Social Hallucinations

Nomophobia

In a few days I am taking away on the vacation into the wild. I have been feeling kind of anxious the past few days and today I've just realized that it is simply because I will be visiting places where there is no mobile coverage. What scared me is not the fact that I will be disconnected, but the fact that I will not be able to Google things up when I need a help or guidance. It is rather scary how dependent I've become on the instant access to the information. I apparently suffer from nomophobia - the fear of being out of mobile phone contact.

Photo by Foomandoonian

 

For nomophobics access is everything. There are many companies who utilize this and provides the solutions like: iPavement - the first intelligent pavement with its own operating system and suite of apps that embeds WiFi hotspots in the street, or a "soda" machine that dispenses internet access to mobile phone in the public space by Coca Cola - Coke Happiness Refill. The name says it all.

Well, it all looks amazing but I guess it will be healthy for me to try to face my nomophobia and enjoy my time off without instant sharing with the world.

The Second Screen

I love this picture by Scott Macklin showing young boys watching Super Bowl on TV 2012. Nothing to add. The Almighty Second Screen. There are no two worlds. Online and offline are merged. This is the real revolution - we have adopted the new behavior. 

Branding Needs Meaning

The Havas Media Lab has conducted a research that shows most people wouldn't care if 70% of brands disappeared. Only 20% of global brands noticeably improve people’s quality of life.

People don't care about brands, people care about their lives and social ties.

It means we have to focus more on how to create a value for people, make their life easier, more meanigful. It means we need to shift away from just only focusing on what we should say as a brand. 

People don't care what we have to say. They just want their problems solved. 

Brands need to become meaningful and "enhance the well-being of individuals, communities and the environment, making people and society flourish."

Simple. Requires less bullshit and more great shit.

 

The History of Human Thinking

“All the left brain thinking and figuring out, can’t ever replace the shear mystery of being alive”

The history of human thinking from the caveman days forward. In so doing he links more than 4 decades of data driven developmental psychology research (based upon the work of Clare W. Graves) to the dramatic narrative of human evolution.

 

 

The Douche

Interesting documentary by BBC Human Planet of the species of hunters - the douche

 

Changing behavior

Changing behavior is difficult. It requires right motivation and relevance. People need to see and experience how the change would relate to their lives and evaluate the wins and costs connected with change.

Here are two interesting examples of how to catch people's attention and motivate them to change through provocative and shocking tone and experience.

Let it Ring for Road Safety

Consequences by PCRM's to draw attention to the link between heart disease deaths and fast food.

 

What do you think? Does it work?

The Art of Adaptation

How to catch people's attention and make them eat baby carrots? How do you make baby carrots cool? Well, the solution can be packaging them like junk food. You just need to adapt to people's needs and expectations. The question is whether the chips-like packaging will turn carrots into the new cool, people want to eat.

Packaging design by Crispin Porter + Bogusky

Via USA Today

What is Facebook Places?

Facebook Places has been launched in US and will soon reach probably the rest of the world. Some deaths are being discussed (Foursquare) as we try find out what Facebook places will mean for people and marketers.

Facebook for marketing as other geo-location services has a huge potential but how the potential turns out depends on the inventiveness of companies in adding more meaning to checking in. Checking-in is fun, especially in the first phase. It is like a game. The thrill of becoming a mayor, getting the badge. Then comes competitiveness. Ousting your friends from places and taking over their mayorship. Trying the first specials...and it appears there are no more specials near you. You just check-in less and less often. You ask yourself - why I should check-in. You lack the purpose. I believe the success of Facebook places for business will depend on the sense of purpose it manage to deliver to people.

As it goes for people, Facebook places will make geo-location accessible to broader audience. It will be another tool for sharing with friends where we are and what we are doing. As my colleague Lara wrote in her post on privacy: "Places provides us with another way of keeping tabs on our friends, of letting people know what we’re up to, of sharing what is basically unnecessary information with anyone and everyone we choose. It’s also another foray in to our private world, and will no doubt meet harsh critique from users who suddenly realise that what is actually private about their lives is diminishing at a very rapid rate."

Watch how you can check in with Facebook Places

 

The Future is Anchored in the Present

Once we used to believe it will be Google and Amazon who share the power and newspapers will be dead. We had no idea about the role Facebook will play. Why? Because we are anchored in the present. We believe in linear development of media and technology. We believe that some of them will progress and evolve undisturbed, while other become extinct. Well, fortunately the universe and people are full of surprises. It is interesting though to watch this video from 2007 and see how things have already took a completely different route.

Hat tip to Helge Tennø

 

Mobile & Social Media in Scandinavia

A demographic study within the Nordics of people mobile phone habits, and social ’s media network habits...men and women, boys and girls, from 15 – 55, from all over the Nordic regions, and from all walks of life....

Mobile & social media in Scandinavia

View more presentations from Vizeum Denmark. or read more about Vizeum

 

Technology Epitaph is Useless

The latest Chris Anderson's article in Wired on the death of web was rather provoking and caused quite a stir.

What always surprise me is the easiness with which we kill things around and present them as useless. Like we discard old clothes, we try to discard the technology. We've already tried to kill radio, TV and print. All three are still living and doing quite good, but the way they are used has changed.

As history shows, technologies evolve and being shaped by people and their needs they can coexist and merge.

There is some pinch of sensationalism in the way of declaring web dead. Alexis Madrigal from Atlantic responded to Anderson's article: "What's Wrong with X is Dead".

"From the vantage point of the present, it may seem that technologies are deterministic. But this view is incorrect, no matter how plausible it may seem. Cultures select and shape technologies, not the other way around, and some societies have rejected or ignored even the gun or the wheel. For millennia, technology has been an essential part of the framework for imagining and moving into the future, but the specific technologies chosen have varied. As the variety of human cultures attests, there have always been multiple possibilities, and there seems no reason to accept a single vision of the future." (David Nye, Technology Matters)

Killing the web seems like the attempt to simplify and feel more in control over the complex and unpredictable world of people behavior and interactions - choosing a single vision for the future. It is tempting to have a single vision, because it is more manageable and controllable but world keeps on evolving into plenty of parallel and intersecting paths.

There is no need to write an epitaph when nobody died.

What Athlete are You?

In the constantly jogging, sweating, striving and starving to be fit world where sport achievements are highly valued, this spot from Puma is quite refreshing. It is cool you finished marathon, yes it makes you an athlete but you know what we are all athletes, after hour athletes. It makes me smile. Relax. There is no need to run so fast.

"Because we know it takes just as much effort to score a phone number as it does to score a goal."

 

Why Twilight is Popular?

Being teenager is hard - the feeling of being misunderstood by nagging parents, broken hearts, mean girl-friends. It is not easy being insecure. It is painful. You wish often you had superpowers and took revange for all those who were mean to you and didn't invite you to the party last Saturday...well this is where Twilight comes in play. See how it works

 

 

Improving the Shopping Experience

What do people want from brands? Utility and good experience. There is plenty of different services trying to deliver on it. Here is one fantastic example that integrates mobile device, check-in mechanics, coupons with the shopping experience - Shopkick. Shopkick is a hardware and application system to be installed in stores. It rewards people for just coming into the store, adds social sharing and customized offers overview to you while you are in the store. Judging from the video showing how the product works, Shopkick makes the whole coupon and check-in idea more social and more fun in relation to retail experience.

It opens the new opportunities for building loyalty and closer relationship between customer and retailers, where the latter one is not just products provider but improves the whole shopping experience.

Read the whole article and see the video on Techcrunch

 

Play

Society's obsession with video and online gaming has advanced to the point that virtual environments are indistinguishable from physical ones.

“Play” is a conceptual movie by David Kaplan and Eric Zimmerman which imagines a future where the lines between games and reality have blurred. The film was shot in New York City in less than a week.

Good and interesting perspective how gaming and real life merge.The society of multiple choices. 'You decide' is just an illusion and you are left alone not knowing what to do with all those points you collected unless you move to the next level...play keep on going.

via Colectivo Planner