The article asserted:

Paying a sky-high price for something in popular demand can often be a recipe for disappointment. However, the long-term rewards for the winners in this exciting area could be monumental if companies can capitalize on the opportunities through advertising.

Okay. The angle syncs with my view, but I am not sure I have a “hook” or “handle” to grab. I prefer social opportunity insights to have hard facts or a turn of phrase that adds heft or a sticky grip to an opportunity.

What do I mean?

We read an interview with Robert Peck, Quasar CA (the CA stands for “capital advisors). In 2005, Bob, as he is known to his colleagues, flashed on our radar for his early interest in social content, social media, and social networking. A lengthy interview appeared in HighGainBlog.com as “Exclusive Interview: Robert Peck, Quasar Capital Advisors.” We were surprised at the interest one of his insights triggered. Specifically, he talked about a “confluent space.” The example he used was:

HighGainBlog: So what’s the focus of Quasar?

I kept close watch on some of the new business opportunities that were becoming evident where the Wild West of the Internet was intersecting with more traditional businesses. The burgeoning growth of the iPhone and android mobile ecosystems were tremendous for the Internet, as web sites became more accessible for people on the go. Apps only amplified the robustness of Web offerings and expanded the reach of Internet companies”

HighGainBlog: Can you give me an example?

Sure. You have one example in your hand. The Apple iPad is an exemplary product, and it has made clear that the Internet, consumers, and retail can be combined in what seems to be a category killer. I wanted to work in that type of confluent opportunity space. I needed a new vehicle to explore the intersection points that were being created by companies like Apple and other firms.

Here’s the point for the social space, which we will cover more aggressively in Strategic Social Networking in August 2011.

First, the notion of a confluent space is a good one. The stroke of genius was the insertion of “opportunity” in the phrase. So, what we noted is “confluent opportunity space.” Unlike other terms which are mostly without impact in communicating what makes social network centric options so interesting is the packaging of “confluent” and “space”. Opportunity just drives home the upside. In fact, we think the phrase speaks loudly about what types of investment focus Quasar CA has.

Second, in an unrelated sector such as text mining and text analytics, the phrase explains where important companies like Digital Reasoning will be moving. The phrase makes clear that intersections are more important than narrow vectors of expertise. I would go so far as positing this idea:

A narrow vector company limits itself because without confluence–that is, a social and narrow vector combination–breaking into the niches where revenue is obtainable may be impossible.

Third, high value terminillogy connotes sharp thinking. We have to give Bob Peck an “A” in this department. Last week we spoke with two firms. The sparkle scale was tallying a two or three. Mr. Peck was hitting the high nines. That’s Google scale thinking in my book.

Net net: the value of the social shift in online, business functions, and content is a result of confluence. Mr. Peck’s phrase is more suggestive than George Gilder’s “convergence”. See TELECOSM: How Infinite Bandwidth will Revolutionize Our World [

For more information about Robert Peck, visit his Web site at www.quasarca.com.

Stephen E Arnold, July 12, 2011

Sponsored by ArticleOnePartners.com, the source for patent research

A recent News Blaze article, “AT&T Interactive Opens Buzz.com Beta to the Public” laid out the good intentions behind this new service. Combining the logic of countless local recommendation sites and social media, the Buzz.com allows users to share restaurant and other business suggestions to friends. While this gives insight on everything from veterinarians to Vietnamese food, AT&T is cutting things a little close to the competition. First off, the name is shockingly close to Google’s Buzz. Secondly, it too populates a friend list from Facebook.

The SSN Take: The road to irrelevance is paved with good intentions and if you plan to work in the social media realm, differentiate yourself from the competition.

Patrick Roland, April 27, 2010

Note:   Post was not sponsored.

With many balls in the air – responding to user complaints about Buzz’s privacy issues, while practically still in launch mode and then moving forward with phone applications to attempt to corral their existing customers – Google seems to be scrambling against the powerful and popular Facebook platform. MediaPost.com recently reported in their article, “Google Boosts Mobile Social Networking” that by releasing an application for Orkut – a social media platform popular in Brazil and India – Google is attempting to capture some of the potential new users those areas offer. However a Facebook blog predicts that with their recent growth, Brazil will soon be the home to the most Facebook users in South America. It will be interesting to see how the numbers play out when the dust settles.

The SSN Take: Offering a variety of applications is definitely a good approach for Google and a lesson to learn for all business entrepreneurs. Don’t limit your customers.

Melody K. Smith, March 26, 2010

Note:   Post was not sponsored.

Much of the talk focusing on Google in 2010 has been on its unveiling of Buzz, the search engine’s tentative first step toward entering the social media world. However, its browser, Chrome, was the only browser to actually gain in popularity during the month of February. While the browser still is used by little more than 5% of those polled, its steady climb is a sign that Internet Explorer and Firefox are nearing their expiration date. This should act as a wakeup call for any business that supports only Internet Explorer. Online video giant YouTube recently announced it would no longer support the longtime popular browser beginning in March. As this sea change becomes more popular, smart businesses should adjust.

The SSN Take: Don’t stick with the MS dinosaurs.

Patrick Roland, March 8, 2010

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By now, if you use Gmail, you’ve noticed the new menu icon for Buzz and discovered it helps share and read social media streams with everyone on your email list. The problem, Tech Radar states, is that most people have separate social networking friends from those that they email frequently. Buzz, however, threatens to cross those two streams and this worries some.

Very few people want to read about what type of breakfast cereal a customer is deciding between and most would recoil at the thought of business associates seeing their weekend pub crawl pics. Google’s Buzz presents a difficult crossroads for anyone wanting to keep their professional and personal lives separate—unless, of course, they want to help a client pick out Cheerios.

Patrick Roland, March 5, 2010

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In Buzz’s defense, they have installed features where you can turn these options off, but do they really work, and do you know how to make it happen?  You wouldn’t want your boss getting a friend suggestion from your email list and it be a competitor. Awkward and potentially damaging are the images that come to my mind.

Belinda Sissom, March 4, 2010

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Growth may be a passing fad for the original social website MySpace, who had it all and is slowly letting it slip away due to bad management. Twitter has the celebrity support but not much has changed since the first tweet. Facebook has an opportunity for growth by finishing the creative process and implementing their “Project Titan,” an email base for Facebook users, which would allow it to compete directly with Google Buzz.  The new kid on the block, Google Buzz, combines networking, email, and search capabilities but still lacks the appealing design of Facebook and MySpace. So for now, it’s a matter of what you want and where you can get the most of it in one place.

Belinda Sissom, March 3, 2010

Note: Post not sponsored.

Though Google has announced some changes to Google Buzz addressing the privacy concerns with the new service, it already may have been too little too late.  Early users found the privacy settings confusing and very complicated to maneuver – especially the ability to hide one’s followers. This earned them very strident criticism and all out venomous customer feedback, along with a mass “turn off buzz” reaction.

Even for those who are okay with revealing more of their self in the social media world, there was also some assumption on the part of Google, that they may have mistakenly considered insight, where they assumed the most frequent people emailed from user’s Gmail accounts would be the same people with whom those users would want to share Buzz updates. Have they never heard what happens when you assume? One would think with all the focus on the security of information in social media sites such as Facebook in recent weeks, Google would be more ahead of the curve on this one.

Cnet.com referred to this public relations debacle in their aptly titled post “Google Buzz: Privacy nightmare.” Buzz hasn’t impressed users, even without the privacy issues. Inflated notices of new “Buzz” available only to find duplicates and retweets of the same news post and the fact that all the annoying features are set by an “opt-out” status — which means unless you know about them you can’t stop them – makes the user’s first impression of Google’s Buzz, well, kind of a buzz kill.

Some people think the fear regarding privacy on the web is over exaggerated. Technorati recently referred to Google’s approach as “revolutionary” in their post “Google Buzz Privacy Fears Overstated”. The author believes concern over privacy on the Internet is antiquated and users need to get used to the idea that what we do on the Internet is not private. It seems like there should be a happy medium somewhere in this that we can all live with comfortably.

Melody K. Smith, March 2, 2010

Note:   Post was not sponsored.

The decision comes when you must decide between newbie Buzz and Facebook, where your network is established with friends, family and colleague contacts yet lacks the media upgrades. For the consumer/user, this battle of the social networking clients should only enhance our experience and magnify our ability to connect with one another.

Belinda Sissom, Feb. 28, 2010

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Melody K. Smith, Feb. 23, 2010

Note:   Post was not sponsored.