Reviewing Social Shopping Sites

Get Elastic posted a great list of social shopping sites a while back. I've been in the process of reviewing them. I've just started, but my take so far is as follows:

Stylefeeder: Totally love the experience, really easy to get set up and they have a fun and engaging site. Easy to install plug in for Firefox captures the url and photo of the item you want to add to your "feed" - this rocks.

Kaboodle: These guys do a good job too. Nice plug in for Firefox also but isn't quite up to par with Stylefeeder.

Stylehive: Hate them. This is a total miss for me. The sign up process is lacking in direction and isn't at all smooth. I had to search forever to find their "bookmark" thingy for Firefox...finally found it and was disappointed to say the least. They're a "no go". Boo!

I would love feedback on Social Shopping sites that you like and why. Talk to me!

Facebook vs. MySpace...no contest

This via my fav must read on a daily basis - Download Squad

Your social network preference might say more about you than you realize. This blog essay lays out a strong case that Facebook is beating Myspace on a socio-economic level, if not just yet on a pageview/users level.

It makes sense. Facebook started as a college and university only platform, which right off the bat adds a significant gap between the haves and have-nots. Add a pinch of irritation that users with an IQ above 80 feel when confronted with abhorent Myspace layouts and you have a recipe for the great unwashed to rally around Myspace, leaving the rest of us who can string a few words together as Facebook planted refugees from the ills and distaste of Myspace.

Ouch! Burn!

Song of the Day

Winds of Change...they're blowin'

Movin' from Finance to Marketing...this should be interesting. Marcy leaves the "Office of Strategery".

Wish me luck! Email me at marcyannekessler at gmail - you know the rest.
Cheers!

Personalizaton

I was asked about Personalization today and specifically this question: If you had a crystal ball, where would you see personalization in 2010?

And I answered thusly...
I feel that the level of personalization online is directly linked to the level of trust being established between businesses and consumers and it will have reached a whole new level by 2010. The level of trust needed for truly exceptional personalization is born out of relationship. In a time when social commerce is just beginning to peak I’m seeing more and more retailers grasping the notion that what customers are after is a collaborative and participatory experience online. They want to be given the tools to create their own experience not have that experience dictated to them by the retailer.

In a world where it’s being reported by Gartner that by 2011 80% of Internet users will have a “second life” or a presence in a virtual world, “personalization” takes on a whole new meaning. It’s getting darn personal when you’re living your life online.

I went on to say...

Time. It’s all about saving time. If I can engage with a solution that offers me the opportunity to express the stuff that I like, lets me participate in a fun and engaging community of other consumers (friends), and then consistently delivers on the tailored product offering so that I don’t have to do the work of searching, then that becomes my favorite hang out.

Just as I might gather with friends on a Saturday afternoon for some shopping and a cup of coffee, as a virtual girl in a virtual world I get to gather with my “friends” and go shopping and chat and exchange ideas online. I have the luxury of engaging in that online community as much or as little as my time permits.

and...

I think it’s important to create an environment that demonstrates that you’re really listening. It just goes back to that trust issue. I’m volunteering a lot of personal information, and I want to feel like you’re paying attention. Technologically speaking, the means for getting there lies in AI development. But you can’t neglect the human development. Creating a machine to pay attention isn’t enough, the people minding the store need to pay attention too.

Google Getting Creepy?

I don't know. I'm just not sure where I land on this yet. Google has built some amazing trust and loyalty. I'm greatly dependent on my Googling ability in the work that I do, but do I want them enabling the world to visit the windows of my house? I'm caught in the middle. I love details, I love all information at all times. I guess in living a life online I've accepted that the planet is becoming a smaller and smaller place.

via CNET News

Saturday, the British activist group Privacy International released a scathing report that said the company is "hostile to privacy" and ranked it the lowest out of nearly two dozen major Web sites when it comes to privacy issues.

Google Maps Street View was singled out. "Techniques and technologies (are) frequently rolled out without adequate public consultation (e.g. Street level view)." Google also has a "track history of ignoring privacy concerns," the report said. "Every corporate announcement involves some new practice involving surveillance."

In addition to Google's "aggressive use of invasive or potentially invasive technologies and techniques," the bad grade was given because of the "diversity and specificity" of Google's products and the ability to share data between them, as well as the company's market dominance and number of users.

Under 7, and packin' CE

This is interesting. Hmmm. My 7 year old daughter is certainly in the group that's packin' some serious CE. For Christmas this year she got a cell phone, MP3 player, digital camera and just recently got her own laptop. She's also recently started her own blog. She's become much more interested in "geeking out" at the computer than watching TV.

This via emarketer

Children Younger Than 7 Use Electronics

US children now start using consumer electronics (CE) at an average age of 6.7, down from 8.1 in 2005, according to the NPD Group's "Kids and Consumer Electronics Trends III" report, conducted March 16-22, 2007.

Kids start with TVs and PCs first, typically at age 4 or 5. Children get acquainted with satellite radios and portable digital media players last, usually around age 9.

Although children are becoming familiar with CE devices earlier, actual ownership and use has dropped slightly over the past two years, both for kids and their households. About a quarter of households said they had not bought any CE devices within the past 12 months.

About three-quarters of parents surveyed in 2007 said they would be interested in a branded kids' version of an electronic device, down from 83% who said so in 2006.

Kids use CE devices about three days a week on average. They use TVs nearly six days a week, and mobile phones and DVRs just over four days a week each.

Tag-Based Customer Reviews

Check this via DMNews, patent pending Tag-Based Customer Reviews from Power Reviews - improves natural search.

Lillian Vernon recently launched tag-based customer reviews from PowerReviews on its Web site at www.lillianvernon.com.

The PowerReviews’ customer review service uses a patent-pending tag-based approach that offers Review Snapshots designed to make it easier for shoppers to reach a purchase decision.

According to the company, PowerReviews identifies reviews that are written by “verified buyers,” provides assistance from actual product users to help shoppers narrow the product selection on a Web site and gives recommendations from “people like them” to help shoppers make decisions that suit their needs.

PowerReviews also sends customers a post-purchase invitation to review the product that they ordered and creates keyword-intense pages for each product that can help drive natural search optimization results.

PowerTags, from , Millbrae, CA, captures customer opinions in their own words and makes reviews more useful for shoppers.

Widgets, widgets, widgets

Pop quiz: What technology is on the cusp of changing the face of Internet advertising as we know it?

Answer: Widgets.

Read more here.

Google snags Feedburner

Via DMNews: "Search engine Google Inc. has acquired FeedBurner, a provider of media distribution and audience engagement services for blogs and RSS feeds.

Web-based tools help bloggers, podcasters and commercial publishers promote, deliver and profit from their content on the Internet. This acquisition makes sense for Google given that it is constantly looking for ways to identify and offer new tools for content creators and website publishers."

The companies are not disclosing the financial terms of the agreement.