Social Networks Around The World

New book in Dutch: Sociale Media voor HR Professionals

2009-10-02T06:35:00.001-07:00

Shame on me but after my latest book on Social Media appeared in August, I really didn't feel like writing for a while. But hey! We're back in business...
For the Dutchspeaking readers amongst you, this might interest you as a social media enthusiast/ rookie-with-goodintentions- / and or HR person: Sociale Media voor HR professionals was written with you in mind!

Check out the website (Dutch only) and find out what topics are covered, who were the guest authors and what readers thought of the book... You will also find all the practical details if you want to order a copy (price, delivery, invoice,...). When you have read it, let me know your thoughts!

Sociale netwerken: voor elk wat wils

2009-05-09T07:19:00.000-07:00

Sociale netwerken zijn het afgelopen jaar veel in de pers geweest waarbij steeds dezelfde elementen belicht worden: de explosieve groei van sociale netwerksites, het gebruik bij jongeren en de privacy. Toch valt er veel meer te zeggen over het fenomeen, en dan vooral wat je ermee kunt doen, voor wie/wat het allemaal geschikt is en welke resultaten je ervan kunt verwachten. Stuk voor stuk vragen die de mensen meer bezighouden dan statistieken en cijfers.

Vandaag wil ik een stukje dieper ingaan op de grote verscheidenheid van sociale netwerken en het uiteenlopende publiek dat ze bereiken. Misschien vind je hier wel een interessant sociaal netwerk voor jezelf tussen?

Grosso modo kan je sociale netwerken indelen in 6 categorieën:
• Zakelijke netwerken zoals Linkedin of Viadeo
• Vriendschapsnetwerken zoals Facebook en Netlog
• Foto-en Videonetwerken zoals Flickr en Youtube
• Datingnetwerken
• Mobiele netwerken
• Niche netwerken

Binnen de groep nichenetwerken (overigens een van de snelst groeiende categorieën) kan je nog een heleboel subcategorieën onderscheiden zoals bijvoorbeeld gaming en 3D (type Second Life), netwerken voor kinderen, netwerken voor ouderen, netwerken rond exotische hobbies enzovoort.
Daar waar de meest gekende sociale netwerken zich officieel richten op jongeren (Netlog 14 tot 23 jaar), studenten (Facebook 20-25 jaar) en kaderleden(Linkedin 30-40 jaar), zien we dat met hun groeiend succes ook hun doelpubliek begint te verbreden. In België bijvoorbeeld telt Facebook zo’n goede 2 miljoen leden, en dat zijn uiteraard niet allemaal studenten.Twee jaar geleden was Facebook nog een netwerk voor twintigers maar vandaag vind je er zowat iederen: jongeren, politici, ondernemers, moeders,...

Opmerkelijk is wel dat wanneer een netwerk “verbreedt” (lees: ze heel veel leden beginnen te krijgen), je vaak ziet dat mensen beginnen groepen op te richten binnen het netwerk . Blijkbaar hebben we er behoefte aan om enerzijds deel uit te maken van een grote groep, en anderzijds onze eigenheid te willen bewaren (een soort zoekt soort gevoel).

Ook zien we dat meer en meer nichenetwerken gericht op specifieke leeftijdsgroepen de kop opsteken. Zo hebben we Taatu en Minifizz (beiden van Belgische makelijk) die zich richten op kinderen maar ook Goedenwel wat een Nederlands netwerk is voor 50 plussers. En voor wie helemaal een sociaal netwerk op maat wilt hebben, bestaat er nog de moigelijkheid om er zelf eentje op te richten dankzij gratis platformen zoals Ning.

Kortom: sociale netwerken worden meer en meer een kwestie van maatwerk.

Web 2.0 en de Europese verkiezingen

2009-04-10T03:20:00.000-07:00

Een nieuw artikel in het NRC Handelsblad (Nederland) gaat dieper in op Web 2.0 en de Europese verkiezingen:

(hier de intro)
Tips voor de online campagne voor het Europarlement
Gepubliceerd: 9 april 2009 07:30 | Gewijzigd: 10 april 2009 09:19

De campagnes voor de Europese verkiezingen zijn online al losgebarsten.
Tip 2: zorg voor een legertje mini-campagnevoerders.
Door onze redacteur Peter Teffer

Rotterdam. Als Barack Obama het kan, waarom Dennis de Jong dan niet, of Hans van Baalen? De Amerikaanse president wist in zijn verkiezingscampagne vorig jaar veel nieuwe kiezers via internet te bereiken. Sommige bloggers , zoals Ariana Huffington van het invloedrijke linkse weblog The Huffington Post, zeggen zelfs dat Obama president is geworden dankzij zijn gelikte online campagne.

Lees de rest van het artikel hier

Clockwork: will events cease to exist?

2009-02-23T02:30:00.000-08:00

Last week the event organizer Clockwork hosted a seminar on the future of the event industry: will people still have a need for offline contact (events) when Web 2.0 has made virtual contact so easy?

Michiel did a fine job of introducing the different speakers: Alain, Miel, Marianne, Sam, Steven, the panel and myself.

It was a good seminar, with an interesting audience, good food and an original setting (in a chapel!). Offline events dead? I hope not ;-)

Tendance : Les partis politiques belges et le Web 2.0

2009-02-20T07:58:00.000-08:00

Tandis qu’Obama jouit encore de son accession à la Maison Blanche, nos représentants politiques se préparent quant à eux aux prochaines élections de juin 2009.
Dans quelle mesure sont-ils innovateurs ? Utilisent-ils comme Monsieur Obama* les nouveaux médias pour entrer en contact avec leurs concitoyens ou afin de communiquer avec leurs électeurs potentiels?

La diversité en Belgique est grande: Si certains sont d’ores et déjà présents sur la toile (site web, …) ou qu’ils recourent à plusieurs réseaux sociaux voir participent à certains forums, ou encore pour les plus avancés, qu’ils disposent de leur propre blogs, d’autres en sont encore à l’âge de la pierre du toutes boîtes et du collage sauvage dans les prairies.

On retrouve le même phénomène parmi les différents partis politiques. Bien que la plupart affichent une présence sur le net, celle-ci reste des plus minimales et se résume par trop souvent au seul « site web », vitrine obligée et connue de tous.
Force est de reconnaître que rares sont les Partis se démarquant par une véritable stratégie de communication, intégrant les nouveaux médias tels les réseaux sociaux, blogs, twitter… . C’est même bien souvent la « base » qui se charge de rendre le parti visible sur internet en créant p.e. des groupes locaux sur Facebook, des blogs etc.

Encore plus surprenant me direz vous sont les sections « jeunes » de ces partis qui paradoxalement nés le GSM et clavier à la main font preuve de peu d’utilisation de ces techniques dites de pointe, négligeant au passage la nécessite de créer des liens (links) vers d’autres articles, blogs ou réseaux sociaux intéressants sur internet. Alors, est-ce dû à un budget limité ou une organisation défaillante?

Evolution positive: depuis décembre 2008 il semble que plusieurs partis politiques belges font des efforts en appliquant les technologies Web 2.0 à leur site. Augurons que ceci se traduise par une plus grande interactivité avec le public.

Nous vous présentons (dans un ordre aléatoire), les différents partis politiques de notre paysage politique belge:

CD&V
http://www.cdenv.be/
Le site du CD&V est assez statique et classique. Avec une utilisation limitée du Web 2.0. “Weekboek” est le nom du blog de compilation des mandataires de ce parti. En cliquant d’abord sur “mensen” et en choisissant ensuite un thème, on visualise la liste des acteurs dans le domaine déterminé et on accède ensuite au site web ou au blog du représentant politique.

http://www.jongcdenv.be
Le site des jeunes CD&V est un site agréable qui doit encore faire son entrée dans l’ère du Web 2.0. La fonction blog s’intitule comme son grand frère “Weekboek” et on peut-y retrouver les différents mandataires. Attention: leurs données ne contiennent ni de site web personnel, ni les informations utiles pour les contacter « online » ou en dehors du site.

CDH
Le Centre Démocrate Humaniste (http://www.lecdh.be/) dispose d’un site web classique avec cependant très peu d’interactivité. Il ne fait aucune allusion ou référence à la présence du CDH sur d’autres sites web ou encore à des liens utiles pour l’électeur. Lors de notre dernière consultation, la section “Liens Utiles” était même vide !. Les réseaux sociaux sont nihil et on ne mentionne aucunement les blogs ou forums de discussions. Il est uniquement possible de regarder des photos ou des vidéos, malheureusement sans possibilité de transférer celles-ci vers d’autres sites tels que YouTube ou Flickr.

Le site des jeunes humanistes (http://www.jcdh.be ) est quant à lui beaucoup plus ‘fun’ et complet que son grand frère, sauvant par la même un peu la politique web 2.0. du Parti. Twitter et réseaux sociaux y sont présents.

VLD
L’Open VLD (http://www.vld.be/) offre avec le “VLD OpenZone” une plate-forme à ses mandataires pour créer un mini site personnel avec blog, album photos, liens vers des sites externes, vidéo, documents, biographie etc.
Dommage qu’il ne soit pas possible de propager ce contenu directement hors du site par “social bookmarking buttons” ou d’intégrer le contenu de sites tels que Linkedin, Facebook et autres.
Le site web du VLD dispose, et ceci est positif, d’un canal vidéo “Open Tube”.

http://www.jongvld.be/Nationaal/Home.aspx
Le site des jeunes VLD n’offre guère d’autres possibilités que celle de poster informations et communiqués de presse.

MR
Le Mouvement Réformateur (http://www.mouvementreformateur.be/) a créé avec « MyMR » son propre réseau social ouvert à ses membres et à ses mandataires. Il est accessible au non membres qui peuvent entrer en contact online avec les politiciens du MR. Les membres du parti peuvent également communiquer entre eux. Les non-membres n’ont pas accès au réseau. Enfin, le site web du MR dispose encore d’une galerie de photos et d’un canal vidéo “MRtv”.

Les jeunes du Mouvement Réformateur (http://www.jeunesmr.be/) ont aussi un site des plus classiques avec bon nombre de difficultés pour entrer dans certaines sections (tel Portraits, Piccolo MR, …) Le Web 2.0 y est faible voir au bord de la dépression !

SP.A
Socialisten en Progressieven Anders (http://www.sp.be/nationaal/index.asp) dispose d’un site très interactif qui communique d’emblée avec le visiteur. Au moyen « d’invites » ou de « boutons très colorés » on est quasi forcé de participer. Il y a même un module en temps réel (un peu lent lors de notre utilisation) mais qui récolte les informations concernant le SP.A sur internet. Les visiteurs sont guidés rapidement vers les mandataires du parti et leur “webstek”. Celles et ceux, intéressés par la création de leur propre groupe SP.A ou blog reçoivent des instructions nécessaires. De plus, on y fait référence à différents sites de réseaux sociaux externes tels que Flickr, Blogger, RSS feeds. Côté pratique il y a un mode d’emploi (sommaire) pour chacun des sites.
Prenons le donc pour exemple :

Voici comment procéder pour intégrer les informations du SP.A:
Via rss: http://www.s-p-a.be/nationaal/nieuws/rss/. + informations sur rss
Voici comment procéder pour intégrer les photos SP.A:
SP.A est également présent sur le site photos Flickr.com sous le nom sp.a Flickr groep

Voici comment démarrer un blog SP.A:
Si vous voulez écrire un blog, vous pouvez développer un site entier. Cela demande cependant pas mal de temps, aussi bien pour la mise en pages que pour la mise à jour. Si vous n’avez pas beaucoup de temps, il est préférable de choisir pour un blog sur une plate-forme existante. Ces sites offrent gratuitement la possibilité de placer un weblog sur leur serveur. Il ne vous reste qu’à vous enregistrer auprès d’un site ”hosting”, de choisir un modèle qui détermine la mise en page de votre blog et …de lui donner du contenu. Pour mettre à jour votre blog, il vous faut écrire votre texte et rajouter les extras éventuels. Il suffit ensuite de l’introduire « online » en quelques minutes via la fonction de mise à jour.
Comment procéder pour que votre blog SP.A soit incorporé dans la liste des blogs du site national?

Rien de plus simple: envoyez l’url de votre blog à: blog@s-p-a.be.
Quelques sites bloghosting populaires:
• Blogger
• Skynetblogs
• Typepad
• Wordpress

Voici comment démarrer un site sp.a:
Pour créer un site pour une section du sp.a, il y a lieu de contacter le service de communication via info@s-p-a.be. Ils vous diront comment faire pour obtenir un url pour votre site (par exemple: www.s-p-a-.be/leuven). De plus on vous donnera des consignes concernant des modalités propres au parti. Lancer un site sp.a personnel est également possible.

Vous trouverez des membres du parti online sur: http://www.sp.be/nationaal/linkse_links/spaer

http://www.animo-jonglinks.be
Animo, la section des jeunes SP.A a un site qui s’adresse spécifiquement aux jeunes. Les visiteurs peuvent rapidement visualiser l’album photos ou les films vidéo (Animo teevee), télécharger le calendrier ainsi que Boemerang (le journal online des membres). Le site est cependant beaucoup moins interactif que celui du SP.A.

PS
Le Parti Socialiste (http://www.ps.be/) dispose d’un site coloré mais quelque peu brouillon qui engage néanmoins clairement le dialogue avec le visiteur au moyen du bouton My PS.

GROEN!
Le site de GROEN! (http://www.groen.be/) est clair et “direct” mais il n’a pas encore tout à fait franchi le pas vers le Web 2.0. La seule concession semble être les blogs d’une partie des mandataires verts. Le site le formule ainsi: « beaucoup de membres du parti disposent déjà d’un site ou d’un blog «
La liste des sites individuels est consultable sur http://www.groen.be/homepage.asp.page id=647.

Jong Groen (http://www.jonggroen.be) est un site web destiné aux jeunes qui ne sont pas membres de Jong Groen et qui souhaitent recevoir des informations sur l’organisation. On y trouve entre autres des albums photos (il est vrai pas « externalisables » sur Picasa ou Flickr). Via social bookmarking il est possible d’envoyer ou de placer des posts. L’invite Facebook est également disponible. Les membres de Jong Groen communiquent entre eux via un site extranet- non accessible aux non-membres- ce qui est peut être une opportunité manquée pour un site qui aurait pu être plus interactif.

ECOLO
Pour son site web, Ecolo (http://www.web4.ecolo.be/) a opté pour une solution en OpenSource.
Les articles peuvent être téléchargés mais en dehors de cela il n’est guère possible d’en faire d’avantage. Le visiteur est plutôt informé que questionné ou invité à participer.

Ecolo J (http://www.ecoloj.be). Les jeunes d’Ecolo, disposent quant à eux d’un site indépendant sans que le visiteur n’ait plus de possibilités que sur le site d’Ecolo. Le site est réservé aux membres et n’est donc pas accessible au grand public. Il n’est donc pas exclu que ce site disposerait de fonctions Web 2.0.

SLP
Le Sociaal Liberale Partij (http://www.s-lp.be/index.php) a déjà plusieurs fois changé de nom (ex Vlaams Progressieven, ex Spirit). Il en est de même pour leur site. Le site web précédent (http://www.vlaamsprogressieven.be) renvoie simplement au site actuel du SLP, ce qui n’est pas encore le cas pour le site des jeunes SLP (http://www.jongspirit.be).

LIJST DEDECKER
Le site de la liste Dedecker (http://www.lijstdedecker.com/) contient des éléments classiques comme TV, radio (podcast) et un album photos ainsi que bon nombre d’outils Web 2.0 tels que Scribd, Slide et Slideshare qui permettent le partage et la diffusion des présentations.
Il y a un méli-mélo de boutons et d’annonces à propos des groupes online de la liste Dedecker sur -par exemple - Facebook. Le site est en progression, car en décembre 2008 le site ne disposait pas encore d’outils externes.

VLAAMS BELANG
Le Vlaams Belang (http://www.vlaamsbelang.org/) dispose d’un site classique, muni d’un sitemap fort utile. Le webteam s’efforce à guider (tant bien que mal) les visiteurs moins chevronnés :
“In beeld”: Cette page contient le materiel audio-visuel concernant le Vlaams Belang.
Il faut disposer de Windows Media Player de Microsoft pour pouvoir visualiser les extraits d’images et audio. Ce programme peut-être téléchargé gratuitement. En outre les images sont disponibles si vous disposez d’un programme qui peut lire le format MPEG4 (iPod).
Vous préférez You Tube? Abonnez-vous au canal ‘Vlaams Belang In Beeld ‘. En cas de problèmes techniques, contactez: info@vlaamsbelang.org.

Vlaams Belang Jongeren (http://www.vbj.org/):
La section des jeunes du VB a résumé sa présence sur les différents réseaux sociaux sur un widget sur sa ’home page’. Netlog (réseau social flamand) y occupe la première place.

N-VA
Sur le site de la Nieuw – Vlaamse Alliantie (http://www.n-va.be/) nous trouvons des vidéos sous NVA tv, mais peu de contenu Web 2.0. La campagne et le mini site “Aan tafel met Bart De Wever” (http://www.tafelenmetbart.be) offre plus de possibilités avec des actions interactives, grâce à un AddThis social bookmarking widget qui permet le transfert de la campagne vers d’autres sites.

Jong N-VA (http://www.jongnva.be/)
Sur “Sfeerbeelden” vous pouvez regarder des photos et “Forum” désigne exactement de quoi il en retourne: un lieu pour débattre. Un calendrier est également disponible.

FRONT NATIONAL
Le Front National (http://www.fn.be/) offre la possibilité de regarder des images vidéo (FNtv) et de partager certains articles sur Facebook. Le contenu interactif est quasi inexistant et il est nécessaire de scroller pout tout lire.

FDF
Le front Démocratique des Francophones (http://www.fdf.be/) à choisi l’ OpenSource software de Spip pour son site. Il contient beaucoup d’informations mais n’est pas très ordonné : on y retrouve à la fois une section “vidéos photos” et une section “album photos”. Heureusement, un sitemap est disponible.
Les commentaires des visiteurs passent par le biais d’un forum interne qui modère les réactions avant publication. Transférer ou réagir en dehors du site via des bookmarktools n’est pas possible. Le site ne mentionne pas si le parti est actif sur des réseaux sociaux.

* Obama Everywhere, campagne électorale 2006/2008
Obama avait créé son propre réseau social, permettant ainsi à ses sympathisants de fonder des groupes locaux et d’organiser la récolte de fonds d’une façon efficace.
Il était actif sur seize réseaux sociaux différents (souvent axés sur des groupes spécifiques). Il utilisa Twitter pour informer sa base à quel endroit il se trouvait pendant sa campagne électorale et il disposa d’une application iPhone personelle.

Web 2.0 Rapport van de Belgische politieke partijen

2009-02-16T09:31:00.000-08:00

Terwijl Obama nog nageniet van zijn overwinning in het Witte Huis, maken onze politici zich op voor de verkiezingen in 2009. Maar hoe innovatief zijn onze beleidsmensen? Gebruiken zij zelf de nieuwe media zoals Obama (*) om in contact te komen en te communiceren met hun kiezers?

De verscheidenheid is groot: sommige politici vind je terug op elk sociaal netwerk, blog en forum, andere zijn er dan weer helemaal niet mee bezig. Hetzelfde fenomeen vinden we bij de politieke partijen: hoewel de meesten tenminste een minimale aanwezigheid hanteren op de bekendste sites, lijkt er (nog) geen integraal communicatiebeleid gehanteerd te worden ten aanzien van online tools. Vaak is het de achterban die zorgt of een politieke partij al dan niet zichtbaar is op het Internet, dankzij de oprichting van bijvoorbeeld lokale Facebook groepen, blogs ea.

De jongerenafdelingen van de meeste partijen hinken vreemd genoeg meestal achterop ten opzichte van de moederpartij: technisch gezien zijn ze vaak minder vooruitstrevend en ook de link met content die elders op het Internet wordt gepost (blogs, sociale netwerken ea) is vaak niet te vinden op de website van de jongerenafdeling zelf. Een kwestie van minder budget of van een slechtere organisatie?

Toch is er ook goed nieuws te melden: tussen december 2008 en februari 2009 hebben verschillende websites van de Belgische politieke partijen hun site al een stuk Web 2.0 –vriendelijker gemaakt, met meer ruimte voor interactie met de kiezer.

We zetten de grootste politieke partijen even op een rijtje voor u (in willekeurige volgorde):

CD&V

CD&V, Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams partij (http://www.cdenv.be/) heeft een rustige site met weinig Web 2.0 elementen. De verzamelblog van CD&V mandatarissen wordt “Weekboek” genoemd wat voor enige verwarring zorgt. Om te kijken wie wat doet binnen de partij, klik je op “Mensen”, daarna moet je eerst verplicht een thema kiezen om daarna visueel te kunnen kiezen uit de mensen die in dat domein actief zijn. Vervolgens kan je de website of blog van de politicus in kwestie bekijken.

http://www.jongcdenv.be/De jongerensite van CD&V is een frisse site die het Web 2.0 tijdperk nog moet betreden. De blogfunctie wordt “Weekboek” genoemd en men kan de mandatarissen bekijken maar hun contactgegevens bevatten geen eigen website of waar men hen online (buiten de site) kan bereiken.

CDH

Het Centre Démocrate Humaniste (http://www.lecdh.be/) heeft een weinig interactieve website waarbij nergens wordt vermeld waar en hoe het CDH elders op het Internet terug te vinden is. De “Nuttige links” sectie is leeg, sociale netwerken of blogs worden niet vermeld en men kan enkel foto’s en videos bekijken op de site zelf, zonder mogelijkheid om deze door te plaatsen naar sites zoals YouTube of Flickr.

VLD

Open VLD (http://www.vld.be/) biedt met VLD OpenZone een platform voor haar mandatarissen om een eigen minisite te creëren met blog, fotoalbum, link naar externe website, video, documenten, biografie etc. Jammer alleen dat er geen mogelijkheid is om deze content rechtstreeks te verspreiden buiten de site door middel van social bookmarking buttons, of om content van externe sites zoals Linkedin, Facebook en andere te importeren. De corporate website van de VLD heeft ook een eigen videokanaal dat “OpenTube”heet.

http://www.jongvld.be/Nationaal/Home.aspxDe jongerensite van OpenVLD gaat niet verder dan het posten van informatie en persberichten.

MR

De Mouvement Réformateur (http://www.mouvementreformateur.be/) heeft met MyMR een eigen sociaal netwerk gecreëerd voor haar leden en mandatarissen. Niet leden kunnen de MR politici online opzoeken en leden van de partij kunnen ook onderling netwerken. Een mogelijkheid voor niet-leden om zelf tot het netwerk toe te treden is er niet. Verder bevat de website van MR een fotogalerij en MRtv, een eigen videokanaal.

SP.A

Socialisten en Progressieven Anders (http://www.sp.be/nationaal/index.asp) heeft een zeer interactieve site die meteen de discussie aangaat met haar bezoeker. Door middel van buttons wordt tot actie opgeroepen, er is een real time module die het nieuws over
SP.A op het Internet binnenhaalt (weliswaar traag), bezoekers vinden snel de mandatarissen en hun webstek terug en geïnteresseerden die hun eigen SP.A groep of blog willen creëren krijgen duidelijke instructies hoe ze dit kunnen aanpakken. Er wordt gewerkt met externe aanbieders van sociale media zoals Flickr, Blogger, RSS feeds en andere en voor diegene die niet weet wat deze sites zijn of hoe ze werken is er telkens een korte uitleg bijgevoegd.

Zo integreer je sp.a nieuws:
Via rss: http://www.s-p-a.be/nationaal/nieuws/rss/.Meer info over rss vind je hier.

Zo integreer je sp.a foto’s:
sp.a is ook aanwezig op de foto-site Flickr.com onder de naam sp.a Flickr groep. Via Flickr API kan je foto’s van deze groep binnenhalen om ze vervolgens in je eigen site of blog te integreren. Meer info over Flickr API vind je hier.
sp.a Flickr groep

Zo start je een sp.a blog:
Als je een blog wil bijhouden, kan je een hele website uitbouwen. Daar kruipt echter heel wat tijd in, zowel in opmaak als in onderhoud. Heb je daar geen tijd voor of geen zin in, dan kan je kiezen voor een blog op een bestaand blogplatform. Dat zijn websites die het mogelijk maken om gratis een weblog op hun server te plaatsen.
Het enige wat je moet doen is jezelf registereren bij zo’n hostingsite, een sjabloon kiezen dat de lay-out van je blog bepaalt en.... content toevoegen. Wil je je blog updaten, dan schrijf je je tekst en voeg je er extra's aan toe, waarna je het op enkele minuten online plaatst via de uploadfunctie.
Hoe zorg je ervoor dat je eigen sp.a blog opgenomen wordt in de lijst van sp.a blogs op de nationale site? Simpel. Mail de url van je blog naar blog@s-p-a.be.
Enkele populaire bloghostingsites:
Blogger
Skynetblogs
Typepad
Wordpress

Zo start je een sp.a site:
Wil je een afdelingsite van de sp.a starten, dan neem je best contact op met de sp.a communicatiedienst via info@s-p-a.be. Zij vertellen je hoe je site de volgende url kan verkrijgen www.s-p-a.be/afdeling (zoals bv. www.s-p-a.be/leuven). Daarnaast krijg je ook uitleg over de te volgen richtlijnen i.v.m. de sp.a huisstijl. Uiteraard kan je ook een persoonlijke sp.a site lanceren met een van de volgende domeinnamen: naam.s-p-a.be of www.s-p-a.be/naam.

Spa ers online vind je op: http://www.sp.be/nationaal/linkse_links/spaer

http://www.animo-jonglinks.be/
Animo, de jongerenafdeling van SP.A heeft een eigen site die duidelijk op jongeren gericht is. Bezoekers kunnen o.a. een kijkje nemen op het fotoboek, Animo teevee (videofilmpjes), een kalender en Boemerang downloaden, het online ledenblad. De site biedt echter veel minder interactie dan de site van SP.A zelf.

PS

De Parti Socialiste (http://www.ps.be/) heeft een kleurrijke maar enigszins rommelige website die wel een duidelijke dialoog aangaat met de individuele kiezer door de button My PS.

GROEN!

De partijwebstek van Groen! (http://www.groen.be/) is duidelijk en to the point, maar heeft de stap naar Web 2.0 (nog) niet gemaakt. De enige toegeving lijken de blogs te zijn van een aantal groene politici. Of zoals de site zelf zegt:
Er zijn al heel wat mensen van Groen! die een eigen blog of site hebben. Hieronder vind je een overzicht van de individuele sites op http://www.groen.be/homepage_page.asp?page_id=647

Jong Groen (http://www.jonggroen.be/) is een website voor niet-leden van JongGroen die meer informatie willen over de organisatie. Je vindt er o.a. een aantal fotoalbums (weliswaar niet extern op Picasa of Flickr) en de posts kan je via social bookmarking versturen/doorplaatsen. Ook de obligate Facebook button vinden we er terug.Voor de leden van JongGroen is er dan weer een beveiligd extranet waar buitenstaanders niet op kunnen. Een gemiste kans voor een jongerensite die veel interactiever zou kunnen zijn.

ECOLO

Ecolo (http://web4.ecolo.be/) heeft gekozen voor een OpenSource oplossing voor haar website. De artikels kunnen gedownload worden maar verder kan de bezoeker eigenlijk niet veel doen; hij wordt geïnformeerd eerder dan bevraagd.

Ecolo J (http://www.ecoloj.be/ ), de jongeren van Ecolo, hebben een eigen site die ook weer weinig interactiviteit biedt met de bezoeker. De ledensite is afgeschermd van het grote publiek; misschien dat hier meer Web 2.0 tools ingezet worden?

SLP
De Sociaal-Liberale Partij (http://www.s-lp.be/index.php) ofwel ex Vlaams Progressieven en ex Spirit is al een paar keer van naam veranderd en daarmee ook van website en huisstijl. De vorige website (http://www.vlaamsprogressieven.be/) verwijst netjes door naar de nieuwe SLP site; de jongerenafdeling moet het echter nog met de oude site doen (http://www.jongspirit.be/).

LIJST DEDECKER

Lijst Dedecker (http://www2.lijstdedecker.com/) bevat een aantal klassieke elementenzoals TV, radio (podcast) en een fotoalbum naast een aantal Web 2.0 tools zoals Scribd, Slide en Slideshare die het delen en verspreiden van documenten en presentaties mogelijk maken. De buttons staan allemaal nog door elkaar (naast aankondigingen waar je de online groepen van Lijst Dedecker vindt op bv Facebook) maar er wordt blijkbaar aan gewerkt: in december 2008 waren de externe tools immers nog niet te bespeuren op de site.

VLAAMS BELANG

Het Vlaams Belang (http://www.vlaamsbelang.org/) heeft een klassieke site waar een sitemap geen overbodige luxe is. Toch doet het webteam haar best om ook de minder technische bezoekers verder te helpen met tekst en uitleg:

”In beeld”: Op deze pagina vindt u audio-visueel materiaal van en over het Vlaams Belang.Om de beeld- en audiofragmenten te kunnen afspelen hebt u Windows Media Player ® van Microsoft ® Inc. nodig. U kan dit programma hier gratis afhalen. U kan de beelden ook bekijken met een programma dat het MPEG4-formaat (geschikt voor iPod) kan lezen. Kijkt u liever via YouTube? Abonneer u dan op het kanaal 'VlaamsBelangInBeeld'. Kan u een beeldverslag niet bekijken omwille van technische problemen? Contacteer ons via info@vlaamsbelang.org.

Vlaams Belang Jongeren (http://www.vbj.org/):
De jongerenafdeling van het Vlaams Belang heeft haar aanwezigheid op deverschillende sociale netwerken samengevat in een widget op haar homepage, en begint als Vlaamsgezinde partij met een Vlaams sociaal netwerksucces: Netlog.

NVA

Bij de Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie (http://www.n-va.be/) vinden we video’s onder NVA tv, maar verder weinig Web 2.0 content.
De campagne en minisite “Aan tafel met Bart De Wever” (http://www.tafelenmetbart.be/ ) is wel interactiever door een AddThis social bookmarking widget waardoor je de campagne meteen kunt posten op andere websites.

Jong NVA (http://www.jongnva.be/) :
“Sfeerbeelden” heet de plaats waar u foto’s kunt bekijken, “Forum” is precies wat de
naam aangeeft, een forum zonder meer, net als de kalender.

FRONT NATIONAL

Het Front National (http://www.fn.be/) biedt op haar website de mogelijkheid om video’s te bekijken (”FNtv” genaamd) en je kan ook bepaalde artikels delen op Facebook. Veel meer interactieve content is er niet te vinden en ook moet je scrollen naar beneden om alle content te kunnen lezen.

FDF

Front Démocratique des Francophones (http://www.fdf.be/) heeft ook gekozen voor de Open Source software van Spip voor zijn website. Veel informatie is voorhanden, maar die is niet altijd logisch terug te vinden. Zo vind je bijvoorbeeld een”Vidéos Photos” sectie en verderop “Album Photos”. Gelukkig is er wel een sitemap voorzien.
Bezoekers kunnen enkel reageren op artikels via een intern forum waar reakties gemodereerd worden vooraleer ze gepubliceerd worden. Doorsturen of reageren buiten de site via social bookmarktools is niet mogelijk. Op de site staat ook niet aangegeven of en waar de partij aanwezig is met sociaal netwerkgroepen.

(*) Obama Everywhere, verkiezingscampagne 2006-2008

Obama had zijn eigen (persoonlijke) sociale netwerk opgericht dat sympathisanten oa toeliet om lokale groepen te creëren en zo de fundraising efficiënt te organiseren, hij was actief op 16 verschillende sociale netwerken (vaak gericht op nichegroepen), gebruikte Twitter om zijn achterban te laten weten waar hij op dat moment campagne aan het voeren was en had zijn eigen iPhone applicatie.

Somesso: Oct 31, Zurich

2008-10-21T11:43:00.000-07:00

SOMESSO – the Corporate Social Media Conference is a series of recurring events organized throughout large cities in Europe where industry leaders, sales and marketing experts, agency new media specialists, internet marketers, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and other financiers share their ideas about CORPORATE social media and present their latest projects and discoveries. SOMESSO recognises the importance and enormous potential of Social Media in driving companies’ business values.

The mission of SOMESSO is to bring the above mentioned industry experts together on a frequent basis to let them explore and share the latest developments and strategic shifts that Social Media is causing companies across the globe.

Where is the SOMESSO conference taking place?
We’ll be at the GDI Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute

If you're interested to attend, contact us to receive a complimentary discount of 25% at adj AT trendq.eu.

Enjoy!

A new format for booklovers

2008-10-17T03:39:00.000-07:00

We have seen quite a few niche social networks catering to booklovers already, but there is a new social network called BookRix that offers slightly more to the aspiring author. Unless its competitors, this German site (rest assured: everything is in English though) offers authors the possibility to put their work online, including a nifty tool to create the look and feel of your book's cover and content. Also, the result can be easily transported into other blogs or websites.

Members of BookRix can personalize their profiles through a sophisticated user interface and display their writing in a graphical, flipbook format. The books can be downloaded for easy reference offline and the user-friendly, horizontal layout makes reading enjoyable.

The founders behind BookRix are co-founder and CTO, Alex Racic, who is responsible for technical development; Davor David Drezga, co-founder and head of strategic portal development and design and Gunnar Siewert, co-founder and head of marketing and promotion.

35 ICT Symposium October 1 & 2nd

2008-09-29T09:50:00.001-07:00

The latest ICT Symposium organized by Belgacom will reunite about 5,000 telco professionals from Belgium and beyond. This year, the organization is focussing on social networking as well as the technical aspects of networking. If you're interested in the topic, join me on October 2nd at 9.30h! (program below)

Build Your Own Social Network

2008-06-17T05:01:00.000-07:00

Personally I have stopped counting at 1,000 social networks, but it seems that the latest trend is in growing your home-variety of a social network. After Ning we have seen several other vendors cropping up, offering free of charge white label social networks to experiment with, but none have become quite as popular as Ning so far. However, this doesn't mean that vendors should stop trying :-). The new kid on the block is called Neeetz. The design is simple, straight forward and clean, nothing fancy. Although I haven't created my own network on Neeetz (just a profile to get a feel for the product), it seems as easy as Ning.

The 1 million dollar question remains then: why would the market start prefering Neeetz to Ning, Ning having gained a large crowd of followers already? This remains to be seen. As Neeetz has only been active for two months, it is too early to tell. One feature I liked (and can't seem to remeber having found on Ning) is that you can choose to select networks from specific countries. This saves you time if you're only interested in local contacts.

We'll keep an eye out for them and see what new features are available in the next six months.

Tip for the Neeetz team: check out the Q&A at Ning; it will let you know what users are looking for instantly without any marketing research ;-) !

ThinkTomorrow- the program!

2008-05-15T04:20:00.000-07:00

As many people are curious about the day's program on the 5th of June, please find the abbreviated version below. If you need more information, feel free to get in touch at adj (at) thinktomorrow.eu.

The program :

from 9 a.m to 9.30 a.m: Geert Conard/Country Manager Ecademy (Belgium)

from 9.40 a.m to 10.10 a.m: Wim De Waele/Director IBBT (Belgium)

from 10.20 a.m to 10.50 a.m: Patricia Ceysens/Flemish Minister of Economics (Belgium)

Coffee break

from 11.20 a.m to 11.50 a.m: Octavio Pitaluga/Founder TEN (Brasil)

from 12 p.m to 12.30 p.m: Emeric Ernoult/co-founder Affinitz (France)

from 12.30 to 13.30: Lunch

from 13.30 p.m to 14 p.m: Sagi Richberg/Founder of a company in stealth mode (Israel/USA)

from 14.10 p.m to 14.40 p.m: Bas Van de Haterd/van de Haterd Consultancy (The
Netherlands)

from 15 p.m to 15.30 p.m: Hendrik Deckers/CIO Net (Belgium)

Coffee break

from 16 p.m to 16.30 p.m: Sabine Allaeys/Co-founder Minifizz (Belgium)

from 16.40 p.m to 17.40 p.m: The Elevator Pitch, kindly introduced by Filip De Geijter, CEO Actonomy: Allejobsinleuven, Synergetics, Xpertize, Paladares, Wwaow, Wygwam, Knowledge Plaza, iStockCV, IntroNiche, Winkwaves

Actonomy calls for collaboration on Web2.0 for HR:
HR professionals are invited to join the work group to define the WEB2.0 for HR Model. People interested in this collaborative project, please visit www.actonomy.com/web2_0_for_hr.html

from 17.40 p.m to 19 p.m: Cocktail & networking

ThinkTomorrow covered in Brazilian newsletter

2008-04-28T11:39:00.000-07:00

Empresário brasileiro fará palestra na Europa
Thais de Barros

RIO DE JANEIRO - Octavio Pitaluga Neto, Chief Networking Officer da TEN – Top Executives Net, está finalizando a agenda de sua viagem a Europa em junho. Ele se apresentará no “Think Tomorrow” e “Business ICT Breakfast” para um público estimado em 500 executivos em Bruxelas, capital da Bélgica. O profissional ficará exposto no evento durante apenas 36 horas e terá como tema a “Gestão de Redes de Negócios” e sua indústria.As pessoas que convidaram Octavio a se apresentar nunca o viram pessoalmente e nem muito menos atuando como palestrante. Ele não pertence a nenhuma grande marca corporativa e nem está sendo patrocinado por qualquer investidor. A grande maioria de sua rede de contatos internacionais foi construída nas redes sociais de negócios on-line.O empresário vem criando uma marca própria como especialista no tema de Gestão de Redes de Negócios, e conquista a confiança de seus pares ao longo dos últimos quatro anos de intensa atividade nas principais redes sociais. Baseado em sua experiência como Diretor de Marketing e Vendas Europa dentro de um grande grupo sueco de telecomunicações e mídia, posição conquistada após o MBA pela RSM Erasmus University (Holanda), ele rapidamente entendeu que as organizações necessitam de um novo estilo de liderança colaborativa e que saibam usar de todo o real poder das redes de contatos na aceleração de negócios, impactando tremendamente a valorização da empresa.A boa notícia é justamente o que ensina em suas palestras, treinamentos e programas de coaching in-company. Todo esses recursos estão facilmente disponíveis às empresas e indivíduos. “Tudo começa com o simples entendimento de que os mesmos encontram-se nas pessoas. Gestão de Redes de Negócios não é a respeito do número de contatos mas do valor que adicionamos a eles”, comenta. É justamente isso o que Octavio explicará aos empresários europeus. “Sim, temos profissionais, produtos e serviços nacionais com qualidade e reputação internacional”, completa.

Serviço:Think TomorrowData: quinta-feira, 5 de junho de 2008 – 8h45
Local: Crowne Plaza Brussels Airport (Diegem) – Bruxelas - Bélgica
Investimento: de 400 a 500 euros.
Mais informações: http://www.amiando.com/thinktomorrow

TV Show and social networking platform of the RTBF

2008-04-11T09:49:00.000-07:00

Intermédias is the new multimedia & social networking platform of the RTBF (Radio Télévision Belge Francophone). On Monday 14 of April at 22H25, the TV show with the same name, will bring a special topic on social networking. As one of their guests, I'm looking forward to the debate :-)

Here you can find where & when the show will be broadcasted:

La Une :
- Lundi 14.04.08 à 22 h 24
- Samedi 19.04.08 à 8 h 20

La Trois :
- Mardi 15.04.08 à 20 h 08
- Mercredi 16.04.08 à 14 h 12
- Jeudi 17.04.08 à 22 h 45
- Samedi 19.04.08 à 26 h 02
- Dimanche 20.04.08 à 10 h 20
- Mardi 22.04.08 à 11 h 11

RTBF SAT :
- Mercredi 16.04.08 à 14 h 12
- Jeudi 17.04.08 à 22 h 45
- Samedi 19.04.08 à 26 h 02
- Dimanche 20.04.08 à 10 h 20
- Mardi 22.04.08 à 11 h 11

Belgian Web 2.0 Talent on Bizz cover

2008-04-03T12:27:00.000-07:00

Happy to see Sabine Allaeys on the cover of Bizz today. With Minifizz she has a good product that is a crossbreed between mobile, gaming and e-commerce for young girls. Sabine will be speaking at ThinkTomorrow on June 5th.

Elevator Pitch for Web 2.0 companies at ThinkTomorrow

2008-03-27T01:47:00.000-07:00

With 9 international speakers, our speakers list at ThinkTomorrow is full. However, in order to give young (and less young ;-)) talent an opportunity to present itself to the public, we have created the Elevator Pitch.

For whom?
Companies which offer added value to HR/recruitment or sales & marketing, using Web 2.0 technology. They can be startups although it is not a requirement.

Conditions to enter:
1. Explain in a short email how your product or service adds value to HR/recruitment or sales & marketing departments and what Web 2.0 elements it contains.

2. After accepting your candidacy, registration codes will be sent to you in order to buy your ticket to ThinkTomorrow at 175 euro instead of 500 euro.

3. You are able to present your company in 3 minutes using maximum 6 slides -who? what? how?- and you send in your presentation at the end of April at the latest. All presentations will be held in English.

How to register?
Send your candidacy to An De Jonghe (adj AT thinktomorrow.eu) before the end of April 2008. Available places for the Elevator Pitch are limited. Candidates who meet the requirements, will be admitted on the basis of ‘first come, first served'.
We hope to meet you there!

Social Networks Around The World: Marco Ripanti- Speaker at ThinkTomorrow#links

2008-03-21T01:40:00.000-07:00

Social Networks Around The World: Marco Ripanti- Speaker at ThinkTomorrow#links

http://www.oreillygmt.co.uk/2008/03/think-tomorrow.html

Marco Ripanti- Speaker at ThinkTomorrow

2008-03-20T07:55:00.000-07:00

We're happy to announce that Marco Ripanti will be joining us at Thinktomorrow as a speaker.

Marco is one of Germany's most creative speakers in the field of Web 2.0. In 2006, he founded the company ekaabo (of which he is the CEO) to create a metacommunity called Communipedia (*).

(*) Members will be able to take along their networks from one to another community.
They use the same login data for every connected community. Privacy will be an issue decided
by members exclusively. Any community is welcome to connect with communipedia.

Before this he worked at the Italian consulate, became a radio entertainer and taught online marketing & new media before practising his own business ideas in 1998.

Since 2002 he and his team design, develop and maintain online communities for special interest groups.

Emeric Ernoult- Speaker at ThinkTomorrow

2008-03-13T08:50:00.000-07:00

Today, Emeric from Affinitiz (France) confirmed his presence at

ThinkTomorrow.eu, the event for European managers interested in what social networking can do for their company.

BIO: Emeric is the co-founder of affinitiz.com, one of the first French social networks as it was launched in March 2001. Affinitiz has evolved toward a provider of grey label and white label social networks for brands and media with the purpose of allowing anyone, or any business, to build its own social platform on the web.

The goal of affinitiz is to provide brands and businesses to leverage on the power of the web 2.0.

TOPIC: Emeric will talk about how social networks and web 2.0 services can bring significant (and cost efficient) value for brands and businesses who want to increase their visibility on the web. The presentation will be illustrated with actual succesful business cases such as the social platform built by affinitiz for the French Lawyers (http://www.avocats.fr/ ).

Spotted by Locals

2008-03-11T03:50:00.001-07:00

A nice new initiative from two Dutch entrepreneurs who have just started, is Spotted by Locals. The idea behind this is that local people always know the best restaurants, places to hang out, museums etc in their city; much better than any city guide can offer.

Amsterdam is on the rails already, but Bart and Sanne are still looking for other local spotters in the main European cities. If you're interested in participating (they give you a piece of the advertising pie as well as eternal fame), you can contact them at Spotters [at] Spottedbylocals.com.

Here is the profile they're looking for:

As a Spotter you do not have to be a professional journalist. English will probably not be your mother tongue. Most important is that you:

-Live in a large city in Europe

-Consider yourself a local (you don’t have to be a native)

-Love your city, and you would like to share your enthusiasm by writing

-Have a bit of spare time (a couple of hours per month).

Bart & Sanne, best of luck! I hope I can find a decent restaurant next time I'm travelling in Europe ;-)

Redes sociales en el mundo: Hechos y estadísticas en América Latina

2008-02-28T10:17:00.000-08:00

América Latina cuenta solo con 19 redes sociales, a pesar de que esta región podría beneficiarse potencialmente de un enorme mercado con millones de hispanohablantes (a excepción de Brasil, donde la lengua oficial es el portugués). De estas 19 redes sociales, las comunidades de amigos están a la cabeza con 10, mientras que solo hay dos redes destinadas a los negocios. (*)

Un hecho interesante es que las redes sociales no parecen ser tan populares aún en Oriente Medio o en América del Sur, a pesar de los muchos latinos que viven y trabajan en Estados Unidos, lo que se esperaba que actuase como catalizador. Además, hay unas pocas redes sociales fuera que están enfocadas para latinos, pero muchas de ellas están dirigidas por americanos blancos de Estados Unidos.

Los países de América Latina de los que se habla en el libro son: Argentina, Brasil, Colombia, México, Nicaragua y Venezuela.

Para tener una visión global de los diferentes tipos de redes y comparar el ranking de América Latina con el resto del mundo, haz clic aquí.

Las redes sociales en el mundo. Hechos y estadísticas (mundiales)

2008-02-28T10:05:00.000-08:00

Para el libro Redes sociales en el mundo: Cómo la Web 2.0 está cambiando tu vida cotidiana, he sometido a un estudio minucioso a 1000 redes sociales con la intención de ver qué conocimiento tenemos por el momento al respecto y como se presenta el futuro. ¿Qué impacto tiene esta nueva Web 2.0 en la forma de comunicarnos, comprar, vender y conocer nuevas personas? ¿Serán las redes sociales el inicio de una nueva era, en la que nosotros, los consumidores dictemos la forma de negociar con las empresas, o es una publicidad exagerada? Echando un vistazo a la formación de las redes sociales, su uso y difusión a través de las empresas en el mundo, se deduce que éste está cambiando, la tecnología social no sigue necesariamente un predominio político pero, a veces, refleja la forma en la que los países y las culturas miran al mundo.

Tipos de redes sociales en el mundo

Negocios: 12%
Amigos: 27%
Citas: 5%
Aficiones: 40%
Video/Foto: 12%
Movil: 4%

Para ver con más claridad este entramado de comunidades sociales, he introducido 6 categorías diferentes:

1.Negocios, ej: Linkedin
Son las redes sociales en las que el principal objetivo es intercambiar ideas de negocios, encontrar nuevos y/o proveedores, encontrar una nueva posición y darse a conocer entre los cazaejecutivos y futuros empleadores.

2.Amigos, ej: Facebook

Podría decirse que estos sitios son los “fundadores” de las redes sociales: girando alrededor de antiguos y nuevos amigos, estas redes sociales te permiten volver a contactar con antiguos compañeros de clase, encontrar nuevos amigos para pasar el tiempo, tanto en línea como fuera y divertirse.

3.Citas, ej: Meetic

Incluso los sitios destinados a las citas han estado presentes desde el principio. Solo he considerado aquellos sitios web que han incluído la Web 2.0 en su paquete. (Es bastante interesante ver cómo sitos gays se han alzado más rápido en las redes sociales que algunos de sus más estrechos homólogos).

4.Aficiones, ej: Bookmooch

Es de una gran categoría en su ámbito, incluyendo sitios específicos que tratan diferentes temas, como: libros, música, padres, comida, religión, coches, hobbies, etc.

5. Video/Foto, ej: Youtube

Muchas de los sitios video y foto actuales, se han convertido en verdaderas comunidades en línea donde la gente comparte más que una simple foto o un video. En lugar de permitirles compartir opiniones, interactuan entre ellos mismos, ofreciendo opiniones, etc. Se convierte, así en su propia red social.

6.Movil, ej: Dodgeball

Parece que existe un nuevo tipo de redes sociales, son las llamadas redes sociales móviles, denominadas también Mososo (Software de móviles sociales). En éstas podrás contactar con otra comunidad mediante tu teléfono móvil o Internet. Sin embargo, muchos de estas Mososos te permiten acceder a la comunidad también mediante su página web.

Como se puede apreciar, predominan los sitios de aficiones y amigos, principalmente porque los sitios de amigos fueron los que comenzaron con este fenómeno de las redes sociales y porque la categoría de aficiones es la que está creciendo más rápidamente en Estados Unidos, que con su número total de redes, está influyendo considerablemente en los resultados.

Observación 1: es bastante sorprendente que los sitios orientados a los negocios representan solo un 12% de las redes sociales en el mundo. Todavía queda trabajo que hacer para poder desempeñar un buen negocio en la red. Me resulta gracioso que los directores de empresas me digan que ellos no necesitan estas redes sociales o que solo son para adolescentes. Teniendo en cuenta estas estadísticas, creo que cada vez veremos más directores usando las redes sociales para elevar sus perfiles, así como hacer negocios a través de ellas para sus empresas.

Estados Unidos y Canadá: 51%
América Latina: 2%
África: 1%
Australia y Nueva Zelanda: 1,5%
Asia: 6%
La India: 2,5%
Oriente Medio: 2,5%
Rusia y Ucrania: 1,5%
Europa: 31%

Observación2: en cifras absolutas, podemos ver que Estados Unidos y Canadá están a la cabeza con un 51% del total de las redes sociales mundiales. Por otra parte, esto quiere decir que la mitad de las redes sociales provienen de fuera de Estados Unidos, hecho que contradice la creencia popular que, a veces, da por hecho que todas las redes sociales provienen de América. Europa es un buen ejemplo con un tercio del total de las redes sociales.
Me quedé sorprendida al descubrir que Oriente Medio ayuda a construir esta estadística con algunas redes sociales. Vemos por el contrario, que no es evidente que los países industrializados desde hace muchos años estén a la vanguardia de la tecnología, sin embargo, los nuevos países industrializados pueden tomar el liderazgo en la Web 2.0.

Sabine Allaeys- Speaker at ThinkTomorrow.eu

2008-02-24T08:04:00.001-08:00

BIO: Sabine Allaeys is the driving force behind Minifizz, a social
community for young girls in the web and mobile space with
presence in the print media. The whole universe is based
upon the foxy MiniFizz characters and the MF Popp's
avatars. It combines old and new media and fun,
selfrealisation, information and commerce in a playful way.

Sabine also has her own blog:
http://millezime.blogspot.com

TOPIC: Sabine will talk about how social networks are an important piece of the puzzle when working on brand management. With Minifizz she connects mobile to the Internet, e-commerce (e.g. for H&M), to offline magazines for girls...

SNATW: Facts & Figures Europe

2008-02-20T07:51:00.000-08:00

Looking at the 1,000 social networks we have investigated worldwide, Europe is home to nearly 1/3 of them. Not only Western Europe, but also Eastern Europe has adopted social networking.

In the charts we see that both friendship networks as well as special interest networks are well developed, but even more so than in the US (45), Europe is the cradle of 49 different professional networks, taking the worldwide lead.

Find more on the different social networks in Europe (per country) on p349-492

To compare Europe to the rest of the world, check our previous blogpost.

SNATW: Facts & Figures Russia & Ukraine

2008-02-20T07:29:00.000-08:00

Russia & Ukraine have 16 social networks of their own, of which the vast majority is purely social (friends communities).

More information on Russian & Ukranian SN, please read p343-348

To compare Russia & Ukraine to the rest of the world, check our previous blogpost.

SNATW: Facts & Figures Middle East

2008-02-20T07:01:00.000-08:00

The Middle East has 27 local social networks, of which the friendship communities are by far most represented.

Interesting to see is that Video and Photo networks are the second most popular type of network (6).

Remark: If we look at social networks based on religion (part of Special Interest), we see that Jewish and Muslim SN are mostly created by Jews or Muslims living outside the Middle East.

More on social networking in the Middle East, p327-340

To compare the Middle East to the rest of the world, check our previous post.

SNATW: Facts & Figures India

2008-02-20T06:48:00.000-08:00

As a technologically advanced country, India has adopted social networking in nearly all its aspects. Within the 24 Indian-based SN, we find friendship, dating, special interest, video/photo and mobile sites, although we only found 3 business communities.

Given the explosive growth of the country, especially within the IT industry, I am expecting to hear much more from the Indian networks in the coming years, possibly even a takeover of one of the larger American SN by one of India's giant IT consultancy companies?

To compare India to the rest of the world, check our previous post.

More information on p309-323

SNATW: Facts & Figures Asia

2008-02-20T06:29:00.000-08:00

The last few years, Asia has constantly been in the news with regards to technological progress, international trade, etc. On the social networking front, special interest sites closely follow friendship communities, indicating that Asia has both advanced SN sites as well as older, more traditional communities.

Remark: The vast majority of Asian social networks, are focussed on the own community (Chinese, Korean,...) and usually in the local language only. Localisation (putting a website into different languages, targeting different cultures) doesn't seem a high priority for most of these sites so far, leaving the Western world outside.

SNATW: Facts & Figures Australia & New Zealand

2008-02-20T05:03:00.000-08:00

Due to the sheer extent of the Australian continent, Internet connectivity is not as widespread as in Europe or the US. The Australian government has taken some measures to improve this, but as the graphs show there is still much to be done.

Although Australia and New Zealand have only 16 social networks of their own, it is striking that Special Interest communities are most popular, just like with their American friends.

More info on pages 275-283

To see how Oceania compares to the rest of the world, check here

SNATW: Facts & Figures Africa

2008-02-20T04:50:00.000-08:00

With the low level of Internet access, I was surprised to find that the African continent has 11 social networks of its own. SN to make friends are most popular at this time, but given the new technology where SN increasingly are accessible on mobile phones too, I wouldn't be surprised to see a rise in Mobile networks in Africa in the coming years. Mobile phones are popular, and would replace the need for a reliable Internet connection in order to get online.

Countries covered in the book include: Ghana, Kenia, South Africa and Zambia.

SNATW: Facts & Figures Latin America

2008-02-20T04:29:00.000-08:00

Latin America counts only 19 social networks of its own, despite the fact that this region could potentially profit from an enormous market of millions of Spanish speakers (with the exception of Brazil where Portuguese is the offical language). Of these 19 SN, Friend communities list on top (10) whereas there are only two business networks. (*)

An interesting fact is that social networking doesn't seem to be as popular (yet) in Middle or South America, despite the many latinos living and working in the US, which you'd expect to work as a catalyst. Also, there are quite a few social networks out there which are targetting Latinos; but most of them are run by white Americans from the States.

Latin American countries that are commented on in the book include: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Nicaragua and Venzuela.

(*) For a global view on different types of networks and/or to compare where Latin America ranks compared to the rest of the world, check here.

SNATW: Facts & Figures USA

2008-02-20T02:51:00.000-08:00

In the previous blogpost, you have noticed that the USA and Canada make up 51% of all social networks worldwide. In absolute figures, this means 503 SN are of American (or Canadian) descent.

Another noteworthy trend however, is that Special Interest Social Networks (*) - meaning SN that revolve around a particular topic or shared interest- are clearly taking the lead in terms of numbers: 278 networks are dedicated to topics such as books, food, parenting, religion, specific age groups, gaming,...the list seems endless.

Taking in mind how the United Stated have dominated the world of social networking so far, it gives an indication to those of you who are wondering where the future of social networking lies: users want to talk about their specific needs and interests, rather than to socialize online for the sake of socializing. We will probably see more specialist networks arrive in the next few months, as the possibilities are endless. Also, it gives the newcomers a better fighting chance to find followers and reach a critical mass; something which is a lot harder to do nowadays when launching a more general SN and having to compete with MySpace and Facebook .

(*) Some American examples include: Humblevoice, Goodreads, Infieldparking, Comicspace, Nirvanawoman, Spout, Bakespace, Warcraft, Zaadz, Patientslikeme, Vostu, ...
For a full list, see pages 69-161 (American special interest networks) and 249- 253 in the book.

Social Networks Around The World: Facts & Figures (worldwide)

2008-02-19T12:11:00.000-08:00

For "Social Networks Around The World: How is Web 2.0 Changing Your Daily Life?" , I have taken 1,000 social networks under the microscope in an attempt to see where we are with social networking at this point, and where we are heading in the future. What impact do these new Web 2.0 technologies have on the way we communicate, buy & sell and meet new people? Will social networks be the prelude to a new era where we, the consumer, dictate the way companies do business with us or is it yet another hype? By taking a look at the way social networks are founded, used and spread throughout communities worldwide, we glean insight into how the world is changing - social technology does not necessarily follow political dominance but sometimes reflects the way countries and cultures look at the world.

Business : 12%
Friends: 27%
Dating: 5%
Special Interest: 40%
Video/Photo: 12%
Mobile: 4%

In order to see more clearly into the jungle of all the social communities out there, I have introduced 6 different categories:

Business, e.g. Linkedin
These are the Social Networks (SN) where the primary objective is to exchange business ideas, to find new clients and/or suppliers, to find a new position or to get noticed by headhunters and future employers,...
Friends, e.g. Facebook
These sites are arguably the "founders" of social networking: revolving around old and new friends, these SN allow you to (re)connect to old schoolmates, find new friends to hang out with online and possibly offline, and to have fun.

Dating e.g. Meetic
Even though dating sites have been present on the Internet from the very beginning, I have only taken into consideration those dating sites which have added Web 2.0 elements into their package. (Interestingly enough, gay sites seem to have picked up on social networking faster than some of their straight counterparts.)

Special Interest, e.g. Bookmooch
This is a huge category in its own right, gathering niche sites built around a vast amount of subjects, such as: books, music, parenting, food, religion, cars, hobbies,...

Video/Photo, e.g. YouTube
Many of the video and photosites today have become real online communities where people share more than just a video or picture, and instead allowing them to share opinions, interact between themselves, offering opinions etc- turning them into a SN of their own.

Mobile, e.g. Dodgeball
A relatively new type of SN is the so-called mobile social network, also called MoSoSo (Mobile Social Software), where you connect to a community through your moble phone instead of through the Internet. However, many of these Mososos allow you to access the community through their website as well.

As you can see, Special Interest sites and Friends sites are predominant, largely because Friends sites started the whole phenomenon of social networking, and because Special Interest sites are the fastest growing category within the United States, which, by its sheer number, influences the results considerably.

Remark 1: Surprisingly enough, professionally oriented sites make up only 12% of all social networks worldwide. This still leaves a huge market for good business networks to fill. Also, it makes me smile when I hear managers telling me that they don't need these social networks or that they are only used by teenagers...Looking at these figures I think we will see more and more business managers using social networks to enhance their own profiles and/or to do business through them for their companies.

USA & Canada: 51%
Latin America: 2%
Africa: 1%
Australia & New Zealand: 1,50%
Asia: 6%
India: 2,50%
Middle East: 2,50%
Russia & Ukraine: 1,50%
Europe: 31%

Remark 2: In absolute figures, we see that the USA and Canada are leading the pack with 51% of all social networks worldwide. However, it also means that half of all SN are founded outside the United States, contrary to popular belief where we sometimes assume that all SN comes from America. Europe is a good runner up with one third of all SN. I was surprised to see that Eastern Europe helps build this figure with many SN of its own. It is therefore not a given that countries which are industrialized since many years, necessarily are at the forefront of technology, but that newly industrialized countries can take leadership in Web 2.0 as well.

Sagi Richberg- Speaker at ThinkTomorrow.eu

2008-02-15T03:57:00.000-08:00

Sagi Richberg (Israel), Founder of Vshake and co-founder and President of a revolutionary monetary based social network currently in stealth mode (to be released by the time of the conference)

Sagi started his career in computer game development and has an extensive background in enterprise management software, security and E-distance learning. He served as a pre-sales engineer and consultant to companies such as Computer Associates and Microsoft. Sagi was also a founder of two previous startups in the fields of CATV testing equipment and social networking.

Wim De Waele- Speaker at ThinkTomorrow.eu

2008-02-15T03:35:00.001-08:00

BIO: Wim De Waele, Director of IBBT
Wim De Waele graduated as a master in economics and in computer sciences at the University of Ghent in 1987 where he started his career as scientific researcher in artificial intelligence. He continued his work in intelligent software systems at the Siemens R&D department in Brussels and Munich. Then he worked as a services director at Numetrix, a Canadian software company.

In 1994 Wim became European Services Director at i2 technologies. He promoted to vice-president for consumer goods and retail, and moved to the main quarter of i2 technologies in Dallas. When he returned to Europe in 2001, he became Chief Technology Officer of Real Software. Since 1 August 2004 Wim De Waele is the General Manager of IBBT (Interdisciplinary institute for BroadBand Technology).

Geert Conard- Speaker at ThinkTomorrow.eu

2008-02-15T03:12:00.000-08:00

BIO: Geert Conard (Belgium), Country Manager Belgium of Ecademy
Geert Conard became known as the guy who absolutely hated networking. In early 2004 he started out with social business networking through websites as LinkedIn and Ecademy. Exactly one year later he was one of the TOP Networkers in Belgium. This amazing transformation not only changed the way he conducts his business, but actually changed his life 100%.

In his book “A Girlfriend in Every City”, he shares his story, but also his methods and insights for networking with people whether online or face to face at networking meetings. Social business networking has changed his life in just over a year and he now works with people he hadn’t met until he began sharing his ideas and thoughts with complete strangers.
Geert now networks internationally, is Country Manager of Ecademy Belgium and runs his own ICT Support company called IT Consult Services.
Today Geert claims to receive 95% of his new business projects and sales through his newly developed network. The other 5% is gained through word-of-mouth publicity from his existing customers. Geert never spends any more money on publicity or marketing. Only this saving can already justify the time he spends on networking.

Geert's speeches are always loaded with networking tips. Most tips are simple and easy to take into action to improve your own networking experience.

TOPIC: Proactive networking on Ecademy, LinkedIn, Facebook,... How to get started & how to maximize results? With tips for offline networking as well, which you can put into practise at the event ;-)

Bas van de Haterd- Speaker at ThinkTomorrow.eu

2008-02-15T02:59:00.000-08:00

BIO: Bas van de Haterd (the Netherlands), van de Haterd Consultancy
Bas van de Haterd is a professional medler. That's something like a consultant, he just doesn't always keep to the job he's hired for. His goal is always to help a company forward the best he can even if that means pointing out problems that some people within the company would rather ignore. He was 'raised' in business in the new media sector. His main area of expertise is new media and recruitment, helping companies not to be afraid of the new media but embrace it.
Next to that he's a business developer, helping companies (mainly but not exclusively in the recruitment industry) making money out of new media opportunities. As a fanatic blogger and networker he is a personal brand in his own niche market in the Netherlands.

TOPIC:

Bas will have an interesting story on how companies use social networking and Web 2.0 to recruit online, how they can use it to influence their employer branding, the do's & don'ts..

Octavio Pitaluga- Speaker at ThinkTomorrow.eu

2008-02-14T22:15:00.000-08:00

Octavio Pitaluga (Brazil), Founder of TEN Top Executives Net
- Chief Networking Officer of TEN - TOP EXECUTIVES NET and of NET-BRIDGES

BIO: Business networks manager, certified international business coach, public speaker and trainer. The most connected South American professional in the main online social and business networks. He defined the CNO - Chief Networking Officer responsibilities on Wikipedia. In the corporate world, Octavio has worked for Tele2 Europe as Marketing and Sales Director of its electronic transactions processing subsidiary, 3C Communications, responsible for operations in up to 17 countries and four business units in Western Europe. He also worked for Seara Alimentos (Cargill Group now) and Kanematsu do Brasil Ltda. He has an MBA degree from RSM Erasmus University, The Netherlands and post-graduation studies in International Business for UFRJ/ECEX. His academic background and professional experience relates to sciences, international business and marketing of technology with relevant international business exposure in more than 25 countries. TEN Top Executives Net is the first trusted worldwide, online, business community whose focus is to bridge and to accelerate business between Ibero America and the international community.

TOPIC:

Octavio will present the benefits of Business Networks Management (BNM) methodology and the new leadership concept of CNO - Chief Networking Officer and his/her business networks managers.

NOTE: Octavio will be staying a couple of days in Europe, previous to and after the 5th of June. Good news for those of you who want to do business with South-America. You can Skype him at octaviopitaluga.

ThinkTomorrow.eu

2008-02-14T21:57:00.000-08:00

On June 5th, 2008, TrendQ is organizing ThinkTomorow.eu, the first European conference on Social Networking & Web 2.0 and its economic value for companies.

You will meet Industry Leaders and peers from other companies who have successfully implemented Web 2.0 elements into their online recruitment campaigns or sales & marketing departments.

Who should attend:

HR/ Recruitment Managers
Marketing Managers
Business Development Managers & Account Managers
Technology & Trendwatchers

In the following weeks, we will highlight the profiles of our speakers, who you will get a chance to meet at the event. Check out our blog regularly to get all the details.

Don't want to miss it? Get your Early Bird tickets here!

New offline alumni network recognizes the power of social networking

2008-01-20T11:53:00.001-08:00

Fucam, the university of Mons (Belgium) has its own alumni network called Alifucam. It was created during the course of 2007 and has met with the interest of many Fucam alumni.

For its official launch, Alifucam (under the presidency of Vincent Truyens) has decided to put theory into practise by organizing a conference on social networking, followed by an offline networking evening. More information can be found here

The Seven Sins of the IT Manager

2007-11-30T03:46:00.000-08:00

This week I was speaking at a conference for IT managers on the merits of networking online & offline. Networking as a verb, not as an IT tool that is. Every IT manager should add networking to his to do list, but few of them ever put in in practise, despite the fact that a vast majority is convinced that networking will lead to the best carreer opportunities, employees and suppliers.

For those of you who couldn't make it, here is my personal "best of" of the 7 Sins committed by IT Managers ;-)

Lurking.
From the verb 'to lurk', is the designated word for those who get a member profile on a social network, but who fill out only half of the information and don't put a picture...They think they will reap the results of social networking without actually networking...
Laziness.
Networking is more than accepting invites to wine & dine from your vendors: although interesting, these venues are not the best place to meet people you wouldn't meet otherwise. Here you will mostly find other IT managers and sales people.
A good IT manager can sell.
Many IT managers do not realize they should be able to sell their department when facing questions from their non IT colleagues or outsiders. Do you have an elevator story on the business value of your IT department? What does your department bring to the company as added value?
PR.
An IT manager should be known by all and sundry within his company, since his department interacts with all other departments. He/she should not nonly be visible when the server is down!
Too little fighting spirit.
If an IT manager is convinced of the stategic (added) value of IT for his organisation, he should not settle for anything less than a seat on the management team.
To pass the buck.
Too many IT managers leave the choice of HR providers to their HR department. If a headhunter is to work for an IT department, the IT manager should insist on sitting in on the meeting and take the decision together with the HR manager. People who do not understand your business will rarely find you the qualified candidates you so desperately need.
Life-long learning.
Although technical IT people usually follow training courses to keep abreast of new technologies, we see a lot less consistency with IT managers. Keep in mind that regular people of business management education will also offer the opportunity to get to know new, interesting people for your network (e.g. alumni networks).

MyNetworkValue, an interesting add-on from Xing

2007-11-20T12:19:00.000-08:00

One of my online networking friends, Giorgio Occhioni, was kind enough to give me the heads up on a new service Xing (one of Europe's most important social networks) is offering. I'm mentioning it here because I'm quite impressed with the way Xing has invented this free tool and turned it into a marketing instrument for its paying service at Xing.

MyNetworkValue is a website where you can measure the worth of your network according to your age and number of contacts. They even place an amount in euros on it, which is not nearly scientific, but a fun test to do. You only need to fill out some parameters and this test gives you a number which you can then compare to the average in your age group, industry and country.

The only drawback I see is that the test is only available in German so far, and if as a Dutch speaker I understood enough to take it, I can imagine French speakers or Spanish speakers will simply walk away. But as far as the idea goes, I think it is pretty smart of the Xing people to offer this generic network test to redirect users to their website.

After all, who doesn't want to know how much his/her network is worth?

Good practices for social networks

2007-11-13T00:11:00.000-08:00

One of the funny aspects of social networking is there seems to be a "wave of popularity" just as much as in other aspects of daily life. The "hot or not" principle applies to communities as it does to cars, fashion, actresses and music. For example: 8 to 12 months ago I got a wave of invitations from people who wanted to connect with me on Jobster, 6 months that became Facebook, two months ago Plaxo and today it seems to be Spock (although Plaxo is still going strong).

Known as an ardent networker, I'm always happy to get in touch with people I know, and to meet new faces (even electronically). The more diversity the better! However, there are two things in social network invitations that profoundly get on my nerves. (and I'm talking built-in features of the community, so it's not the fault of the users)

First, I really don't appreciate having to log into the system completely before I can read the message one of my contacts sends me. I understand why community founders do this of course (and quite a few adopted this policy), but I find it counterproductive. Since I know that 50% of all messages can wait (meaning they don't have to be dealt with right away), I hate getting "trapped" into losing time to log in and then discover it was for nothing. If you get an email from someone, you see the message right away too, right?

Secondly, I resent communities where you cannot choose the frequency of receiving messages. Some only let you pick between receiving messages as they come in -meaning you get a busload of messages every day- and logging into the system to receive your messages -meaning you have a busload of messages waiting for you if you happen to forget about this prticular community for a while. What's wrong with giving your users the opportunity to choose the one a week option?

Anyway, all this to say that I just complimented the guys from Spock on an email they sent today. I was just getting annoyed with them for pestering me with point 1 and 2, and they seem to have good New Year's resolutions to at least fix annoyance number two :-)
Here is an extract of their mail:

Hi - I noticed that you got a lot of emails from people you know or who know
you, asking for trust on Spock.com. yes!
It looks like a lot of people want your trust, which is a good thing:)
But, getting dozens of emails asking for trust can be a bit annoying. keep going!
We are working to make it a digest so you only get a compiled list of people requesting trust once a week. why didn't I think of that?
Sorry about all those emails :( we forgive you
We did not think this search feature on Spock would be so popular so quickly.
To accept their trust, you can just click below: tell me what to do and promote your network in a nice way
http://www.spock.com/do/trust/incoming_requests

They also say in their email that most of the new features come directly out of the suggestions members make to them. So we can actually make a difference in how we want our Web 2.0 life to be organized. Next time your getting annoyed about a community feature, don't whine; send an email (ok you may whine a little first before sending the email ;-)

Not the first Belgian in space, But maybe on Amazon's Top 10?

2007-10-04T06:53:00.000-07:00

Jan Vermeiren is one of Belgium's gurus with regards to networking. His Dutch bestseller is now also available in English on Amazon, as from Tuesday 9 October.

Although most of his book is focussed on offline networking, he also tackles the online part. Some of the questions you will find an answer to are:

What do online networks have to offer?

How can Google help me in my networking efforts?

What are blogs and what do they have to do with networking?

Which follow-up actions can I do?

What is the difference between an introduction and a referral?

How do I introduce two people via e-mail?

When do I write an introduction and when a referral e-mail?

What do I do when somebody I don’t know very well asks for an introduction?

How do I ask for a referral or introduction?

When to use which communication medium?

How do I deal with people that react strangely when I bring the networking tips from this book in practice?

If you are interested in buying the book (and helping the author get into the top ten), it is important to buy it on Tuesday 9 October, because this will get you free bonusses from 30 organisations. Don't say I didn't warn you ;-)

Corporate Social Networking Conference

2007-10-02T05:32:00.000-07:00

Social Networking for Companies is finally picking up speed in Europe as well. Amsterdam will be the venue for the first Dutch conference on social networks for businesses in November this year. The conference will be especially useful to marketeers and recruiters, as they will enjoy special workshops. I will be one of the speakers as social networking and recruitment are two of my pet subjects.

More information can be found on the site of the organisation: http://www.krem.nl/csnconference/Programma.asp

¿Cómo mejorar mis resultados en Linkedin?

2007-08-30T07:20:00.000-07:00

Como cazaejecutivos, una de las redes profesionales que utilizo de manera habitual es Linkedin. Posiblemente, esto tenga que ver con el hecho de que fuera la primera red social en la que me registré, pero también porque no dejan de innovar.

A menudo recibo preguntas de gente que está en Linkedin o que quiere unirse, pero no sabe cómo proceder para tener éxito.

He aquí mi lista de preguntas frecuentes para darle un primer impulso a su carrera:

Situación 1: Le gustaría ser encontrado por cazaejecutivos (u otros contactos) siempre que surja una oportunidad interesante.

Para indicar su deseo de que contacten con usted, pruebe alguna de las siguientes cosas:
Introduzca su correo electrónico en el directorio, mencione su número de contactos (un número elevado hará que más personas quieran conectar con usted) o ponga en su perfil “open networker”.

Si su nombre de pila contiene un guión, como Jean-Francois, es más difícil que la gente averigüe su dirección de correo electrónico correcta. Lo mismo sucede con los apellidos compuestos o con varias palabras, como “Van der Meeren”. Evítese las adivinanzas y los correos que nunca llegan y añada su dirección a algún lugar del perfil. No lo olvide: el cazaejecutivos probablemente esté leyendo montones de currículos en línea; ¿por qué iban a escogerlo a usted si llegar hasta otro compañero les resulta más fácil?

Situación 2: Siempre le llegan las ofertas de empleo inapropiadas (no se corresponden con sus ambiciones).

Obviamente, está atrayendo sólo a cazaejecutivos tontos. ¿O quizás no? Eche un vistazo a las palabras clave que ha puesto en su perfil. ¿Todavía figura “Cobol” entre sus habilidades cuando en realidad dejó de programar en Cobol cuando salió de la universidad? Entonces es mejor quitarlo. Linkedin ofrece dos formas de buscar candidatos: a través de una búsqueda a texto completo (de ahí mi ejemplo de Cobol) y a través de categorías fijas. Escoja sabiamente su categoría. Si usted es un especialista en Gestión de Activos no ponga su perfil bajo la categoría general (pero demasiado vaga) de “Banca”, pues acabaría recibiendo ofertas para trabajar detrás de la ventanilla de un banco...

Situación 3: Casi nunca contactan con usted cazaejecutivos o la gente que podría hacer avanzar su carrera.

No olvide que la gente no puede darse cuenta de su asombroso talento ¡si no lo pone por escrito! Crear una cuenta en Linkedin sin completar su perfil le hará pasar desapercibido. Tómese su tiempo para escribir información sobre su trabajo, el proyecto en que trabaja, etc., de manera que la gente se pueda hacer una idea de quién es. También asegúrese de tener un número decente de conexiones que lo avalen. Linkedin ofrece la posibilidad de conectar directamente con antiguos compañeros de trabajo y de clase (sin necesidad de tener su correo electrónico actual). No necesita ser un superusuario de redes sociales, pero ciertamente tener cinco conexiones no son suficientes para conseguirle el trabajo de sus sueños...

¡Buena suerte! Espero que esto les ayude a maximizar sus esfuerzos en las redes sociales :-)

NB Puede invitarme a conectar : http://www.linkedin.com/in/andejonghe

Job boards & Social Networking: more hybrids to come

2007-08-28T06:39:00.000-07:00

Recruiters (asopposed to HR generalists) have always been early adopters of new Internet tools, especially when they decrease the distance between the recruiter and the candidate. Some jobboards have caught on and have merged their exisiting technology with the new tools that the Internet has to offer nowadays.

One of these sites is Jobster, which is very smart in offering social networking as part of their free package to candidates and clients. Jason Goldberg, Jobster's CEO, takes this one step further by interacting with his audience through the sending of so-called 'personal' mails. Jobster does this in a way that is fairly inoffensive (you don't have that annoying feeling someone is sending you bulkmail) but very effective. I think most people from across the ocean -meaning Europe- even 'know' Jason and his network.

A second player that has entered the market fairly recently (only two monts ago) is iHipo .

iHipo stands for International High Potentials and wants to be the online community aka jobboard where professionals and students with an academic degree can find quality jobs and internships. One of the nice features of iHipo is that every posting automatically gets a small flag attached of the country where the position is located. Another is the possibility for employers to create their own "talent pool" through the site, by creating virtual communities of their own with candidates who wish to receive new vacancies from that particular employer.

The site is privately funded for now and is the brainchild of a Dutchman, a German and someone from Singapore. A young trio which has a lot of ambition & more projects under wraps (coming out soon). At this point the site is freely accessible to candidates and employers alike- in future paying modules will be added.

German Social Network Aggregator

2007-08-06T06:38:00.000-07:00

I just got off the phone with Lutz Lochner, the founder of http://networkingscout.com/ .

It is a German networking portal where users can consult & social networks can add, their network for free (a paying module is also available but is not necessary to see all the information). A good idea, especially since the German online networking market is usually not very open to foreigners, but this site is and can be consulted in English.

For all you network founders looking for extra ways to market your site, go and take a look!

Encuesta Social Networks Worldwide: los Resultados!

2007-08-02T06:55:00.000-07:00

Lo primero y más importante: muchas gracias a todos los que os habéis tomado la molestia de rellenar la encuesta de Social Networks Worldwide. Podréis ver los resultados en la prensa en las próximas semanas (versión resumida); pero como os prometí, aquí podréis encontrar más detalles e información de fondo. Incluiré una parte de la encuesta junto a nuevos descubrimientos en mi libro "Social Networks Around the World: cómo la Web 2.0 está cambiando tu vida", disponible en Amazón el último trimestre de este año.

Unas 850 personas de 54 países tomaron parte de la encuesta en línea que se llevó a cabo desde enero de 2007 hasta julio de 2007 en www.titans-consulting.com/adj/. Aunque la encuesta no pretende ser científica, creo que arroja un poco de luz sobre quién, por qué y dónde están usando las personas las redes sociales hoy.

Cuál es el perfil del sujeto tipo que rellenó esta encuesta?

Respuesta: Varón, de entre 30 y 40 años, con pareja e hijos, procedente de Bélgica, EE UU o Reino Unido. Resulta bastante sorprendente que sólo participara el 27% de las mujeres, cuando generalmente se las considera el grupo más grande de usuarios de redes sociales.

¿Cuáles son las redes sociales más populares?

Respuesta: Los diez primeros puestos están divididos a partes iguales entre redes profesionales y sociales (de amigos). Sin embargo, Linkedin saca una ventaja clara en lo que respecta a las redes de negocios, o el networking propiamente dicho, dentro del grupo demográfico que encuestamos.

¿Por qué se unen los usuarios a una red social? ¿Cual es la razón número uno?

Respuesta: Aquí debo admitir que me sorprendió: ¡un aplastante 89% adujo el «uso profesional» como la razón número uno para unirse a una comunidad en línea! El 53% lo usa para socializar y estar conectado a amigos, y un escaso 16% está interesado en unirse a una red social si está orientada hacia sus aficiones. Teniendo en cuenta el viejo prejuicio (por parte de la gente que no usa las redes sociales, obviamente) de que las comunidades en línea son utilizadas de forma predominante por adolescentes a los que les gusta chatear (socializar), nuestra encuesta afirma lo contrario. También nos hace preguntarnos sobre la oleada de redes especializadas (redes nicho) y sus oportunidades de supervivencia si no ofrecen ventajas para los negocios.

¿Es importante poder utilizar tu propio idioma?

Respuesta: Aun con la globalización y el creciente aumento del inglés, parece que la mayoría opina que es importante poder usar tu lengua materna cuando interactúas en línea (40%). El 31% sienten que es conveniente pero no necesario; el 28% no cree que sea importante. Si estuvieras lanzando una red hoy, ¿no te gustaría ganar puntos para con los usuarios potenciales ofreciéndoles la posibilidad de usar su lengua materna?

¿Preferirías pagar una cuota de socio para tener una red sin publicidad o prefieres una cuenta gratuita con anuncios?

Respuesta: El 20% de los usuarios está dispuesto a pagar por el privilegio de disponer de una comunidad sin anuncios, mientras que el 80% no lo está. Supongo que sería interesante calcular cuánto dinero se podría ganar con, digamos, Google Adwords (el socio preferido de la mayoría de las redes pequeñas) o atrayendo el 20% de tu estimado público cobrándoles una cuota de socio...

¿Te unirías a una red por el hecho de que algún famoso fuera miembro?

Respuesta: ¡El 20% de vosotros lo haría! Cuando se supo que A Small World (una denominada «gated community» o comunidad cerrada a la que se accede sólo mediante invitación) contaba con Paris Hilton y Tom Cruise entre sus miembros, "todo quisqui" quiso unirse. Una red coreana ha usado ese truco anunciando abiertamente qué famosos son miembros, pero no deja de ser extraño que no haya visto este truco de marketing en ningún otro sitio.

¿Cuánto tiempo dedicas a tu(s) rede(s) sociale(s)?

Respuesta: La mayoría de los encuestados visitan sus sitios web una vez (18%) o varias veces al día (37%) y un 22% los visitan varias veces a la semana. Esto supone que el 77% de los encuestados trabajan intensamente en la configuración de su red social a través de Internet- mucho más de los que las encuestas señalan. El hecho de que mucha gente accediera a esta encuesta a través de una red social embellece, obviamente, los resultados, pero incluso cuando esto sea cierto, yo me pregunto, ¿las redes sociales se están convirtiendo en una práctica empresarial aceptada (parecida a la prospección empresarial) y usada por los empresarios en su trabajo diario en vez de usarse como herramienta para buscar ligues en Internet?

¿ Te unirías a una red social de otro país?

Respuesta: Las tres cuartas partes de los participantes se autodefinieron como auténticos cosmopolitas, mientras que el 13% solo está interesado en las comunidades locales y otro 13% se uniría a redes sociales de países vecinos.

¿Cuáles son las tres cosas que haces nada más encender tu ordenador?

Respuesta: Mientras que leer el correo y navegar por la red ocupan los dos primeros puestos, comprobar el perfil en la red social ocupa el tercer lugar, con un 44%. Se ha convertido en una práctica más importante que hacer operaciones bancarias por Internet, el comercio electrónico o los juegos en línea, reforzando la idea de que para un número cada vez más grande de usuarios, las redes sociales se han convertido en una parte fundamental de su identidad en Internet y ahora configuran sus hábitos.

¿Participarías en reuniones fuera de la red (cara a cara)?

Respuesta: Aunque la mayoría declaró que no participaría en reuniones fuera de la red (54%), la diferencia con aquellos que sí lo harían es mínima, lo que sugiere que las redes sociales puden propiciar contactos futuros entre los miembros si lo deseasen. En otras palabras, la mayoría de comunidades en línea no organizan reuniones cara a cara probablemente porque eso require organización (logística, tiempo, dinero, voluntarios), algo que no todas las redes sociales se pueden permitir.

¿Usas redes sociales de vídeo?

Respuesta: El 81% de los participantes no usan redes sociales de vídeo. Pero, ¿este tipo de redes es algo exagerado o es que acaso el mundo de los negocios no ha descubierto/aprecia todavía el poder de los vídeos? Estoy convencida de que es lo segundo.

Estos resultados y otros serán incluidos en mi libro "Social Networks Around The World: How is Web 2.0 changing your daily life?" (Redes sociales en el mundo: cómo la Web 2.0 está cambiando tu vida) que será publicado en Amazon a finales de este año. También estamos trabajando para ofrecer la versión del libro en español. Mientras tanto puedes visitar la comunidad del libro o unirte a ella en Social Networks Around The World (SNATW) community, si te interesa el fenómeno de las redes sociales o networking.

Si tienes preguntas o quieres hacer comentarios, puedes escribir en el blog o ponerte en contacto conmigo a través de mi dirección de correo electrónico:

An De Jonghe
adj AT ulysses-consulting.com

List of social networks used in the survey

2007-08-01T14:27:00.000-07:00

As several among you have asked me if it was possible to send the list of the 335 networks that were listed in the survey on Social Networks Worldwide, I have included it here for all ends & purposes. Please keep in mind that this list was compiled 7 months ago- in my book you will find twice as many covered.

360Yahoo-6nergies-6Park-89sns-Abcoeur-Adamoreve-Afriqueka-Afriville-Aggreg8
AIMpages-Amigoseninternet-Amiz-Appiir-Arto-AsianAvenue-Atklaskit-Babbello
Badoo-Bahut-Bebo-Beltrano-Bentlads-BigJock-Bizbureau-Biznes-Biztribe-Blackplanet
Blink-B-linked-Bloc-Blogtv-Bolt-Buddhistconnect-Buzznet-Campusbeaver-Campusgrind
Capazoo-Carareer-Cember-China Recruit-Christianster-Cielo-Citycita-Citysocializing
Classmates-Collegeclub-Colombia4you-Comby-Connect-Connexion-Convillial-Copains d’avant
CU2-Curbly-Cyworld-Damochka-Date Yadanar-Datingbuzz-Daveti-Dienstmakkers
Digs-Dlist-Dodgeball-Doodka-Doostang-Dotnode-Douban-Draugas-Draugiem-EA Tokyo
Ecademy-Econozco-Egrupos-E-kontakt-Elhood-Ellg-Enpresence-Entremate-Eons
Epuls-Esrilankans-Essembly-Euromarketers-Eventshooters-Everyonesconnected
Expatnet-Expatsabroad-Expatsnet-Experience-Face-Facebook-Faceparty-Faceren
Faces-Famster-Fatsa-Festuc-Filn-First Tuesday-Flagr-Flogao-Fotolog-Friendster
Fropper-Fruehstueckstreff-Frype-Fwendz-Gaysingles-Gazzag-Gbq-Gentenotable
Gign-Glasizjame-Glee-Global Pau Hana-Globaldutch-Gob-Goldenline-Goyaar
Gree-Grono-Guanxi-Habbohotel-Halohalo-Hi5-Hikut-HumSubka-Hyves-Ieskok
Ii2-Imbee-Imeem-India (People by)-Indiagrid-I-part-Irc Galleria-Italiansonline
Itzamatch-Iwiw-Jaiku-Jaketm-Jambo-Janglo-Jdu-Jeeran-Jhoom!-Jigsaw-Joga
Jouwvrienden-Joy-Kababayan-Kinobaza-Kobajagrande-Koolanoo-Kroxa-Kuvake
Latino Professional Network-Latinosenel-Lautundspitz-Lebvillage-Líbímseti
Lidé-Lifeatcollege-Limpa-Linkara-Linkedin-Lnm-Lokalisten-Lovetastic-Lunarstorm
Mamba-ManJam-Meetic-Meetyourmessenger-Meside-Metroflog-Migente
Military networking-Minglebox-Mixi-Mobiuskids-Moikrug-Moviligo-Multiply
Muslimr-MuslimSocial-MuslimSpace-Myafricasite-Myanmarfriendfinder-Myany
Mychain-My-communities-Mycrib-Myfriends-Mygenius-MyMoSoSo-Mypicklist
MyPraize-MySpace-MySpaceAfrica-Nairobist-Naukri-Neogen-Nettverket
Neurona-Nieuwemensenlerenkennen-Nlborrels-Noiket-Oaktreeidea-Odnoklassniki
Ogniwo-Ohlalaguys-Ona-On-One-Orkut-Otaba-Outeverywhere-Partybuilder
Passado-Pazintys-Peuplade-Phling-Photo Zou-Photoblog-Piczo-Pinppl-Piqniq
Piwie-PlaceSite-Playahead-Playtxt-Plazes-Plentyoffish-Point-Porkolt-Powerlink
Prnster-Profile-Profileheaven-Qdamos-Qq-Rate-Rebble-Rediff-Redvida-Reliwa
Reunion-Rezonance-Romance-Cafe-Ryze-Saffronconnect-SakiMobile-Sayswap
Schoolbank-Schoolpagina-Sconex-Sensor-Sexyono-ShareYourPage-Shetlink
Shmooze-Siberalem-Sikhpal-Siliconindia-Simpatie-Simpatije-Sisterwoman
Skyrock-Slam-Snehah-Socalspaces-Socialdust-Soflow-Spaniards-Spinacz
Spolym-Startupnation-Studentface-Studivz-Sugababes-Sulekha-Sweetsecond
Szene1-Taanglo-Tagged-Techtribe-Teendate-Thailandfriends-Theblackstripe
Tianji-Toodoo-TotallyJewish-Tribe-UAE Women-Ubiplanet-Universitysingles
Uol-Urbae-Viadeo-Vibeflog-Vietcircles-Vietroom-Vietspace-VisiblePath
Vixo-Wallop-Wamba-Warcraft-Wayn-Wealink-Websingles-Workmates-Worldwidegreeks
Wretch-Xanga-Xchat-Xianz-Xing-Yaari-Yacht6-Yaleglobal-Yeeyoo-Yeskee-Yfly
Yo4ya-Yonya-Yootribe-Zeeya-Ziki-Zingku-Zoo-Zoodango-Zorpia-Zuma

Survey Social Networks Worldwide: the Results

2007-08-01T10:41:00.000-07:00

First and foremost: many thanks to all of you who have taken the trouble to fill out the survey on Social Networks Worldwide. You will be seeing the results in the press in the coming weeks (short version), but as promised here you will find more details and background information. I will include part of the survey together with fresh insights in my book "Social Networks Around The World: How is Web 2.0 changing your daily life?", available on Amazon in Q4.

Over 850 people from 54 countries took part in the online survey which was held from January 07 till July 07 on www.titans-consulting.com/adj/. While the survey has no pretense of being scientific, I believe it offers some insights in who, why and where people are using social networks today.

Who was Joe Average who filled out this survey?

Answer: Male, between 30 and 40 years old, in a relationship, with children, from Belgium, the USA or the UK. Surprisingly enough only 27% of women participated, while they are generally regarded as being the larger group of users of social networks.

Which social networks are most popular?

Answer: The top 10 is equally shared by professional as well as social (friendship) networks. However Linkedin clearly takes the lead when it comes to business networking, or networking as such, in the demographic group we have queried.

Why do users join a social network? What is their number 1 reason?

Answer: Here I admit I was surprised: a whopping 89% put "professional use" as their number one reason to join an online community! 53% uses it to socialize and to stay connected with friends and a meager 16% is interested in joining a social network if it caters to his/her hobby. Keeping in mind the old predjudice (from people who are not using social networks obviously) that online communities are predominantly used by teenagers who like to chat (socialize), our survey states the opposite. Also, it makes you wonder about the surge of specialized networks (niche networks) and their chances of survival if they offer no business advantage.

Is it important that you can use your own language?

Answer: Even with globalization and the increasing use of English, the majority seems to think it is important to be able to use one's mother tongue when interacting online (40%). 31% feels it is convenient but not necessary; 28% doesn't feel it is important. If you're launching a network today, wouldn't you want to score points with your potential users by offering them the possibility to use their mother tongue?

Would you rather pay a membership fee to have an ad-free network or do you prefer a free account with advertising?

Answer: 20% of the users is willing to pay for the privilege to have an ad-free community, while 80% is not. I guess it would be interesting to calculate how much money you could earn with - say- Google Adwords (the preferred partner for most small networks) and by attracting 20% of your estimated public and charging them a membership fee...

Would you join a network because someone famous is a member?

Answer: 20% of you would! When A Small World (a so-called "gated community" which is invite-only) reportedly counted Paris Hilton and Tom Cruise amongst its members, everyone and his poodle wanted to join. One Korean network has used this trick successfully by openly anouncing which celebrities were members, but strangely enough I haven't seen this marketing trick anywhere else.

How much time do you spend on your social network(s)?

Answer: The majority visits his/her site(s) several times a day (37%) or once a day (18%). 22% visits several times a week. That adds up to 77% of all respondants who are intense networkers -much more than what most surveys seem to suggest. The fact that many people were introduced to this survey through one network or another obviously embellishes the results but even so, I'm wondering whether social networking is establishing itself as an accepted business practice (similar to prospecting) which people can do during business hours instead of a tool to find a new date?

Would you consider joining a network outside your own country?

Answer: Three quarters of all participants consider themselves true cosmopolitans, while 13% is only interested in local communities and 13% would go as far as neighbouring countries.

What are the top 3 things you do when turning on your PC?

Answer: While email and surfing the Internet occupy the first two places, checking your social network profile comes in third with 44%! It has become considerably more important than Internet banking, online shopping or gaming, adding to the notion that for a growing group of Internet users, social networking has become an integral part of their online identity and habits.

Do you participate in offline (face to face) meetings?

Answer: While a majority doesn't participate in offline meetings (54%), the difference with those who do is quite slim, suggesting that social networks can establish further contact with and between members if they choose to do so. This being said, a vast majority of online communities do not organize face to face meetings, probably because this demands an organisation (logistics, time, money, volunteers) which not all networks have access to.

Do you use video networks?

Answer: 81% off all participants do not use video networks. Is video networking a hype or has the business world yet to discover/appreciate the power of video? I am sure it is the latter.

These results and more will be used in "Social Networks Around The World: How is Web 2.0 changing your daily life?" which will be out on Amazon later this year. A Spanish translation is in the make as well. Meanwhile you can visit or join the Social Networks Around The World (SNATW) community if you've become interested in the networking phenomenon.

If you have questions or remarks, you can leave a blogpost or, alternatively, contact me directly at:

An De Jonghe
adj AT ulysses-consulting.com

Big fish eating the small...

2007-06-25T11:43:00.000-07:00

So Neurona has been bought by Xing. That's the second Spanish network that Xing has bought in ony a couple of months, the first being eConozco. It's not that I have anything against Xing or that I mind them buying small European networks to reinforce their position on the market (Xing seems determined to position itself as THE European network on the market) but I do find it a shame that these small networks disappear, especially since Europe has so little of them already.

If we look at the Spanish speaking market than I am loath to admit that the only networks around are either Latino oriented (meaning American) or from Brazil (and even then the only serious contenders in the business area are TEN or Via6, which are primarily Portuguese).

So while it lasts, feel free to connect with me on Neurona or eConozco.

Quote

2007-06-17T13:11:00.000-07:00

Just found this virtual postcard on a Dutch blog. I think the text says it all, right?

How to improve my Linkedin results?

2007-06-12T08:24:00.000-07:00

As a headhunter, one of the professional networks I use on a regular basis is Linkedin. Probably this has to do with them being the first social network I registered on, and secondly with the fact that they keep innovating.

I regularly receive questions from people who are on Linkedin or who want to join, but who are unsure on how to proceed in order to be successful.

Here goes my FAQ list to kickstart your career:

Situation 1: You would like to be found by headhunters (or other contacts) whenever an interesting opportunity arises.

- To indicate your willingness to connect, use one of the following: list your email address, mention your number of connections (a high number will lead to more people wanting to connect) or put "Open Networker" in your profile.

- If your first name carries a hyphen, e.g. Jean-François, it is more difficult for people to guess your correct email address. The same goes for last names with different words such as "Van der Meeren". Avoid guesswork and emails that never arrive by simply adding your address somewhere on your profile. Don't forget, your headhunter has probably just looked at a zillion resumes online; why would he pick you if he can reach your colleague more easily?

Situation 2: You always get the wrong job offers (they do not match your ambitions)

- Obviously you only attract stupid headhunters. Or maybe not? Take a look at the keywords you have put on your profile. Does it still list "Cobol" as one of your skills when in reality you stopped developing in Cobol since you left college? Best to take it out then. Linkedin offers two ways of searching for candidates: through full-text search (hence my Cobol example) and through fixed categories. Choose your categorie wisely. If you are an Asset Management specialist don't put your profile under the more general (but much too vague) "Banking" category- you'll end up getting offers to work at the counter...

Situation 3: You are hardly ever contacted by headhunters or people who can advance your career

- Don't forget that people cannot be aware of your awesome talent if you don't write it down! Creating an account on Linkedin without filling out your profile will not get you noticed. Take the time to write some information about your job, the project you are working on etc so people get a feel for who you are. Also make sure you have a decent number of connections behind your name. Linkedin offers the possibility to connect directly with old colleagues and old classmates (without the need to have their current email!). You don't necessarily need to be a supernetworker, but five connections are really not enough to land you the job of your dreams...

Good luck! Hope this helps to maximize your social networking efforts :-)

Networking training in French

2007-05-11T08:08:00.000-07:00

DYNAMISEZ VOTRE RESEAU DE CONTACTS !

Atelier + Coaching Jeudi 28 juin 2007 de 9h00 à 17h00
Un réseau construit et entretenu méthodiquement génère plus d’efficacité dans vos activités : un réseau stimule la créativité et l’échange d’informations. Réseauter permet d’entrer en contact avec des clients, des fournisseurs potentiels ou de futurs collaborateurs. Vous profitez du réseau de vos contacts ainsi que de leurs recommandations …

Objectifs de la journée
Vous apprendrez à réseauter avec la bonne attitude.
Les outils et mises en situation vous permettront de construire un réseau efficacement.
Profitez de cette journée en réseautant avec les autres participants ! Vous recevrez la liste et les coordonnées des autres participants quelques jours avant la formation.
Mettez en vous en action grâce aux « extras » (1 séance de coaching, une invitation à un drink Xème Cercle, 6 mois d’abonnement Premium Viadeo)! Ils sont inclus dans le prix de la formation.

Public
Les dirigeants d’entreprises, cadres et managers,commerciaux & indépendants.

Programme
Les avantages du networking
Choses à faire et à ne pas faire
Les croyances liées au networking
Le déroulement d’une prise de contact et le suivi
Le réseautage et la vente, la communication, la créativité
Outils pour les timides afin de dépasser sa peur
Où réseauter ?
Les réseaux en ligne

Méthodologie
Jeux de rôles
Exercices pratiques et mises en situation
Partages d’expérience
Mise en place d’un plan d’action individuel
Maximum 12 participants.

Animateur et Coach
Damien Colmant, fondateur d’Extend Coaching, est membre de la Fédération Internationale des Coachs.

Modalités et conditions
Quand ? Le 28 juin de 9h00 à 17h00
Où ? Espace Coghen, Avenue Coghen 219, 1180 Bruxelles
Tarifs Entreprises (avec facture) :
Avant le 9 juin : 280€ HTVA ou 338,8€ TVAC (-20% !)
Après le 9 juin : 350€ HTVA ou 423,5€ TVAC
Particuliers (avec note de frais) : 150€ TVAC
Inclus Matériel, lunch sandwich, les extras (voir ci-dessus)

Information et inscriptions
Envoyez un email à dcolmant@gmail.com avec :
Vos nom et prénom
Entreprise
Votre fonction
Adresse
Email
Tel
Adresse de facturation + TVA
Virement du solde au compte n° 310-1727734-56 d’Extend Coaching en mentionnant votre nom,
prénom et la formation.

EXTEND COACHING
Damien COLMANT
Boulevard du Souverain 328
B-1160 Bruxelles, Belgique
Mobile: +32 (0)473 731959
Email: dcolmant@gmail.com
www.extend-coaching.com

A neat new site for startups

2007-05-07T23:19:00.000-07:00

In true Web 2.0 spirit, Killerstartups is a great new site which covers several Internet startups a day, and allows its users to vote on the probability of the startup's success. You can give them a support vote (making them rank higher) or you can choose
between the following:

Go IPO
Get VC $
Be Bought
Survive
Bomb

To say it in their own words:

KillerStartups.com is intended for internet entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and CEOs of internet companies. We review around 20 startups per day, so you have plenty of internet startups to check out. Vote for the internet startup you think will be a killer. That way, together, we can find the next killer internet startup!

They have different categoris of which one especially geared towards social networking.

European Web 2.0 contest: the 15 who go to Madrid

2007-05-07T22:42:00.000-07:00

Remember how I talked about the Web 2.0 contest for European startups in April? They have selected the best 15 who will go to Madrid in two days. Since some of them are social networks I include them here; others are just interesting to know about.

Panoramio.com : Photo-sharing of geolocated photos. Panoramio offers 2 Gb of free storage for photos. The site has 330.000 registered users and 1,1 million geolocated photos.

11870.com : "a real-life delicious" where you can remember and share with your friends all kind of places (from business to sculptures) around the world using comments, tags, photos and videos. Launched in feb 07, reached #1 in technorati.

Trivop : Trivop is the first videoguide for the hotel industry. It's a mashup with video, map and comments from users (through tripadvisor). We are convinced that video give travellers the transparancy they need before booking as today just a few photos is not sufficient enough. We want to become the youtube of the hotel industry.

Tupalo : Tupalo is a social mapping network for local and independent culture, allowing members of elusive niche cultures to add, rate, review, search and tag their favorite local businesses in major cities around the world via PC or Mobile devices.

Personalised Information Environment : A new internet application developed by a hungarian team can virtually learn what kind of tv shows and movies do the users like, and make recommendations for the following days accordingly. Musorajanlo.hu applies the latest technologies: machine-learning and data-mining, all executed on a grid.

Hipoqih : hipoqih.com is a system composed by a Web and plugin for mobile devices that allows to record alerts and URLs associated to any geopoint in the planet. These alerts can be seen automatically in terminals with the plugin when approaching that geopoint, so that the information arrives when you get to the place that interests you.

Nvivo.es : Gig based social network. Its main objective is that you never loose that gig again. Follow your favourite bands and coolest venues of your city, met other fans and interact adding comments, tags, joining and attending gigs and get or ask for all the gig info you need. With Musicbrainz, last.fm, Google Maps and 11870.com mashups. Live music fans never got that

Easy.soziety : soZiety is a language-learning social network based on Skype. soZiety is a great, dead simple method people can use to have fun learning a language while meeting new people and making some bucks.

Properazzi - the property search engine : Properazzi is a crawler-based web 2.0 property search engine for all of Europe. We launched in March 2007, and currently list 1.8 million sale and rental properties in 45 European countries, in all European languages and currencies. We're backed by Mangrove Capital Partners (Skype, Quintura, Nimbuzz). We've got a highly international team and are based in Barcelona, Spain.

Menéame : Meneame is the leading Digg-like website in Spanish. It helps anybody promote news from any source by creating new pages according to users's votes. It was launched in 2004 from Mallorca.

SlideBurner : SlideBurner allows you to share and discover easily slideshows/presentations (PowerPoint or OpenOffice files). Upload your files and they can quickly be viewed online in any web browser on any platform. You have full control on the security of your slideshows; you can select precisely the person who can access your data. You can also create groups around your fields of interest. Moreover, the site is multilingual; for the moment it is available in French and English.

Sclipo : Sclipo is a Social Skills-Network based upon user-generated videos: Users can share and promote their skills through video and connect with other users based upon skills they care about. Sclipo is a platform for any kind of skills, such as cooking, well-being, technology or sports. All content is 100% user-generated and evaluated. SCLIPO stands for: Skills + CLIP + yO (=I)

Anywr.com : Anywr is a web and mobile system that offers simple, yet powerful services for managing contacts, calendars, events and communications virtually from anywhere: using browsers, mobile devices or any other of the over 750 million compatible devices available today.

5min : 5min is a place to find short video solutions for every practical question, and is also a place for people who want to share their knowledge. 5min's vision is simple: any solution can be visually explained in 5 minutes. Users of the 5min platform will benefit from a visual illustration of any solution through a Smart Player. Unlike all of the video sites on the net, 5min created a video player that is adjusted specifically to the instruction field.

QuestionForm : questionform is a web application for creating, publishing and analysing online surveys and forms.The 15 projects will have 5 minutes each to present themselves and another 5 minutes to answer two questions from the judges and the public. People coming to the event will also vote on the best projects.

The 5 best projects, which will be presented in Bilbao on May, 24th. If you want to come to the event, you can register here.

It starts at 15.00 and is followed by a networking evening party.

Thanks to Jose A. del Moral for keeping us in the loop.

Skype

2007-05-01T10:39:00.000-07:00

Okay, I think this pretty much sums it up right?

To all of you who have asked me why I wasn't on Skype - I've seen the light and I've got with the program ;-)

Feel free to give me a call on an.de.jonghe

(Yes this is another ploy not to work on my editing)

Editing stage is not Hibernation (but sort of)

2007-04-30T06:59:00.000-07:00

Ok everyone, it is official: the editing phase ( the stage most dreaded by writers) has begun. From tomorrow onwards I will dedicate myself to the polishing & structuring of the manuscript on Social Networks. I am still wrestling with the decision on how to divide the book: by target audience, technological platform or geography, or a mixture of some? Any thoughts on the subject; feel free to let me know. In the meanwhile I will think of some excuse NOT to spend my day off on editing...

nb Even my ghostwriter (see picture) has had enough...

Our online community is taking of...

2007-04-23T10:05:00.000-07:00

As you know Social Networks Around The World is no longer a book in progress but also a virtual community where Founders & Topnetworkers meet and exchange ideas. After one week online word of mouth has spread and 98 people have registered already. Obviously if you are a Founder or a Black Star, TopLinkedin, Open Networker, Power Networker or any other with the same goal, feel free to join. Like all good things in life, membership is free but only open to those who are serious about networking online.

A Meta Social Network for this Community

2007-04-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

In order to give everyone who has been helping me with information & research on my new book more visibility and a chance to interact, I've launched an informal network yesterday:

"Social Networks Around The World"

The idea is to exchange information on how to improve networking online & ofline, to meet other Power networkers and to discuss new developments in the field. Get to know your international counterparts!

Contest for European Web 2.0 companies

2007-04-11T12:08:00.000-07:00

During my research for my book on social networking worldwide, I have had the opportunity to get in touch with a great many of interesting people who are either founders of a social network, or connected to the subject in another way. One of these people is José, who is one of the founding partners from Alianzo, a Spanish social networking company. Alianzo has launched a European contest for Web 2.0 companies today, together with some partners. I include José's mail herunder for all of you who are interested in participating in the contest. A good initiative on the European marketplace, so they have my support!

Dear An,

We are organizing a European Web 2.0 contest, which I think can be interesting for you. Submissions are accepted for blogs, wikis, social networks or any other website which makes a high use of Web 2.0 components, such as tags, RSS or Ajax. Companies and people from any European country willing to present their projects just have to submit them to http://www.startup2.eu. The contest will value not only the quality of the website but also its business sense. Internet users and a special committee will select 15 projects to be presented in an event in Madrid, Spain. A jury will then choose the 5 best projects in order to present them on May 24th in a special Web 2.0 event in Bilbao, Spain. They will all apply to interesting awards, such as an advertisement in Techcrunch, a trip to a one-week training program in Cambridge or public exposition of the project in a business congress.The contest is organized by three Spanish organizations: Alianzo, La Caixa bank and Spri development agency. The jury is formed by 10 Web 2.0 and investment experts from 9 European countries, such as Martín Varsavsky, Loic Le Meur, Paolo Valdemarin, Rita Silvério, Daniel Waterhouse, Philip Lenssen, Guido Van Nispen, Ola Ahlvarsson, Enrique Dans or Sandrine Szabo.

Kind regards,
José A. del Moral
Alianzo

Over 600 social networks and counting!

2007-03-20T14:00:00.000-07:00

In my search on social networks I have never found a figure stating the exact number of networks which are around. Logical I hear you say: every day there is a new social network that sees the light and another that's being sold to a large corporation. The times that I have found estimated guesses they usually ranged in between 200 and 400 networks. As I am slowly finishing up my book on social networks, I can now say for sure that there are over 600 social networks out there as we speak (yes , over 600!).
It took me a while to digest this information -and an even longer while writing about them all :-) -but there you go.

In the mean time please continue sending me information on social networks which might have escaped my attention- if there is room for 600 why not make it 601?

ps I checked: there are no social networks in Zanzibar (where I spent my holiday the last two weeks).

The power of asking for help

2007-01-11T13:13:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I posted my question on the recently launched questions & answers platform on Linkedin. I asked experts on social networks and/or early adopters to come forward if they wanted to be included in the book and act as their country's "spokesperson". I was amazed by the overwhelming respons I got in only a few hours time. I am currently processing all the answers and contacting the people who have offered their input or who have recommended an expert in the field. If there are other networks out there who offer the same type of service, I would like to know about it. In any case, the Linkedin platform worked for me.

Meanwhile my first impression is that it's going to be hardest to get some local information on the Asian market. If any of you know a local expert on the matter, please be sure to let me know at adj AT ulysses-consulting DOT com.

And if you haven't taken the survey yet, go here and make sure your country is properly represented!

These networks have pledged their support so far...

2007-01-07T03:26:00.000-08:00

Just to give you an idea of the social networks we will be covering, I started this list of people who either sent me their "homework" already, or who have confirmed their interest to participate in the project.

I will update this list as the answers come in.

MuslimSpace

Rézonance

Bebo

Viadeo

Colombia4you

Piczo

SocalSpaces

MocoSpace

Mapalia

GoingOn

Shuzak

SocialButter

Hobnobster

Moblabber

CrickeM

Zooof

Topexecutivenet

Vingo

I have started by contacting those communities which email address were easiest to find,

so if you 're the founder of a social network and I haven't contacted yet, probably you're still on my 'tot do' list. However, if you want to make sure you're included, send me an email at adj (at) ulysses-consulting (dot) com.

Support your favorite community

2007-01-06T05:55:00.000-08:00

Just got the go ahead from Patrick (thanks Patrick!) , our local WebWonder at Titans. The survey has arrived and I'm anxious to get the results in. The book is coming along nicely and several social networks have sent in their "homework" already. But the most important part is of course your input, the community of global users who are using these networks and make them what they are today.

So please take a minute to take the survey and let us know what you think. Which networks do you prefer? Which communities are most active in your country? (no it can't only be MySpace even if I'm on it myself). What do you like about them?

I'll keep you updated on the results as they come in.

How this came about

2007-01-02T18:46:00.000-08:00

As a social networking junkie -I'm a headhunter for the ICT industry so it's a "professional" disease- I became suspicious when 9 out of 10 new network invitations turned out to be American. I decided that couldn't be right and started my research on social networks in Europe. Or rather the European Union (EU) to be precise. After one week it finally dawned on me this limitation was a bit ludicrous since most networks have an international audience, so I decided to enlarge my scope. Today, one month later, I'm writing a book on the different social networks used around the world, be it social, professional or niche networks. All with Web 2.0 features (after all, I still work in IT ;-))
Or how one small research project can quickly get out of hand...

If you'd like to know more, check back in a couple of days for the international survey I will be posting. Or better still, subscribe to the feed.
Looking forward to receiving your imput, Americans and non-Americans ;-)

2006-12-29T12:37:00.001-08:00