Facebook. The UK “Likes” This
July 13, 2010 | Written by Dave Cannon
The British government seems fully committed to engaging the public through mobile and social media. “The Spending Challenge” is a social media effort launching from the Democracy UK Facebook page, and encourages the British public to converse about possible ways to eliminate the country’s debt.
The government is hoping that adopting a bottom-up approach will get British citizens more interested and engaged in helping to find a solution to the looming problem. And if you like the idea of Britain joining forces with Facebook, you’ll love the video below of Prime Minister David Cameron on a video call with Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg.
Now more than ever, the line between gaming and socializing is getting blurry. Social Zynga game Farmville has taken the world by storm, and even more traditional platforms like Playstation and Xbox offer sharable content like player achievements that are viewable to online friends.
MTV Networks wants a slice, too. In a recent press release, the company announced that it has acquired Social Express, a social gaming development company. MTV has plans to develop games featuring popular characters from MTV, Nickelodeon and affiliated stations. The branded content will probably pull in a fair number of players, but the success of social content depends on how many users adopt it. MTV already has a good deal of experience in online gaming, so the acquisition may yield some interesting results.
Gowalla and LIVESTRONG
Those in support of the Lance Armstrong Foundation can show their support through a new partnership between Gowalla and LIVESTRONG. Twitter users can direct inspirational tweets to @chalkbot, a roaming robot that rolls around the Tour de France circuit chalking tweets onto the pavement. Chalkbot will be updating users about its location by checking in via Gowalla.
Nike is joining in as well, encouraging Gowalla users to check-in at Nike retail locations. Those who do will receive a custom Gowalla Stamp and a limited edition LIVESTRONG pin.
Extra Bits:
- E-marketing company MailChimp is preparing an application that will allow Facebook’s “Like” button to be embedded directly into email.
- An Internet study from Pew Research has concluded that Generation Y will continue to use social media for the rest of their lives.
My Two Cents: Google Me
If you’ve been keeping an eye on Google, or read my Extra Bits a while back, you’ve probably heard about Google Me, Google’s nearly-confirmed social media platform. It’s expected by some (but certainly not all) to be a serious Facebook competitor.
Consider this slideshow from Google’s Paul Adams. Adams illustrates a common problem that is familiar to many Facebook users: how do you share certain information with small social groups without announcing it to your entire network? Google has some ideas, and I’m really interested to see how Me turns out. I’ll keep you posted as the story unravels!
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