks for sending and happy holidays to all at Media Logic.”

“To the musical cast of Media Logic: This card is SO fantastic!! What joy, what fun! It’s been wonderful working with such creative partners this past year.”

“…Wanted to let you know we loved your Season’s Greeting Message that we watched on YouTube. You are definitely a creative bunch of people. It makes me wistful that I don’t have that gene in my DNA. Watching it was the perfect way to start our Friday.”

We’ve also seen our Twitter followers and Facebook fans sharing the noise through tweets, retweets and posts. We even got a shout out on the USA Today’s “Pop Candy” blog’s holiday hit list… A list that also includes SNL’s holiday special, Snoop Dogg’s appearance on the Martha Stewart Show and Jack Bauer’s interrogation of Santa.

This is just the kind of magic and catchy conversation that can be generated when Media Logic’s creative staff gets together to create a timely, lively Social Juice Promotion.