March 10th, 2008
Blame Zuckerberg (and Twitter) for poor SXSWi keynote; Parents joining Facebook; Paramount movies go viral
A Facebook special of The social web weekly: a quick-fire roundup of some of the news, announcements and conversations that have occurred throughout the week…
- Blame Zuckerberg (and Twitter) for poor SXSWi keynote. By all accounts (see Techmeme), Sarah Lacy’s on-stage interview with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg at South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) festival bombed. The biggest charge leveled at Lacy seems to be that she didn’t know her audience and that she got in the way of the interview (see Daniel Terdiman’s account). Having watched highlights of the Q&A and read excerpts, I’m inclined to blame Zuckerberg more than Lacy. Sure, in hindsight and perhaps with more experience of live on-stage interviewing, Lacy might have done a better job. But Zuckerberg’s relentless attempts to stay on message and lack of charisma (on stage at least) is ultimately what killed it for me. However, I think another factor in the keynote’s downfall was the use of Twitter as a so-called ‘back channel’. With keynote attendees able to share live commentary instantly, a negative response can spread like wildfire in a profound way that is very different to what’s possible without such connectivity.
- Parents joining Facebook. The Washington Post has a fun article looking at the implications of parents who join Facebook. The story notes that since Facebook opened up beyond students so that anybody could join, parents have started to invade the site. As a result, a number of Facebook groups have been formed to share tactics on how to stop parents from spying, better use of the site’s granular privacy controls, and parent/child Facebook etiquette!
- Paramount movies go viral. Paramount Pictures has become the first major studio to make clips from thousands of its movies on Facebook, reports the AP. In conjunction with Los Angeles-based developer FanRocket, Paramount have launched the VooZoo application that gives Facebook users access to footage from thousands of movies, ranging from “Chinatown” to “Forrest Gump,” to share with others on the popular social networking site. The idea is to enable users to “relive the moment”, according to Paramount senior vice president of entertainment Derek Broes, while at the same time pushing DVD sales (not downloads).
Steve O'Hear is a London-based consultant, educator, and journalist, focussing on the Internet and all aspects of digital technology. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
