But how can companies find the right individuals to deliver the message? Marketers may wonder if they are finding the best “seeding points” — that is, well-connected people at the hub of social networks who will latch on to a product and promote it widely among the people they know.

New research led by Wharton marketing professors Raghuram Iyengar and Christophe Van den Bulte, working with University of Southern California preventive medicine professor Thomas W. Valente, has found that traditional targets may not be as influential as previously thought. The pharmaceutical firm that sponsored the research for their recently published paper, “Opinion Leadership and Social Contagion in New Product Diffusion,” had its “a-ha” moment when they found Physician No. 184 on a map.

via The Buzz Starts Here: Finding the First Mouth for Word-of-Mouth Marketing – Knowledge@Wharton.

Found on Slideshare

The Future Of Social Networks – Presentation Transcript

1. The Future Of Social Networks Charlene Li Vice President & Principal Analyst Co-author of Groundswell Forrester Research March 4, 2008
2. 2 Entire contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.
3. They are online with their social networks 3 Entire contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.
4. 4 Entire contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.
5. Theme Social networks will be like air. 5 Entire contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.
6. Components of social networks Profile Universal identity Relationships A single social graph Activities Social context for activities Business model Social influence defines marketing value 6 Entire contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.
7. My multiple identities 7 Entire contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.
8. Universal identity cli@forrester.com me@charleneli.com Mobile number 8 Entire contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.
9. Universal identity foundations • Federation (OpenID approach) • A few major players will serve as major federation focal points » Yahoo!, Microsoft, Google, Plaxo, etc. • All players must realize that they can grow the market faster/better by working together » Data Portability Group is the beginning 9 Entire contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.
10. Bill of Rights for Users of the Social Web “We publicly assert that all users of the social web are entitled to certain fundamental rights, specifically: •Ownership of their own personal information, including: » their own profile data » the list of people they are connected to » the activity stream of content they create; •Control of whether and how such personal information is shared with others; and •Freedom to grant persistent access to their personal information to trusted external sites.” – Authored by Joseph Smarr, Marc Canter, Robert Scoble, and Michael Arrington http://blog.broadbandmechanics.com/2007/09/a-bill-of-rights-for-users-of-the-social-web 10 contents © 2008 Entire Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.
11. My Facebook social graph Missing Colleagues Parents Extended family School parents Neighbors Babysitter Walking group 11 contents © 2008 Entire Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.
12. My real social graph is much more complex 12 contents © 2008 Entire Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.
13. Let’s end the insanity 13 contents © 2008 Entire Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.
14. Relationships today are explicit – and a pain LinkedIn Twitter Facebook Plaxo 14 contents © 2008 Entire Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.
15. New “entrants” will challenge the incumbents Millions of regular users Search & deep content Ad and content networks Relationship maps 15 contents © 2008 Entire Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.
16. Relationship mapping will be automatic and permission-based 16 contents © 2008 Entire Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.
17. What people do today on social networks 17 contents © 2008 Entire Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.
18. Dave has a nice book review on Facebook 18 contents © 2008 Entire Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.
19. But it would be more helpful on Amazon “See friends’ reviews” 19 contents © 2008 Entire Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.
20. How Yahoo! could incorporate social networks Search based on what my friends finds relevant Elevate stories tagged by friends – anywhere See which of my friends owns a Focus – and what they think of Compare daily portfolio it performance to friends’ 20 contents © 2008 Entire Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.
21. The under-rated value of networks 21 contents © 2008 Entire Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.
22. Endorsement value depends on your network • Your authority on the specific topic • Your network’s interest and authority on the topic • The trust level among your network on the topic 22 contents © 2008 Entire Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.
23. The future business model for social networks • Marketers will pay to reach and influence valuable • Each person will have their own “personal CPM”* • Social networks will compete to have the best experience for high-influence individuals * From Marian Salzman, JWT 23 contents © 2008 Entire Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.
24. Evolution of open platforms Walled garden Ubiquitous services social networks Search freedom 1993 1999 2003 2008-9 2013 Data portability Portal aggregators 24 contents © 2008 Entire Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.
25. Recommendations • Create linkages between services based on individually-controlled identity federation • Compete on creating the most compelling social experience, not social graph lock-in • Develop social applications that have meaning • Integrate social networks into existing activities • Design business models that reflect the value created by people’s social networks 25 contents © 2008 Entire Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.
26. Thank you Charlene Li +1 650.581.3833 cli@forrester.com www.forrester.com groundswell.forrester.com 26 contents © 2008 Entire Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.

“We think that Facebook should go back to its original terms of service,” says EPIC Executive Director Marc Rotenberg.

EPIC expects to have its complaint submitted to the FTC by the end of Tuesday.

Wide-Reaching Reaction

The wave of reaction, of course, is hardly limited to official organizations. More than 38,000 Facebook users have joined a user group protesting the change, and countless blogs and news sites have written extensively about their concerns. The issue comes down to a couple of alterations within the companys terms of use that, it would seem, give Facebook eternal ownership of your personal content–even if you decide to delete your account.

The changes were actually made in early February but not widely noticed until Sunday, when The Consumerists Chris Walters stumbled upon the subtly shifted language. The section in question explains how Facebook has an “irrevocable, perpetual” license to use your “name, likeness, and image” in essentially any way, including within promotions or external advertising.

That clause, Walters noted, wasnt new. What had changed was that a sentence at the end of the paragraph was now mysteriously missing. The deleted line stated that the license would “automatically expire” if you removed your content. With that line omitted, Facebooks license to use your content is simply “perpetual” and “irrevocable,” even decades after you delete your stuff.

via Facebook Privacy Change Sparks Federal Complaint – PC World.