The MoPR Blog

You know a technology has gone mainstream when popular hip hop songs are being shared across the Internet about it. So there is no arguing that Facebook has totally arrived.

We’ve been blogging quite a bit about Facebook and so we thought it would be appropriate to share this track from up and comer NSANE titled, you guessed it, “FACEBOOK.” The 17-year old artist is making it big on OurStage, a site for emerging musicians. OurStage has some pretty neat programs running for both emerging artists and the fans that support them which you can check out here: www.ourstage.com/about/news

WARNING: If you listen to this song all the way through more then once, you may have trouble getting it out of your head. You may find yourself humming, “I was on Facebook” at random times throughout the day. If this will get you in trouble at work, perhaps you should wait to listen to this song until you are home tonight. Seriously.

Check this out:

My favorite lines from the track:

“When I came across you, I knew instantly that you had to be my boo, and yeah it’s got to be real, I was on Facebook.” - - It really has to be real. I mean, he was on Facebook.

“This can’t be Facebook love, this gotta be true. I changed my status yesterday to say I’m in love with my boo.” - - He’s right, it can’t be ‘Facebook love”. Let’s face the facts. He changed his status for her. That is true commitment.

“I wanna get my hands off these keys and start feeling you” - - Nice, at least this shows that the youth of today do have the desire to transfer their experiences from a virtual world to the real world. There is hope.

In all seriousness though, this is a fun song and NSANE has done something as an artist that we are constantly counseling our clients to do in their own communications with their audiences - - BE RELEVANT!

NSANE took something (Facebook) that is extremely relevant to his audience and used it to communicate something he was passionate about (his Boo).

From blog posts to press releases one of the keys to good SEO and online pickup is the content’s relevance. In order to gain the interest of your audience, your message must be relevant in relation to something top of mind for that audience (an issue, a trend, or a question). When the major elements of your message have relevance to your audience they are more likely to pay attention to the rest of your message and absorb the details. And if you are consistently delivering relevant messages to them, they become more and more likely to align you (in their hearts and minds) with whatever the topic is that you are communicating about.

So will NSANE become the defacto rapper about Facebook? No. But because he was able to smartly leverage the hot topic of Facebook, he just might make a name for himself as a smooth R&B artist writing songs about the realities of modern day love - - which today, could very well start on Facebook.

Two weeks ago I got an email asking to add the “Travel Map” application on Facebook. Now, that’s cool and definitely something I would like to share with my friends. Last week I got a request to add the “pieces of flair” application (Office Space anyone?) where I put pins on a virtual cork board. Awesome! These applications are fun.

Then two days ago I received an invite for the “Which Foreign City Are You” application. Hmm… kind of futile. So, I rejected. The same day I was asked to add the “when will you get married calculator” application. Whoa, definitely not! Reject. Yesterday, yet again, I got an email alerting me to an invitation to join the “Which Terrorist Group Are You” application. Excuse me? Do my friends really want to associate my personality with a terrorist group? This has gotten out of hand.

With my personal in-box filling up with invitations to add Facebook applications – some pleasant, some not so pleasant, I started asking friends and colleagues about their thoughts on adding new apps. Turns out, I’m not the only one getting annoyed with the daunting number of pointless and often offensive applications dominating Facebook.

One of my MoPR colleagues shared how put-off she was when invited multiple times to add the “What Kind of Drunk Are You” application, not to mention the “What is Your Sex Color?” , “What is Your Criminal Personality?” and the “What Underwear Are You?” applications. My colleague was even more appalled at the number of invites she received from friends who apparently wanted to own, buy, and sell her. That’s right; with the Facebook “Owned!” application the creators tell you that you can “Own Your Friends! Give Human Gifts! Put yourself on the market and find out how much you’re worth!” No thanks.

Now, I understand that Facebook is a social networking site, and yes, the majority of things that go on are intended for the sole purpose of having fun. I am also well aware that my own “pieces of flair” application is quite pointless. But for me, the myriad applications are becoming overwhelmingly distasteful and I find myself concerned with the growing number of downright offensive applications, such as Dope Wars: Deal Virtual Drugs to Numerous Towns.

This problem will only get uglier as social network go mobile. People are taking their Facebook profiles on the go; accessing mobile Facebook applications from their mobile phones. While the mobile use of Facebook has been slow to take off (roughly 3% of Facebook’s 70-million+ users use the mobile application), the appeal is definitely there. Apple must agree, having run its ad for Facebook mobile on the iPhone in costly prime time TV spots.

So, are the tasteless apps carrying over to the mobile platform? Not yet. In general, Facebook applications being designed for mobile phones are more utilitarian in nature with most being practical extensions of the core activities we do on Facebook, like photo sharing and messaging. But why? Are we more protective of the information we bring to and send from our mobile phones? I believe we are. I know I am. It’s also important to note that for most people, the cost structure for using the Web on their mobile phone is much different then for using the Web from home, so perhaps this translates to a more cautious approach to the applications we welcome to our mobile devices for wasting time and entertaining ourselves.

I asked some friends and colleagues for their opinions on the kinds of Facebook apps they would want to use from their mobile phone. My coworker Grace is a big fan of the Greenbook application. It helps reduce harmful emissions that Facebook generates through sponsorships. She would be willing to port her favorite apps over to mobile as long as she could control the amount of information being pushed to her via mobile. Grace also noted that she simply will not add just any application because a friend sends it her way stating “it’s just too much! And some of them are really offensive!” She says the same goes for mobile applications and that in the case of mobile, she might be even more selective – opting in to only the most useful apps. My sister, a Facebook newbie, enjoys sending “Good Karma” to her friends, but says that she is repulsed by the “Hot, Cute, or OK” application where people can actually rate the way you look. She can’t imagine using these applications from her mobile phone.

I guess it’s safe to say that everyone has an application that they find amusing and entertaining, but the general consensus seems to be against the unpleasant, and often insulting, applications, especially when it comes to mobile.

For an interesting post on how social networks such as Facebook are changing the way we communicate, check out this recent blog post from MoPR client, Talkster’s James Wanless.

At the end of the day, Facebook is a fun and useful tool that, like all fun and useful things, needs to be used responsibly, whether from your laptop or your mobile phone. My advice to all you Facebook users out there - Think twice before you add certain applications like “what is your biggest turn on” and “hot or not: find the hottest hotties on Facebook” to your profile, because you just don’t know who is looking. A friend could see your “which dictator are you” application and become really offended. Or, the one browsing your profile could be your Mom or Dad, your son or daughter, or even (gasp) your boss.