Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate! I’m going to finish this blog post and then set off to make a standing rib roast, a bunch of spring veggies, and molten chocolate cake for dessert. Dinner is at 2:00, if you want to come by.
I know it’s a holiday for most of you and you’ll be with family, but there are three new tools/platforms I want you to check out.
Nope. I take that back. Just two tools because I can’t remember the third one. Crud. Oh well. Guess you’ll get that one next weekend. If I remember what it was.
Empire Avenue. A few months ago, Rick Bakas invited me to check out Empire Avenue. I have to admit, I didn’t get it then and I still don’t get it. But that doesn’t mean anything because I also didn’t get Twitter at first and we all know how that ended up.
According to their site:
Empire Avenue is the Social Media Exchange, where you can buy and sell shares in any social media profile, meet new people, unlock Achievement badges, and earn boatloads of virtual cash by being active and social online! Buy shares in your friends, your followers, people with similar interests, brands you love, celebrities – anyone! All using a virtual currency and all for free!
So it’s really a big competition to increase your online value. I love competition, but until I figure out if there is a business application, you probably won’t see me talk much about it. But you definitely should check it out. Be an early adopter. Do it!
Pinterest. If you don’t know lovebirds Mikinzie Stuart and Nathan Burgess, you should. They’re very open about their relationship online and it’s totally fun to watch! I tell you this because they keep talking about Pinterest so I went over to check it out.
According to the site:
Think of Pinterest as a virtual pinboard — a place where you can create collections of things you love and “follow” collections created by people with great taste. People use Pinterest to collect and share all sorts of things — wedding inspiration, favorite T-shirts, DJ equipment. You name it, people are pinning it. We know you have great taste in something. Our mission is to make Pinterest the best place for you to share your taste with the world.
It looks pretty easy to use. All you do is install the bookmarklet in your toolbar and click on it anytime you find something interesting. It’s Instapaper, Delicious, and Facebook in one. It’s still in beta so you need an invite. So head over there and give them your email address to get on the list!
Have a great family day!
I’ve been on Empire Avenue for months, and apparently I do fairly well at it. And I have no idea why. For me, it’s just a game. I really don’t do any connecting on there or spend time thinking too hard about it. I’ll probably just walk away at some point. I have connected with a few other players, but on FB and Twitter, not in EA.
To do it well it takes a lot of time and effort, and I’m not willing to do that. I prefer the social networks that are social to begin with, and have other features I can either choose to use or not. EA is a game that happens to have a social component. That will draw some people, but won’t keep me overly interested.
And you’re clearly better at it than driving. Jeez. So do you think there are business applications for it? Or is it solely a game and just one more distraction?
I’ve seen a number of businesses get on there, but haven’t seen what it does for them. I know I’ve gotten a number of new blog readers from it, as well as FB fans and Twitter followers. If there are business applications, it will be more for larger, more national or international brands. It’s very niche, and I think smaller local businesses would get lost in there and connect with very few real customers in their area.
For me, it’s something I log into once a day, make some purchases, then leave. I don’t get very involved. And I only stayed because apparently I did something right and I soared to the top pretty darn fast. And I still don’t know how it works!
Ken- After signing up for EmpireAve months ago I haven’t been back but people are still trading. Apparently my stock price is up (I should go look).
My hope is that they actually do something with the social currency we’ve all created and apply it to the real world somehow.
Until that happens, I personally won’t be spending any more time on the site.
Thanks for adding your thoughts, Rick!
Gini,
I signed up for Empire Avenue over 6 months ago. It appeared to me at the time to have remarkable similarities to Farmville. I can’t say I’ve been back to honestly check it out lately, but don’t have an interest in a site that requires me to use it daily to really increase my virtual currency.
This may sound harsh, but I do think Empire Avenue has possibilities. I’m afraid we will never see it, because it will go that way of becoming purely a game, or not have a chance to mature to the point of providing real value vs. time commitment.
Side note-I was pretty darn good at Farmville for the 3 weeks I was playing! Sure, I could’ve rocked Emprive Avenue if I gave it more than a week.
Now off to request my beta for Pinterest.
LOL! I’ll bet you were good at Farmville. I am exchanging emails with Empire Avenue now so I’m interested to get their feedback on the pros and cons and how we should be using it. I’ll let you know what I find out!
Hello and happy Easter to the Spin Sucks familia :)!
I haven’t heard of both of these – woohoo! Generally, one would sigh when they don’t know something – but in out little blogosphere life, we’re always happy to discover new things :).
Can’t wait to check both of these out and see what they’re about.
Thanks Gin
Ciao and Bon Apetit
PS – I’m a bit confused as to how dinner is at 2 pm though. What time was lunch lol?
Pretty much like Ken. I’m logging in to buy shares and see what’s what, but I’ll be honest, I have absolutely NO idea what the heck it’s all about.
Though if it allows me majority shares in Arment Dietrich, then it may just be worth it… 😉
oooh. I think you’ve hit on something, Danny. Hostile takeover, anyone?
Oh, and Gini, I think Livefyre is back.
I have taken over Danny Brown and Bonsai Interactive using a Shell Company made up of Arment Dietrich Stock and a few bags of Pringles. Once I have solidified my control I am going to short the stock of Mark Schaefer while also using complex derivatives left over from AIG that only I can figure out to take over Grow.
I’m going to fight that takeover with Troy Claus, 12for12k and some dude called Godin. And I raise your AIG with an Enron and Barings.
I’m all over the takeover, Ken – partnership? 🙂
DB and Ken, I support such hostile takeovers and will be happy to support them in this make-believe world you all call Empire Avenue if I ever make it out there to sign up :).
Wait – Empire Avenue isn’t real? Well I’ve been grossly misinformed..!
Livefyre is back only sort of – I lose all of my comments here if I reinstall it. So I’ll wait until they’re back fully before I reactivate.
If you lose my comments – I will have a heart attack!!!!!! haha
I found you! I found you! I found you!
Did Livefyre die?
I can tell you one thing Gini. I have major Social Media Burnout Fatigue. I can’t we just pin badges on real people with real pins and whoever runs around with the most badges pinned into their flesh wins every month?
But on a serious note. The reason Twitter has not BLOWN UP is because most people don’t get it or think it’s cute. Facebook is Zombie brainless anyone can use it. Though I have proven most people on Facebook don’t do much.
Are we giving too much credit to the intelligence of the human race here that most people can figure complex stuff out?
I’m pretty sure I don’t want you anywhere near me with a pin. And yes, I think we give way too much credit to the human race that most people will take the time to figure out complex stuff.
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A timely post for me, as I just learned about Empire Avenue recently. I think your question on the value is good one. I remember reading something by Chris Brogan once where he basically said that the bar for him to adopt a new social network is pretty high, as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn already cover most of the major social networking functions. Location-based services brought something new to the table. So what does Empire Avenue offer that the Big Three don’t already do pretty well?
My social media journey is still in the embryonic stage, so I would be focused on building a presence on the three core platforms regardless, but I think the question is legitimate for people like you or Danny who are well-established. Past the fun, checking-it-out phase (which seems like where most commenters are), it seems like one would almost have to look at a new platform from the standpoint of opportunity cost. At what point are 30 minutes spent on Empire Avenue worth 30 minutes taken away from Facebook or Twitter?
That’s a great insight, Adam.
I always look at something from an “Is it worth my investment” angle. So far, I’m not really seeing what EA brings to the business value table.
We’ll see.
(I really need an about.me type site that points to all of my socnet sites, anyway…)
I’ve been on empire avenue for a few months now (with multiple accounts 😉 ) and for me the problem with the site/system is that it’s simply not sticky – I’ve got no reason to go back – the site isn’t instantly interactive, staring at other people’s stats simply isn’t interesting and the primary purpose isn’t engaging with people, except to trade stocks in each other. I also have a problem with a system based on ‘ownership’ of a person (It is Passover – “Let my people go.”).
On a final note on EA – on every other social net I’ve joined I’ve been able to be instantly with others who would relatively quickly reciprocate. On EA there doesn’t seem to be any good mechanism for that (and if there is it’s sufficiently hidden that it would take me time to find and I’ve got better things to do – like pinning!!).
And now onto Pinterest – YUP! – It’s a great service. I’ve got a few recommendations for them and recently something did tick me off (post to appear tomorrow on PRBC – I’ll link in then) but overall it’s a ____ing fantastic system. I consider it a combo of flickr and delicious!
And thanks for the Shoutout Gin, always glad we can entertain 🙂
Make that Tuesday….
Can’t wait to see the post. I know you’re irritated that it’s buggy, but curious to see what else you think about it.
Hey Gin –
Buggy I can live with – how long was the Fail Whale essentially a constant in our lives we were happy to live with? This is a bit deeper (ooh, ahh!) 🙂
I suppose that it can’t hurt to give it a look.
Hey Gini! I’ve been trying out EA over the last couple of days. One possibility for businesses could be if you could buy discounts with partner businesses by selling your eaves. For example, 5,000 Eaves could buy you a 15% off coupon at Starbucks.
Otherwise, I would hope that networking would be a bigger part of how you get ahead on EA, but so far I haven’t seen it. But like you, it took me a while to get Twitter, so I may be missing something.
Happy Easter!
Interesting idea, Mack. Though I’m guessing for the business to get into EA, they’d have to buy a premium option.
If they do have to do that, and they have to give a discount to the consumer too, where do they make their money back (since they’re basically paying twice for the same customer to shop with them)?
I think that’s maybe the stumbling block at the minute (but, like you say, maybe I’m missing something too, hehe).
I emailed EA to see if I can get their thoughts on what we’re missing (if anything). But I’d be willing to play for free lattes!
Full disclosure: I haven’t tried EA or Pinterest. But after reading your descriptions above, Pinterest seems way more intriguing and potentially valuable from a biz perspective than EA.
Any brand today needs to be paying attention to how third parties recommend it or its competitors, since research shows this is the most trusted type of marketing. Sounds like Pinterest may provide some insight into that.
If you can meet new people on EA, I see some value there. Always good to spend time building relationships. But a “big competition to increase your online value” sounds too Klout-like for me. That said, I’ll try anything once.
HAHAHAHA! I love that you have an opinion, even though you’ve never tried either site. LOL!
[…] a few areas that need tweaking. For some additional thoughts on the service be sure to check out Gini Dietrich’s post on Empire Avenue and Pinterest. Posted in Nathan "PRCog" Burgess | Tags: features, […]