Online Communities, the Trends: Umair Naeem

Over the course of the previous weeks, my series on  Online Communities has  taken a detailed look into the phenomenon; what it is, and what the Good, the Bad and the Ugly sides of it are.

In Part 1, I took a look at the premise behind Online Communities, and what the inherent need was that created these Virtual Societies.

In Part 2, I took a look at the Good Side of Online Communities, and what benefits these Online Communes have brought to the society.

In Part 3, I highlighted the need for the balance in order to overshadow the Bad and Ugly side of Online Communities.

In this week’s concluding part, I take a look at some of the trends and the direction in which this online juggernaut seems to be heading in.

The Trends

We’ve already mentioned Facebook and Linkedin as popular examples of social networking websites. Whereas they have massive potential in terms of international interaction and networking (professional and otherwise), there are just as many issues with abuse, profanity and pornography. At times there is a blatant disregard of the users’ decencies, and rather sadly the controllers have done little to stem the tide. But there is a huge level of sophisticated information available, if one only knows how to filter it.  

Wikipedia is one community that can be considered to be a great example of a perfectly thought out and implemented community. It is for the users, and is written by the users; and any abusive or wrong information is deleted almost as soon as it is put up. It houses an absolute treasure trove of information on any topic on earth, and is a massive store house of knowledge. Oracle’s think.com, too, is an excellently implemented networking website, which is only for teachers and students of participating schools. It serves a great purpose of educating and exchanging information between children all over the world. Cultural awareness and interactivity can take place on moderated forum, and not only do the children learn about technology, they gain knowledge about people of other areas and various other areas of interests.

 Yahoo 360, MSN My Space and Google Talk are examples of integrated Blogging cum IM websites. Not only can the users create profiles of themselves and create Blogs, they can also interact live and offline via IM software of MSN, Yahoo and Google. All three, MSN, Yahoo and Google, also offer the ability to create online groups, which can be great for online cliques of friends or for online classrooms. Many institutions and universities use such groups to keep in touch with the alumni and for job referral.

 With the technology, the future is often limitless, and boundaries often end up being non-existent, but trends and potential of a particular entity is often a good way of understanding the direction in which its headed. The current trends with regards to online communities seem to revolve around gaming and social networking. Whereas online gaming has only just begun to take off in Pakistan (LAN gaming has become very popular and continues to push on), it is one of the primary implementations of online communities in the USA and in Europe. With services like X-Box Live, and virtual kingdoms like those in Warcraft and Second Life, users are able to indulge in their ultimate fantasies. One can be an elf or a warrior in Warcraft and campaign again countless other users from across the world, or one can race through the streets of some slick neon lit city chasing a competitor hailing from Australia! Whichever you do, online gaming and virtual cities are phenomena that are fast engulfing the rest of the world, and it is very likely that as soon as broadband Internet in Pakistan becomes cheaper and more reliable, our games will be joining online gaming arenas more often.

 In recent times, youtube.com and Current.com has captured the imagination of amateur media creators and broadcasters the world over. These sites allows you to upload your videos and for the rest of the world to view them. It has created an online community of users now, and many of the users log in periodically to check out the latest upload from a popular member. Some time back, a user by the name of lonelygirl15 started uploading weekly episodes of her life, and the series became an instant hit. So much success it received that many other members were sure that this was a publicity stunt by some major Hollywood company for an up-coming movie or TV show. It turned out that lonelygirl15 was an actress, and the videos were film projects of a couple of film school students! The website hence has the potential of creating a massive buzz, and this is a great way for the Pakistani underground bands to start marketing themselves.

 Torrents are another ongoing trend, and allow high broadband users to download entire seasons of TV series along with movies, games and assorted software. The larger the torrent community, the more people will share what they have.

 As we touched upon earlier, marketing and advertising awareness and testing can also be utilized through online communities, and this is another area which is increasingly being explore by many companies. Marketing departments of certain brands have entire teams at time, whose sole purpose is to monitor opinion and to spread information through online forum about certain products. Popular independent blogs are plenty, that review and rate products and services, and these can be a massive way for certain companies to position their products and services in front of the market. Some of the said blogs have achieved cult like status, and quite often, the reviewers words are considered as good as gold.

The Final Word

 It is always very easy to completely lambaste the bad side of technology, but the truth remains that technology is simply a tool, like a pen. Just as a pen can be used to write the most beautiful poetry ever written, it can also be used to write utter rubbish. One should hence always look to the users of the technology to understand why it is being used the way it is. 

 The same is the case with Online Communities, and their potential. As we have seen, much can be achieved, and much has already been achieved if they are used properly, but at the same time, unscrupulous use can lead to great misery. It is important in this respect for three sets of people to be wary of the way technology can wind itself around people’s existence: the first set of people are the community controllers, who must make sure that the community offers what it intended to offer, and does not turn into a sleazy online bar equivalent; the second set of people are us, the users, and we have a responsibility to use the tools that we have in the way that is best and not to overuse them; third and finally, its up to the parents and guardian of the younger generation to ensure that they have a balanced outlook, and that they do not become completely dependent on online communities for emotional well being. When all is said and done, technology has always been here to serve us, and it is simply we, who choose to become slaves to it.

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Online Communities Part 3, The Bad, The Ugly and the Balance: Umair Naeem

In my ongoing series on Online Communities, I will be taking a detailed look into the phenomenon that is known as the Online Community; what it is, and what the Good, the Bad and the Ugly sides of it are. I shall also be looking at the trends and what its implications are for Global and Local Societies and Industries.

In Part 1, I took a look at the premise behind Online Communities, and what the inherent need was that created these Virtual Societies.

In Part 2, I took a look at the Good Side of Online Communities, and what benefits these Online Communes have brought to the society. .

This week I will take a look at the Bad and the Ugly side of Online Communities, and how there needs to be a balance in order to fully utilize the opportunities that Online Communities lend to us.

 

The Bad…!

 

Core users of websites such as Orkut and Facebook target the users mostly via the social networking angle; and their user base is predictably made up of a huge cross section of youth and teenagers. Although this is not bad on its own, it does take away a lot of what the young can potentially achieve if they were to put in their time to other pursuits. Physiologically, this can often lead to a sedentary lifestyle, which is never recommended for the young. The said sedentary lifestyle, can in turn lead to physical issues such as obesity, and that in turn can have long term health disadvantages.

 

More so, overindulgence on the said social networking can lead away from the real key to human survival: actually physical interaction. Talking to someone face to face, getting to know their behavior patterns and likes and dislikes and exposure to real interactions are vital for the development of young minds. Whereas online communities offer a level of virtual interaction, they are likely to leave a gaping hole in the mental development and the psychology of young users, and may leave them unprepared when the time comes for them to venture into the real world for real interactions. The inability to understand people and communicate with them physically can leave lasting mental scars on those most impressionable.

 

Psychologically, this may lead to some users to constantly start taking refuge in virtual communities from the real world where they don’t fit in (or so they perceive). As an after effect of the over use of the virtual networks in the above instance, and otherwise, a sense of addiction may even develop. Since this is a technology that is ever dynamic and never ending, impressionable users may start spending more and more time with it, simply because they can’t realize what else to do and because they have too much time. Before even they realize, they could end up spending every waking minute on an online community instead of some pertinent activity. This could lead to insomnia, depression and anxiety; apart from a general lethargy and the decrease in the level of performance in studies and other areas. Because of these reasons, it is vital for users to strike a balance between using and utilizing the technology and ability of online communities, and over using them and losing focus as a result.

 

The Ugly…!

 

In earlier parts I spoke on how the anonymity factor can help, but like all thing, it has its bad side too. For one, it can allow users to pretend to be someone else when conversing in social networking communities. Other users can be misinformed, and subsequently great misfortune can occur. There have been many documented cases in the West where children have been picked up using chat rooms by anonymous and depraved users. The point in this respect is to always listen to the advice that has become something of a cliché: never trust who you meet online, and never give them your real name or address or contact. In other words, be anonymous! Because for all you know, the seemingly amazing person you just met could very well be a 45 year old lunatic.

 

Websites such as Orkut, have also been subjected to misuse by unscrupulous users. It is very easy to create a profile, and many users, for various nefarious reasons, end up creating a multitude of profiles. The worst part is that some of these identities actually belong to real people, and this can lead to horrendous amounts of abuse. There have again been documented instances where people have discovered their profiles on such websites, complete with pictures and personal information, and they haven’t even ever used the service. To a large extent, Facebook, the current favorite among social networking fanatics has tried to give more privacy control to its users, but still there is potential for great misdeeds.

 

This rather smoothly leads us to another increasing issue with social networking websites, and that is an element of voyeurism. That an online stalking, are menaces which are beginning to show up more and more often. The onus falls on the moderators and the controllers of such websites to ensure that the users behave themselves and that the content is what is supposed to be and what was advertised.

 

The Balance!

 

As it is evident, there is a good side to the phenomena, as well as a bad side; and hence it become important for the guardians and the family members of the younger users of such communities, as well as those who overuse these services, to work towards ensuring that a balance is created in the said users’ lives. For that to happen, the guardians should have a lot of empathy, and understand the needs of the person who is overusing such communities.

 

The basic need is that of belonging. Hence it is vital for parents to encourage their children to go out, play, exercise, and to meet their friends and to enjoy the physicality of existence. They must be made to feel a part of something, and the importance of balancing the various aspects of life should be emphasized to them. Online communities are a fine source of benefits, but they should not be over indulged into. They should simply exist as a supplementary part to the physical existence and interactions that the children and the younger users lead. Sports, extracurricular projects and field trips are an excellent way to create more healthy exposure for the younger users and to enhance their minds.

In the next part of this continuing series, I will be taking a look at the Bad and the Ugly side of Online Communities, and how there needs to be a balance in order to fully utilize the opportunities that Online Communities lend to us.

 

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Online Communities Part 2, The Good: Umair Naeem

Over the course of the next few weeks, I will be taking a detailed look into the phenomenon that is known as the Online Community; what it is, and what the Good, the Bad and the Ugly sides of it are. I shall also be looking at the trends and what its implications are for Global and Local Societies and Industries.

In Part 1, I took a look at the premise behind Online Communities, and what the inherent need was that created these Virtual Societies.

This week, I’ll be looking at the Good Side of Online Communities, and what benefits these Online Communes have brought to the society. .

The Good…!

The thing about Online Communities is that they are a true reflection of the way the human psychology [Read more]

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Metal Seinen: A web 2.0 Collaboration

Here’s another great product of a young Pakistani who unleashed his idea online. Here’s Metal Seinen through the eyes (and keyboard) of its creator, Zeeshan Shah -

Facebook, Orkut, Myspace, Linkedin. I am sure the reader of this article has heard of these names and is at least a member of one of these. This is the current wave of the spiral evolution of the internet. This has wave been named as Web 2.0 by Tim 0’Reilly, a supporter of the free software and open source movement.

The online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, which itself is a prime example of online collaboration and Web 2.0, describes it as:

Web 2.0 is a term describing the trend in the use of World Wide Web technology and web design that aims to enhance creativity, information sharing, and, most notably, collaboration among users.

What I present to you now is another example of web 2.0 collaboration, one which has presented itself in our own backyard.

Metal Seinen is a youth based Pakistani group which propagates creative and professional progression though mutual efforts of the members. Metal Seinen translates into ‘Metal Youth’ where ‘Metal’ represents the will to challenge one’s difficulties. What is interesting is that the creation of this group links directly to the web 2.0 effect of collaboration and communication.

In the summer of 2006, a handful of people came together through an orkut community to arrange an event for their common interest. The turnout was much better then one could have anticipated. The idea of online communication for bringing people together in Pakistan did indeed seem hold merit to it, even if it were for a small community such as Anime (Japanese Animations)

This event was the precursor to the next activity by this group. The next event was larger with creative contributions by a larger number of people; all of which came forward through online collaboration. Contributions included performances by musicians & presentations of art by budding artists.

Since then, Metal Seinen has declared itself as a ‘Platform for Creativity & Communities’. It utilizes a mutual collaboration system for creative projects between its members. This system extensively uses the Web 2.0 basis of creativity and collaboration. [Read more]

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Online Communities Part 1: Umair Naeem

Over the course of the next few weeks, I will be taking a detailed look into the phenomenon that is known as the Online Community; what it is, and what the Good, the Bad and the Ugly sides of it are. I shall also be looking at the trends and what it’s implications are for Global and Local Societies and Industries.

This week, I’ll be looking at the premise behind Online Communities, and what the inherent need was that these Virtual Societies have answered. [Read more]

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Personal Branding

Umair Naeem takes a look at the issue with Personal Marketing…

There are a number of concepts that have been brought to the limelight in recent times due to the unceasing insurgence of the web movement in Pakistan. Concepts such as Buzz Marketing, Online Communities and so on, have been the catchphrase of the day. One such concept that has also been brought to the limelight is Personal Branding. Now before I launch into what Personal Branding is all about, a quick refresher as to what we mean when we talk about Brands. Brands are not logos, names or symbols… rather they are all of the mentioned and more. A Brand is an idea and a belief; it’s the envelope of attributes and emotions that surround a product. Apple, for example, is so much more than just a PC manufacturer. Apple users consider themselves to be part of a separate community, because the things that the Brand Apple says, they want to say as well. They want to be associated to the class that the Brand brings.

In the same vein, Personal Branding refers to ensuring that *you* know that you are a Brand, and need to be put out there in the same way. In a congested environment where job applicants are many and good jobs fewer; it is important for *you* to be disassociated with all the others and for you to have a unique identity for yourself. When I talk about having a unique identity, I refer to your presence on the Web: the virtual world. [Read more]

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The Random Noise of Telecom: Umair Naeem

Anyone who knows me would be well aware that I get truly annoyed when marketers look for the easy way out to market the products. Rather than understanding true insights coming from the consumers, they look towards existing trends and easy solutions for trying to grab the consumer’s attention and trying to get their brand to stay Top Of Mind. Our beloved Telecom Industry too by and large falls for the pitfall of taking the easy way out. My mind immediately goes to the somewhat raunchy “Baat Ban Jaye/ Public Deman” Ufone campaign of a couple of years ago. As is the case with most instances of taking the easy way out, the ad is just attention grabbing noise, and nothing more.

More recently, the telecom industry seems to have been taken over by the song and dance formula, and sees Telenor and Mobilink competing with each other to see who can get more mileage out of it. In all honesty, even though the formula has little to do with the brand or the product, the concept made some sense initially because it was unique and attention grabbing. Lately though, it has become synonymous with what I like to call Random Noise Generation. Why not just shoot a video with a bunch of guys and girls screaming and then have the “Jazz” tagline at the end? The concept of thinking before launching any campaign seems to have fizzled away. I seem to remember the Jazz High Octane campaign sometime back, which at lease seemed to have some sense and reason behind it. The only thing that seems slightly amusing in the latest High Budget Random Noise to come from Jazz is the sight of Wasim Akram dancing around, and oh yes… there is further addition to the growing plethora of Jazz Brand Ambassadors / Endorsers / Models / Celebrities / Famous People! What exactly are they?! Do they actually use Jazz or do they only sing (or dance) about the brand?

But what really got me was the latest ad from Mobilink which I saw yesterday. A 15 second (or so) spot called ‘G.I.60 Seconds’ to the theme of Mission Impossible. I wonder where I’ve heard that theme before and kudos to the creative team for thinking of a unique original never before used term of Gone in 60 Seconds. But don’t get me wrong, I’m not criticizing the ad this time (not really), I am criticising the Reason for the Ad. Something we marketers like to call the ‘Discriminator’ for the Brand. Something that is unique… the Unique Selling Point and what not… this time round, the so called USP is a ‘value’ added service through which you can have your SMS disappear from the receiver’s set in 60 seconds, a-la Mission Impossible. Why oh why would you want that? Can’t you just simply delete the text? Why do people save old text messages? Is there anyone home at the Mobilink Consumer Research Centre?

Come forth dear readers, for this GI60 service is the perfect example of Gold Plating, whereby companies add services to the product that the consumer don’t need or want, and then market them as if the service was a God Send. The wonderful service of hearing songs when you call a telecom number is another one of those Gold Plated Value additions.

I sincerely hope someone in these Telecom companies sees sense and at least tries to be creative with their messages and concepts. A quick look at Indian Telecoms Advertising can certainly be productive!

Till next week. Be safe and beLIEve.

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All aboard Alltop and a Zong of a Dissapointment:Umair Naeem

A while back, Guy Kawasaki, a former Apple Fellow, launched Alltop.com, an online news aggregator. Kawasaki himself, describes Alltop as an online Magazine Rack on various topics, and that is essentially what the theme of the website is. It’s easy to use information on whatever topic you want, without hassle. Not convinced, well, imagine you want to know the latest news on politics, sports and weather to name a few; along with your daily dose of views on your various hobbies (photography) or your favorite industry or on marketing or maybe you just want to know about various oddities. Anyway, rather than going here and there, you have it all aggregated in one page: Alltop. It’s in a way akin to rss feeds, but somewhat easier to use for newbies. As all good ideas go, this one is simple and easy to use; but the better thing, and also the reason why it finds its way into my column on e-Pakistan, is that a week ago, Alltop Pakistan went live. We are now the fifth country (yes, India is already there) to have our own Alltop page in the Geo section. The efforts of Atif Khan in this regards have to be lauded.

Now apart from the usual “Pakistan is now part of the world community” pride, Alltop Pakistan actually will be quite useful. For a long time, I and a number of other people have felt that a central depository of information regarding Pakistan is something that the Web is missing. Yes, we have a number of other aggregators, Wikipedia’s definition of Pakistan and CIA’s fact book (I might also mention our Tourism Website), but the truth is that if someone sitting in Australia wants to know about Pakistan, its culture, its people and how the thinking is over here, he would be in a bit of a quandary. He (or she) may find a number of blogs or websites that mention Pakistanis in less than a glorious light, and come away with the generic (and largely untrue) perception of Pakistan as a backward nation. But with Alltop Pakistan, he (or she), may read about Pakistan from the perspective of Pakistanis, through their blogs, websites, newspapers and so on. At least he will have a first person account of what we are all about. So on behalf of all Pakistanis, Welcome to Pakistan, Alltop!!

A few weeks ago I wrote a piece on Zong and its functional, different, creative, unique and personal ad campaign; and lauded its Print and TV campaign. Having said all that I recently discovered this, the British Ad on which the Zong TVC was based on. So I will retract a bit of what I said earlier. Whereas the print campaign still stands just as unique and admirable, and whereas there launch TV Ad was ‘nice’ if not outstanding; their rather blatant copy of the British Ad left a bit of a bad taste in the mouth. I keep harping about the creativity that we have in Pakistan, and then when you have a good example of it, you are left with a Zong shaped disappointment. What really amused me was that they showed people playing soccer at one point in the Ad, why not Cricket or Hockey? But having said all that, I still laud Zong for at least having the decency and the intelligence that they need something more than just Random Noise that the Telecom Media is generating through elaborate song and dance routines. So at least, Zong remains unique in the Telecom Clutter. On a further note, the production values of the Zong Ad (sound quality for one thing) left a bit to be desired.

On that bombshell of a note (thank you Jeremy Clarkson), I shall bid you all adieu!

Till next week, Watch More TV and beLIEve!

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Manning Technology: Umair Naeem

When we talk about technology augmenting day to day life and making things easier and more convenient for people from various walks of life, the ball often falls onto technology itself for being unreliable, particularly in a country like Pakistan where state of the art facilities are rare. This can often be a very unfair statement, as it is the very facilitators of the technology who are responsible for ensuring its effectiveness in doing what it was supposed to be doing.

What often happens is that technology and facilities are in place, but the people who are supposed to be manning them and people who are supposed to maintain them end up being the unreliable ones. On a recent trip to Lahore, I had the misfortune of trying to connect to a Wireless internet network at the Karachi Airport. A few minutes of trying, and I looked for someone to help me out, but none of the airport personnel knew what was going on. I gave up, as my flight was about to board. On the way back, I found myself waiting at the Islamabad Airport, and spotted the free Wateen Internet Kiosks. There were two on one side, and two on the centre of the hall. From the two on the side, one was being used, while the other was free, so I tried to access my email from it, but lo and behold, there was no connection. Of the other two kiosks, one was off and the other was not working as well. Out of 4 possible kiosks, only one was working.

Whether Wateen is to blame, or the Airport authorities, it hardly matters. What matters is that technology should be a smooth and easy to use facility, not something that you would end up tearing your hair out over. And this is the responsibility of those who have put up the technology in question and those who are supposed to maintain it.

Let’s move to another example. Colgate Palmolive has a number for Consumer Affairs, on the back of its products (most specifically detergents), and when recently I needed some information regarding its products, I figured I’d give their consumer affairs a try. Unfortunately when I called, no one answered, and that’s been the case for the past few days. It’s truly insane when you have put out a number and you have no one manning it. Unilever’s Raabta Service is much better in this regard, even though their operators need to ensure that they have more detailed information regarding their products.

I have mentioned time and time again before about how important I feel it is to have Consumer Awareness in order for big businesses to feel continually responsible for the services that they offer. The encouraging thing is that Pakistan is moving towards that direction, but until and unless we, as consumers do not stand up for what we is our right, we shall remain static.

This week’s Rant goes out to the wonderfully original people behind the Mobilink Jazz Ad Campaigns. Did I mention how creative I think they are? Of course they must be! How else can they come up with a another Jazzy Tableau Theme with a song and dance routine with guys and girls jumping around and singing about how wonderful Jazz is? And of course, the height of creativity, having Wasim Akram join in and sing as well. It’s truly brilliant! How can it fail?! It has people singing and dancing about Jazz?!

It’s time like these that its true when people say there’s no creativity in Pakistan. I still don’t think that’s the case, but the ‘creative’ are certainly proving their point. What’s more ironic is that I thought the Mobilink ‘Join Us’ campaign was actually nice. Anyway, till next time, stay safe and Believe.

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Zong-ing the Telecoms: Umair Naeem

For a number of years, Mobilink and Ufone were the sole window that Pakistan had to quality telecom, but that window has recently been further extended by Warid, Telenor and more recently by Zong. Whereas Warid came in quietly and then made to take off through advertising, Telenor came out with a bang, and it’s marketing has not looked back since. I will not talk about the multitude of confused positioning that Telecom advertising has produced (in a later edition of my column), rather, I will concentrate on Zong and its marketing this week. Zong bounced out from China mobile, and has been pretty active as far as TV and print advertising is concerned. The name is quite a curiosity and an eccentricity, but the marketing campaign has been a breath of fresh air in a telecom cluttered advertising front where all comers have a song and dance routine to sell sims. As far as Zong is concerned, two aspects particularly gained my attention. The first was a an amusing TV Ad which sees a guy walking and talking about Zong and different telecoms. The Ad looks to poke fun at competitors and at the same time establish Zong as a more affordable and more flexible service. Talking to consumers, the most popular of Zong’s services so far remains the one number that you can call for free for a lifetime, and that resulted in Zong sims being run within a few weeks of its launch. One feature of the TV ad lingo that also brings out the affordibility of Zong is the use of “12 Anna” for a text message to any number, rather than using Paisas.

The other aspect of their marketing that I particularly liked was their use of print ads, and one in particular, reproduced below, which shows a wall full of graffiti, which again pokes fun at different telecoms and their taglines. Once again, humorous, and unique in style and presentation, and that is something that Zong needs to be lauded for. They haven’t fallen into the trap of easy advertising by getting a big name endorsement or having a song, but rather have tried to flank the competitors with their campaign. But as I always say, the more competitive Telecoms get, the more the consumer wins.

This week’s “Rant” goes to ABN AMRO and their sales network (soon to be known as RSB). It appears as if the sales team for the various ABN products have no central connecting points to compare notes about whether a certain person wants services or not. This is a story that has been reported time and time again: one applied for a certain service, that is accepted, and the same day the flow of calls begin. Caller one congratulates you and then offers a service that is being offered ‘free of cost’. When YOU convince THEM that you don’t want/need the service, they close the phone, and 5 minutes later another person calls with another service. A colleague received as many as 40 calls in one day, and that is much more than a nuisance. The tragedy is that ABN is a quality brand, but if this keeps up, ABN are killing their brand’s equity for short term gains. Even more tragic is that not only do they not seem to have a central information connect, they don’t really seem to care about needing one. I can’t believe for an instance that those running the bank are not aware of the nuisance this is causing their consumers. Our services industry needs to stand up and be counted. Till next week, be safe and believe.

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