Twitter's Ad Network

Ryan    Uncategorized     Ad Network, Facebook, Google Buzz, Twitter

In a day that I thought would never come, Twitter has officially announced that they will be unveiling their upcoming ad network in the nearby future… possibly SXSW. I know we all knew it was coming, but I think the actual news of it all is shocking to say the least.

So what does this mean for Twitter as a whole? Who knows, but I can give you my two cents.. if you already haven’t figured it out by now.

Although I don’t think Twitter is losing its popularity.. too much, the idea of Twitter as the service is kind of dwindling. Sure, it made popular the actual act of Tweeting, but that act is now so widespread through other avenues (Facebook, Buzz), Twitter, as in Twitter.com is kind of seeing a loss, or at least a temporary plateau.

Is this information surprising? Yeah, I think so! Although you could say this does not take into account everyone on their phones or other local applications. Which brings me to my next point… everyone is on phones and local applications!

If Twitter plans on creating an ad network for their service, sure we can expect to see ads on the side of our tweets just like in search or whatever else, but what about people who only access Twitter from Hootsuite, or TwitterBerry, or TweetDeck, or whatever else? Do these companies need to reconfigure their applications to support Twitter’s ads.. or should we expect to see ads coming in the way of the tweets themselves? You get what I’m saying here? If we begin to see ads in the tweets themselves, I am guessing you will also see people abandon the service for Facebook or even Google Buzz!.. I know that is kind of ridiculous sounding, but as Twitter user myself, I really can’t imagine Paid Advertisements.. (from Twitter) in my streams. That’s like having Google place their Paid Search ads in and amongst your organic search results.  Because interactivity is such a vital player in both search and tweeting… I feel this plays a much larger burden on people then say sponsor commercials in Hulu or YouTube videos.

Although I use Twitter, I know my tweets to my followers mean very little to them if they really don’t know who I am in the first place, or haven’t become a Twitter celebrity. Although brands have an edge in this arena, the bulk idea of having followers is proving more and more like last year’s popularity contest… which is having less and less relevance to this year’s popularity icons. In Facebook, I know I will be able to get more discussion and more interactive interest, so why shouldn’t I focus my efforts there?

It’ll be interesting to see what Twitter does with their ads, and for their own sake.. I hope it will not be as invasive as I think it could be.

Peace

Apollo Group's Bad Debt

Ryan    Uncategorized     Apollo Group, Online Universities, University of Phoenix

Today, Apollo Group, the owner of the ginormous, University of Phoenix, fell 4.71 points to $56.71 today out of news that they were below street estimates. The prime culprit you ask? Bad debt.

Now remember back in the day when people were foreclosing on homes, losing their jobs, yadda yadda yadda? Well to combat this, our government decided to issue some  stimulus into our economy. More money to people means more money in our economic system right? Not necessarily, but the idea is good. In addition to that stimulus, Obama told people, “Go back to school!”, “Get a higher education,” and so on and so forth. Again this is a great idea and an important tool to increasing the prosperity of our nation.. but what do you think happens to the schools when you have people who can’t pay for this education?

Another bad day on Wall Street.

High Education, For Profit Education.. it was a nice little alternative for people who lost a lot last year in banks or financials… but looking forward to this year and beyond… my only suggestion is to take caution. UofP mentions that they’re trying to focus their efforts from Undergraduates to more Graduates and Doctoral students… this does make sense, but if you are seriously considering a Masters or higher, I’d try and find a reputable University that focuses on Masters or higher.

For a long time, UofP and their undergraduate programs were a behemoth to not get in a battle with, but is it crazy to think that the idea of ‘Online University’ is moving more along the lines of ‘Online Graduate University’? I think it should, or at least play a more substantial role.

Online degrees (undergraduate) were a good idea, but as people become more and more independent within their own personal education system, so do their mentalities once they began their career. Now, with high school diplomas available online, are kids supposed to think that all higher education is easier AND better online? I hope not. Traditional universities with a campus, athletics, coffee shops, etc. are an important lesson ground for everyday life.. aside from a career perspective. Giving students that kind of experience is almost impossible for online universities to do.. this is why I believe online education should be a post undergraduate thing.

What do you think?

Peace.

Finding Time to Blog

Ryan    Uncategorized     Blogging, Time Management

As I progress deeper and deeper into my career in Phoenix, as well as into my own personal side projects, I find it hard to come back to RyanJin.me and write for 10 or 20 minutes. I’m sorry this is the case, but its true. If you’ve noticed, I haven’t been very good at keeping up in my daily posts.. like horrible.

Any ways, I’ve realized this has really been an issue for me all the way back since I was a little kid. I’d really like to start something cool, but after a while, the spark of it would die out and I’d want to try something else. In essence, finishing something to the very end has always been a very very bad problem for me. But I guess I’m hoping I can reverse this plague of mine with my blog. Sure I’ve got other blogs up and running with other people (which I do not want to share with you at this time because you might think it is some crazy stuff) but I feel inherently ingrained with RyanJin.me.

Therefore, it is now a pledge of mine to say that if I cannot produce two posts a week from here on out, I have to close down RyanJin.me. This is an ultimatum for myself, but I think of it more as a very important motivation tool. If you do read this blog (those of you who do) please comment. Otherwise, I feel no obligation to keep writing. If you don’t, then I’ll take that as a sign that you really could care less about what I have to say.

Peace.

Drafting Content – Blueprints to Success

Ryan    Uncategorized     Content

In my recent attempt to switch from platform maker to platform user, I’ve started thinking more and more about the correct way to create a model for content that is suitable to today’s Web 2.0 audience. Interaction, Yes! That is the goal, but to what extent do I show the true side of the content, in other words, how transparent is my agenda?

If you’ve noticed, the last few posts here at RyanJin.me have focused more primarily around the idea of content and how it is the essential life blood of everything the internet stands for. Really, it is! But as content becomes saturated with fluff, echoes, and ‘how-tos’ for idiots, the idea of content as a serious factor in success has become a hard topic marketers need to grapple with. Top Ten Lists won’t cut it any more.. except if you’re trying to target wannabe social media experts, in that case… welcome to the party. Everyone has left, or has grown up.

But honestly finding the right content and mode of delivering that content is a hurdle for many people these days. Sure you can find your niche and build your reputation organically, but where to begin?

Taking a step back, I’ve been watching Andrea lately and her habits on the internet. Every day, she visits her favorite blogs, favorite discussion forms, and favorite sites. Like clockwork, she manually updates her internal RSS feed to make sure she is up to date on everything and anything associated with what she feels is important to her online experience. From this perspective, should it seem ridiculous that every niche has this kind of network? No! It’s really a simple concept, and it is expressed in everyday user experience of the internet.

When Web 2.0 came out, I thought the concept was hilarious. But quite honestly, it has become the most important changing factor in how consumers AND producers use the internet. For this reason, blogs became the big thing, but then came micro-blogs. As if a concept for the ‘everyday blogger’ Twitter is turning more and more into the Second Life of today. As I see myself using less and less of the application, I feel like I am trying to fix this through other means of ‘reaching out’ or ‘communicating’ with others around me. This is not to say I am retired of Twitter, I just think the program as a singular entity is becoming outdated. Once private networks, or private HOSTED networks become the core of how Twitter or micro-blogging tools connect, there could be a new influx in use, but for some reason, saturation in Facebook, iPhones, or whatever else has rendered the service hard to justify. So what is next?

Even with all of the new talk of Twitter, and then this gradual fall, blogs have still remained. Actually, as people have seen they can be heard (or read) through Twitter, more and more are adopted actual blogs. I think this is absolutely great. With everyone’s blog however, simple RSS reeders are going to get their work cut out for them.

My prediction for 2010 and 2011: Organization of social media is going to become very very important. Twitter will remain, of course, but it is already evident that there needs to be an internal organizational change to make the service more enticing for new and retired users. Association of blogs and personal sites… RSS readers will become the new TweetDecks or Twitterifics. When there is something new to read that is seriously from a valid source… you know as well as me that we’re both going to read it.

Peace