Facebook, Twitter, Plurk, Foursquare, not to mention Flickr, Picasa… You’d think there were too many social networking services on the Web already. And yet, you’ll find yourself curiously drawn to the straightforward and refreshingly attractive interface of the newest one on the block: Piclyf. Today, in fact, I was surfing that single site for more than two hours — which is not a usual activity for me when I’m online.

Piclyf is a welcome addition to the Internet’s burgeoning social media space, and it is admirably focused on its main raison d’être: pictures. You can use it as a photo diary, a “blog in picture form.” If you’re not the type who can write long entries, you’ll enjoy this online service because it lets your pictures speak for you. And like a blog, when a picture inspires it, a conversation can ensue via a rich commenting interface.

What I find unique about Piclyf is the way it organizes your online “friends”. On other social networking sites, you have friends or you have followers. With Piclyf you have both. You can follow people without having to make them your friends, and vice-versa. Your Piclyf friends, on the other hand, are those whom you follow and who, in turn, follow you. Neat huh?

As with most other photo-hosting service out there, you can upload your pictures to your Piclyf account and attach various kinds of meta data onto them. You can even specify some EXIF information, as well as geotag your photo via a visual map interface. Speaking of which, I have an item on my wish-list for Piclyf: automatic detection of geotag EXIF values.

Actually, there are several more in my wish-list. The site is still fairly new and some of the features are still in their infancy, so we should expect improvements very soon. In the meantime, go on and create your own account now! Here’s why:

[What is PicLyf? from Eric PicLyf on Vimeo.]

Piclyf is the product of Twidl Inc., a Davao-based technology & design company headed up by Eric Clark Su.

Facebook reports that the site now has upwards of 140 million active users, and that 70% of that is outside the U.S. (I would certainly love to find out the numbers from the Philippines!) And an even more significant demographic that will surely attract advertisers: the fastest growing segment of this population are 25 years old and older.

More statistics to whet an advertiser’s appetite:

• the average user has about 100 friends on Facebook
• worldwide, 2.6 billion minutes are spent on the site everyday
• more than 13 million users login at least once a day (and this probably doesn’t count access from mobile devices)
• 700 million+ photos are uploaded each month
• 15 million+ pieces of content are shared each month

What’s more, Facebook has made it tremendously accessible to publish ads on their site. There’s an easy-to-follow Web form that advertisers can use to create an ad, define its behavior (when to publish, duration and so forth), input the landing site address, and most significantly, set the desired target demographics.

This is something that’s not entirely possible — and is in fact quite hit-and-miss — with advertising on newspapers, TV or radio. On Facebook (and Google for that matter), advertisers can specify which age group, for instance, will be the target viewers of their ads with a certain degree of accuracy. Would you like only married women who are between 21 to 35 years old and are living in Metro Manila to see your ad? Consider it done.

As the number of ad placements from the Philippines rises on Facebook, Google properties, the vast number of Filipino blogs and other websites, conversely, advertising in traditional media seems to be experiencing a gradual decline. The pinch isn’t yet as painful as it is in the U.S. (as reported by TechCrunch as early as last year), but the downhill trend will start to become apparent here in the next couple of years.

As the venerable typewriter has largely been supplanted by the PC, so will the old forms of media become a thing of the past — maybe even during our lifetime. The age of electronic media is firmly upon us, and more people will soon be shifting to the Internet as their primary source of information.

Blogs are personal publishing platforms. For the most part, they reflect the individual opinion of their owners. There are such things as blog networks, too – blogs that are part of a conglomeration – but each blog that’s part of it is still considered as a personal site.

On the opposite side of the Web 2.0 publishing spectrum is the wiki.

A wiki is a social publishing platform. According to Wikipedia (the most popular wiki out there), a wiki is designed to “enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify content, using a simplified markup language.”

Many people who use Wikipedia see it simply as an online encyclopedia. (It is, in fact, one of the most heavily quoted references on the Web today.) However, that is only partially true. Wikipedia is a massive collection of knowledge, yes, but it is not an encyclopedia in the strictest sense. This is because its content is not based on concentrated research — Wikipedia contains information that is contributed by anyone who has access to the Internet.

Of course, Wikimedia Foundation (the owner of Wikipedia.org) maintains editorial control over their website’s content, but that’s about it. They don’t have a building full of their own researchers or editors or copywriters. Truth is, the Foundation has less than 20 employees. And yet, Wikipedia today contains more than 10 million articles!

If you search for “Davao City” on Wikipedia, you will see an article dedicated to this topic, with links to other related material. Those wiki articles were contributed by website users (presumably Dabawenyos). You can create your own entries and have them published, or you can edit existing articles. All you need to do first is to register and create an account with Wikipedia.org. No fees, no hassles.

However, you will need to know a little about wiki markup language. If you’re familiar with HTML (the basic building blocks of websites), then you have nothing to worry about because wiki markup is very similar. If not, and if you’re really interested, I suggest you view this document to get yourself started.

Wikis can help your business or organization. If you have tons of information to publish online, a wiki is the best way for you to deploy a professional-looking website.

One of the most fitting uses for wikis is knowledge management. For example, let’s say you run a non-government organization that’s concerned with cultural minorities, and you have gigabytes of data regarding the eleven tribes of Davao, their traditions and rituals, their histories, their leaders, etc. You could deploy a wiki and publish articles on every conceivable topic under your NGO’s purview. And since this would be on the Web, linking to relevant pages can be done quite easily, not to mention having the whole knowledge base searchable.

The power of the wiki lies in its qualities: it is geared for collaboration, and its database is highly manageable, even by non-technical people. Plus, it’s affordable: the software itself is free, so all you need to pay for are web hosting and the services of a webmaster. But, if you and your people are comfortable enough with website design, there’s not even a need for a third-party service provider!

Another example of a successfully deployed wiki is WikiPilipinas. It is an emulation of Wikipedia, but is dedicated solely to everything Philippines.

Owned by the Vibal Publishing House, WikiPilipinas is an online repository of Philippine-related information. This project hopes to attract contributors who will publish articles not only in English, but also in Filipino, Cebuano, Ilonggo, Bicolano, Capampangan, Waray and Ilokano. Currently, though, the website only has articles in English and in Filipino.

WikiPilipinas is a worthy endeavor, and I certainly hope that it will forge on and pursue its aim to propagate content in our country’s various languages. (Yes, languages… but that’s for another post altogether.)

This post is only about a couple of teasers. The real deal will follow as soon as I have more details to blog about.

A new-media company is in the process of being registered with the SEC (I won’t mention the company name yet… in case it doesn’t get approved!). “New media” is a term that describes entities whose main focus is on the activities of Internet-based marketing and advertising. This new outfit is comprised of 5 bloggers, including yours truly. The reason why we’re putting up this company is the emergence of local demand for new-media services: Web marketing, promotions via blog sites, Internet advertising, SEO.

It’s not just about making Web sites anymore, and companies are starting to see this. They have come to realize that, even with a Web site, there is a missing layer between their sites and the people that they want to target as audience. That layer is what we’re here to provide.

Next up is related to media: a Web-based ‘TV show’ for technology-related content. It’s more aptly called a Webcast, and it’s in production now. The show will be called PinoyTech TV. The Webcast will feature industry news, gadget reviews, personality profiles, IT investment destinations, and employment opportunities. Watch out for it!

(The PinoyTech TV outfit, by the way, is looking for enthusiastic videographers and writers who are attuned to the inner workings of the national IT industry.)

Another online service that’s being developed is Davao Tech Jobs (www.davaotechjobs.com). It’s already live, but is still in beta. Applicants can already send in their resumes, which will then be matched with job openings. Companies can post job openings by sending them via an online form — this service is currently free of charge.

More later!

What is new media?

Blogs are a part of it. In fact, they are a good example why it’s called “new media”. Up until several years ago, having your own website was costly and often required technical skills. Today, powerful and user-friendly blogging platforms (such as WordPress.com and Blogger) are freely available to anyone who cares to publish himself online. Not only has this resulted in an explosion of content (Technorati estimates that there are currently more than 75 million blogs), but aso in the perceptible weakening of the reach of traditional media.

Blogs and the other manifestations of new media (e.g., Internet TV, virtual communities, gamevertising) are starting to establish themselves as the preferred sources of information, especially by the younger generations. This can be seen in the decisive direction that traditional media — TV, print, radio — are already taking. All three now republish their content via the Internet, presumbly in order not to lose connection with Generation X.

In the heyday of the so-called tri-media, who were the predominant personalities? You could say Ted Turner, or Walter Cronkite, or Larry King. In the Philippines, you could probably say the Lopezes, or maybe Che-Che Lazaro, or even Jessica Soho. Only a handful became influential — either because they had the resources to put in place the expensive infrastructure needed to broadcast or to print; or, they had the wit and the charm to attract loyal viewers / readers.

But today, as Lim put it, we are the media. For instance, if you blog, you yourself become a medium of information exchange. And, much like newspapers, you could also carry advertisements. Making serious money off of your blog(s) is a tangible reality these days.

For years now in the U.S. and recently in the Philippines, advertisers have been spending more and more in new media advertising. So much so that an enterprising group of Filipino bloggers have opened shop this year as an ad agency that targets the Internet as their preferred ad space for their clients. They call themselves Mad Crowd Media, and they’re based in Ortigas.

Here in the Philippines, it’s still an uphill climb trying to convince businesses to advertise online. But, just like trying to sell websites to companies only a few years ago, the day will come when everybody will accept the fact that new media is the media of the very near and foreseeable future.

This is exactly the kind of result that I was batting for when I took up blogging. While I had similar feedback when I had just my “offline” column at Sun•Star Davao, this was more immediate. And it wasn’t just my post that mattered, but the attendant comments as well seem to have lent validity to my words. Or at least more weight in the eyes of Damosa Land.

I intend to continue advocating positive change in the IT industry, and I have WordPress to thank for this new-found voice!

From the 29th of June 2007, Google Philippines Country Consultant, Aileen Apolo, will be in Davao City for a series of seminars. The Google Davao Roadshow will be for the benefit of owners of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), as well as college students and faculty members. Aileen will also meet up with Davao-based bloggers and SEO practitioners.

Here is the schedule of the Google Davao Roadshow:

29 June 2007 (Friday)

2:00 PM to 5:30 PM

Marketing Your Business Online

Presentation by Google & by Yehey.com

@ Department of Trade & Industry-11 Conference Room

30 June 2007 (Saturday)

9:00 AM to 12:00 PM

Google University — meet-up with School I.T. admins

@ Blugré Café, Landco Corporate Centre

6:00 PM to 8:00 PM

Get-together with Davao Bloggers/SEOs

@ 51 Coffee Shop, Victoria Plaza Compound, Bajada

2 July 2007 (Monday)

8:00 AM to 11:00 AM

Google University — meet-up with college students

@ Audio-Visual Room, Matina Campus, University of Mindanao

The seminar for SMEs on the 29th will cover search marketing, Google Adwords, Google Apps for your Domain, and Blogger. Basically, the seminar will aim to equip businessmen with new-age tools for the effective promotion of their products and services to Internet-savvy consumers.

These seminars are free-of-charge. For more information, please drop me a line: blogie [at] davaoblogs.net.

The interface isn’t as user-friendly or intuitive as I’d thought — but I’m optimistic Google will refine it sooner or later. If you’re a business and you’d like to take full advantage of Google App’s functionalities, you’d do well to retain the services of a webmaster.

My first deployment of Google Apps is for the Davao bloggers community. I’ve already made the blog aggregator site (Davao Blogspace), and currently fine-tuning the Davao Blogs Directory. While these two sites promote a certain sense of togetherness among bloggers here, I believe that a portal will encourage more participation.

So right now I’m still developing the third site, which will be called the Davao Bloggers Network (www.davaoblogs.net). I’m very open to suggestions and critiques. But do lighten up on the latter for the present — I’ve deployed the site on Google Apps only today….

The Davao Bloggers Network will offer its members a web-based email address (username@davaoblogs.net), a social calendar, documents sharing, and loads of content. Plus more to come later!

What’s amazing about Google Apps is that it’s free. You do need to buy your own domain name, but it’s only $10 if you purchase it via Google’s partner registrar (GoDaddy.com). I suggest you do it that way, to make the Google Apps integration more seamless.

More updates on the Davao Bloggers Network soon!

Myriads of businesses — as well as innumerable organizations and individuals — place online ads in the extensive Google network. In my estimation, this is because of two fundamental factors: 1) Google ads are seen by 90% of Internet users worldwide; 2) Google ads are targeted and contextual.

The second factor means that the advertiser has the power to make his ads appear in websites, or types of websites, of his choosing. Other configurations and settings are possible. This translates to targeted viewership of ads. Meaning, if you aim to reach a specific market or age group or even ethnicity, that is easily accomplished through Google AdWords.

The term "contextual ads" refers to Google’s system of serving ads that are related to a website’s content. For example on this site, you will see that the Google ads appearing here are related to the general topics of I.T. Talks!. You will never see ads that are non-IT- or non-Davao-related here.

Davao companies stand to benefit from Internet advertising campaigns. This is, however, not a commonly-held notion at present. Perhaps this is due to the misguided perception that the Internet is too widespread, too chaotic. Ergo, advertising online is overkill? Wrong. On the contrary, Internet-based marketing and promotions are more cost-efficient.

How much does it cost to place a full-page ad in national paper? Around P250,000 for one placement in a widely-read publication. Let’s say the paper is called Daily Planeta. The newspaper could probably tell you that they have nationwide coverage, with a circulation of 7 million copies a day, that their readership base is 10 million Filipinos or so, that they are read by adults 27-60 years old, etc. Of course they would give you more detailed data.

But no matter how detailed, they will never be able to show you exact figures, especially for how many actually see your ad, much less how many take action upon seeing your ad. Let’s say you want to advertise to the yuppy market. Daily Planeta certainly fits the bill. But they won’t be able to tell you exactly how many young people will see your ad. Nor will they be able to target your ad specifically towards your preferred market with any reliable degree of certainty.

Newspaper advertising (as well as those in the broadcast media) is like watering your garden: you do get to nourish your plants… as well as the weeds. Ok, not a very sexy analogy, but you get the picture.

What’s wrong with ‘blanket’ advertising? It’s simply this: in the Information Age, people are bombarded with ads to the point of indifference, numbness. I’m sure you’ll agree with me that, when reading newspapers, you will take more notice of ads only if they present you with something that is of interest to you.

That is why targeted and contextual advertising has come of age. Advertising on the Internet — especially in websites (blogs, search engines, web-based email services, etc.) — allows for this form of campaign.

Plus, you get to see exactly how many people actually view, and take action on, your ad. Google is so confident in this that they will charge you only for just that much exposure. Come again? you might ask. Suppose you sign up for an online ad campaign where you pay only the number of times you ad is clicked by users. This is possible and this is being done. And you get to receive on-demand reports too.

Businesses in Davao, whether internationally- or domestically-focused, would do well to explore the world of "new-media" advertising. For more information on Google AdWords, please email robillo[at]gmail[dot]com.