A Bill of Rights For Future Generations

We, the people of the future, like the twenty thousand generations who came before us, have the right to breathe air that smells sweet, to drink water that runs pure and free, to swim in water that teem with life, and to grow our food in rich, living earth.

 We have the right to inherit a world unsullied by toxic chemicals, nuclear waste, or generic pollution. We have the right to walk in untamed nature and to feel the awe that comes when we suddenly lock eyes with a wild beast.

 We beseech you, the people of today: do not leave your dirty messes for us to clean up; do not take technological risks, however small, that may backfire catastrophically in times to come. Just as we respectfully ask that you do not burden us with your deferred debts and depleted pension plans, we also claim our right to a share of the planet’s ecological wealth. Please don’t use it all up.

We, in turn, grant these same rights and privileges to the generations who will live after us; we do so in the sacred hope that the human spirit will live forever.

 A curse on any generation who ignores this plea.

3G Mobile and Moblog

Every mobile phone operation which offers 3G is talking about how fast one can download content with their 3G connection. But they don’t stress enough that with social media and user generated content online, 3G is not just about downloading content, it is about uploading content. A 3G mobile phone can do more than just downloading and playing the downloaded content. It has video-photo-camera mobile phone functions which allows users to take videos and photos of wherever they are and whenever they want to. Users can take photos and videos and directly upload the content to a community server, hosted by the mobile phone operator, currently only provided by Singtel. The Moblog (mobile blogging) site by Singtel does exactly this.  Thus, instead of the mobile phone operator looking for that ingenious application or content, users can be the ones providing the content.  

Singtel has already started allowing users to upload videos recorded from the mobile phone and share it within the community. And Singtel has come up with various contests to attract their subscribers to continuously provide content – one of which was the Singtel My DreamD8 contest, a multi platform reality dating show (look for the familiar face) primarily focusing on moblogging. Contestants basically out-blog, out-bitch and out-upload-content via their Nokia N73 handsets. A genius of an idea, marketing both Singtel, Nokia and the 3G technology all at once.

Word Vomit

“Beware of the man who denounces women writers; his penis is tiny and he cannot spell.” – Erica Jong

MySpace Notifier Unnecessary?

MySpace Notifier, which has yet to launch, is a desktop application that allows MySpace users to stay updated without visiting the site repeatedly. The Windows application checks your account every 3 minutes and delivers sound alerts, system tray alerts and can be set up to handle multiple accounts. The application resides in your system tray and alerts you when new messages, new friend requests, new profile comments, new comments on your pictures, new blog comments, new video comments, event invitations and friend’s birthdays come in.

It’s an effortless idea, and we’ll pardon the few missing parts like the incomplete FAQs and message boards (technically, it’s still pre-launch). The question is: would MySpace users download such an application amidst constant warnings about spywares, adwares and other nasties, not to mention the occasional MySpace hacking? I reckon they would, provided the developer could find a good distribution channel that puts the application in front of lots of users (MySpace layouts sites?). 

The next question is harder to answer: How would such an application make money? And another slight problem for MySpace Notifier: MySpace IM already sends alerts for requests, messages and comments. 

User Generated Content is the new Black

As Internet users, many of us today are multimedia-tasking, surfing the Web at the same time as we watch TV or listen to the radio. The Internet and the various forms of marketing and advertising it enables are encouraging changes in ways that traditional advertising has not seen. More people are getting online and spending an increasing amount of time on the Web; in the home and office, on the PC and over mobile phones. People are more dependent and empowered by digital media, the Internet offers companies new opportunities to interact with consumers in various unique ways. Its pure convenience is helping them save time and money and gain access to more inventory online.  

As a consumer, there is an endless array of entertainment choices available. You can watch movies online, listen to music, play games, catch up with friends and so on. The new buzz these days seems to be Consumer Generated Content or User Generated Content. We see a growing wave of consumers online – creating, uploading and sharing content like never before. No longer are they ‘accepting’ ad messages ‘ordered’ by advertisers and produced by ad agencies. Consumers are playing at being art directors and copywriters themselves. Go to youtube.com and you can see thousands of videos shot by consumers for everything under the sun. Or take a look at flickr.com; again thousands of photos being shared by consumers all over the world.  

So what is the implication for marketers? Because every minute consumers take to create and share their own content is time taken away from consuming the traditional ad messages advertisers are spending lots of money on.  We’ve now come to a point to an epoch which is not just about interactive marketing, but about participation marketing. Capitalise on your core brand loyalists who love your brand so much that they are passionate enough to create your communication for you. And when that happens, sit back and ride the magic!