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Filed under: Facebook

What Lies Beneath

Yesterday I managed to digest the fifth chapter of Cluetrain Manifesto entitled The Hyperlinked Organization. And I don't have to be a corporate king (or queen at that) in order to validate the points made by Weinberger. Whenever I go online (and that means everyday), I see that the Web is really just how it was described in this chapter--hyperlinked, decentralized, has the concept of hyper time, provides open access to everyone, contains rich data, sometimes broken, and borderless. But how exactly did those things transform the way companies do business? Let me share with you some of what I saw and what I thought about them.

1.Deception is an option (and you see it anywhere).

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I totally cannot imagine my friend Arvin making use of his time online playing Travian or Poker or what-have-you. So when I saw this thingy flashing somewhere at the top of my Facebook page, I was riveted. I had to confirm if this was true and I bet you know what he answered. On surface level, the purpose was to drive traffic at their site. Not totally evil. But if we look deeper, it actually illustrates how companies that utilize social media have discovered another way of customizing their messages in ways that will best attract their target market. At this point, maybe the thing that gave us away is the frequency of message exchanges between him and me. They managed to make wise use of the links that I have with people so they came up with this banner ad that was meant to deceive in the hope of compelling me to experience it too. It (and all the other similar ads) failed. Deception should not, at any rate, be the way to go for companies and for the people that comprise it. It is unethical and it can be annoying, especially when people find out that you have deceived them for your company’s self-serving purpose.

2. They talk to me (us).

These dialog boxes appeared when I re-launched the Firefox/Chrome window after I forced-close it when my laptop was running ultra slow.

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The messages, obviously, seemed like someone from the Internet is actually talking to me. But more than sheer repackaging, what can be their intention in opting for a softer, more human kind of approach than the bland, computer tone like “Window and tabs cannot be recovered?” By actually trying to appeal to a “human side” and admit that what was happening is something that is, uhm, embarrassing, it kind of softens the blow as it reach the person. So, when you are trying to upload a video and then the window closes down, the initial reaction is get pissed. But with such messages popping up, it is somewhat implied that they tried, but they failed. So maybe you can just forgive and forget. In the same way that the kind of message that was exchanged online has evolved—from highly confidential matters by the military to gossips going on in chat rooms—the way companies talk to us have differed. It is not always them in the serious tone. Rather, they try to appear human, imperfect and flawed. If you are a company who is too occupied with making sure that you sound oh-so-professional online [yawn yawn], perfect grammar, and brilliant formatting, in the light of attracting the right people, then you are mistaken. If no one has braved to tell you the truth, I will. You are boring, most likely. And if we find something boring, we will only click on any link in your site just to get you out of sight. Time, money, and effort not spent quite well, ain’t it?

The discussion on Hyperlinked Organizations provides a good framework on how companies of today should be conducting their businesses. Companies, in fact, are given the liberty to decide on how they plan to reorganize. There are no strict rules, but they have to make wise choices. The examples I mentioned above are not necessarily extremes, but they give an idea of how the web's characteristics can actually be used at your own call.

Disclaimer: I was not exhaustive in capturing all pages and sites possible so those that were mentioned here are just snippets of those that I happen to stumble upon lately.

If I Were A Brand

What is my brand? What brand am I? I am not sure if these two are the same question only stated in different manner so by default I only need to provide just one answer. Just the same, I am still at the point of exploring the possibilities. I have been asking myself this question for days now after reading an article somewhere, discussing the importance of personal branding. And as barrycade would put it, there is a sea of penguins (out there in the Arctic!!) that is vying for readers’/clients’/customers’/employers’ attention. How can I possibly stick out? The potential of new media as an avenue to make yourself (or your brand) popular or accessible (at least), or to generate income, is just so overwhelming.

Two-pieced attempt

Blogging.

There is an array of platforms that you can use to host your blog. Some are free, but if you want to get premium features, you will have to pay for it. Now what exactly do you blog about? It can be anything that interests you, but make sure you retain a unique voice that will serve as your selling proposition because surely, someone out there is going to talk about the same thing that you are tackling. As for me, I only maintain this communication blog and another personal blog, making me a journal blogger (without any pressure at all). When you start writing for the money, investing on your domain, then it becomes a different issue.

Social networking sites (SNS).

As of now, I only have two social networking accounts—Facebook and Multiply—that I manage to update monthly, if not weekly. For other people, though, the frequency may be higher. Good for them. The fact that our connections define how well we get to fare in the business will see these networking sites as really helpful tools. These sites also serve to reinforce whatever it is that you blogged about. It can make you gain more readerships because options like linking your blog to your SNS accounts gives you more ways to direct people to where your humble abode is. As you go drafting your blog entries or creating your SNS accounts, I am sure you think about what image to portray exactly, what voice to use consistently. I find answering those questions difficult because it is very much like asking me to define myself right now (and I will have to stick with what I will be saying for the rest of my life).

Apparently, it is not anymore just the business of companies to create a good branding for their products in their attempt to generate good, stable shares. All of us who, in a way, are utilizing the Web is actually encouraged to have our own personal brand because it is the only way by which we can stick out. We have changing roles after all. Today we are mere consumers, tomorrow we are the dragon producers.

Why do I put a lot of pressure on it now? I came across a statistic lately that is quite daunting: Only 1 out of 100 Filipinos will become wealthy. So with so much people in the Philippines (and the world), all trying to max out the potentials of new social media, I should get going now in my attempt to live a comfortable life in the future. What better time to start than now? :-)

Selling Noemi Stephannie Guerrero

Do I have to sell myself? This question may seem odd but I think that yes, I have actually been doing it subconsciously.

1)      I recently created my Google profile so that people will find me easier; so that my future employer will find me and the things that are related to me easier. That way, I can also control the information that they will see initially. I tried googling my name and it annoys me that my communication blog is nowhere in the first three pages of search results. There are so much clutter that I need to exert conscious effort to actually optimize the results.

2)      I try to stick with just one username in the Web. It will probably take me some more time before I actually get to create a uniform identity online, but it is good to know that I am on my way there. I used to have just noemi717 as my username in any site. But now I am also ilovemobility, pearglace, noenoenoe, and guerreronoemi. Now who won’t get confused? In the same way that message consistency is a key to better communication, I think I will have to apply the same principle when establishing my identity. Good thing there are sites like Ping or HelloTxt, which can make updating all your SNS accounts a breeze, no matter how different your usernames may be. It goes without saying, then, that neither facelessness nor having multi-personality in the online world is something that should not be tolerated. If you want to enjoy the benefits and convenience that the new media can afford you, you will have to have that single branding that is unique to you. And with this, I return to the spirit of this entry. What brand am I exactly? Having a unique, recallable and single name does not suffice, I think. There is always more to the name after all. I guess I still need to figure out what that something is.