When I’m training clients and friends on the differences between Twitter and Facebook, there is 1 important difference between the two tools that I underscore: the feeds: real-time (twitter) vs. delayed + filtered (facebook).

Understand how the feed works.

Facebook and Twitter’s feeds may look similar- but they’re very different. If you want to best leverage the “how” and “when” to use the channel(s), you must first understand how each are presented and read/consumed by its users (the context). When you look “under the hood”, you’ll see the data is organized very differently between Facebook vs. Twitter.

Delayed + Filtered (Facebook)

You may not realize it, but there’s logic behind your Facebook News Feed. What you see on your Facebook homepage is based on an algorithm (referred to as “Edge Rank“) that determines what you see from your friends and pages. This is a smart filter- so you only see relevent, valuable content from your friends based interactions (# views, likes, comments, shared). Furthermore, your News Feed has a “freshness” delay to what content to show you. Meaning, you are not seeing every up-to-the-minute updates from friends and pages. Instead, you’re viewing the results of a highly complex equation- that’s delayed and filtered just for you. It’s a custom experience. And you can bet Zucky designed (and continues to refine it) Facebook’s algorithms to best help users weed through the mess of seeing every action users are taking.

Real-Time (Twitter)

Your Twitter feed is like a never stopping, flowing river, with snippets of 140 characters of text and links. It’s unfiltered and raw. Meaning, the moment any of whom you’re following updates on Twitter, you see it in your Timeline. It’s as simple as that.

So what should you do?

Twitter is a channel in which content moves fast. Minutes, not hours (and it moves fast in everyone’s feed, no matter the device they’re using). The speed and velocity is so quick- a study found the average lifespan of a Tweet is only 1 hour. The content and updates you post in this channel are very disposable. And I’m a firm believer that no one reads all your tweets. (so get over yourself).   But it also means Twitter is a great communication channels for live events and commentary about things happening right now. For example, you could ask your friends and followers what was the song just sung on American Idol? Or complain about the bad foul in the NBA Finals on the basketball game you’re watching. Tools like Facebook and Google aren’t best designed to help you with answers to these types of real-time questions.

Facebook is different. There is a much longer expiration date for content on Facebook. It’s more likely to “stick” to friends’ News Feeds longer (hours). Look at your own News Feed. When you scan it top to bottom, what do you see? If you look closely, there are time stamps ranging from “15 minutes ago” all the way to “18 hours ago”. This means, when you create and share content- understand the Facebook channel has a longer shelf-life.

It’s important to understand that users consume and view Twitter in real-time vs. Facebook, which is delayed and filtered. This context provides important considerations for [what] you should share and [how] you do it. Knowing this information, informs how you craft relevant, valuable content, and message it appropriately in each channel.
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This is a simple Facebook hack that you can use for your friends or even for work (great for Community Managers, marketers CMOs and executives).

Many people often complain they don’t have time for Facebook. But yet, they also know they should be aware of certain activity and things that are happening on Facebook with their friends and family. Sometimes there are business/work/research reasons that you might have in regards to following activity from competition or certain businesses who have Facebook pages.

Did you know Facebook provides a free text message service for status updates? It allows you to get a push text message, when specific friends you choose or a page you like updates their status (in real-time). You can have up to 50 alert subscriptions (friends/pages).

While it might seem extreme at first to sign-up for this service, I really like getting updates from people like my sister, best friends, and my favorite brands. This is just one of the many ways you can integrate social media in your life to augment relationships (it’s what I refer to as ambient intimacy). Knowing these details creates intimacy. (It also saves a lot of time when you finally do get to catchup with these people in real life!) It’s not so much about meaning, it’s just about being in touch.

Just follow these instructions:

1.) First, you need to activate Facebook Mobile Texts for your phone (if you haven’t already). To activate Mobile Texts, go to the Mobile tab on the Account Settings page, click “Register for Facebook Text Messages,” and complete the steps that follow.

2.) Click “Account” -then- “Account Settings“.

3.) On your Account page, click the “Mobile” tab.

4.) On this screen, under the heading “Whose status updates should go to my phone?” <– type the names of your friends and FB pages that you’d like text messages alerts.

That’s it! It’s a bit tricky getting to the screen on Facebook that lets your do this, but it’s really simple once you know where it is. Social media enables ambient intimacy to occur. It allows us to keep in touch with people with a level of regularity and intimacy that you wouldn’t usually have access to, because time and space conspire to make it impossible. And these social technologies have the power to greatly augment (not destroy or lessen) existing relationships. But like anything, you must understand how to integrate it appropriately- but once you do, it’s powerful stuff.
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These days, new businesses struggle finding open internet addresses for .COM, .NET, or .ORG. A group called ICANN, who is in charge of internet domains (URLs), annouced plans to expand past the 22 domains that already exist. They want to remove the restrictions, and allow anyone to create a custom .DOT domain. Translation? Essentially, this means there is the possiblity for brands and companies to create custom URLs that end in things like .sports, .auto, and even brand names like: .coke, .canon (just to name a few). This is called generic top level domains or “gTLD”.

There are many tech journalists sensationalizing this annoucement, and it’s making brands and companies sit on edge. These articles are pushing the idea of “jumping first” to secure their trademark and intellectual property before someone else claims it. But, is that right? This begs to question, from a digital strategy perspective- what should you do? Will there be a rush to grab and secure domains? Does it matter?

There’s a lot of buzz about gTLD- and I think it’s being blown way out of proportion. I’ll explain why below.

First, if you’re a small business, this annoucement is something you can’t afford. It’s expensive. Unless you’ve got lots of cash- the price tag for these domains are out of your reach. And more importantly, it’s not worth the investment.

For the CMOs and digital strategists at large brands and companies- or even VCs and entrepreneurs- here are the facts and things we know right now about the annoucement:

• From January 2012 to April 2012, applications will be accepted for new domains. Not everyone will be granted a top level domain name. ICANN gets to decide.
• It cost $185,000 to apply. And $25,000 per year for operating costs. ICANN said other fees might apply as well.

What’s the up-shot? For corporate web strategists and CMOs, here’s my recommendation and POV for you to consider:

At best, gTLDs are a marketing opportunity. Not a requirement. They are vanity domains that would allow you to start marketing a new type of friendly URLs. But, therein lies part of the problem. If you transition to using this new type of URL, you then have the burden of socializing and marketing to your customers a new URL for them to remember.

URLs that are different, aren’t always better.

These domains are also present potential weird, clunky, naming issues. Since they go against the conventional .COM domain scheme we all know, it’s a new learning curve for the non tech-savvy users like my mom and my sister. And with the high price tag for these domains, these types of domains won’t overtake .COM URLs. They will be exceptions to the rule.

Some hypothetical examples of brands using gTLD:

• drink.coke could be a very intriguing URL to be able to market for a campaign (hat-tip to @brandon_r for tweeting this idea)
• But would Google.com change to google.google? Does that make sense?
• What about BP.green? Or TOMS.green?
• Toyota.drive? Audi.cars?
• You could argue this might work well for larger brands that have sub-brands? Procter & Gamble use: pringles.pg? or gillette.pg? Or even pump.pg?

In my opinion, all these name associations make it harder for the customer. And it’s not worth the marketing dollars you would have to spend, not to mention the early adopter price tag of $200,000+.

Let’s not forget about the past –> .MOBI

I can remember many years ago, there was a “gold domain rush” that brands needed to acquire .MOBI, it was predicted that mobile website would use .MOBI instead of .COM. Fast forward to 2011. The best practice and industry standard is to use what is called a sub-domain (e.g. http://m.papajohns.com or http://mobile.blackberry.com).

There are also many other generic, non-company centric, #failed-to-go-mainstream gTLDs. Did you know .TRAVEL already exists? So does .JOBS? And there’s even .MUSEUM?

In my opinion, tech journalists are just trying to stir the pot here. Some brands will pick-up these gTLDs and likely create redirects. Hardly a gamechanger. And judging by the already failed releases of other gTLDs like .TRAVEL or .JOBS …it’s hard to make an argument that “an opportunity exists to make a ton of money investing in generic phrases like .ECO or .GREEN.”

You don’t need a gTLD. Save your money.
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…yeah, you read that right. Let me share with you why.

It’s inevitable. Mondays come every week, no matter what happens over the weekend- it’s guaranteed to be staring you in the face 7 days from now. Here’s how I look at it:

A fresh start.

Mondays are a perfect chance to clear your mind and forget whatever happened last week that didn’t work. Tear-up and reset your to-do list. Get a fresh start with prioritizing what you really need to do. Don’t bring in the emotional or physical baggage you had last week into Monday. Forget it. Refocus.

No excuses.

There is no better day than Monday. If you truly want something bad enough (work or personal), it’s only you that can make it happen. Only you to blame. Only you to rely on. If you really want it badly, you’ll do something different and put it in your hands to make it happen.

Make it a priority.

I often get the question, “Where do you find the time?” The answer is: I make the time. I didn’t learn about things like video blogging, digital strategy, event planning, or photography in college. Or by taking instructional classes. I found the time by giving up a TV show here and there. Using days off like Memorial or President’s day to work on side projects. Skip the “big sports game” and take the time to experiment and learn. Use 1 day a week in the evening to focus on a project or furthering your education in a specific topic. Or steal 1 hour on the weekend to yourself or learn from other people smarter than you. It’s all about making time outside of your 9-5 job to do your homework.  Make it a priority- and piece it all together.

Don’t put it off.

Time is finite.

And life is too short.

If you don’t know where to start, it’s OK to stumble into the first step, you don’t always have to understand how it’s going to end or where it will go. I’ve observed from the most successful people I’ve met, they never over-think or over-analyze anything. They have a goal. They do everything they can now to get that much closer to achieving it. They also don’t stutter or pause on the path. They may shift- but they always continue.

I’ve always said the greatest possession you have is the 24-hours in front of you. Get inspired. Go do it now.
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Here in Kansas City, there is a lot of excitement around the opening of a new stadium for our MLS professional soccer team, Sporting KC (formerly the Wizards). I had a chance to get an exclusive tour of it before it opens this Thursday. Check out the video blog walkthrough. LIVESTRONG Sporting Park is impressive.

I took this iPhone picture on my way out (edit made in the Camera+ App)

Later this fall Apple’s iOS 5 is coming to iPhone, iPad and iTouch. At work (DEG), our developers are working with the BETA/dev version of iOS 5. We had fun today testing the new split keyboard function that allows you to type with your thumbs holding it in landscape. We filmed a quick walkthrough on how it works. Pretty cool isn’t it?

What the heck was I doing when I was in San Francisco a few weeks ago? Here is one of the vblogs I shot for Timberland. It’s a different style than I typically film. But I had fun with it. Pat Padley, “the Final Cut ninja” helped with the edit.

KCTV5 asked me to come on to their afternoon show with Amy Anderson, and talk about the iCloud and iTunes Match announcements. It’s exciting stuff! During the interview, I shared my thoughts and take on these new updates from Steve and his dream team .

Launching a web project is always a big darn deal. There’s so many moving parts to coordinate. I wanted to share with you the most recent project I led with the @digitalev team + Pat Padley. This is sort of a “behind the scenes” of how the project came together.

You’ve heard of Bushnell right? They are a global outdoor brand that’s typically known for binoculars (when i was a kid, i would beg my mom to buy Bushnell when we would go to Bass Pro). For this project, we worked with their up-and-coming GPS product team for the launch of a device called the BackTrack. It’s essentially a GPS that’s stripped down to be as simple as possible. And the price point is cheap (sub $100).

The objectives for this project were as follows:

• Create a primary marketing homebase or ‘hub’ for all things BackTrack D-TOUR
• Website visitors should be able to easily learn about the product and where/how to purchase the product. In two-clicks or less, website visitors should have a basic education on what the product is and where/how to purchase the product.
• Launch the website quickly and efficiently (we only had 1 month to design and launch this Project)
  
• Develop and incorporate light, appropriate social media features into the website that enables consumers to easily push out content to their social graph. Make it easy for consumers to share content from the website to their friends on social networks.

1.) Overall Design:
The focus was to create a clean, device focused design that was simple. The device itself is simple and intuitive. So the website should mirror and emulate this.

2.) Tech Specs:
We hate flash. So do mobile devices and Apple products. So we created this 360 rotation feature that is *not* flash based. You can click and drag it. We used some clever HTML5’ish wizardry to create this feature.

3.) Social Media Contesting:
You can utilize social media tools in many ways. We set the objective to use only light social media tactics that “push out” content the goal being discovery and traffic driving. This is why we recommended and deployed a simple “Tweet or Facebook” to enter contest. It’s a light, minimal way to get users to push out to their social graphs link backs to the website.

4.) How it Works:
We believe online documentation, videos, how-tos and walk-throughs *is* the new form of sales. People want to check up. They want to verify. They want detail. And facts. People want to know what happens AFTER you buy this thing. That said, we advised on the strategy and execution to create guided walkthrough videos that are relevant for prospective and existing owners of the device. We also shot a video blog for YouTube and the official Bushnell channel.

So what do you think? Check out the website and let me know your feedback. I can take the heat- so tell us the good and the bad. We’re always trying to improve and get better with each project we launch.
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The impact Digital Natives are going to make on the world is going to be tremendous. This is something that comes to mind when I’m traveling and I see kids at airports- sending text messages, with blazzing fast thumbs. Or even when I’m on college campuses giving presentations and watch students check-in during class on Foursquare.

But what is a Digital Native?

This is my definition: I think of them as a generation. Digital Natives (D.N.) didn’t learn to be digital, their lives are ingrained in it. Society as a whole, their friends — life has them surrounded and they know no other way. Digital Natives don’t know or remember the world with out things like the iPhone, Facebook, or Twitter. They were born into it. Some believe that Digital Natives are those born after 1980. In my opinion, it’s later than that. It’s 1993 <– because that is when AOL was released for Windows.

D.N. are the opposite of Digital Immigrants. This is many of us. Including me. Including Mark Zuckerberg. We learned email and social networking later in life. We knew life and what it was like before these technologies and social tools. And unlike D.N., it wasn’t considered a norm of society when were born.

So think about it, when you have a generation who is “born digital” with the internet and other technologies, they are acclimated to these technologies in very different ways than many of us. Their experience is completely different than ours.

The internet has changed how we make decisions, educate, communicate, research and buy things. It’s a daily utility in our lives. It even has changed how we relate to the world and our friends. Google is our professor. Facebook, email, and text messaging is how we thread our daily social interactions.

• We don’t use phone-books, we use Google.
• We don’t wear watches, we carry cellphones.
• We don’t read newspapers, we read blogs.
• We don’t talk at the water cooler, we G-chat.
• And we often meet online before we meet in person.

Watch this…

What happens when a generation that is “born digital”, starts creating and inventing? We are in the most rapid era of technology and information transformation ever. And it’s exciting to think what the future holds.
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Over the past few weeks, I’ve been itching to share with you some of the fun Projects I’ve been working on. There’s a lot on queue. But I have to wait until I can spill all the details. Bushnell is one of my team’s newest clients. They’re a global brand that’s typically known for binoculars and scopes. However, we’re working with their GPS product team for the updated launch of what’s called a BackTrack. Recently, I collaborated with Pat Padley (who’s on the DEG social team) to film this video blog that’s featured on the Bushnell YouTube channel and soon-to-be launched microsite <– which I can’t wait to show you (full disclosure; they didn’t ask me to write about this either- i was just so excited to share this with everyone ).

Take a look at the video blog. Let me know your thoughts <– and share your feedback in the comments, the good and the bad. I want to hear it.

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