I am always interested in new and interesting nomenclature. It’s also become par for the course for anything Web 2.0-esque to have a name with no vowels in it. There are two new words you need to understand before dipping the wrong foot into the online social network world.
Bacn seems to be taking the world by storm. I first read about Bacn over at Chris Brogan’s Blog: Bacn- A New Internet Term. Here’s the quick and dirty (or greasy) on Bacn:
“When you receive email that Geek is now following you on Twitter and Jennifer Gold just wrote on your Facebook wall, that’s Bacn (pronounced ‘bacon’). It’s any email you receive that isn’t spam, but isn’t exactly a personal message either. Your electronic phone bill is Bacn. Your Google alerts are Bacn.”
Hmmmm_.Bacn_
And, more recently. There’s been word of a new online social network called, Quechup (no link for obvious reason), which, by all accounts, you should avoid. I got two email invitations to join Quechup and, prior to getting started, I did a quick Google check to see what others think about it.
I got a big surprise.
According to all accounts, once you log in and give your email account information, Quechup automatically invites your entire contact list on your behalf. If that’s not spam, I don’t know what is. I find it tragic that this kind of action is even legal. Rule number one in developing an online social network: the user controls who they want to invite, allow into their fray and connect with. I have a suspicious feeling that Quechup is less about online social networking and much more about building their database of email addresses for Spamming.
Ultimately, Marketers need to understand this new landscape. There are reports of twitter and Facebook spam and other actions that are turning people away from these new channels of communications.
It should come as no surprise.
When there are millions of people (and millions of dollars) in opportunity, the worst in humanity is sure to rear its ugly head.
Our jobs, as Marketers, is quite easy: continue to help people in these environments have the best online experience. It has to be one they’ll talk about and share with their peers.