Facebook recruiting IITians via Skype – Bumper placements back again…

Another round of placements has begun at engineering colleges across the country. Another opportunity for the likes of TCS, Wipro, Infosys and other Indian technology majors to hire in droves. Another instance when more than 60%-70% of the batch despite having no idea of computers will move to the IT sector. You must be thinking all this and more right? But then some things don’t remain the same always.

At for the IITs, beginning from IIT Madras, the placement season promises to be something different. Facebook has come to the campus for the first time to recruit students not for its operations in Hyderabad but the USA. And interestingly the 13 shortlisted students have to face their final interviews via Skype. The HR managers are sitting in the US and interviewing the candidates.

At IIT Chennai, there are so many companies and the fact that companies are taking in higher numbers this year, has made them wonder whether if there would be enough students remaining for recruitment later on.

And this isn’t just limited to IITs. At the other campuses like SRM, the story is also turning out to be similar with TCS and Wipro themselves recruiting more than 1500 students.

So what’s the difference in placements this year?

• There are more number of companies at campuses across the nation this year (though obviously at many places the placements are yet to start)
• Many companies are giving much higher packages than previous years.
• The companies are also slowly but surely reaching the massive recruitment numbers one saw in 2008 and before.
• A large number of new recruiters like FMCG giants like ITC, Britannia, Facebook and others are coming to various engineering colleges for the first time (Both IITs and non – IITs).

How has such a difference been possible?

The economy is finally looking good almost back to normal with a growth nearing 8.5% (Last quarter growth registered 8.9 percent, more than expected). This has thereby helped improve the situation of a large number of companies which were in the red for a long while.

The FII inflows have crossed more than US $ 20 billion which has led the stock market reach 21000 points (a figure seen a long while back).

A large number of companies have been able to strike the right kind of deals with various clients (international and local), thereby requiring greater manpower. This has also led to the need for a large workforce and thus higher requirement for people.

The ensuing growth has led to recruiters raise their compensation packages. Various new recruiters like Facebook have finally realized that one can ignore the Indian market at his / her own peril. This has prompted them to not only set up shop in the country but also recruit for their international operations. Not only they are recruiting, but are doing it with help of Technology.

Facebook is Passé [Point.1] Friends ≠ Social Networks

Ok, so that was a cheap trick to make you read the article!

But it is tempting to get carried away with the brilliant success of Facebook and the equally brilliant movie by David Fincher. The F word in Facebook’s success as  “The Social Network” is after all, Friends.

But in the real as well as the virtual world, is our social ecosystem only comprised of friends?

Let’s just take two examples of social networks of a different kind.

LinkedIn

If you are a working professional, chances are very high you are part of LinkedIn. With around 90 million users it has nowhere near the mass of Facebook’s 675 million plus.

• But if you were Stephen Covey, which network would you be more interested in?
• Who’s  gotten people more jobs? LinkedIn or Facebook?
• Where are you more likely to meet a High Net Worth Individual? LinkedIn or Facebook?

Purely from a numbers perspective do you have more friends or more colleagues and ex-colleagues? I have more of the latter.

eBay

Are buyers and sellers not a social network? Especially when they generate billions of dollars in transactions from non-advertising sources. The fun thing is they consider themselves one of the pioneers of social networks as well!

eBay was and is the original C2C network, with a high degree of loyalty among  its member base – something yet to be truly tested at Facebook.

It also has PayPal, an established payments mechanism at a time when Facebook is just experimenting with Facebook Credits. And it has launched micro – communities like Neighbourhoods – a snapshot of which is below.

Hold on, what do you have to say to this, you say:

1. Facebook is all about the social graph

And the X- factor of interactions between friends.  It has user generated content. Comparing it to an eBay or Amazon is doing an apples vs. oranges. And LinkedIn may be useful but it is boring!

Counterpoint: X-factors are inherently short lived and consumers can be very fickle about the next cool social phenomenon. To rely primarily on eyeballs and look to monetize them through an ad-centric revenue model has high risk.

Also, eBay (which also has user generated content!) and Amazon’s revenue streams have been sustained over a long period of time. Let’s wait and watch on Facebook’s longevity on the social graph.

2. Facebook is an Ecosystem.

Developers like Zynga create engaging content for the platform so Facebook’s risk is spread among various developers.

Simultaneously Facebook benefits from any innovation that these folks bring out. LinkedIn is a closed system.

Counterpoint: Zynga, – its games feature consistently in the Top 5 of Facebook Apps – may decide that Facebook Credits and/or privacy controls are too restrictive to its growth as a social game publisher. Take away 200 odd million MAUs all of a sudden and Facebook will have a problem. The risk is not that well spread.

eBay and Amazon have very developed ecosystems as well and in some cases built larger barriers to entry for competition. LinkedIn is getting there with third party apps – it only takes one killer app to get the gold rush going.

Still not convinced? Still think it is apples vs. oranges? Facebook is by far the Big Boss of the friend-centric social network!

Fair enough, I’ll cover nest week in Part 2 why Facebook may soon be passé – one, the advent of the mobile network and two, the other F word of the Internet, which is actually a Gword = Google.

Top Facebook & Twitter Trends for 2009

We have now at the fag end of the year. You will be seeing quite a few “popular” , “top”,  “trends” kind of list in coming days through out the web. We will also be publishing some of the interesting lists that would make an interesting read for all our readers.

As we all know Twitter and Facebook have taken the world by storm (especially twitter in 2009), Millions of users have shared billions of updates through-out the year using these 2 platforms. Based on these updates both the companies have mined, collated and analyzed the data to find out most popular and trending topics for this year.

Facebook has come out with what it calls – Facebook Memology and Twitter has come out with –Top twitter trends of 2009.

Here is what was popular in 2009 on these two uber popular platforms:

Facebook Memology

Given these are updates from Facebook – “Facebook Application”  was most talked about status update. Think about how many times you must have shared update or asked your friend to join a particular Facebook Application, or even shared your triumphs and successes on a particular FB app. Farmville was one of the most popular apps that was talked about frequently in people’s status updates.

FML, which stands for “F*** my life” is now become a routine synonym which is used to display frustrations. BTW, if you have not already visited FML site, you should do it now – one of the most addictive and hilarious user generated updates you will ever read. I knew FML was popular, but never knew it was so popular that it got ranked on number 2 position.

Other status updates are very much in line with what we share generally with our friends on a platform like FB – Family, movies, sports, religion etc.

If you wondering how “Yard” figured in the list, it is because of the popularity of “Farmville” FB app. At least that’s what I think :) – is that right?

Top Twitter Trends of 2009

  (click one image to see clearly)

Among all the News events, Iran Election was the most talked about status update amongst the Twitter users. Out of top 5 keywords 4 of them were related to Iran Elections event – Gaza, Iran, Tehran and Iran Election. While Swine Flu was 2nd most talked about News event

Amongst the people, Michael Jackson’s death was most talked about in Twitterati, while singing sensation Susan Boyle came in as the second most talked about person. Adam Lambert, Kobe Bryant and Chris Brown completed the list of top 5 most talked about people on Twitter. If you are thinking about Tiger Woods, yes – he also figures on the list at number 8 !

Amongst the movies, Harry Potter was the most talked about, followed by New Moon, District 9, Paranormal Activity and Star Trek finishing the top 5 slots. I am sure “Avatar” will dominate the list for next year !

Amongst the Technology, Google Wave, Snow Leopard, Tweetdeck, Windows 7 and CESwere the most popular and frequently used words on twitter !

Please note that Facebook and Twitter are extremely popular and widely used in U.S and hence majority of the trends are related to U.S.

Social Media catapults Anna Hazare’s campaign into a global phenomenon!

This is a prime example of the power of Social Media.

Till date, Anna Hazare has gone on “Fast unto death” campaign many times previously in his life, but the reach, publicity and fame that the Jan Lokpal Bill against corruption has got has to be seen to be believed.

Internet & Social Media sites have been abuzz with articles / messages showing support for Anna Hazare’s fight against corruption and his support for Jan Lokpal Bill. Just to give you some examples – Facebook now has over 100 pages dedicated to Anna Hazare and his campaign.

These 100s of Facebook pages showing support have garnered over 200,000 likes in just couple of days.

Not only Facebook, but twitter is also abuzz with messages showing support for Anna Hazare’s campaign. Infact, on Thursday, #Anna Hazare, #corruption, and #Jantar Mantar, were the top trending words and phrases on Twitter. Even a simple search shows that messages are being posted at a very fast clip. Take a look at this screenshot below, where with few seconds I witnessed over 25 – 30 messages.

Youtube is not far behind – There have been hundreds of Videos that have been uploaded in support of Anna Hazare’s campaign.

Even the Television News channels are covering every second of this campaign. It is also for the first time that foreign Media (online as well TV) has given quite a bit of coverage.

People from across the country have reached Jantar Mantar to physically support Anna Hazare. Hundreds and thousands of Indians across the country have either skipped a meal or gone on fast the whole day to show their support !

This truly is the power of Social Media and the biggest reason is that even a common man’s view can reach millions today in matter of seconds. Posting a message on Facebook or twitter takes very little time and effort, but if it is collectively put across in one voice, it sure it an unstoppable force.

I also think that India as a country is fed up with innumerable Scams and Corruption – The latter part of last year witnessed some or the other scandal literally every couple of weeks.

With the nation behind him – there is no doubt that Anna Hazare will be successful in his demands. Just think – if the government does not give in to his demands, there is a possibility that even the Government can come down!

What Google & Facebook doesn’t solve that Groupon does [Local Ads]

You might already have run a Google’s CPC or CPM campaign to promote your business. World of advertising is changing faster than ever and now we’ve an additional option of Daily Deal Sites for nearly every product you can think of. Let’s first take a look at major ways to advertise online.

Google’s CPC and CPM

Google is not only World’s number one Search Engine but also world’s largest Ad Engine as well.

It serves billions of Ad impressions and generates billions of dollars in revenues every quarter -  More than 97% of Google’s revenue come from Google Ads alone.

Sometimes, It is difficult to identify Google as an advertising company or Search company! There is no doubt about their algorithmic prowess and vast collection of their advertisers.

Apart from all the algorithms that Google has, there is something that prevents competitors like Microsoft to come close in Ad Revenues – the vast collection of direct Advertisers that they’ve collected over a period of time. Even with the best algorithms Microsoft (or anyone else) can’t  beat google on Ads game.

Let me explain this with an example. Say Google has around 100k advertisers and say Microsoft has around 10k advertisers. When a web page is displayed it is important to display a highly relevant Ad to generate a click. Even with the best algorithm MS has to chose from only 10k advertiser’s pool, in contrast to Google’s 100k advertisers.

The probability of Google’s Ad being relevant is very high as MS might not have the advertiser who relates to the current web page!

Over a period of time, It becomes more and more difficult to collect vast pool of advertisers that Google is amassing. This explains Microsoft’s bloodbath on TechCrunch.

Facebook’s Hyper Targeting

Facebook has come up with a whole new way to address relevance. 
You must have liked people, pages or things on Facebook and Facebook keeps track of what you like! All this data is very useful when it comes to selling you something relevant to what you like.

Now, let’s take a look at Facebook’s Advertising console.

Facebook Ads Targeting Dashboard

 
Hyper targeting matters because:

• It helps narrowing the audience and keep the advertising costs down.
• Helps reach only the perfect audience.
• Advertiser has the highest control over their Ads and Viewers!

Groupon’s Deals – Pay Per Acquisition

All Google and Facebook stuff is really Cool and Geeky but our restaurant next door doesn’t have time to create campaigns, monitor conversions and Deal with his customers in the process. He needed a way to get the customers and a definitive one. i.e. all these CPC/CPM gets the visitor to the site but can’t ‘Close’.

Those in the Sales will have clear idea about importance of closing a sale.

Groupon does that best and puts money in the small business owner’s pocket while offering cool deals to their visitors!

CPC/CPM campaigns are like getting the horse to the pool and Groupon’s CPA is make the horse to drink. It means help business close deals not just bring the visitors. It’s an extra mile that Daily Deal Sites go.

None the less, there are more retail business than anything else in the world. It alone may count for over 100 Billion USD market in US retail advertising.

What’s next?

I think future belongs to Pay Per Performance types of Ads at least from majority of small and medium advertisers. The ones with higher budgets will always prefer CPC / CPA campaigns which may come cheap with expertise of using them. Daily Deal Sites are growing to address a huge market at the bottom of Pyramid.

May be future belongs to the most savvy advertising decision – pay per performance.

Feel free to express your thoughts and ideas on Future of Advertising!

Now, access Facebook on Mobile without incurring data charges

This is an interesting development – Facebook’s stripped down Mobile only version will very soon be available to Indian mobile users without incurring any data charges. Facebook has teamed up with 50 mobile carriers in different countries including India to offer this service.

The mobile only version – 0.facebook.com – will be currently available for two operators in India, Reliance & Videocon and Tata Docomo will soon join the ranks as well.

Here are the details given on official Facebook Blog:

• 0.facebook.com includes all the key features of our standard mobile site m.facebook.com.Users can update their status, view their News Feed, like or comment on posts, send and reply to messages, or write on their friends’ Wall just as they do on Facebook.com. Rather than making photos viewable on 0.facebook.com, we put the photos one click away so they don’t slow down the experience. You can still view any photos on Facebook if you want but your regular data fees will apply.
• Thanks to the help of mobile operators Facebook collaborated with, people can access 0.facebook.com without any data charges. Using 0.facebook.com is completely free. People will only pay for data charges when they view photos or when they leave 0.facebook.com to browse other mobile sites. When they click to view a photo or browse another mobile site a notification page will appear to confirm that they will be charged if they want to leave 0.facebook.com

This, I must say is a very good move by Facebook, especially in a country like India where people are very sensitive to pricing of data charges. Imagine, what college students will do with this kind of offering – They will go crazy on Facebook, without worrying about any charges.

Its a win-win situation for all, Facebook, the mobile service provider as well as the users. I sure see Facebook graph seeing a sharp jump in mobile users.

My only gripe is that it should have tied up with more mobile carriers, which I think should happen over the course of next few months.

5 Facebook Games You Should Totally Check Out!

Ok, its weekend and what better time to post this one – If you are bored and want to have some fun read on…

I spent a lot of time deliberating between the above title and this one -“What To Do On Facebook When You Are Bored” – but the latter sounded a bit cocky, hence I decided to stick with the former. After playing dozens of Facebook games, I have compiled a list of those which are really worth your time. (If you are looking for the more famous games like Farmville, Café World, etc, you’ll be disappointed).

Top 5 Facebook Games you must check out !

5 ) Mafia Wars

Well, if you are a guy and you secretly fantasize about lording over a faction of vicious and ruthless mobsters in downtown Manhattan AND if The Godfather figures in your list of Top Five Favourite Movies, then this game is custom-made for you. Winner of the 2009 Webby Award, this hugely popular Zynga game gives you a glimpse of the real New York’s crime scene, dominated by shady Italian-American Mafia families.

In this game, you start by being a lowly Street Thug, but you can quickly climb up the criminal ladder by doing an assortment of jobs like extortions, bank heists, auto thefts, and illegal gambling and smuggling operations, to reach the upper echelons of the underworld. En route, you can fight rival gangs infringing on your territory, increase the size of your criminal empire (by recruiting other friends from Facebook), and travel to other Mafia hubs (namely Cuba, Italy and Moscow) to expand your business.

But, on the downside, it is wholly a text-based game; hence it is not nearly as convincing as the other games – but hey, where else do you get to be a crime lord? So get your coat and dive headfirst into the shady world of crime in New York City.

4) Mercenaries of War

Rated a whopping 4.9 out of 5 in Facebook, this game takes you to straight to “Dark City”, New Georgia where, after a “retina scan”, you are ordered by your commander (a mean looking guy with an eye-patch) to rescue a certain Jessica Anderson, the daughter of some bigwig, who has been kidnapped by other mercenaries.

So the point of the game is to wage a war against those mercenaries and rescue the girl. Pretty ordinary plot, I agree, but this game boasts of some great graphics – for instance, you shed loads of blood and slowly drop down to your knees when hit by rival mercenaries.

As you progress, you have to equip yourself with armors (various grades of Kevlar vests), assault weapons, gears and equipments (LED helmets, flashlights, duffel bags, C-4 Explosives and more) and you also get to hire mercenaries to officially “kick some ass”! Great game if you are into military-style combats.

3) Battle Stations (BS)

Set in the alternate world of Sios, this MMOG (Massive Multiplayer Online Game) lets you pilot your own vessel – a flying ship. Here, the continents are airborne (hence the need for flying ships) and are ruled by five kingdoms, chiefly, the Alexen Imperium, Al-Amraan Caliphate, Jade Archipelago, Corxas Cartel and the Floating City of Aeros – each possessing its own port where you can dock to buy stuff , check out the local scenery, etc.

There are four major character classes to choose from – Pirates, Scouts, Soldiers and Mechanics. As for the gaming part, you can explore Sios, venture into mining, or simply attack other people’s ships for fun (and experience). Combats are animated, but otherwise it is mostly a text-based game. As you level up, you can buy ship parts (hulls, stabilizers, sails, engines) and advanced weaponry, upgrade your ship, buy bigger and better ships, auction items, etc.

As with most multiplayer games, BS too allows you to join clans and swear allegiances. Clan Wars are pretty exciting (but you can join a clan only if you are level 25 or above). In other words, this is a highly addictive game.

2) Infinite Realms (IR)

I’m pretty sure you haven’t heard of this game before, no worries: before writing this article, I hadn’t either. The sole reason why this game makes it to the number two slot is that I haven’t encountered any other game with such great graphics on Facebook before.

This sci-fi MMORTS (Multiplayer Online Real-time Strategy) browser game, has the human race and the other aliens races of Psodrinar, S’uhrden (the most powerful race), Mhad’ul (possess psionic powers) and Xuleth (technically most advanced) competing for dominion in the Archeon Galaxy.

A new player starts from planet Belatucadros, where his Outpost is located. The Outposts contain Ration depots, Barracks, Refineries and Armories – which one has to upgrade at regular intervals, or risk getting defeated when attacked by other players. However, if you do get defeated and lose all your soldiers in the process, you can always ask your Mothership (located in outer space) to send you Relief Forces (but this feature is disabled once you lose Newbie Protection).

You can increase your level by taking down as many enemy camps as you possibly can. To do that, you’ll first have to equip your Hero (your entire army is commanded by him) with heavy armory like Tanks and infantry units (Shock Troopers, Wraiths, Titans), then search for enemy camps on the planet surface to attack. In my opinion, this is one game that all sci-fi aficionados will definitely look forward to playing.

1) NightClub City (NCC)

There is a reason why this game has been voted as the Number One Game by Inside Social Games, and that reason is – this is THE coolest game ever! This game stands out from the usual plethora of city/town/empire building games like CityVille, Social City, City of wonder, My Empire, to name a few.

As the name suggests, you are the owner of a nightclub at DJ alley, the most happening place in town, where lavish parties are thrown, celebrities are hired to draw in crowds, where drinks flow throughout the night and people dance till they drop, sounds cool, eh? There is more. The DJ (which is you) has to keep the crowd on the dance floor happy by dropping bass and by dedicating songs.

You also have to constantly monitor your night-club, which involves refilling the liquor stock, changing the dance music (it has real world music) and getting your bouncer to throw the jerks and the troublemakers out – this keeps you on your toes, trust me. For each nightclub, one has to achieve five-star status, which can be done by throwing more parties. So, forget farming, go partying!