Oversharers Anonymous

I had never heard of "social shopping" until I read this New York Times blog, but apparently it's popular enough to be a competitive space. The site Blippy launched last fall, and Swipely recently joined the scene. Both sites are linked to users' credit cards for the purpose of publishing their purchases and allowing others to comment on them.

While I do get annoyed when certain family members rant about the ridiculousness of Facebook, I think this is where I draw the line. Why would anyone think this is a good idea? I live in constant fear of running into someone I know at CVS. Publicly share the contents of my doubled plastic bags alongside a thumbnail picture of myself? No thanks.


Oh yeah and the security issues... those are troubling as well.

Put the wow in pow wow!

I'm not going to complain about the ridiculousness of women's Halloween costumes; it seems to be something everyone has accepted as a fact of Fall. My boyfriend's friend summed it up quite nicely yesterday at the end of a group rant about sexy firefighters and slutty panda bears. "But I fall for it every year," he said. And there you have it.

No, this post is not a rant. I'd simply like to share some stellar copywriting a co-worker pointed out to me on www.spirithalloweeen.com, the most entertaining e-commerce site I've come across, um, ever. Offensive on many levels (and you thought Chief Wahoo was inappropriate), it's like a pun-laden train wreck you can't look away from. I mean, Pocahottie? Brilliant, just brilliant.




"The work is done and it's time to play cowboys and Indians, only this time the Indian picks the cowboys she wants. Put the wow in pow wow and practice some native American rituals in this sexy Pocahottie costume. Is that an ear of corn in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?"



"Time to get off the reservation and break away from the tribe in this sexy Dream Catcher costume. He'll want to take you right back to the teepee but you'll want to party and more, and why not? Put the wow in pow wow and go native in this unique costume that shows off your natural beauty."

Did I mention I can't look away?



Okay, this just got depressing...

Facebook working on public-service redesign?

According to a recent Mashable post, Facebook is testing "yet another" redesign, part of which is a downgrade of the status update box, where users can enthusiastically misspell breaking personal news like what they're microwaving for dinner.

"The screenshots clearly depict a user homepage where the Facebook Publisher, the status update box that currently resides at the top of your home page, is surprisingly absent. It’s where you can share text, photos, videos, URLs and the like on Facebook. But in a rather strange move, it appears as if the Publisher has been minimized and pushed to the side of a page, as a less intrusive button."

Screenie (Courtesy of Mashable via the Next Web):


In addition to being minimized, Facebook Publisher also appears to be morphed into a simple "update status" button, rather than the call-to-action teaser on the current homepage:


I wonder if Facebook is making an effort to discourage the plethora of inane posts such as "Owww! My nose hurtssssssss!" (featured above... inside joke, i hope?).

If so, I think Yammer should follow suit and stop sending me automated e-mails like this one:

Ideas for posting?? Stop encouraging the madness, Yammer!!!

And as for Twitter, I hope it follows suit and .... disappears.

Internet marketers continue to make me feel like a loser

First my only Netflix friends sent me an e-mail letting me know it's okay to ask for more movies in case I happen to be suffering from lonely long weekends. Now they're helping me out by providing "Teen High School" movie suggestions on my home page, based on my preferences...

Is this suggestion really based on my preferences, or does Netflix maybe have customer surveillance of more than one Friday night involving sweatpants, thai takeout, peanut butter M&Ms and perhaps two or three films in which teenage angst is expressed via the language of dance?

Does it make it any better that the "Play instantly" movies are both indie? Probably not because that means they're still in my queue... and probably will continue to be pushed down by movies that end in choreographed prom scenes.

Craig’s Just Not That Into You

I’m trying to purchase a couple of Cubs tickets for friends that are coming to town the weekend after next, and it’s not going as well as I had hoped. When I first started cruising Craigslist last week, I was full of confidence, not even looking at posts asking for more than $100. I sent a breezy e-mail to a guy who had advertised six for $75 each, asking if he would sell two. When he didn’t respond, I wasn’t too concerned — plenty of fish in the sea.

But when I got back on the saddle today, my heart fell — decrease in posts, increase in prices. So not only did I contact someone selling tickets for more than $100, but my e-mail took on a different personality. “Are your tickets still for sale?” I asked, not wanting to be too presumptuous. Then after 10 minutes of checking my inbox, I began to fire off desperate e-mails to any applicable post I found.

I bristled when my boyfriend suggested offering $105 to someone asking for $110 per ticket. I’m in no position to bargain! Noone will even e-mail me back! My mood was souring; “tix” became “tickets” in my subject lines. I also started adding that I’d pay the asking price in case the seller was negotiating with others … or annoyed with people trying to bargain… I want them to like me best!

When I finally got a response, my spirits lifted … then quickly fell again. The message said the seller had already found a buyer, and they’re meeting tomorrow — but he’ll let me know if the deal falls through. So now I’m actually hoping for sloppy seconds.

E-Mail Marketing: Convenient or Creepy?

With the ability to track page views, clicks, purchases, etc., Internet marketing brings up a lot of privacy issues – and debates over convenience vs. creepiness. My personal opinion, as a cusp member of the dreaded Generation Y or Me or Millennial, or whatever, is that younger (and future) consumers are (will be) willing to overlook creepiness (ex: “Based on your interest in x, we suggest you check out y” promotional e-mails) for convenience.

Two characteristics make this creepy-but-convenient approach appealing for the younger consumer: We are lazy, and we have ADD. Shopping online via suggestions found in my Gmail, without having to physically go to the store OR virtually search a company’s Web site? Check. Random sale alerts that provide welcome distraction from boring work/phone calls/channel surfing? CHECK.

Another characteristic, however, is slightly at odds with some of the more invasive e-mail marketing (ex: Based on your interest in [insert slightly embarrassing product], we suggest you check out [list of decidedly embarrassing products]): We have very large, very fragile egos. Today I received a message with the subject line: “Amazon.com: What’s New in Romance.” Out of curiosity, I opened the e-mail. The intro copy read, “As someone who buys romance books from Amazon.com, you may be interested in this season’s newest releases…” Below that was a list that included titles such as Dream Warrior, What I did for Love and Kill for Me, accompanied by appalling cover art and fonts, the kinds that tend to be raised and metallic when found on drug store shelves.

What did I buy to deserve this e-mail? I was delighted to receive “The Best Books of 2008” – am I being punished for not clicking through? Or perhaps Amazon knows I’ve flown through countless examples of “chick lit” while dabbling in A People’s History of the United States at a snail’s pace? More likely it was that regrettable Twilight purchase.

It reminded me of an e-mail Netflix sent me with the subject line: “Getting More is Easy.” It read:

Hi Amy,

Want more movies at home?
Relatives coming to town?
Long weekends?

Sometimes you need more movies, we’ve all been there. If this is happening to you, consider one of our other plans that gives you more movies at a time.

Whatever the circumstances, we have a plan that’s right for you.

Thanks,
- Your Friends at Netflix

Well, thank YOU for making me feel like a giant loser, Netflix. I received this message during my first winter living alone… I also happened to be single and denying myself cable television. I believe I was on the two-at-a-time/unlimited plan and going through movies at what was apparently an alarming rate, as it triggered this intervention from my Netflix friends. Or maybe my Tristan + Isolde rental was to blame...

While Netflix’s copywriting follows the advertising tradition of alerting consumers of a problem they didn’t know they had and making them feel self conscious enough to buy a solution for it, I think companies should proceed with caution when embarking on targeted, personalized online campaigns. It’s one thing for a magazine ad to subtly suggest an unknown reader may need a stronger deodorant; it’s quite another for a toiletry company to send an e-mail directly to a prospective customer, with a subject line like, “Amy, do you smell?”

But then again, I’d probably open that message, if only out of curiosity, and even though those slightly insulting e-mails from Netflix and Amazon didn’t elicit direct purchases, I will remember them, and I’m still a customer.

So in summary… as a marketer, I suggest flagging potentially embarrassing products and re-thinking follow-up e-mails; as a copywriter, I suggest staying away from concerned-mom/therapist language; and as a consumer, I suggest sending less suggestions and more coupons.

Happy Inauguration Day!

Despite waking up relatively early this morning, I was still a few minutes late to work, partly because I couldn’t find anything not hideously unflattering to wear, and partly because I couldn’t tear myself away from the Today Show’s ridiculous coverage of the Obamas. They’re late to church! Michelle’s wearing lemon meringue! I love hard news in the morning.

But when I finally settled into my cube, I read a heartening e-mail from one of my manger-level co-workers. He had sent a link to the Facebook/CNN.com live stream of the day’s events to our whole team. Because we’re “Internet marketers,” it was practically my duty to check it out... (I know I complain a lot, but sometimes I heart my job, especially my team.)

I guess the point of the partnership was for users to sign into their Facebook accounts on CNN.com to interact with friends (through Facebook status updates) who were watching as well. And if you weren’t on Facebook, of course there was a link encouraging you to sign up. I didn’t feel like signing into my account, though, so I just read the feed of comments from random people, which were posted to the right of the video. And boy were they fascinating... someone was jealous of her mom because she was in D.C... someone else was proud to be an American, especially today... someone else was ready for 44... but sadly these insights were cut off for me by perhaps my Internet connection or some other glitch. The video was also rather spotty, although the audio was fab.

I’m guessing I didn’t miss much by not signing into my Facebook account. This Heartless Doll blogger, who I randomly found to be hilarious and also share my affinity for Hello Kitty pajama pants (!), wrote while watching with 526 of her closest friends: “All ‘Roslynne’ can manage is ‘WOW!!!!!’ and ‘Kressel’ is ‘definatly watching history,’ lest there be any question in your mind. And ‘Steve’ is watching the Golden Girls. Thanks for keeping it real, Steve.”

Instead I opened a new window to sign into Gmail, and promptly began three Gchat conversations about a myriad of provocative topics such as: how creepy the new Bachelor is; Saturday deals on shots and cheese curds; and... the historic Inauguration of Barack Obama. All while answering Outlook (work) e-mails. Of course this was during the introductory stuff—I paid attention to the swearing in and Obama’s speech. (I did!)

What an amazing thing to watch, and in such a fitting way... Because I’m in the Internet marketing game, I’ve read and spewed a lot of babble about how the Obama campaign was the first to embrace and successfully leverage social networks to spread his message and make people feel like they have a voice. While today most of those voices were overpunctuated and misspelled, it gave me great joy to see these grammatically incorrect sentiments roll off of a Facebook feed, rather than the tongue of our Commander in Chief.

Interesting that when we felt we had a voice, when we had record turnout, we didn’t vote for someone who reminds us of ourselves, charmed by their folksy talk or good ‘ole boy sense of humor: We voted for someone we can look up to, someone who inspires us to be something better. And isn't that the definition of a leader?

Blog for choice

Today is the 35^th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and Blog for Choice Day! Contrary to the common misconception that pro-choice activists are baby-haters, I do not, in fact, hate babies. Quite the opposite, I just took two days off and two, three-plus-hour bus trips among somewhat creepy strangers to babysit my gorgeous niece. For free. That’s how much I love this particular baby.

I vote pro-choice because I want all babies to be as wanted and well-cared for as she is. I was fortunate enough to grow up in a post-Roe world where I feel I have control over my own body, and want my niece to grow up in that same world — a better one, actually — one in which accurate sex education and safe reproductive health care are accessible to everyone, regardless of geography or socioeconomic status.

Instead of attaching my 18-page senior history seminar paper on the misogyny of the 19^th century anti-abortion movement, which was of course riveting, I'll defer to Erica Jong's fabulous Huffington Post blog.