Social Networks
Multiply User Calls for Boycott
Multiply Platinum Account holder Shawn calls for a boycott of the social networking service over its abrupt and disrespectful removal of music features.
To all my friends and contacts:
Multiply makes its money through advertising. As people click on pages and links, Multiply gets money from the advertisers’ links and ads that are displayed on your pages.
There is a movement afoot to boycott Multiply for one entire day, that being this Friday, January 18th. This is to protest the recent changes made to forbid the sharing of music and also the limiting of music uploads. I am a customer as are you all. We deserve to be treated with respect.
While I understand that Multiply has a right to conduct its business as it sees fit, the manner in which it has made the changes is very poor customer service and frustrating to those of us who have invested many hours setting up our sites.
Let us send a message to Multiply: treat us like shit and we will affect your business model. We are your customers whether you want to treat us that way or not.
I will not be on next Friday from 12:01 AM to 11:59 PM (at a minimum). Would you care to join me?
(And for those who live in a different time zone, just do your own 12:01 AM to 11:59 PM. Let’s make it go round the world.)
If the problem with the music features was illegal file-sharing, Multiply could’ve processed DMCA takedown notices the same way YouTube does, weeding out piracy while keeping Multiply musicians happy. Instead, they globally cripple their features at their customers’ expense.
See, this is why Digg partners with CBS and The Wall Street Journal while Multiply scavenges deals with some third-world TV station. Even in the face of corporate copyright pressure, Digg actually has some goddamn respect for its customers.
The business of consumer-generated media requires the balls to stand up for consumers generating media. Clearly, Multiply does not have the balls for this business.
Between MySpace, Facebook, and Friendster, I have little time or tolerance for the no-platform, non-OpenSocial Multiply. In fact, I’ve stripped my Multiply page of all content. Supporting Shawn’s boycott will be a piece of cake for me.
(Via Lusanto.)
Facebook on TV: Not Good
For an online entrepreneur, appearing on TV isn’t always a good thing. In fact, it can signal desperation.
On Sunday night, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will appear on “60 Minutes†to tell the world that Facebook is in trouble. He doesn’t say that in so many words, of course, but his participation on the weekly news show, given the unlikelihood that many in Facebook’s existing demographic of 12-to-24-year-olds watch “60 Minutes†on a regular basis, signals that the social networking site is trying to connect with a larger audience.
Sure, Facebook has 60 million members and is valued at $15 billion, but it is still the No. 2 social network. To defend its lofty valuation, Facebook needs to grow its user base and figure out how to make money off of it, and those two things are looking like they may be mutually exclusive. Consider the reaction of the social networking site’s users to its Beacon advertising program.
Zuckerface must resort to offline promotion to acquire online customers. I’m starting to think Microsoft and Facebook are made for each other. After all, they’ve both pissed off Scoble.
