Yesterday I talked about how Facebook and Amazon have started dating with a little gimmick related to figuring out what to buy your friends for their birthday.  This morning another thought occurred to me.  How much do you think Amazon would pay Facebook to integrate a link to Facebook in to every fan page that depicts a product that they sell and to create a new page for those things that they don’t.  It would essentially turn Facebook in to a social front-end for Amazon.  I’ll bet it’d erase any concerns that Facebook can monetize with all the efficiency of AdWords.

“Oh look, Mike liked that book Fred told me about, I meant to read that… click, click, click, Amazon, click, click.”  <Begins reading off iPad or Kindle>

1. Alerts you of your friends birthdays on Facebook.
2. Allows you to see your friend’s wishlists (which you could already do, it just wasn’t easy to guess who had one or go looking for it).
3. Amazon pulls in your information from Facebook for recommendations (movies, music, etc… that you’ve like on your profile).

These are relatively minor things, and much to everyones’ relief the service is “opt-in” not “opt-out”.  Most people saw that much and walked away thinking it was only a trivial news story.  That’s not nearly a deep enough look for someone (me) who believes the current social web will change commerce as we know it (I can think of a half dozen places I’ve said so but perhaps this and this are most relevant).  The bottom line is this, the world’s BEST database about people and social connections is co-mingling with the world’s BEST database about products and personal desires.

I can think of several valuable queries that a facebook or amazon programmer can write without violating the current promised privacy:

• Facebook could allow an advertiser to advertise rafting trips to any group of five male friends between the age of 20 and 30 who all have adventure books on their Amazon wishlists.
• Offer a bulk discount to any group of 5 friends who all have the same book on their wishlist.
• Sort search results based on items other friends have added to their wish list.
• Sort search results in Amazon Music based on artists that you’re a “fan” of on facebook or that your friends are a fan of.

I can think of a ridiculous number of potential implications with only very minor changes to the current privacy setup:

• Follow up on your advertisement in Men’s Health by advertising on the facebook pages of all of the men who subscribe to Men’s Health.
• Suggest a book club based on people’s similar book selections.  Even recommend friends of friends that could join the club.
• Recommend something on Amazon (without saying why) because someone with an exceptionally similar Facebook profile bought it.
• When someone buys something on Amazon with gift wrapping and mails it to a friend, increase their relevance in the Facebook news feed.
• Every product on facebook should have a like button and a little box so I can see which friends have liked it.

Am I missing any good ones?  Particularly in the former category… I’d love to do a follow-up post with ideas from the comment stream.

According to TechCrunch, twitter might be messing around with the idea of displaying inline media right on their page.  To me, this is potentially a peak at Twitter’s answer to the biggest problem (I think) they’ll face over the next year: “How to compete with Facebook’s features, but maintain differentiation.  The little box that Facebook gives you (see above), is definitely sleeker and cooler then Twitter, who relies on Bit.ly and Twitpic for links and pictures.

The question for Twitter to ponder (and I don’t know the answer) is, should they copy Facebook’s idea.  There are a number of things to consider in this space:

1. It is possible that people prefer bit.ly and twitpic in spite of the fact that they are a little less intuitive and aesthetically appealing.  If some people prefer Twitter’s current method, copying Facebook would alienate those people and likely leave them with no reason to keep both Twitter and Facebook.
2. One reason for Twitter’s success is the fact that the various API applications give a wide variety of “looks” and “feels” for Twitter contents.  By leaving tweets in this “raw” format, I can choose a client that either shows pictures inline or one that gives me a twitpic link, the decision is mine.
3. Some people do still use text message based Twitter, how would they see more robust tweets?

I read a lot of nonfiction books (here’s the list), I think this is nonfiction number 14 (overall 15) for me on the year and I’m used to finding ones that are labeled “fast paced” and “easy to read”.  The reality is, few of them live up to that expectation.  David Kirkpatrick achieved a quick pace and an easy read with The Facebook Effect.  He adeptly combined a narrative of Facebook’s history with an overview of some of the issues and opportunities Facebook faces.  He has chapters on the political ramifications of “owning” online identity, privacy, Facebook’s cultural aspirations and monetization all woven in to the fabric of the story without making you feel that you’ve left the fireside story telling of Facebook’s history.

The bad news is, the story is horribly biased.  Kirkpatrick claims to have interviewed about 50 people in the company and about 50 people outside the company.  Those outside the company ranged from investors to former employees with huge holdings in the company and all the biased individuals in between.  It truly feels like the story had just enough embarrassing moments sprinkled in to make it feel believable, but certainly not enough to be the whole truth.  If there are 1000 pictures that clearly show how Facebook grew up these last 7 years, this book shows you the 50 they’d post on Facebook.

The bottom line: If you like Facebook or startups or good non-fiction, definitely read the book.  If you’re looking for the “you can’t handle the truth” version of Facebook’s history, you’ll have to wait until a less authorized telling hits book stores.

Now on to the purpose of Sauerkraut Sundays… As I go through the week, I use Twitter to send out little updates and links.  I realize that I do this quite a bit and that not all of you use Twitter, so with that in mind I’d like to take Sunday to do sort of a week in review.  I’ve selected the most useful of my tweets from the last week and placed them in to the categories that I use in this blog.

Business

• BNY Mellon’s 2nd Quarter profits up nearly 400% year over year (right at analyst expectations though) http://bit.ly/bcdzKE

Blog Info

• The Blog of Burgher Jon gets some love from Global CTO of CapGemini, glad he liked two of my fav posts: http://bit.ly/c014fI

Me

• For all my Charlotte friends, when I say I’m missing Petty in the Burgh tonight, I mean Tom not Richard. NASCAR’s dumb.
• I love redoing things, it allows you to be busy all morning and still feel unproductive.
• Restaurant week, give me my food cheeper bitches. (@ Sullivan’s Steakhouse) http://4sq.com/64ylsS
• Last week there was a serious momentum shift in my world. This week, time to make sure that train gains speed.

Personal Technology

• If you’ve been using Google Voice on Android, this is a great development (otherwise you won’t care) http://tcrn.ch/bfJony

Pittsburgh

• I had no idea Kaye Cowher was so sick. Prayers with Bill and his kids.http://bit.ly/c23Gyc
• RT @PCPGH What color shirts do you want this year? Remember: Registration for PCPGH5 opens Aug 1!!
• Council passing a resolution “demanding” moratorium on shale drilling is as effective as me whining on Twitter that they’re wasting time.

Other (Mostly Humorous Comments from the Week)

• What an innovative idea for a “tape” deck. http://bit.ly/acVs8R
• Pittsburgh reporter explains how airlines charge for sex.http://bit.ly/9UwfxR
• Wait, there’s a Legoland USA? RT @msuster: Andy (4.5) sneaks on driving course for 6+ at Legoland, USA (beg for forgiveness )
• Silly Bandz = kiddy bling.
• It just occured to me, there are people finishing college next year who were born in the 90s #NOTCool
• If I were British Open Champ Oosthuizen, I would pronounce my name “Oh Oh sthuizen”. #BritishOpen
• Ha! RT @thesulk: Sometimes when I feel old I watch the Real World and thank god I’m old.

He responded [to the question of what Facebook might become] by talking about the potlatch.  That’s a traditional celebration and feast of native peoples on the northwest coast of North America.  Each celebrant contributes what food and goods they can, and anyone takes what they want.  The highest  status goes to those who give the most away…

The thing that binds those communities together and makes the potlatch work is the fact that the community is small enough that people can see each other’s contributions.  But once one of those societies gets past a certain point in size the system breaks down.  People can no longer see everything that’s going on, and you get freeloaders…

Zuckerberg says Facebook and other forces on the Internet now create sufficient transparency for gift economies to operate at a large scale.

This statement stood out to me on two fronts.  First, there is a more fundamental consideration about whether gift economies are a “good” thing or not.  Regular readers would expect me to take issue with the second point because of my objectivist leanings.  After all, the quote that adorned my review of Ayn Rand’s Fountainhead is, “Independence is the only gauge of human virtue and value. What a man is and makes of himself; not what he has or hasn’t done for others. There is no substitute for personal dignity.”  I don’t have a problem with the concept of a gift economy though, and let me explain why.  A true objectivist wouldn’t care too much that she gained a great deal of recognition for providing the most gifts back to the community, but her love for her work would guide her to give a large amount (probably much more then was necessary to gain prestige).  As long as the rest of the community felt compelled to give her whatever was necessary to survive and create, an objectivist could feel at home in a gift economy.

Philosophy aside, the main problem two problems I have with Zuckerberg’s theory are sociological and economic respectively.

1. First, while the Social Web certainly increases visibility/accountability a person can have over their social sphere, it simultaneously increases the size of the social sphere.  After Facebook and Twitter and whatever else have finished maturing, I think the people at the edge of our social sphere will be at least as remote as they are now.  The edge of our social sphere will just be further away (in a logical sense, not a physical sense).
2. The only attribute Zuckerberg contributes to the success or failure of a gift economy is size of population.  This is of course a shallow evaluation.  The types of products being traded matters significantly as well.  I imagine that both the variety of products and the required specialization of labor today would defeat a gift economy.

   The variety of products would mean that you couldn’t just go to the potlatch (or virtual potlatch in this case) and say “I need a jacket, all the jackets are bear skin, I’ll just pick one up.”  You would go to the potlatch saying, “I want that red Polo jacket.”  Undoubtedly someone else would want the same jacket and you’d get in an argument over who should get it.  Then you’d start measuring who deserved the jacket based on what they gave and… oh wait, that’s why we have money.The specialization required to make today’s products requires two things.  First, there must be people who work for other people.  Try to think of a way to make that happen without money.

   Second, there is a need for capital.  Think about Facebook itself, they have raised close to half a billion dollars of funding.  That would mean that for their first few years of existence Mark Zuckerberg would have had to show up at the virtual potlatch and take away hundreds of millions of dollars worth of servers and such to build his company before he could actually give at the potlatch.  If everyone wants to start a company, how do we decide who we let take more at the potlatch then they give?  That’s the kind of thing money comes in handy for.

I’m not saying that Facebook and social media won’t make the economy better.  I have, in fact, emphatically argued just the opposite on this blog.  I am saying we need to set a better goal then a gift economy.

When I make substantial changes to the blog, I like to make a post to keep readers informed.  While this post only effects those readers who use Facebook, I have to think that’s a large enough percentage to make a post worthwhile.  After toying with the idea for a bit, I’ve finally set up a Facebook page for this blog.  Doing this solved three of my Facebook related problems:

1. I generally have a “let’s do lunch” policy for Facebook.  If I wouldn’t have lunch with you in real life, we’re probably not “friends”.  A few people who follow the blog but I otherwise hadn’t met, have asked to be friends. I do post some of my thoughts to facebook and I post every time I write a new story, so on some level it makes sense to be friends with blog readers.  I also post personal information on Facebook, information that could be used against me if one of my friends, wasn’t so friendly.  Allowing people to like the blog, and consequently get all the blog related news (but none of my personal news) was a solid compromise.  So if you follow the blog but we’re not on a first name basis, hit the “like” button in the upper right hand corner.  If you want to get on a first name basis, drop me an email.
2. Many of my friends on Facebook are technologists and/or Pittsburghers who do actively read my posts.  I get (according to Google Analytics) four or five referrals from Facebook each day.  These are virtually all (probably) my friends on Facebook who click through to see a story they like.  I don’t want to discourage this, but I’ve had a couple other friends who don’t care for either Pittsburgh or technology who complain that I pollute their feed.  Again having a page for the blog is a happy medium.  People who want to see it in their feed can follow it and people who don’t can avoid following it.
3. Facebook through my personal account didn’t have the capacity to be “viral”.  If you liked one of the posts I made to my own wall discussing the blog, that “like” was only visible in our mutual friends’ feeds.  If you have friends that we don’t share who might like to read it, they lose out.  Since the posts are now on a public page rather then my wall, the news that you like a particular post can be spread without privacy concerns.

Like most technologists, I have my issues with Facebook.  However, they build a popular product and continuing to ignore them seemed like an unnecessary alienation of part of my audience.  I’ve made this concession to the Facebook gods, but look for me to remain more active on Twitter then on Facebook.

Foursquare opened up its API in January, and not much happened.  The only reason I can understand why is that Foursquare itself doesn’t quite have the audience to demand the best and the brightest’s time on app development.  It’s getting there though, and fast.  This lead me to start thinking about the market as well as poking around the API and I think there are a few holes that app developers can fill and a few tempting ideas that will never gain legs.  I spent yesterday’s post on three apps (or categories of apps) that I don’t think will take off.  Today, the good stuff.  The three concepts that I think will take off on the Foursquare API.

1. Meetup Apps that Focus on People Who are Already There – One of the apps that I said would fail was PocketCrowd, which allows you to specify where you’re going to be so that a group of people you already know can form there.  While I think this idea will fail, apps that make a crowd out of the dispersed individuals who are already at a particular place will takeoff.  Foursquare itself already does this for my friends, if I check in at PNC Park and then realize that one of my friends is at the game, I can meet up with her for a beer.  What foursquare doesn’t do natively, but an app could do is help like minded people who are already in the same place, meet for the first time.  It’s not a great leap of imagination to think dating is the best use case.  That’s where the app “Singles for Foursquare” comes in.  I’m aware that flirting with a girl on the phone while you’re at the SAME BAR SHE IS is a little retarded.  I’m not saying I’m going to use this app, but I am saying that enough people will to make apps in this space viable.Current Example: Singles for Foursquare, RunnersUnite! (by Pittsburgh’s own Dick’s Sporting Goods)
2. Scrapbooks/Analytics – One of the leading reasons people use check-in tools (as I previously discussed) is so that they know where they’ve been.  It creates a cool kind of automated life story.  There will be room for applications that help people piece together that story better then Foursquare itself does.  I see two kinds of applications in this space.  The first allows you to annotate your check-ins with photos and stories.  This type of app will supply you with the basics (the time you arrived, the friends who were there, etc…) but then expect you to build a scrapbook page or delete the record.  If you’re a guy and don’t believe this app will happen, check-out how many pictures your girlfriend has been tagged in on facebook.  The other app is a type of analytics, using Foursquares information to build maps and Feltron like reports.  If you’ve never seen the feltron reports, click here.Current Example: Couldn’t find a scrapbook, CheckoutCheckins.com is map overlay, Foursquare has a stats feature already that does the analytics (though it leaves room for improvement).
3. Recommendations – Another thing Foursquare does poorly (though you never know when they’ll correct this and steal your market) is surfacing recommendations.  My guess is that Foursquare will be doing this better (and mixing the user supplied recommendations with ads) soon.  In the mean time though, it’s difficult to see all the recommendations for places near my current location.  It’d also be cool if I only saw recommendations from people who were “like me” and within a radius that I define (am I willing to drive or does it have to be a walk?).Current Example: tipfinder

These are just my guesses based on a feel for social media.  Do I have any dissenters?

The three coming failures in an otherwise booming segment (location-based):

1. Foursquare clients – There are certainly some holes in the official client that would seem to make room for Foursquare’s own Seesmic.  I am betting against it though.  I have too much confidence in the guys at Foursquare, especially now that they are so well funded; I expect any momentary advantage a client gains over the Foursquare official clients is likely to be erased quickly.  Foursquare has too much to gain from advertising within its own client to allow another client to pass them up.

   Current Example: Kickball

2. Foursquare games – Even Foursquare itself is getting away from the concept of a game, why does anyone think that adding a more complex game on top will be successful?  There are companies that will fall for the alluring possibilities though, and they will fail.  I don’t think the game aspect of foursquare will ever catch on, not with their point system or anyone else’s interface.

   Current Example: fiddme (kind of)

3. Planning Tools – The beauty of Foursquare is the check-in concept, people can’t check-in until they’re there.  Don’t count on people using Foursquare for advanced planning, and “pre-checking in” to alert their friends where they will be.  Yes, they have a nice database of location data and that helps people plan, but there’s lots of location data on the web.  People will continue to use phones, email, texting, twitter etc… to plan meetups, Foursquare will remain for the spontaneous actions once you’re there.

   Current Example: PocketCrowd

These are just my guesses based on a feel for social media.  Do I have any dissenters?

Now on to the purpose of Sauerkraut Sundays… As I go through the week, I use Twitter to send out little updates and links.  I realize that I do this quite a bit and that not all of you use Twitter, so with that in mind I’d like to take Sunday to do sort of a week in review.  I’ve selected the most useful of my tweets from the last week and placed them in to the categories that I use in this blog.

Me

• 17 pages of single spaced papers due tomorrow for the MBA.#FocusFace
• I remember the days when I’d play racquetball without stretching and not be sore at all the next days. #GettingOld
• Softly played blue grass and greasy food. Y’all come down now. (@ Philosopher’s Stone Tavern) http://4sq.com/5J6M4W
• I’m very excited to read this book, but probably won’t get a chance for a couple weeks. http://amzn.to/aOlNFQ

National Politics

• We don’t have to do what the supreme court tells us, as long as we have guns. (via colbert report)

Personal Technology

• ZocDoc (http://tcrn.ch/avxhkS) is just a great idea. I love it for the same reason I love Open Table (http://bit.ly/bzB5xh)
• Disappointing how little has been done with alternatives to the iPad:http://bit.ly/cBTdt3
• RT @betaworks: TweetDeck Turns Two, passes 15 Million Downloads http://tcrn.ch/dvlyRP

Pittsburgh

• Google in the PG this AM, goes beyond the details and makes some guesses on what it means to the city http://bit.ly/ckZ5zF
• Really interesting post from Chris Briem on the growth (in land area) of the city proper. http://bit.ly/aln9rm
• Buying beer in Pennsylvania is more complicated than buying a shotgun in Kentucky.
• Pittsburgh, land of the FIN corps that didn’t F-up. RT @PittsburghPG: Federated in $17B fund acquisitionhttp://bit.ly/dmowkm
• Dust off your old ECON books and think about the potential impacts of Marcellus Shale (via Chris Briem). http://bit.ly/bEEgih

Social Media

• Stopping payola in social by accountability. @sethgodin‘s complaint: http://bit.ly/bST9RN My Response: http://bit.ly/aRdfav

Sports

• Listening to Bob Walk and Steve Blass without Neverette, what are the chances of an @ScottDMcCauley for a Sept. callup.
• RT @ScottDMcCauley: delay gives us the time honored tradition of players lined along the dugout railing and scanning the crowd for girls.

Startups

• Venture Capital Investments up 34% (software up 70%), highest numbers since 2008. http://tcrn.ch/aRcAuV
• If you’re thinking of starting a small business, reading @AldoCoffee‘s Blog is not optional. http://bit.ly/90iDxw
• My company (@adaptivity) gets press from @BSatNWW (section titled “Getting Tough on Cloud Providers”) http://bit.ly/9ZtfYU

Technology News

• Surprising. Netflix passes Hulu in total US traffic.http://tcrn.ch/bNRczw
• WOW!!! That looks simple, Android App Inventor (a development tool) http://bit.ly/cvRiF5
• I bet giving away Amazon Prime for one year to college students is a test run for giving it to everyone. http://tcrn.ch/bNRczw

Unsolicited Advice

• Bestest is not a word… even if you’re really good friends… the answer is still NO!
• Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they’ve got a second. -William James
• RT @jencaple I find it interesting that it’s the one’s that constantly complain about their job & life that tell me to get a practical job & life
• Great post by @vwadhwa, unless you’re Steve Jobs, you should probably ask your customers what they think. http://bit.ly/cEpOqc

Other (Mostly Humorous Comments from the Week)

• Guess what kind of Pizza I’m having tonight… Hint: It’s not delivery.
• Whole different meaning in the south. RT @AFMJen RT @HeyItsNicoleA: There’s nothin like a British boy calling a girl “Sweetheart”.
• Morning Sex is a drink, so is a Martini. You can order Martinis dirty.#justsayin
• RT @davonmagwood I wanted pasta but drunk me is willing to settle for pizza rolls, I want fucking tatter tots!