In the wake of Facebook’s $1 billion deal for Instagram, the spotlight has fallen on a new crop of video-sharing apps moving up the charts like Viddy and SocialCam. The photo and video category as a whole has been the fastest-growing in apps time spent per active user between October and March, up 89% to 231 minutes. Other rapidly rising categories include music (72%), productivity (66%), social networking (54%), and entertainment (40%), according to new data from app analytics and advertising firm Flurry. “Trained by the sharing behavior of Facebook, and enabled by a confluence of underlying technology like built-in HD video cameras, hardy on-device processors, increased network bandwidth, cloud storage and user-friendly applications like Viddy and SocialCam, social video apps are taking off,” wrote Peter Farago, VP marketing, Flurry, in a blog post today. While these apps have gained greater attention lately, he points out that time spent with photo and video apps has been building for some time -- with growth up 166% since July 2011, and 141% since March 2011. That year-over-year growth rate is twice the 71% increase in time spent watching YouTube on the desktop Web. Actual minutes spent viewing video online is still well ahead of apps, at 425 total minutes versus 231 in March. But the gap is closing. A year ago, Internet video consumption on YouTube outpaced that on iOS and Android apps by more than a 4-to-1 ratio. “During 2012, however, is where things get interesting. As online video consumption dropped by 10%, mobile app video consumption increased by another 52%,” noted Farago. While it can’t be assumed that mobile video apps are cannibalizing YouTube, Flurry views the shift as a sign of disruption. “Think of it this way: With every mobile video you share of friends, family, vacations, parties and weddings, you are likely loading another bullet in the chamber for Web 3.0. For YouTube, it appears they need to run -- outrun -- your gun,” states Farago. Of course, if HTML5 development shifts mobile media consumption back in favor of the mobile Web, YouTube will have the last laugh. The Flurry data also highlighted the growing competition that games face from other app categories, especially photo and video titles, in terms of time spent. In addition to Viddy and SocialCam, it pointed to “apps with momentum” including Path, Skout, Evenote and Spotify. It’s not quite time to write off games, considering that they still dominate the top 10 app charts in iTunes and Google Play. Yesterday “Angry Birds” creator Rovio reported 2011 revenue of $106 million. If that figure tumbles in 2012, or growth slows, that would surely be a sign that game apps are no longer flying high. The Flurry findings were based on a sample of 8 million active mobile app users across all app categories. The company's analytics software is used in 180,000 apps for some 67,000 companies across iOS, Android, HTML5, Windows Phone and BlackBerry.
Myspace has agreed to develop a comprehensive privacy program to settle charges that it violated its privacy policy by leaking users' personal information to advertisers. The agreement, announced on Tuesday by the Federal Trade Commission, also calls for Myspace to submit to 20 years of audits. The charges apparently stemmed from a 2009 report that Myspace (and other companies) leak users' personal information to advertisers by including it in the HTTP header information that is automatically sent to ad networks. In Myspace's case, the company transmitted users' age, gender and "FriendID" to ad networks via referrer headers, according to the FTC. Advertisers were then able to use the FriendID to access users' profile information, which included the full names of around 84% of Myspace users, the FTC alleges. The commission says that Myspace's transmission of FriendID constituted a deceptive business practice because the company's privacy policy promised that it would not share "personally identifiable information" with outside companies. The FTC says in its complaint that starting in 2009, Myspace automatically sent users' FriendIDs to its Fox Audience Network, which in turn often transmitted the information -- in clear text -- to third-party advertisers it worked with. In June of 2010 it began encrypting the data, but provided the key to Fox Audience Network, according to the FTC. After Rubicon Project purchased Fox Audience Network in October of 2010, Myspace allegedly provided the encryption key to Rubicon -- which had no relationship with the social networking company. That arrangement lasted through October of 2011, according to the FTC's complaint, which was unveiled on Tuesday along with the settlement agreement, The upshot was that "a third-party advertiser could take simple steps to get detailed information about individual users," the FTC alleges. For instance, advertisers could use FriendID to visit users' Myspace pages and obtain their real names. Advertisers also could "combine the user’s real name and other personal information with that advertiser’s tracking cookie and the history of websites the user has visited that it contains," the FTC says in its complaint. Myspace isn't the only company to face scrutiny for its referrer header practice. The FTC's recent complaint against Facebook also included charges that the social networking service violated its privacy policy by including personal information in the referrer headers. That case also was settled. In addition, Google is facing a potential class-action suit stemming from allegations that it shared users' names with outside companies when it passed along search queries in the referrer headers; those queries occasionally included users' names. Specific Media, which now owns Myspace, said in a statement that one of its first moves after acquiring the company last June "was to thoroughly examine the company’s business practices and, where applicable, make improvements." The company added: "In order to put any questions regarding Myspace’s pre-acquisition advertising practices behind us, Myspace has reached an agreement with the FTC that makes a formal commitment to our community to accurately disclose how their information is used and shared."
Kimberly-Clark's Kotex Natural Balance brand is standing up for what's real. The feminine hygiene brand is tapping comedienne Heather McDonald to star in a series of online videos extending an integrated effort that launched in February. The campaign also mines social media to get women to share their thoughts about what’s real and what’s not so real about the claims, innovations and storylines they see in today’s feminine care ads. "The Stand Up For What's Real" campaign will include a tour to various urban markets where McDonald, and perhaps local comedy talent will riff on women's issues and clichés. This approach isn't that new for Kimberly-Clark, which has made it a point of differentiation to make fun of clichés in marketing of products that deal with touchy physiological subjects, and to avoid the euphemisms to which those clichés (women in white, playing sports and running through fields of flowers) subscribe. The company has done similar approach for its other line, U by Kotex, whose marketing included a web-based spokesperson relationship with the Kardashian sisters who talked about their own experiences with “that time of the month” and other things online. The company has also taken a straightforward approach to marketing its Depend adult hygiene product. The new series of videos for Kotex Natural Balance was produced by Alloy Media + Marketing's by its new in-house studio division, Generate Studios, and will run on Alloy digital entertainment networks, including Alloys other recently acquired property women’s digital network B5Media, which includes TheGloss.com, Blisstree.com and Mommyish.com. In the videos, McDonald makes fun of feminine product advertising that focuses on fantastical technology and product benefits that somehow seems more appropriate to a video game or the engine of a sports car than to feminine products. In the new web video series on the Kotex Natural Balance Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/kotex) and YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/kotexvideos) she makes fun of jargon like nano-breeze maxi pad technology invites women to join in the conversation. McDonald is best known for her role as writer and story producer on E!’s Chelsea Lately. “Hide your trampolines, America, because if a woman on her period is nearby, her pad is scientifically engineered to make her three times more likely to jump on it, thanks to its new Elastibounce Lining technology,” is one riff. Women can upload their own videos and comments on the Kotex Natural Balance Facebook page, with submissions being the basis for five other videos starring McDonald. It will also serve as the basis for material for the live "Stand Up For What’s Real" comedy tour later this year. Kotex senior brand manager, Kanchan Patkar tells Marketing Daily that the Kimberly-Clark redefined the Kotex brand in late September last year, with an integrated media campaign starting this year. The company launched its brand for teens, "U by Kotex," last year with a digital-centric campaign that had the Kardashians talking about issues. "The insight is that as a group, young women are tired of clichés about lifestyle and technology." Says Patkar, who adds that Kotex Natural Balance is meant to appeal to young women. She says the brand's customer base has a median age of 35. "But this messaging is meant to target 14 year olds and older," she says. "All the way up to women in their 30's. And McDonald appeals to both age groups. She's very funny, has her own style, and will engage young girls as well as those in their 20's and 30's." McDonald also added a lot of her own flavor to the videos, but that the content is driven by what young girls are irked by in marketing. "We have so much research on what sorts of things are interesting to young girls, and those are the guiding the topics."
Mike’s Hard Lemonade is launching a multimillion-dollar campaign May 9 including a unique partnership with LivingSocial. The effort, themed “Do Summer Different,” includes TV, digital, mobile and social media, as well as promotional and point-of-sale materials. TV spots continue the tagline: "Always Different, Always Refreshing." The “breakthrough experiential partnership” with LivingSocial gives the company “a great retail platform to excite consumers at the point of purchase and places Mike's at events,” said Andy Horrow, chief marketing officer of Chicago-based Mike's Hard Lemonade. "What I love about this partnership with LivingSocial is that it combines real life and social media in a very meaningful way for Mike's consumers,” Horrow tells Marketing Daily.” Mike’s will be giving away 100-plus Living Social adventures and will provide a Mike's Hard Lemonade experience to more than 4,000 consumers directly, Horrow says. In what is believed to be a first for the beverage alcohol category, Mike's will serve as the exclusive adult beverage and sponsor for the company's 21+ Memorial Day Weekend Summer Camp in New York; Labor Day Weekend Summer Camps in Washington, D.C., and New York. Retail activation includes a point-of-sale sweeps (via a text-to-win call to action.) TPN Chicago will manage retail activation, promotional activity and point-of-sale materials for the campaign. A series of TV spots, the first work for the company from Grey New York, feature guys interacting at familiar drinking occasions, like golf and fishing. Each of the spots starts with the same scene, but then reveals a rotation of four unexpected finales. The creative aims to show that when you bring Mike's to the occasion, you never know how things will turn out. In one vignette, a golfer goes to retrieve his ball from the cup and two convicts on the lam burst from under the green with a policeman in pursuit. In another, he takes his ball out of the hole and a spontaneous lottery drawing ensues. The 30- and 15-second spots begin airing May 9 on male-targeted television outlets, including: Comedy Central, E!, ESPN, F/X, NBA TV, Spike, TBS, Turner Sports, NBC Sports, Fuel and Speed and digital channels such as: Hulu, ABC, NBC and Discovery Network. Fifteen-second cinema ads in more than 750 theaters nationwide launch May 9. The foundation for the creative campaign came from a six-month, in-depth exploration of consumers' passion for the brand through a series of online communities, ethnographies, in-situation parties and co-creation workshops conducted by Kelton, a brand insights and marketing strategy consultancy.
Social marketing firm Vitrue said it has expanded its relationship with NBC Sports, which will give it a role in facilitating social media operations related to the Olympics this summer. The company began working with NBC Sports on the NHL earlier this year. Vitrue manages social media operations that stretch from Facebook to Twitter to Pinterest to Instagram. In addition to serving as the backbone for the Olympics social media splurge, its efforts will include work with the Golf Channel and “Sunday Night Football.” The Vitrue services cover publishing and management as well as analytics. “Sports are inherently social -- truly today’s ‘water cooler’ experience -- and NBC Sports continues to deliver an engaging social connection to extend that experience with their viewers,” stated Reggie Bradford, Vitrue CEO. Vitrue said it has launched an NHL on NBC Instagram channel and helped increase “average engaged users on Facebook by almost 70%.” Vitrue says “Getting a “Like” on Facebook an be a heady experience for brand … But after that initial attraction, your fans may start feeling a need for the relationship to grow and progress.” The company says it has 1.2 billion “likes turned into love.” Clients include American Express, McDonald’s and AT&T.
Facebook’s mobile penetration has at last reached the tipping point, with 54% or 488 million of its 901 million monthly users accessing the service on devices. According to the latest infographic roundup from Socialbakers, the social network with the looming and massive IPO has good reason to add the acquisition of Instagram and Glancee in advance of the stock rollout. With a majority of its user base accessing the network from devices, even if many of them still use the desktop at some point in the day, this company needs a clear path to mobile monetization. But if broken down by operating system, Facebook’s mobile constituency is accessing their news feed from a wide range of devices, including 17% from feature phones. iPhone and Android are tied at 19% each of the mobile Facebook market, but BlackBerry (8%) is still in play as iPad (5%) surges. Meanwhile, 32% of users are coming from “other” devices. One reason for the fragmentation is the worldwide nature of Facebook’s reach. In fact, while the U.S. continues to have the largest number of mobile Facebook users (105.9 million), many other nations in Asian and developing markets have a much higher mobile penetration among Facebook users. In Japan, for instance, 72.1% of Facebook users are using mobile access. In Botswana the mobile penetration is 75.4%, in South Africa 80.5% and in Nigeris (highest of all, it is 81.2%. Facebook’s need for a mobile monetization strategy is critical in the U.S., but downright essential in many areas of the globe where mobile platforms are the first or only point of Internet contact.
In the wake of Facebook’s $1 billion deal for Instagram, the spotlight has fallen on a new crop of video-sharing apps moving up the charts like Viddy and SocialCam. The photo and video category as a whole has been the fastest-growing in apps time spent per active user between October and March, up 89% to 231 minutes. Other rapidly rising categories include music (72%), productivity (66%), social networking (54%), and entertainment (40%), according to new data from app analytics and advertising firm Flurry. “Trained by the sharing behavior of Facebook, and enabled by a confluence of underlying technology like built-in HD video cameras, hardy on-device processors, increased network bandwidth, cloud storage and user-friendly applications like Viddy and SocialCam, social video apps are taking off,” wrote Peter Farago, VP marketing, Flurry, in a blog post today. While these apps have gained greater attention lately, he points out that time spent with photo and video apps has been building for some time -- with growth up 166% since July 2011, and 141% since March 2011. That year-over-year growth rate is twice the 71% increase in time spent watching YouTube on the desktop Web. Actual minutes spent viewing video online is still well ahead of apps, at 425 total minutes versus 231 in March. But the gap is closing. A year ago, Internet video consumption on YouTube outpaced that on iOS and Android apps by more than a 4-to-1 ratio. “During 2012, however, is where things get interesting. As online video consumption dropped by 10%, mobile app video consumption increased by another 52%,” noted Farago. While it can’t be assumed that mobile video apps are cannibalizing YouTube, Flurry views the shift as a sign of disruption. “Think of it this way: With every mobile video you share of friends, family, vacations, parties and weddings, you are likely loading another bullet in the chamber for Web 3.0. For YouTube, it appears they need to run -- outrun -- your gun,” states Farago. Of course, if HTML5 development shifts mobile media consumption back in favor of the mobile Web, YouTube will have the last laugh. The Flurry data also highlighted the growing competition that games face from other app categories, especially photo and video titles, in terms of time spent. In addition to Viddy and SocialCam, it pointed to “apps with momentum” including Path, Skout, Evenote and Spotify. It’s not quite time to write off games, considering that they still dominate the top 10 app charts in iTunes and Google Play. Yesterday “Angry Birds” creator Rovio reported 2011 revenue of $106 million. If that figure tumbles in 2012, or growth slows, that would surely be a sign that game apps are no longer flying high. The Flurry findings were based on a sample of 8 million active mobile app users across all app categories. The company's analytics software is used in 180,000 apps for some 67,000 companies across iOS, Android, HTML5, Windows Phone and BlackBerry.
Myspace has agreed to develop a comprehensive privacy program to settle charges that it violated its privacy policy by leaking users' personal information to advertisers. The agreement, announced on Tuesday by the Federal Trade Commission, also calls for Myspace to submit to 20 years of audits. The charges apparently stemmed from a 2009 report that Myspace (and other companies) leak users' personal information to advertisers by including it in the HTTP header information that is automatically sent to ad networks. In Myspace's case, the company transmitted users' age, gender and "FriendID" to ad networks via referrer headers, according to the FTC. Advertisers were then able to use the FriendID to access users' profile information, which included the full names of around 84% of Myspace users, the FTC alleges. The commission says that Myspace's transmission of FriendID constituted a deceptive business practice because the company's privacy policy promised that it would not share "personally identifiable information" with outside companies. The FTC says in its complaint that starting in 2009, Myspace automatically sent users' FriendIDs to its Fox Audience Network, which in turn often transmitted the information -- in clear text -- to third-party advertisers it worked with. In June of 2010 it began encrypting the data, but provided the key to Fox Audience Network, according to the FTC. After Rubicon Project purchased Fox Audience Network in October of 2010, Myspace allegedly provided the encryption key to Rubicon -- which had no relationship with the social networking company. That arrangement lasted through October of 2011, according to the FTC's complaint, which was unveiled on Tuesday along with the settlement agreement, The upshot was that "a third-party advertiser could take simple steps to get detailed information about individual users," the FTC alleges. For instance, advertisers could use FriendID to visit users' Myspace pages and obtain their real names. Advertisers also could "combine the user’s real name and other personal information with that advertiser’s tracking cookie and the history of websites the user has visited that it contains," the FTC says in its complaint. Myspace isn't the only company to face scrutiny for its referrer header practice. The FTC's recent complaint against Facebook also included charges that the social networking service violated its privacy policy by including personal information in the referrer headers. That case also was settled. In addition, Google is facing a potential class-action suit stemming from allegations that it shared users' names with outside companies when it passed along search queries in the referrer headers; those queries occasionally included users' names. Specific Media, which now owns Myspace, said in a statement that one of its first moves after acquiring the company last June "was to thoroughly examine the company’s business practices and, where applicable, make improvements." The company added: "In order to put any questions regarding Myspace’s pre-acquisition advertising practices behind us, Myspace has reached an agreement with the FTC that makes a formal commitment to our community to accurately disclose how their information is used and shared."
Kimberly-Clark's Kotex Natural Balance brand is standing up for what's real. The feminine hygiene brand is tapping comedienne Heather McDonald to star in a series of online videos extending an integrated effort that launched in February. The campaign also mines social media to get women to share their thoughts about what’s real and what’s not so real about the claims, innovations and storylines they see in today’s feminine care ads. "The Stand Up For What's Real" campaign will include a tour to various urban markets where McDonald, and perhaps local comedy talent will riff on women's issues and clichés. This approach isn't that new for Kimberly-Clark, which has made it a point of differentiation to make fun of clichés in marketing of products that deal with touchy physiological subjects, and to avoid the euphemisms to which those clichés (women in white, playing sports and running through fields of flowers) subscribe. The company has done similar approach for its other line, U by Kotex, whose marketing included a web-based spokesperson relationship with the Kardashian sisters who talked about their own experiences with “that time of the month” and other things online. The company has also taken a straightforward approach to marketing its Depend adult hygiene product. The new series of videos for Kotex Natural Balance was produced by Alloy Media + Marketing's by its new in-house studio division, Generate Studios, and will run on Alloy digital entertainment networks, including Alloys other recently acquired property women’s digital network B5Media, which includes TheGloss.com, Blisstree.com and Mommyish.com. In the videos, McDonald makes fun of feminine product advertising that focuses on fantastical technology and product benefits that somehow seems more appropriate to a video game or the engine of a sports car than to feminine products. In the new web video series on the Kotex Natural Balance Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/kotex) and YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/kotexvideos) she makes fun of jargon like nano-breeze maxi pad technology invites women to join in the conversation. McDonald is best known for her role as writer and story producer on E!’s Chelsea Lately. “Hide your trampolines, America, because if a woman on her period is nearby, her pad is scientifically engineered to make her three times more likely to jump on it, thanks to its new Elastibounce Lining technology,” is one riff. Women can upload their own videos and comments on the Kotex Natural Balance Facebook page, with submissions being the basis for five other videos starring McDonald. It will also serve as the basis for material for the live "Stand Up For What’s Real" comedy tour later this year. Kotex senior brand manager, Kanchan Patkar tells Marketing Daily that the Kimberly-Clark redefined the Kotex brand in late September last year, with an integrated media campaign starting this year. The company launched its brand for teens, "U by Kotex," last year with a digital-centric campaign that had the Kardashians talking about issues. "The insight is that as a group, young women are tired of clichés about lifestyle and technology." Says Patkar, who adds that Kotex Natural Balance is meant to appeal to young women. She says the brand's customer base has a median age of 35. "But this messaging is meant to target 14 year olds and older," she says. "All the way up to women in their 30's. And McDonald appeals to both age groups. She's very funny, has her own style, and will engage young girls as well as those in their 20's and 30's." McDonald also added a lot of her own flavor to the videos, but that the content is driven by what young girls are irked by in marketing. "We have so much research on what sorts of things are interesting to young girls, and those are the guiding the topics."
Mike’s Hard Lemonade is launching a multimillion-dollar campaign May 9 including a unique partnership with LivingSocial. The effort, themed “Do Summer Different,” includes TV, digital, mobile and social media, as well as promotional and point-of-sale materials. TV spots continue the tagline: "Always Different, Always Refreshing." The “breakthrough experiential partnership” with LivingSocial gives the company “a great retail platform to excite consumers at the point of purchase and places Mike's at events,” said Andy Horrow, chief marketing officer of Chicago-based Mike's Hard Lemonade. "What I love about this partnership with LivingSocial is that it combines real life and social media in a very meaningful way for Mike's consumers,” Horrow tells Marketing Daily.” Mike’s will be giving away 100-plus Living Social adventures and will provide a Mike's Hard Lemonade experience to more than 4,000 consumers directly, Horrow says. In what is believed to be a first for the beverage alcohol category, Mike's will serve as the exclusive adult beverage and sponsor for the company's 21+ Memorial Day Weekend Summer Camp in New York; Labor Day Weekend Summer Camps in Washington, D.C., and New York. Retail activation includes a point-of-sale sweeps (via a text-to-win call to action.) TPN Chicago will manage retail activation, promotional activity and point-of-sale materials for the campaign. A series of TV spots, the first work for the company from Grey New York, feature guys interacting at familiar drinking occasions, like golf and fishing. Each of the spots starts with the same scene, but then reveals a rotation of four unexpected finales. The creative aims to show that when you bring Mike's to the occasion, you never know how things will turn out. In one vignette, a golfer goes to retrieve his ball from the cup and two convicts on the lam burst from under the green with a policeman in pursuit. In another, he takes his ball out of the hole and a spontaneous lottery drawing ensues. The 30- and 15-second spots begin airing May 9 on male-targeted television outlets, including: Comedy Central, E!, ESPN, F/X, NBA TV, Spike, TBS, Turner Sports, NBC Sports, Fuel and Speed and digital channels such as: Hulu, ABC, NBC and Discovery Network. Fifteen-second cinema ads in more than 750 theaters nationwide launch May 9. The foundation for the creative campaign came from a six-month, in-depth exploration of consumers' passion for the brand through a series of online communities, ethnographies, in-situation parties and co-creation workshops conducted by Kelton, a brand insights and marketing strategy consultancy.
Social marketing firm Vitrue said it has expanded its relationship with NBC Sports, which will give it a role in facilitating social media operations related to the Olympics this summer. The company began working with NBC Sports on the NHL earlier this year. Vitrue manages social media operations that stretch from Facebook to Twitter to Pinterest to Instagram. In addition to serving as the backbone for the Olympics social media splurge, its efforts will include work with the Golf Channel and “Sunday Night Football.” The Vitrue services cover publishing and management as well as analytics. “Sports are inherently social -- truly today’s ‘water cooler’ experience -- and NBC Sports continues to deliver an engaging social connection to extend that experience with their viewers,” stated Reggie Bradford, Vitrue CEO. Vitrue said it has launched an NHL on NBC Instagram channel and helped increase “average engaged users on Facebook by almost 70%.” Vitrue says “Getting a “Like” on Facebook an be a heady experience for brand … But after that initial attraction, your fans may start feeling a need for the relationship to grow and progress.” The company says it has 1.2 billion “likes turned into love.” Clients include American Express, McDonald’s and AT&T.
Facebook’s mobile penetration has at last reached the tipping point, with 54% or 488 million of its 901 million monthly users accessing the service on devices. According to the latest infographic roundup from Socialbakers, the social network with the looming and massive IPO has good reason to add the acquisition of Instagram and Glancee in advance of the stock rollout. With a majority of its user base accessing the network from devices, even if many of them still use the desktop at some point in the day, this company needs a clear path to mobile monetization. But if broken down by operating system, Facebook’s mobile constituency is accessing their news feed from a wide range of devices, including 17% from feature phones. iPhone and Android are tied at 19% each of the mobile Facebook market, but BlackBerry (8%) is still in play as iPad (5%) surges. Meanwhile, 32% of users are coming from “other” devices. One reason for the fragmentation is the worldwide nature of Facebook’s reach. In fact, while the U.S. continues to have the largest number of mobile Facebook users (105.9 million), many other nations in Asian and developing markets have a much higher mobile penetration among Facebook users. In Japan, for instance, 72.1% of Facebook users are using mobile access. In Botswana the mobile penetration is 75.4%, in South Africa 80.5% and in Nigeris (highest of all, it is 81.2%. Facebook’s need for a mobile monetization strategy is critical in the U.S., but downright essential in many areas of the globe where mobile platforms are the first or only point of Internet contact.
As a self-proclaimed “social media mom,” I found a recent infographic from Performics to be quite interesting. Yes, social media moms are more likely to own smartphones than other women and, yes, an overwhelming majority believe they can influence companies by voicing their opinions via their social networks. But the two stats I found most interesting were those regarding how moms’ offline actions are somewhat motivated by those brands they follow on Facebook:
Is reality broken? I’ve been grappling with the idea ever since reading “Reality is Broken” by Jane McGonigal, who argues that games provide a better, more motivating version of life than reality. Almost inherent in her description of gameplay is the social component, as the vast majority of her examples involve games people play together -- usually virtually. Much of the book is enlightening, such as when McGonigal discusses how some real-world movements and daily routines have become more meaningful by judiciously incorporating game mechanics. Elsewhere, however, I found myself sulking over her vision of reality. Below are ten passages from McGonigal, followed by why they are so troubling: 1) “The real world just doesn’t offer up as easily the carefully designed pleasures, the thrilling challenges, and the powerful social bonding afforded by virtual environments. Reality doesn’t motivate us as effectively. Reality isn’t engineered to maximize our potential. Reality wasn’t designed from the bottom up to make us happy. And so, there is a growing perception in the gaming community: Reality, compared to games, is broken.” Why must we always be happy? This is part of a bigger social problem. Sprinkles Cupcakes was designed from the ground up to make us happy, but it’s a bad idea to eat there daily. Filling out timesheets isn’t fulfilling, but I can put my happiness on hold briefly to support my colleagues. 2) “We are starving, and our games are feeding us.” Games often feed us empty calories. 3) “Games make us happy because they are hard work that we choose for ourselves, and it turns out that almost nothing makes us happier than good, hard work.” It’s twisted logic to call gaming the opposite of depression. Gaming isn’t the same as actual work. The purpose matters. Saving a fictitious planet is different from supporting a family. 4) “We’re much happier enlivening time rather than killing time.” Playing games doesn’t always enliven time. It’s often a drug hit or cheap thrill compared to fulfillment from doing something meaningful. 5) “Compared with games, reality is depressing. Games focus our energy, with relentless optimism, on something we’re good at and enjoy.” This statement is depressing. How does one get out of bed in the morning thinking like this? 6) “…Beyond a certain playing threshold—for most gamers, it seems to be somewhere around twenty hours a week—they start to wonder if they’re perhaps missing out on real life.” It’s hardly shocking, but that is a high threshold to trigger gamer’s remorse. 7) “Gamers, without a doubt, are reinventing what we think of as our daily community infrastructure. They’re experimenting with new ways to create social capital, and they’re developing habits that provide more social bonding and connectivity than any bowling league ever could.” Bowling is a sport -- a physical activity that brings people together face to face. Similarly, my Madden NFL prowess does not give me more social capital than Eli Manning. 8) “…It’s no accident that Halo players are so inclined toward collective efforts. It’s the direct result of the game’s epic, and awe-inspiring, aesthetic. Today’s best game designers are experts at giving individuals the chance to be a part of something bigger…” Collective efforts are not inherently positive. Nazi Germany, the Cultural Revolution, and Al Qaeda all offered ways for people to be part of a larger movement. 9) “Jean M. Twenge, a professor of psychology and the author of Generation Me, has persuasively argued that the youngest generations today—particularly anyone born after 1980—are, in her words, ‘more miserable than ever before.’” Aren’t these the people who have grown up playing digital games? 10) “How would it feel to get constant, real-time positive feedback in our real lives, whenever we’re tackling obstacles and working hard? Would we be more motivated? Would we feel more rewarded? Would we challenge ourselves more?” If we got a “like” or “+1” for everything we did, we’d start setting expectations too high. Did you ever post something on Facebook you were sure would be “liked” a lot but was largely ignored? It’s a brief letdown, and too many such disappointments can add up if one tries too hard to get a response. Despite the critiques, there’s plenty to love in the book. Consider one of her conclusions: “We have to be thoughtful about where and when we apply game-like feedback systems. If everything in life becomes about tackling harder challenges, scoring more points, and reaching higher levels, we run the risk of becoming too focused on the gratifications of positive feedback. And the last thing we want is to lose our ability to enjoy an activity for its own sake.” I could like, +1, tweet, pin, tumble and stumble that passage. I could send McGonigal a digital or physical sticker commending it. I could create a badge for her website. None of that, I hope, remotely approaches that feeling of accomplishment she must have savored when releasing her idea to the world.
Occupy Wall Street protester Matthew Harris was among hundreds of people who were arrested last October following a protest on the Brooklyn Bridge. Harris was charged with disorderly conduct for allegedly walking in the street, as opposed to the sidewalk. Harris (and others) are contesting the charges. They argue that they only moved to the street at the direction of the police. The Manhattan District Attorney believes otherwise -- and also apparently believes that Harris's former Twitter account, @destructuremal, will help the government to refute the claim that the police themselves were responsible for Harris' move to the roadway. The DA's office subpoenaed Twitter for all of Harris' messages between Sept. 15 and Dec. 31. (The tweets themselves are no longer publicly available; Harris now uses the Twitter name @BigMeanInternet.) Twitter informed Harris of the subpoena, and he promptly filed a motion to quash it. Criminal Court Justice Matthew Sciarrino Jr. denied that motion last month on the ground that Harris lacks "standing" to oppose the subpoena, because Twitter "owns" the tweets. Sciarrino says that Twitter's terms of service grant the company a license to distribute tweets -- which means that Twitter owns the material. "Every single time the defendant used Twitter’s services the defendant was granting a license for Twitter to use, display and distribute the defendant’s Tweets to anyone and for any purpose it may have. Twitter’s license to use the defendant’s Tweets means that the Tweets the defendant posted were not his," the judge wrote. He went on to rule that the Twitter account might be relevant to the charges -- which is a relatively easy standard for the government to meet. Twitter disagrees with the judge on all counts. Today, the microblogging company filed a motion seeking to quash the subpoena. Twitter makes the point that its terms of service provide that users own the material they submit. Additionally, the microblogging company argues, the federal Stored Communications Act provides that users can challenge requests for their material. Twitter also argues that federal law requires the government to obtain a warrant -- and not a subpoena -- in order to access users' communications. That distinction is important because warrants can't be issued simply for material that might be relevant. Instead, the government needs to show it has probable cause to believe it will find evidence of a crime. Whether Twitter will prevail is an open question at this point. Nevertheless, the company is scoring some major points today from a variety of industy-watchers -- including the civil rights groups ACLU. "While the government is bound by the First Amendment, the First Amendment may not always prevent private companies from restricting our free speech rights," the ACLU says. "That is why it is so important to encourage those companies that we all increasingly rely on to do what they can to protect their customers’ free speech and privacy rights. ... Twitter did so here, and Twitter should be applauded for that."