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By Tai, September 18, 2009 11:06 pm

Theoretically, it is sensible for a Profile to be the center of a wide range of social features and the social platform. Just why Yahoo! has Yahoo! Profile for its Open Strategy.

Nevertheless, major updates have been realized in Yahoo! Mail.

Firstly, the front page now includes updates from a user’s connections.

Then applications start to appear in Yahoo! Mail.

It is reasonable too why Yahoo! Mail is an ideal destination for such updates. People will more likely login their inbox than in their “profile”. Plus, Yahoo! Mail being the top email service is still Yahoo!’s ace in communication. Think about profiles, why would one want to login their profile while they are having a Facebook?

After all, it’s a bit confusing as to what kind of updates I expect to see in Yahoo! Mail and Yahoo! Profile. Nevertheless, should Yahoo! concentrate their efforts in just one. If so, may I suggest Yahoo! Mail?

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By Tai, August 3, 2009 9:11 pm

I don’t publicize my email and instant messaging IDs because…

• I rely on them to communicate with trusted partners
• I’m afraid of spams
• I want to maintain certain privacy

Social Media come as a rescue, adding more communication layers.

The inner layer have emails and IM IDs is to be used for trusted partners and everyday conversations

The middle layer consist of my blog and profiles (LinkedIn being public and Facebook being semi-public)

The outer layer is where I maintain the so-called “public parties”, where I redirect all initial connections there.

***

In this sense, it is sensible to claim that Twitter is the new generation of communication, at a different level from real-time chatting.

• Twitter provides a communication channel that is less prone to spams
• Twitter offers asynchronous conversation mechanism, which does not require the other party to actually be there to communicate. We can be sure that they will receive our messages later on, and the messages will stay there without getting lost like Yahoo! Messenger offline messages

***

Moreover, I used to use IM status to host various quotes and thoughts. Now with Social Media, I have many options to choose from.

Can we generalize by saying that Social Media are adding values to online communication and competing with Instant Messaging at the same time?

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By Tai, June 20, 2009 6:57 pm

1. Know how to read profiles

Why

People have profiles on Facebook and reading their profiles saves you from asking unnecessary questions.

How

See the Tabs on a profile named “Wall”, “Info”…?

Simply click on Info.

2. Create a Page, not a Group for your business

Why

1. A group is not intended for promoting stuffs
2. One person can normal only join 200 groups (though the cap is lifted for some), while the number of Pages a person can be fan of is unlimited
3. You have promotion options & free data analytics for a Page

How

Use this link

http://www.facebook.com/business/dashboard

3. Skip the invitation form on applications

Why

Sending unsolicited application invitations is annoying and sometimes considered spam.

Many applications prompt you to invite people just before releasing results. But did you know an option to skip that is required by Facebook that the application creators must follow?

How

Look for the “Skip” button somewhere in the form. The application creators always try to hide it, but you can find it, I bet.

4. Join networks

Why

1. It gives people an impression of who you are. Look at my screenshot, you have the knowledge without asking me
2. Because networks require authentication, joining networks certifies your legitimation.
   For example, some people enter “Harvard” in their college field while they can’t even write a proper English sentence.
3. However, some networks don’t require an email, so virtually anyone can join. Beware
4. Joining networks expose you to more search options, as Facebook search would search for people in Networks
5. It makes it easier for your friends to do the following things because if your friend has two “Tai Tran” in your friend list, s/he won’t know which “Tai Tran” is the person s/he’s looking for
   • Search for you
   • Tag you in photos, notes, videos
   • Invite you to events

How

Use this link: http://www.facebook.com/editaccount.php?networks

Or

1. Hover over “Settings” on the top right corner
2. Select “Account Settings”
3. Select tab “Networks”

5. Use privacy settings

Why

Many of my friends deactivate their Facebook accounts as they felt that their privacy is affected.

The truth is Facebook provides very good privacy settings so you can choose to expose certain information to only the people you designate.

How

Use this link: http://www.facebook.com/privacy

Or

1. Hover over “Settings” on the top right corner
2. Select “Privacy Settings”

6. Use your real name

Why

People will want to

• Search for you
• Tag you in photos, notes, videos
• Invite you to events

If you use your nick name, you make it hard for your friends.

How

Use this link: http://www.facebook.com/editaccount.php

Or

1. Hover over “Settings” on the top right corner
2. Select “Account Settings”

7. Upload a real photo of yourself to your profile picture

Why

Because being on Facebook is about being who you are.

Using your real photo makes it easier people to

• Search for you
• Tag you in photos, notes, videos
• Invite you to events

How

1. Go to your profile
   • by selecting “Profile” or “Your Name” on the top menu bar
2. Hover over your profile picture
3. Select “Change Picture”

8. Write on people’s Wall, not comment on anything available to you

I have had some people comment things on my status what should be on my Wall. This happens as my status appears on their newsfeed which is the Facebook homepage.

Why

Because information should go where they are meant to be.

Imagine you comment “Hi! Nice day!” on a status of someone who is mourning “My brother is in hospital”. How would you look in front of people?

How

1. Go to their profile
2. Write on their Wall
3. If it’s private, send them a private message

Bonus

Well this is a personal practice only. Facebook has a birthday reminder and I make use of it. However, I’m not online 365 days so sometimes I’d rather wish you happy birthday a few days ahead just in case I don’t go online on the exact date of your birthday. I hope you understand

Conclusion

These are basic, but they save you from appearing awkward. Many more on how to optimize your efforts on Facebook have been written and are coming.

If you enjoy this, connect to me on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/taitran

What about you? What tips do you want to share?

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By Tai, May 29, 2009 11:58 am

Yahoo! 360, the social network/blogging service that nobody really used (except in Vietnam) is officially announced to be closed on 13 July 2009.

The impact this movement has:

Users

4 million users worldwide and 2 million Vietnamese users lose what they call “home-base”.

Vietnamese bloggers had long equate “blog = Yahoo! 360“. The closure will change that perception.

Where are they moving to

I have noted down my prediction on Kevin’s blog here.

I have personally moved most of my social graph to Facebook.

Yahoo!

• Yahoo! loses a global product which has been a bulletin board.
• Opportunity for Yahoo! 360plus.
• Yahoo! Profile has won the battle against its siblings.
• Yahoo! Feed looks promising amist.
• Full focus on Yahoo! Open Strategy.

Competitors

The global forces: Facebook is climbing Alexa Vietnam rapidly.

Local competitors: good news?

Ecosystems

There are two ecosystems in Vietnam on Yahoo! 360: 360themes and LinkHay feed. They will be heavily affected.

How about you? What impact will the closure have on you?

Addendum

@doqtu84 reported basic blogging feature within Yahoo! Profile

Comments (3)

By Tai, April 6, 2009 11:39 am

Yahoo! is concentrating on their Open Strategy; the focus is good, if they don’t abandon the particles that form a platform.

My metaphor: the Hall of Valhalla and the billboards

Imagine you’re a college student. You’re going to the library. On your way, a billboard is hung just around the corner before you reach the library.You stop for a few seconds to skim around the messages. The billboard is typically normal as in every school and at first it looks somewhat messy; however it is messy in its own order and as you figure through, you’ll know what you need.

Basically there are 2 things:

• It is convenient: on people’s way of achieving something (going to the library)
• It has its own order

There are various billboards like that across the campus. All good ones have the 2 characteristics above.

Now, the authority decides to build a hall where all the billboard is going to reside. The hall is separated from other buildings (library, computer labs, class rooms, sport grounds, common rooms…) for it to be easily managed.

How often will you drop by the hall of billboards? To what extent will the hall add values to your benefits? To what extent will the hall add values to the posters?

The hall will desert. People will scarcely visit. The values will drop.

Now, let’s go back to Yahoo!’s case.

Yahoo!’s Hall of Valhalla Yahoolla

Users are billboard viewers. Developers are billboard posters.

Yahoo! 360 which will be closed was a billboard of contents. Yahoo! Mash which had been closed was a billboard of relationships. Yahoo!’s Open Platform in which Yahoo! Profile centers is the Hall!

Image from Neal Sample & Cody Simms’ presentation

Without particles, how can an open but blank platform attract users and developers? How will Y!OSP add values to users?

Now, extending the boundary a bit further to other services that Y!OSP supports: Twitter, Tumblr, slideshare, StumbleUpon…

Yahoo! is leveraging its greatest user base: Yahoo! Mail. The prospect is that Yahoo! Mail users can manage different services from their Inbox! Additionally, users have their Yahoo! Profiles.

However, how willing are users going to stay in one place to get updated of all these services? If they do, they miss out the most, name it interaction or content, from going directly to the other services.

The Hall that Yahoo! is building will be a grand, titanic, ordered silo. The biggest question is: what will users find in there?