Abrams Research Blog

If you’ve recently tried to update your Facebook settings, you might have noticed that once again, everything has changed. The layout is different, and the groups you spent so much time choosing?  Gone from your profile page. And that’s only the beginning of what has turned out to be quite a major overhaul.

More importantly, however, Facebook has started to like a lot more things. In fact, now Facebook likes almost everything.

As of last week, Facebook has begun to give websites the option to install “Like” buttons, from which the websites can drive traffic—every “Like” posts an update to that user’s page. What does this mean? Effectively, it means that Facebook may slowly be transforming the internet into an SEO-resistant open-graph. Google is, understandably, starting to worry. read more »

You’ve heard it before: “Too many cooks in the kitchen spoil the broth.” But for Wikipedia, too many cooks may not be such a bad thing. Common sense recognizes the collective wisdom of the group; the more who contribute, balance and check, the (hopefully) better the final outcome. Common sense also dictates that a website whose traffic dominates Yahoo, Google and MSN should be taken seriously.

To test the “Wikipedia Effect” (how public opinion forms a Wikipedia article and how Wikipedia affects search engine results), Marcia Watson DiStaso and Marcus Messener of The Institute for Public Relations analyzed the wiki’s influence on the social media platforms of 10 of the most visible U.S. companies.

What did they find? read more »

Foursquare and Gowalla. One, a fantastic childhood game. The other, an offshoot of a popular smoothie brand? Nope! They’re both big names in the newest social networking trend—geolocation. The progression makes sense: profile viewing led to wall posts, which led to to status updates, eventually leading to status updates on your mobile device, which could only logically lead to where we find ourselves today—in love with physical location updates. And word on the street is that these location-based services, though still relatively under the mainstream radar, are here to stay. But nothing this interesting stays a secret for long, and starting this weekend we may see the beginning of the end: this year’s South by Southwest Interactive Festival (SXSWi), running March 12-16 in Austin, Texas, will be the “ strategic playing field” for the current geolocation forerunners.

So what’s the attraction?   read more »

After the launch of Google Buzz and your personal information’s unexpected debut into high society, you may be tempted to conclude that February has not been the best of months for social media. But rest assured, Google is Google and with enough consumer ire the kinks will be worked out and your focus will eventually shift back to where it should be, on Google Logos.

In the meantime, there has been some good news for Twitter. The best being, of course, that the Dalai Lama now has a Twitter account. So with the Vatican, the Dalai Lama (and as of February 22, Lil’ Wayne) all official members, the implications of this exponential growth become clearer. According to the Neilson Company’s recent report, social media use has grown 82% in the last year alone. Twitter boasts 50 million messages a day, up from 5,000 in 2007. Someone is obviously paying attention. read more »

The Oscar Army

Watch out, Jersey Shore; The Academy Awards isn’t going down without a fight.

It’s 2010 and everyone knows the Oscars have been losing steam for years. With the advent of reality TV, YouTube and TiVo, the world of exclusive, self-congratulatory, 4-hour telecasts simply can’t compete. The show sank to its lowest ratings of all time in 2008, with the 2009 broadcast barely scoring any better. And really, who can blame the audience, when the best clips are available online later that night?  Anyone would rather watch a 4-hour marathon of something else—Jersey Shore, SVU, Ace of Cakes, etc. But this year the Academy Awards may have a couple of final tricks up its sleeve. read more »

The Real Thug Life

It’s official: Twitter is the reincarnation of 7^th grade.

When I was in middle school, I desperately longed to be one of the cool kids. You know, the ones who sat in the back of the room, “working” on their group project, but actually listening to the Bloodhound Gang’s take on human biology through headphones hidden in their sleeves and a CD player hidden in their desk. Instead, I used that 45-minute period to actually work, fearing a bad grade or some other repercussion. And in the end, we all got As and I threw my book through a window.

As it turns out, I wasn’t the only one. But somewhere around 11^th grade, I hit a happy medium. Leaving both groups behind, I wondered what would eventually become of them. Fast forward to a decade later: they’ve been found. Their place of residence? Twitter. read more »

Elf Yourself is back.  The now-classic viral site sponsored by OfficeMax has returned for its fourth holiday season, and it’s gotten me thinking about user-generated content.

The quick-and-dirty platform for turning yourself into a ridiculous dancing elf is allegedly the “most popular viral experience in web history,” and I’m fairly confident that claim isn’t too far off base.  OfficeMax reported over 41 million elves created after their first year of “elving.”  This year, to promote more sharing, participants can now share their creations with friends via Twitter and Facebook.  Oh joy!

Ostensibly, dancing elves have little relation to office supplies, but does that matter?  OfficeMax has clearly hit upon a successful formula for attracting a massive audience and getting them to create content.  Most marketers would drool at the chance to engage with tens of millions of people and (bonus!) entertain them.  And OfficeMax claims that 40% of people that elved themselves associated the experience with the company.  More than 30% said it would make them more likely to shop there.  Compare that to a traditional banner ad campaign, and you can see easily spot the better ROI.

Of course, developing a great UGC-based campaign is easier said than done.  There is no magic formula, but there are a few important elements to consider:

read more »