Is Facebook The Central Bank for Social Media?

We have been featuring important articles regarding Social TV and Social Media, and especially Transmedia Brandcasting Which we believe will be the future for Advertisers who are simply getting ripped off from relying on Nielson Panels to set rates. No different from Moody’s and S&P’s rating for Lehman, Fannie Mae and Fannie Mac who enjoyed AAA Ratings for what turned out to be total crap.

Is the same thing happening by design and aren’t Advertisers wise enough to know at this point. The convergence of media, and especially Transmedia requires Hyper Transparency and the industry may not be able to stand as is if the total truth were known about the scarcity model used to drive up Ad Inventory. So many great Independents are locked out from getting their shows distributed and when one does break through, unless the right Directors, Producers are chosen the rest of us are left pressing of face to the glass waiting on our turn. Well that BS has to Stop. We have an opportunity to level the playing field and that is exactly what we plan to do at WCNTV. Will Facebook, Google, Apple, Myspace and Twitter compete with Traditional Media. They have the eyeballs so will they have the balls to deal with Indpendents with the answers to their major questions. Submmitted by a frustrated customer of entertainemnt for 50 Plus Years. We have to do a better job of giving Advertisers value for money and reporting that proves their ROI. Transmedia Brandcasting can accomplish that.

Amplify’d from wcntransmedia.wordpress.com

Is Facebook The Central Bank for Social Media? Or Could a Cash Rich Apple give Google + and Facebook a Run for its money? By Jay O’Conner Chairman & CEO Today I made a comment that stuck with me a great deal. Coming from Wall Street in my early 20’s I learned a thing or two about Money. Not the kind of money that we all figure we can live on. But, remember the saying “If I could only reach 3 times my age in salary, I would have it made!” Well, we were sold a bill of goods; and I think with the lack of financial education taught in High School which is life’s training ground, is missing the mark. But, how can someone teach you to be financially free without having achieved it? The reality is that most teachers we hold the dearest, are sorely under paid. In a matter of just a few short years the convergence and build out of Transmedia Brandcasting allowing Advertisers and Viewers to meet together and determine that, if the end game is selling more product and product loyalty, it will become clearer and clearer that a share of the Advertising Revenue can be shared from the savings that a small IPTV Television network can produce, deliver and air globally. Facebook has 750 Million on its way to a Billion Users worldwide and recently we posted Roger McNamee’s article that Social Media is Over. Facebook Investor Roger McNamee Explains Why Social Is Over. Must Read for anyone considering a Career in Social Media & especially Social Media TV. One of the Top Posts in the WCN Transmedia Blog and upon examination of his video and explanation, I have found a new hero. Of course, Roger is a Musician, (which is brilliant in itself). But if his perspective is correct, then it seems to me that Facebook is in the position to be The Central Bank of All Social Media. At the moment….. I am sure that the folks around the world are not sitting around seceding this point, however, I feel confident in my research and personal experience to go out on a limb here!  Few would disagree that Facebook is a website that has the Eyeball Capital for the Distribution of Advertising that while not the original focus of Mark Zuckerberg certainly must be, as Facebook itself considers going public.  So Google + has the cool factor for the moment and the cache to get a several million people to click the plus button but who really knows what that even means yet really or cares! What is the Master Plan for Online Media to sustain its present business model when more people are getting their entertainment via mobile devices around the world as well as Second, Third, and even Four Screens on your person. My Mother is 74yrs old and she is walking with 3 Screens everyday. Let me just call her out. A IPad, A Sprint Smart Phone and a IPod/Touch for Music. At home she has a personal Apple Laptop. Two Wide Screen TV’s including TV’s in the Kitchen, Dining Room and Living Room. Okay so she is well connected! And was very upset about P&G Pulling out of the Soaps at least initially. But glad to hear that they are coming to the WEB and All My Children and One Life to Live will live on. Losing those shows is like losing Lehman Brothers. Which brings me to understanding how Facebook The Central Bank or Youtube/Google could provide the Stimulus for a fundamental change in the financial future of the Middle Class of the United States of America as well as Transmedia Revenue Share Communities that Facebook Deals and Google Offers. It’s time to connect the dots. And Transmedia Brandcasting accomplishes that in a Free Enterprise System where we can use Facebook Connect and Youtube/Google. But will they allow innovation to rule the day, or have they become already too big to create Transmedia Revenue Share with the people who make their companies great. Let me try to be crystal clear. Now is the time to monetize streaming video with Product Placement so viewers (should they be so inclined) can interact with your product, with the click of the mouse and the touch of the finger or soon even voice recognition. The day is upon us and the technology has been available for years, to allow viewers to instantly click and buy anything seen. As a journalist and technologist of sorts, I have personally programmed video with this interactivity – so guys you don’t have to be a rocket scientist. As a matter of fact we will be recruiting High School and College Students as our first line of programmers to monetize user generated content. First, however, the business model must be proven. Imagine with me if you would, a company like Penske Motors. We could fashion a deal to create a relationship with “oh let’s say”, a company like mine (WCN) where every car seen could be clicked on and a lead was generated and sent to the local Penske Dealership with a matter of a click or impression. Well it’s more than possible as it relates to anything seen on a Screen. We see the future of Social Media merchandising via streaming video creating a new revenue stream which can create jobs for the individuals who would sign up companies using startup Groupon Companies like Social Dish, The Customer Advantage and others. Especially if allowed to interface with THE CENTRAL BANK OF SOCIAL MEDIA. Now will Google, Apple, Microsoft, Yahoo, Myspace & Twitter allow Facebook to be the only Central Bank and become as it were Local Federal Reserve Banks remains to be seen.  What is clear is that for the community of Content Owners, Producers, Artists, Actors, Athletes are beginning to understand that the current climate of Piracy and loss of revenue must cease. And, an even larger question is will Traditional Media understand Transmedia Brandcasting early enough to position themselves to bridge their strategies beyond NetFlix, Crackle, Hulu and other Direct to Consumer Movie Distribution Channels leave them behind? Remember The Music Industry and Napster. Let’s not make the same mistakes the USA can level the playing field by adopting technologies which will present a new opportunity to create new revenue that currently does not exist while providing a superior service not so laden with 30 second commercials that we find ourselves as audiences subsidizing re-runs and commercials 24/7. And if you have ever gotten your cable bill and with remote control in hand, can find nothing to watch when you have 300 or more channels of content, we know we have to do better as an industry!  And like it or not Facebook for the time being is The Central Bank of Social Media?  What’s your opinion? Read more at wcntransmedia.wordpress.com

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/a19lyz

Is Facebook The Central Bank for Social Media?

Is Facebook The Central Bank for Social Media?

Or Could a Cash Rich Apple give Google + and Facebook a Run for its money?
By Jay O’Conner Chairman & CEO

Today I made a comment that stuck with me a great deal. Coming from Wall Street in my early 20’s I learned a thing or two about Money. Not the kind of money that we all figure we can live on. But, remember the saying “If I could only reach 3 times my age in salary, I would have it made!”

Well, we were sold a bill of goods; and I think with the lack of financial education taught in High School which is life’s training ground, is missing the mark. But, how can someone teach you to be financially free without having achieved it? The reality is that most teachers we hold the dearest, are sorely under paid.

In a matter of just a few short years the convergence and build out of Transmedia Brandcasting allowing Advertisers and Viewers to meet together and determine that, if the end game is selling more product and product loyalty, it will become clearer and clearer that a share of the Advertising Revenue can be shared from the savings that a small IPTV Television network can produce, deliver and air globally. Facebook has 750 Million on its way to a Billion Users worldwide and recently we posted Roger McNamee’s article that Social Media is Over.

Facebook Investor Roger McNamee Explains Why Social Is Over. Must Read for anyone considering a Career in Social Media & especially Social Media TV.

One of the Top Posts in the WCN Transmedia Blog and upon examination of his video and explanation, I have found a new hero. Of course, Roger is a Musician, (which is brilliant in itself). But if his perspective is correct, then it seems to me that Facebook is in the position to be The Central Bank of All Social Media. At the moment….. I am sure that the folks around the world are not sitting around seceding this point, however, I feel confident in my research and personal experience to go out on a limb here!  Few would disagree that Facebook is a website that has the Eyeball Capital for the Distribution of Advertising that while not the original focus of Mark Zuckerberg certainly must be, as Facebook itself considers going public.  So Google + has the cool factor for the moment and the cache to get a several million people to click the plus button but who really knows what that even means yet really or cares!

What is the Master Plan for Online Media to sustain its present business model when more people are getting their entertainment via mobile devices around the world as well as Second, Third, and even Four Screens on your person. My Mother is 74yrs old and she is walking with 3 Screens everyday. Let me just call her out. A IPad, A Sprint Smart Phone and a IPod/Touch for Music. At home she has a personal Apple Laptop. Two Wide Screen TV’s including TV’s in the Kitchen, Dining Room and Living Room. Okay so she is well connected! And was very upset about P&G Pulling out of the Soaps at least initially. But glad to hear that they are coming to the WEB and All My Children and One Life to Live will live on. Losing those shows is like losing Lehman Brothers.

Which brings me to understanding how Facebook The Central Bank or Youtube/Google could provide the Stimulus for a fundamental change in the financial future of the Middle Class of the United States of America as well as Transmedia Revenue Share Communities that Facebook Deals and Google Offers. It’s time to connect the dots. And Transmedia Brandcasting accomplishes that in a Free Enterprise System where we can use Facebook Connect and Youtube/Google. But will they allow innovation to rule the day, or have they become already too big to create Transmedia Revenue Share with the people who make their companies great.

Let me try to be crystal clear. Now is the time to monetize streaming video with Product Placement so viewers (should they be so inclined) can interact with your product, with the click of the mouse and the touch of the finger or soon even voice recognition. The day is upon us and the technology has been available for years, to allow viewers to instantly click and buy anything seen. As a journalist and technologist of sorts, I have personally programmed video with this interactivity – so guys you don’t have to be a rocket scientist.

As a matter of fact we will be recruiting High School and College Students as our first line of programmers to monetize user generated content. First, however, the business model must be proven. Imagine with me if you would, a company like Penske Motors. We could fashion a deal to create a relationship with “oh let’s say”, a company like mine (WCN) where every car seen could be clicked on and a lead was generated and sent to the local Penske Dealership with a matter of a click or impression. Well it’s more than possible as it relates to anything seen on a Screen.

We see the future of Social Media merchandising via streaming video creating a new revenue stream which can create jobs for the individuals who would sign up companies using startup Groupon Companies like Social Dish, The Customer Advantage and others. Especially if allowed to interface with THE CENTRAL BANK OF SOCIAL MEDIA.

Now will Google, Apple, Microsoft, Yahoo, Myspace & Twitter allow Facebook to be the only Central Bank and become as it were Local Federal Reserve Banks remains to be seen.  What is clear is that for the community of Content Owners, Producers, Artists, Actors, Athletes are beginning to understand that the current climate of Piracy and loss of revenue must cease. And, an even larger question is will Traditional Media understand Transmedia Brandcasting early enough to position themselves to bridge their strategies beyond NetFlix, Crackle, Hulu and other Direct to Consumer Movie Distribution Channels leave them behind?

Remember The Music Industry and Napster. Let’s not make the same mistakes the USA can level the playing field by adopting technologies which will present a new opportunity to create new revenue that currently does not exist while providing a superior service not so laden with 30 second commercials that we find ourselves as audiences subsidizing re-runs and commercials 24/7. And if you have ever gotten your cable bill and with remote control in hand, can find nothing to watch when you have 300 or more channels of content, we know we have to do better as an industry!  And like it or not Facebook for the time being is The Central Bank of Social Media?  What’s your opinion?

Social TV – The Next Frontier by Egg to Apples

Enter Site

Social TV,  maybe you’ve heard of it… it’s the phenomenon where people discuss TV and TV shows with one another. Nothing new right? People have been talking about TV pretty much since it was first invented. That’s one of the reasons marketers love TV – people LOVE to watch. They love to talk about their shows, follow their favorite actors… we all pretty much love everything about TV.

Well, ‘the thing’ about Social TV is that it uses technologies like Twitter and Facebook (social networks) to facilitate discussion/conversation. Now you can share your thoughts and emotions about your favorite shows with people all over the world!

This is the current state of the art in social TV – you watch on your “big” screen, the TV, and you interact with other viewers and fans on a separate device like your cell phone, computer, or tablet device. Because your dealing with two devices, social TV is generally called a “second screen” experience. Many people are scrambling to “own” the second screen experience. They want to create the best… “whatever” that makes viewers (people like us) and the networks/show producers all flock to them and their second screen experiences.

If you think about it a little this makes perfect sense. We all sit and watch a show on the typically big, TV screen. When we see something noteworthy/exciting/whatever, we go to the screen that’s right in our hands (cell phone) or the really close-by tablet computer or laptop and say something about what we saw. The mechanics of the whole process just make sense.  We’re trained from practically birth to watch the TV (passive) and interact with a computer-type device (active). This is the world as we now it… this is the world now.

Tomorrow is a different story though. Already there are “hit” shows popping up online. Youtube, Hulu, and a host of others are out there getting hundreds of thousands of people to watch. The TV industry itself is predicting that within five years there will be hit TV shows on television/cable, hit shows that are on TV and the Internet, and hit shows that exist only on the Internet! Imagine a show that you LOVE that you watch by going to a web site.

This is where I think social TV will really hit it’s stride. Why have separated experiences where the show and the audiences comments exist in a digital limbo? When the shows are online you can have the comment stream tied to a particular episode. Since the episodes can remain “live” indefinitely, the comment stream can grow and evolve as more people watch, read, and enjoy an experience like nothing they’ve witnessed before. Of course in this online world people can still passively watch a show. Interaction won’t be thrust upon them. But for those that do want to dip into the pool of fandom, the experience could be tied to individual scenes, even specific moments in the show. Producers might even take advantage of the power to communicate with their audiences. As a marketer, think of the value of knowing that an audience is not only watching but are actively engaged. How valuable would that be?

Right now we’re in the beginning, experimental stages of social TV. Many people and companies have wonderful ideas about how things will work. The exciting part is that it is all playing out in front of us and with the speed of Internet development today, it won’t be too long before someone brings the killer app and killer business model to market.

Oh what a fun ride this is going to be!

Your comment is awaiting moderation.

Jay O’Conner

Jul 24th, 2011 :

So nice to meet another Choir member. It is indeed going to be a great ride.

Facebook Investor Roger McNamee Explains Why Social Is Over. Must Read for anyone considering a Career in Social Media & especially Social Media TV.

WCN Transmedia Group Op-Ed

Have you ever watched CNBC thinking that you might get a Stock Tip that you can use.  Understanding that by the time its reported its too late to capitalize on the reported upturn or downturn in your stock.  Roger states that Social is Over.  Wait hold on you say.  I just became a Social Media Expert.  Well my friends.  Roger is on point.  People are walking with Two, Three, even Four Screens at the same time.  I would pay particular attention this post.  I love Musicians who are technologists.  Great Job Roger!!  You may be the VC’s we have been looking for.   Jay O’Conner Chairman & CEO WCNTV

Check out this Video of Roger laying it out for Broadcasters, Advertisers, Technology Companies and those of us who earn our living in the Social Media Spectrum.

http://fora.tv/2011/06/28/Elevation_Partners_Director_and_Co-Founder_Roger_McNamee#chapter_09

Elevation Partners and Facebook investor Roger McNamee, who is also a rock musician, gave an amazing talk recently where he goes over some of the biggest trends affecting the technology industry.

The talk was spotted by our friend Dan Frommer at SplatF.

McNamee’s bottomline? Everything is changing.

More specifically, a few big themes:

• Microsoft is toast because we’re moving to a post-PC era;

• HTML5, the new web standard that allows to make interactive web pages, is going to revolutionize the media and advertising industries;

• Social is “done”, it’s now a feature, don’t go do a social startup.

Image: Screenshot

Here’s what we thought were the most interesting points and assertions from the speech (quotes are paraphrased):

• Microsoft’s share of internet-connected devices has gone from 95% to under 50% in 3 years;
• Windows no longer provides measurable ROI to enterprises, who will shift spending to other products and services; this is a huge opportunity;
• Google is a victim of its own success: its search has become polluted by SEOs. What shows that Google has failed is all those “non-search” services that really solve a search problem, like Match.com or Realtor.com. If you add them all up, they account for 50% of searches.
• HTML5 is going to change everything. “In HTML5, an ad is an app, a tweet is an app, everything is an app.” “It’s a blank sheet of paper, and creativity rules again.”
• For example, “my band is putting out a full HTML5 site. You can watch all of our shows on an iPhone, live.” It’s very cheap and it changes the game because they don’t have to pay anyone anything.
• In HTML5, you don’t need to have display ads: Amazon can have a section of its store as an ad. So if you’re reading a book review, you can buy the book right from the page.
• Because HTML5 can make sites rich and interactive, engagement on a site can go from seconds to minutes.
• So a site could say: we have 5 sponsors today, which one would you like, and the sponsor follows you around throughout your experience on the site. “The fact that you can create and satisfy demand in the same place is only true in infomercials today, but it will be true on the web.” This, in turn, is highly disruptive to TV advertising.
• “The iPad is the most important device since the IBM PC.”
• “Apple will sell a hundred million internet-connected devices this year. That’s two thirds of the PC market.” If you add the other non-PC internet devices, that’s more valuable than the PC market.
• The iPad is the training wheels for HTML5. iPad apps show us what we need to beat in terms of creating a better experience on HTML5.
• Apple is an unstoppable freight train. In terms of tablets, it has no competitors and will probably end up with iPod-like marketshare. “It’s like IBM in the 60s; I can’t predict what that means; you need to find a way to play with it, but you also need to find a way to play over it” with HTML5.
• The fact that most people now have more than one device means the cloud is vital, because you want to have all your stuff on all your devices. It also means the old PC paradigm is dead, because the old PC paradigm means everything stored on one device, instead of everything in the cloud synced to many devices.
• In terms of keeping your stuff in the cloud, “Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Apple have completely failed to get the mobile experience right.” (We’ll let McNamee stand by that statement.)
• “Facebook has decided that they’re Twitter on steroids”.
• Currently Facebook Connect is free; eventually they’ll charge for it because it’s access to their social graph which publishers need, and that’s how they’l make money.
• Don’t try to be “social”: the big social platforms are created. You can’t create a social company, it’s just a checkbox. “The last 500 social companies funded by the VC community are all worthless. I’m serious.”
• But this creates an opportunity: while everyone is focused on social distribution, there’s a huge opportunity to get content right with HTML5. “Let’s create a new product, the way music videos were a new product.”
• Apple makes more gross margin per iPhone than most Android phones make in gross revenue, McNamee says.
• “Television is the last protected media business,” but it’s going to get disrupted. For one, once televisions are computers, analytics of who watches will get more accurate than Nielsen panels. “Everyone knows that if we go to actual measurement, ad rates will collapse because the numbers aren’t as good as Nielsen makes them look.”
• McNamee also had a few words about the economy: “we’re about 40% of the way of deleveraging the global economy, but we’re only 10% of the way of deleveraging the US consumer…I don’t care what your politics are, removing government demand from the economy when it’s struggling is ridiculous.” And to prop things up, the Fed is printing money and inflating bubbles, “but for us, that’s great!”: capital is very cheap; consumers are acting like the party’s on, so there’s lots of opporutnities.
• McNamee says he does “full contact investing”: he proves the concepts of what he invests in by trying them out with his band. So he knows HTML5 is going to work because it works for his band. Then he added, to audience laughter: “You’re going to say it’s a dipshit little band, yeah, it is, but we like it and our fans like it” and it works.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/roger-mcnamee-video-2011-7#ixzz1SwxWgyjM