To reach its conclusions, SocialNuggets monitored over 12,000 social media mentions, blog posts, forum postings and other online mentions. The results are not surprising. For the most part, the reaction to nearly all of Apple's announcements, from iOS 5 to iCloud and beyond, was overwhelmingly positive.

Below are a few major takeaways from the SocialNuggets data.

• iOS 5, iCloud and Mac OS X Lion had a strong Share of Voice and positive perception, and were the three most talked about topics.
• Twitter integration was the least discussed topic.
• iMessage scored well in terms of Share of Voice and perception, but Trailed iOS 5, iCloud and Lion on both fronts.

Comparing WWDC Day 1 and 2

• The top three discussion topics were the same on both days, but iOS 5 was talked about more than Lion on Day 2. This indicates a shift in Apple's Developer community, says SocialNuggets, where iOS is a more popular topic (and perhaps platform) than Mac.
• Lion, however, still stayed in the top 3 both days, indicating the Mac's developer community remains strong.
• iCloud gained on Day 2, as people learned about it in more detail and began to understand how it worked. Lion lost steam on Day 2.
• iMessage was the 4th most popular topic, after iOS 5, iCloud and Lion.  MobileMe's death was 5th.
• It was surprising how few conversations were about the Twitter integration.

But now that the dust has settled and the glimmer has faded from today's keynote at WWDC, we have to ask, has Apple really triumphed here? Did we see the future of digital music unveiled onstage?

There are several pieces to the Apple and iTunes music strategy going forward, including the following:

• The introduction of iCloud: Free (yay!) as part of iOS 5, iCloud will allow users to give users access to their music (and other files) across devices, including iPhones, iPads, iPod Touches, Macs and PCs.
• iTunes in the Cloud: As part of iCloud, users will be able to buy music through iTunes and have it stored in the cloud.
• WiFi Syncing: Again, as part of iOS 5, devices will be able to sync over wireless and your iDevice will sync and backup to the iCloud without your having to plug in an annoying white cord.
• iTunes Match: This new service, announced as the famous "one more thing" at today's keynote, will allow users to store their music in the cloud, even if they haven't purchased their music from iTunes. If iTunes scans your library and finds a match, it will make that song available through iCloud, for $25 a year. Says Apple "all the music iTunes matches plays back at 256-Kbps iTunes Plus quality - even if your original copy was of lower quality."

"This Changes Everything!" - Except Not Really

At first blush, the thought of having your entire music collection available through iCloud sounded like an amazingly awesome deal. And for those of us who have amassed large record collections outside of the iTunes marketplace, it felt as though we were being pardoned for sins against the $.99 download - whether we came across our mp3s through ripping, legal filesharing, or piracy.

But it's important to note that Apple's new offer does not involve music streaming. True, you can have your music collection synced across devices (up to 10 of them). But you will still have to download the music you want to play on to your iPhone or iPad or iPod Touch or Mac. You won't be able to access your entire collection and randomly shuffle between all the glorious gigabytes.

And so Google and Amazon breathe a sigh of relief, because when it comes to music storage in the cloud, Apple's offering is "nice, but not revolutionary," as Evolver.fm's Eliot van Buskirk observes. Google offers streaming (via the Web, for free, for some of your collection) but no marketplace. Amazon offers streaming (via the Web, for a cost per GB) and a marketplace. Apple offers storage (cheaper than Amazon's) and one helluva marketplace - but no streaming. In other words, music in the cloud is still very much up for grabs.

The Future's So Bright, I Gotta...

There are at least 2 camps when it comes to music. The first has amassed a sizable music collection and, whether it's all digitized or not, wants to be able to to tap into those songs and listen to them anytime, anywhere. The second is less concerned with music ownership and is content to subscribe to some of the latest music services. It's the benefit of "anytime, anywhere" without the burdens of ownership, without worrying about buying new shelves to hold your records or more storage space to hold the mp3s.

The problem faced by the first camp - the one that admittedly I find myself in - is that that collection of music is so large and eclectic that it's impossible to put on an iPhone or iPad and if stored locally takes up a goodly portion of a PC hard drive. If you store it externally, there's always the problem of syncing and access and streaming. I think Apple believes that it's targeting that market with its announcement today. Your digital music can now be stored in the cloud and you can choose to download songs and playlists as you deem fit.

But as EchoNest's Paul Lamere points out, "This is not the iCloud I'm looking for." Like many, Lamere believes that the future lies in subscription music services, and he sees Apple's decision to build simply a glorified music locker as a failure of imagination. With the record labels willing to make a deal (or so it seemed), why do we not have an iTunes subscription option?

After all, more and more, people are turning to subscription services like Rdio or MOG to fulfill their music-listening needs. People without a vast record collection (and some who are sick of having to purchase new copies every time the music format du jour changes) are opting to rent rather than own their songs. (See Sarah Perez's recent article on whether or not these sorts of services are "worth it".)

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

Apple's promise of amnesty for non-iTunes purchases may appear to be a nod towards those of us who've acquired our music (cough) elsewhere, but I have to wonder if the same sorts of complaints about subscription services - they don't have my eclectic, hipster tastes, man! - will also plague iTunes Match.

With all the buzz leading up to WWDC, I think many music fans were waiting for Apple to announce something that really changed the game when it came to our music experiences. It doesn't seem as though we heard that on stage today.

The Web is buzzing about Apple's World Wide Developer Conference. Of the topics to be discussed at the keynote, Apple's newest product - iCloud - is drawing the most attention. In that vein, a German music-streaming startup called Simfy has filed a lawsuit against Apple for allegedly withholding approval of its iPad application because it is a potential competitor to the iCloud streaming service.

Simfy offers an on-demand streaming service, much like European counterpart Spotify, and operates in Germany, Austria and Switzerland with plans to expand. Given Spotify's troubles to reach the U.S. shores, do not expect Simfy to be leaving the Rheinland any time soon.

Simfy has an iPhone/iPod version of the app available in Europe. That brings up an interesting question: Apple developers sign an agreement that explicitly says they will abide by the rules, guidelines and practices of Apple App Store approval. If Apple denies a claim for any reason, is there legal recourse? Antitrust is a heavy charge and The Bundeskartellamt is the German equivalent of the Federal Trade Commission as it oversees competition between businesses in Germany.

Apple has had a couple issues with app developers over approvals. In the music streaming department, Apple yanked Grooveshark after complaints from a music label in the United Kingdom. Yet, Pandroa, MOG and Rdio all exist happily in the App Store and do well.

That means that Keynote, Pages and Numbers are now available to a huge number of users outside of Mac and iPad owners. At $9.99 each and available through the App Store, Apple should be able to make a tidy sum off of its productivity apps. The apps will be available to third and fourth generation iPod Touch owners and iPhone 3GS/4 users.

If you do not feel like dropping $9.99 per iWorks app, there are alternatives, though none quite of the quality of the Apple's native apps. Google Docs is available through the mobile browser. There are cheaper options such as GoDocs for iPhone/iPad available in the App Store for $4.99 and NotesMaster for $3.99 (with a free lite version available). A good word processor application for iPad is iA Writer, which goes for the nice low price of $.99.

Those who own iWorks applications on the iPad can extend the functionality to their other iOS devices for free. New users will have to pay.

Expect a number of press releases and announcements from Apple this week as it gears up for its World Wide Developer Conference in San Francisco next week.

"Now you can use Keynote, Pages and Numbers on iPhone and iPod touch to create amazing presentations, documents and spreadsheets right in the palm of your hand," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior VP of Worldwide Product Marketing in the press release. "The incredible Retina display, revolutionary Multi-Touch interface and our powerful software make it easy to create, edit, organize and share all of your documents from iPhone 4 or iPod touch."

We speculated at the end of April that iCloud was to be the name of Apple's cloud service after it bought the domain name from Swedish cloud service XCerion for $4.5 million, according to Om Malik. iCloud.com is still redirecting to CloudMe, what XCerion rebranded iCloud ahead of Apple's domain purchase. The question becomes now: what is this iCloud going to look like?

More Images from the North Carolina Apple Data Center - Mission "Not Impossible"

Apple Hiring a Team to Build "the Future of Cloud Services"

Cloud Round-up: Apple Hires Microsoft Data Center Guru, Private Clouds Discredited and More

Should You Move Your Files to Amazon's New Cloud Drive?

Many have speculated that iCloud will be a music streaming service or locker, like Amazon's Cloud Drive or Google Music Beta. Apple has a shiny, brand new $1 billion data center in North Carolina and an aging storage service in MobileMe that could use a revamp and rebrand.

Apple said iCloud, among other topics, would be discussed at the keynote on June 6: "Apple will unveil its next generation software - Lion, the eighth major release of Mac OS X; iOS 5, the next version of Apple's advanced mobile operating system which powers the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch; and iCloud, Apple's upcoming cloud services offering."

The updates to Max OS X and iOS 5 do not come as surprises and are generally mainstays of WWDC keynotes. Apple CEO Steve Jobs himself will be delivering the keynote at Moscone West next Monday, according to Endadget.

The iPad sold 2 million units in its first 2 months on the market, or 3 iPads a second, as Jobs happily pointed out today at Moscone Center in San Francisco, California. During that same period, apps for the device have been released at a rate of roughly 140 per day. According to our calculations, it took the iPhone and iPod Touch more than twice that time to accrue 8,500 apps, growing at a slower rate of 56 per day.

The faster growth of iPad apps is likely due to the fact that the AppStore is not new, and many developers - having long since recognized the potential of the app market - have been building apps for many months already. It is not likely, however, that iPad app creation numbers will pass those of the iPhone and iPod Touch any time soon. The pair of devices has added 31,500 apps since the iPad launch - a growth rate of 525 per day.

iPhone Apps Still Sell Far Better Than iPad

The fascinating other half of this statistic is that while iPad apps are growing much faster than iPhone/iPod apps did initially, iPhone and iPod apps sold much better during their first few months, and continue to today. In the first 90 days of the AppStore's existence, 100 billion downloads made their way to the handheld devices. If the iPad is going to break that number, it will need to sell 65 million apps this month, nearly double its 2-month sales figure of 35 million apps sold.

App sales and the number of available apps have been increasing exponentially since the launch of the AppStore, and the iPad launch helped the last two months become the fasted period of growth for apps yet. In just two months, 1 billion apps were sold, up to 5 billion from 4 billion back in early April. The total number of apps also increased by 40,000 apps, from 185,000 to 225,000.

Is Price to Blame?

The iPad accounted for 21% of app growth, but just 3% of app sales - a figure that compliments why iPhone and iPod touch users install twice as many apps than iPad users. According to a study by Nielson, users of the handsets average around 37 apps on their device, while today Steve Jobs mentioned iPad users average just 17 per device. A mobile research firm out the Netherlands found that iPad apps run an average price of $4.67, whereas iPhone and iPod touch apps are $.80 less at $3.87 - an obvious deterrent to iPad app sales.

Apple also says it receives 15,000 app submissions a week, and that 95% of apps are accepted through within a week of being submitted. Based on these figures, 114,000 apps or updates to existing apps were pushed into the AppStore in the last two months. Since only 40,000 new apps were added during that time, this means that roughly two-thirds of app submissions are updates to existing applications.

A Lucrative Market

It's no wonder the updates keep rolling in, because developers are making good chunks of change on the AppStore. Steve Jobs says Apple has paid developers over $1 billion in AppStore revenue shares, or over $4,400 per app on average. If Apple has paid out over $1 billion to developers, that means it has pocketed over $428 million from its 30% cut of app sales.

At its current growth rate, the AppStore should pass the 10 billion downloads mark in early April 2011. However, with the continued exponential growth seen in the infographic above, it wouldn't be surprising to see the AppStore break this number as soon as the end of the year.

But one thing didn't happen today: We weren't blown away. We weren't surprised. We didn't jump up and down, screaming. We don't even know if we'll rush right out and get one.

In fact, we might just skip the iPhone altogether and get an Android phone instead.

iPhone 4 or Android?

Case in point, here's the conversation this blogger had with the spouse:

Me: It's only $199 to upgrade my iPhone!

Him: Is it 4G?

Me: No.

Him: What's cool about it?

Me: Um, it's got a better camera. And it's faster. And it has a 3-axis gyro thingy.

Him: What's that?

Me: This thing for games, it helps when you rotate the phone, the game rotates.

Him: That's cool, but you don't really play games, do you?

Me: Not really. But it has HD video recording!

Him: So does your camera.

Me: And threaded email... And video chat!

Him: Over 3G?

Me: Well, no. Over Wi-Fi. And only with other iPhones. But EVO has Qik, and that works over 4G, actually. Hmm, maybe I should just get an EVO.

In fact, maybe I just will.

While I'm at it, here are a few more things that Apple didn't announce today:

1. 4G

No, it was not the "iPhone 4G," it was the iPhone 4. Why? Because AT&T isn't set to roll out its 4G network until next year. And Apple didn't surprise us by finally confirming the mythical Verizon iPhone - not that we expected it at this point. But still. Where's my iPhone 4G already?

2. Cloud iTunes/OTA Sync

Sure, Apple just bought Lala.com, but couldn't they have at least teased us about the forthcoming "cloud iTunes?" After all, that's what Google did. At its recent I/O conference, Google announced that an upcoming version of the Android Market would allow music and app downloads and automatic over-the-air sync. Is Apple even thinking about doing this? We have no idea.

3. 3G Video Chat

FaceTime, Apple's new mobile iChat-like application, will probably be fun, but it's not game-changing. It only works over Wi-Fi for one thing (thanks, AT&T), not 3G. Meanwhile, Qik and Fring already have video chat apps for Android, and Skype is hinting at an Android app arriving this year. Oh, and Qik on EVO offers 4G video chat, too.

4. Mobile Hotspot

In the current version of the Android operating system (the operating system!), there's a feature that lets an Android phone function as a mobile hotspot. Carriers can choose to implement this feature or not. The iPhone, meanwhile, can be tethered for $20 extra per month via USB or Bluetooth on AT&T.

5. Free MobileMe

Apple wants to compete with Google, but still charges $99/year for MobileMe (for the smallest package) while Google gives away its low-end services for free. That's not working for us either.

6. Voice Input

Trying to stop your dangerous texting while driving habit? Better get an Android phone. Although universal voice input is probably coming to the iPhone thanks to Apple's acquisition of Siri - a cutting edge, voice-based digital assistant - it's not here yet. When it is arriving, though? Apple's reluctance to disclose future plans has us again, looking to Android, which does this right now.

7. Free navigation

Navigation on the iPhone? There's an app for that! Yep, but it's not free. Google, meanwhile, offers Google Maps Navigation for free on all Android phones. Apple, either provide your own app or make nice with Google and use theirs, for goodness' sake.

8. Dashboard

We were halfway hoping that the recent news about Apple killing off all the dashboard apps on the iPhone and iPad meant the company was going to launch its own dashboard-like app similar to Android's widgets. Guess we were wrong here, too.

Conclusion?

All this being said, the iPhone 4 is still a great smartphone thanks to other hardware-based innovations like its "retina display" (326 pixels per inch!), its integrated antennas, and its glass and stainless steel casing housing the thinnest iPhone to date: 9.3 mm thick. But now that the hardware has been modernized, maybe Apple can focus on the software?

The majority of evidence uncovered so far has lead most to believe that a new iPhone is undoubtedly landing today at WWDC. That last two iPhones were announced in early June and each time saw doubled storage capacity at identical $199 and $299 price points. This year's model will likely follow this trend, reaching as high as 64 GB of storage for the larger iPhone sibling. Additionally, 2009's keynote saw the 2008 model drop in price to $99, and many expect a similar price cut this year for the 3GS.

How soon will we see the new iPhone? It could be as soon as today, some have guessed. Last year's phone was available less than two weeks after its announcement, and the 3G iPhone launched just 2 days after Jobs' keynote that year. Due to leaked images of what is likely to be the next iPhone, Apple may be attempting to shuffle this next device out the door quickly, but we can't be sure. Other evidence pointing to a quick release is AT&T's new data and insurance plans which will launch today.

In the past, an updated OS has also been made available roughly around the same time as the new phone, so expect OS 4.0 to be available soon, if not right away. With the OS update comes much-awaited multi-tasking functionality, as well as many small changes to upgrade the user experience. Keeping with history, Apple will also still likely charge iPod Touch users $10 to upgrade their OS.

Rumors and Speculation

Apple also has a history of making secondary announcements when introducing a new iPhone. In the past years, these products and services has included Apple TV, MobileME and Snow Leopard - so what will the other topic of discussion be today? Some have suggested an updated Apple TV to counter Google TV could make an appearance, or perhaps the next version of Safari could be previewed.

Mostly likely among "one more thing" announcements is a Bluetooth enabled multi-touch trackpad for use with desktop Macs. Late last night, Engadget editor Josh Topolsky posted what look like pretty solid pictures of what Apple could be calling the "Magic Trackpad," if recent patent filings are any hint. The device could make the entire Apple line touch-friendly, which is a logical next step.

The leaked photographs also suggested that the latest iPhone will feature a forward-facing camera, perhaps for mobile video chat. Will we see a Skype executive up on stage with Steve walking the audience through video chat capabilities, or will this new feature be limited to an in-house iChat app placed on the phone? What could a forward-facing camera do for other fields of technology, like augmented reality? Today's keynote may answer some of these questions.

The other long-debated announcement we could see today is the iPhone's departure from AT&T exclusivity - specifically to Verizon's stronger network. Rumors of a "Verizon iPhone" have existed ever since AT&T customers began complaining about their service, but they've reached a fever pitch approaching today's event. But why stop at Verizon? Though less likely, some have suggested that Jobs could announce partnerships with several leading carriers today.

Stay Tuned!

We will be following the announcement closely this morning, so make sure to stick around for breaking news and analysis from WWDC as it happens.

Photo by Tom Coates on Flickr.

No, today Apple is finally facing some tough competition in the smartphone space from none other than its former friend and partner Google, whose Android mobile operating system can now be found on a range of devices including the new must-have phone, the EVO, as well as the Droid, the Nexus One and more.

In a matter of hours, we'll find out if the iPhone can still compete.

Sprint's launch of the first 4G Android phone has already been met with success, according to the latest company news. Via a morning press release, Sprint is announcing that the total number of HTC EVO 4G devices sold on launch day was three times the number of Samsung Instinct and Palm Pre devices sold over their first three days on the market combined.

The announcement also claims the demand for the device has led to some "temporary shortages" at some of the 22,000 Sprint stores across the U.S., which Sprint certainly thinks is a badge of honor. "We have a sold-out phone!", they're practically crying.

But the reason for the EVO's success isn't just the innovative features of the device itself, it's the operating system powering it. Google's Android OS has succeeded by offering what Apple doesn't. For one thing, Android's app store is wide open. Apps don't go through lengthy review processes - they're instantly published to the Android Market. The OS is also available to multiple carriers on multiple hardware form factors at multiple price points. You can get the kind of phone you want (keyboard, no keyboard, size, weight, screen resolution, etc.) while still enjoying the Android experience.

Steve Jobs Should Announce:

But even more importantly, Android offers things the iPhone doesn't. If Apple wants to compete, here's what Steve Jobs needs to announce today.

1. Better Tethering

The current version of the Android OS, version 2.2 (code-named "froyo"), offers both USB and Wi-Fi tethering, the latter of which may be operator-controlled. With this feature, already available on the EVO thanks to Sprint's own offering, your phone becomes an instant Wi-Fi hotspot for neighboring devices. Apple had to delay a tethering feature until now because they're dependent on AT&T, a network that hasn't quite been up to par with its competitors as of yet. It simply couldn't support the data load of tethering.

But now AT&T has announced new data plans, one of which offers a tethering option for $20 extra per month. But wait - there's a catch (besides the fee, that is). The iPhone can't be tethered with the iPad, so no free data for you Wi-Fi iPad users. Why? According to AT&T, it's an issue with Apple software. The iPad doesn't have USB ports, a spokesperson told the tech news site TechFlash. And iPad Bluetooth tethering is still a no-go.

2. Video iChat/Front-Facing Camera

With EVO's launch came the first mainstream video chat/video calling application, Qik. Joining Fring - and perhaps soon, Skype - Qik's video chat application for Android lets EVO users make video calls to other EVO users, and soon to others who have supported Android handsets (those with front-facing cameras.) It's not enough for Apple to simply launch a front-facing camera at this point and let the third-party apps do the work. If Apple wants to one-up Android, the company needs its own specialized mobile iChat service that integrates with its lineup of other Apple apps, including its mobile mail, contacts and calendar. A cohesive digital office offering which includes iChat as a feature could trump standalone apps for those who have invested in Apple's ecosystem.

3. Free MobileMe

For users of Google services, going Android just makes sense. Gmail is one of the world's most popular webmail programs, and its deep integration, along with contacts, calendar and other Google offerings, into the Android mobile OS make the phone a powerhouse for Google users. Apple has a shot at doing something similar with its MobileMe collection of services, but unlike Google, Apple charges hefty fees to use them. Google gives away its basic services for free, while businesses and other advanced users can upgrade to Google Apps for a fee. Apple should copy Google's freemium plan with a free entry-level version of MobileMe if it wants to compete as a services company, too.

4. Wi-Fi Sync

iTunes is an old, clunky behemoth in desperate need of an overall. Let's make this absolutely clear: Zune HD has done Wi-Fi sync from day one. Yes, that's right, Microsoft's Zune. Day one. Why can't Apple do this? Answer: because they didn't have to. Zune wasn't a competitor. But now Android is and has plans for Wi-Fi sync. That means Apple needs to fix the iTunes situation.

Google is working on over-the-air music downloads with automatic sync, according to Google's VP of engineering, Vic Gundotra. Announced at Google's recent I/O conference, the updated Android Market ("coming soon," said Gundotra), will let you download both apps and music over-the-air, the same as with Apple's iTunes and mobile app store, but with a twist: automatic OTA updates.

Apple, better do something with that Lala.com acquisition, quick!

These are just a few of the things we're hoping Apple announces today at the upcoming event. Hopefully, the company will continue to surprise us as it has in the past, making the choice between iPhone and Android a tough one.

Perhaps the secret to AccuTerra is that Intermap's key business is not iPhone applications at all, but rather, aerial mapping. In the past, Magellan GPS and the US government have partnered with the company to utilize their 3D map data. And mapping in this world is no easy feat. To collect more than 3 million square miles of high-resolution 3D map data, the company didn't ping a satellite. Their work involved developing new mapping technology and deploying more than 2,530 aircraft over U.S. airspace for more than 10,000 hours of airtime. Imagine that paperwork. Still, the company believes your safety is well worth the effort.

Even in a storm far from a wireless connection, hikers can use AccuTerra to see their distance from warming huts and roads, routes around river beds, and most importantly, the terrain. While the app's ability to create and share annotated hiking tours with geo-tagged photos is interesting, it's the offline maps that make this application a solid survival tool. AccuTerra plans to sell state park maps at $1.99 each and national park maps at $2.99 each in the app store; however, for WWDC attendees, Intermap released free maps of Yosemite National Park and the SF Bay Area including Muir Woods and Mt. Tamalpais. If you're in the Bay, download the maps and geocache us some beer.

• Profiles
• Relationships
• Activities
• Business Models

Profiles: A Universal Identity

Like most of us, Charlene has literally dozens of identities online (see slide below).

Moving forward she'd like to see a universal identity. Her specific proposal centers on either email and/or mobile phones, since this would be an identity she controls. Thankfully, Charlene also anticipates a federated approach (such as OpenID.) Also, she anticipates a few major players will probably serve as major federation focus points. We have already seen this happen begin to happen with both AOL and Yahoo! supporting OpenID.

Charlene also talked about the "Bill of Rights for Users of the Social Web," a document created by a number of thought leaders in the social web: Joseph Smarr, Marc Canter, Robert Scoble & Michael Arrington. The document states:

We publicly assert that all users of the social web are entitled to certain fundamental rights, specifically:

• Ownership of their own personal information, including:
• their own profile data
• the list of people they are connected to
• the activity stream of content they create;
• Control of whether and how such personal information is shared with others; and
• Freedom to grant persistent access to their personal information to trusted external sites.

I imagine there will be more conversation on this in the afternoon panel Dan Farber is moderating on Data Portability.

Relationships: A Single Social Graph

Over the next few years, Charlene pointed out that a unified social graph will develop. She showed her current social graph as it exists inside Facebook, and then pointed out what it was missing: colleagues, parents, extended family, school parents, neighbors (see slide below). I think this is something we all realize intuitively - so the overriding point is that our real social graph is far more complex.

New 'Entrants' Will Be Portals

I actually found this one of the more interesting points from Charlene's presentation. She proposed that the a number of 'new entrants' will emerge, except that they won't be startups at all. Instead, she predicts that a number of the major portals (Google, Microsoft Live, Yahoo!, and AOL) will actually fill the the relationship mapping gap. She pointed to 4 reasons why they are natural entrants:

1. Millions of Regular Users
2. Search & Deep Content
3. Ad & Content Networks
4. Relationship Maps

Activities: Social Context for Activities

Going back to 'social networks being like air', not surprisingly Charlene projects that social context will be important for most online activities. As an example of how this might happen, she used shopping. She talked about Amazon integrating with Facebook (or any other repository of social graph info) such that they could highlight book reviews from her friends. Charlene also pointed out that any portal could easily incorporate social data into their site. She used Yahoo! as an example saying they could:

1. Search based on what my friends find relevant
2. Elevate stories tagged by my friends -- anywhere (maybe multiple social graphs web 2.0 & shopping)
3. Compare daily portfolio performance to friends
4. In terms of advertising, which of my friends owns a Focus & what do they think of it?

Business Models: Social Influence Defines Marketing Value

When talking about business models, her basic point was that we have yet to properly value networks based on their social value. She pointed to Marian Salzman's (of JWT) concept of personal CPMs. The basic idea being that an individual's authority on specific topics plus their network's interest and authority on the topic, results in a value of reaching that user. If this is true then "social networks will have to compete to have the best experience for high influence people."

Conclusion

Based on the vision she laid out, Charlene ended with a map of how open she anticipated these open platforms evolving.

To realize this vision of ubiquitous social networks, Charlene pointed out 2 things that must happen:

1. We need the technology to evolve, which she wasn't that worried about
2. We need to increase trust, which she challenged the industry to think about

You can view all of Charlene's Slides here.

| View | Upload your own