Secret service goes online

A number of people have been asking me about the business value of blogging, social networking sites and other online tools. Last week The Financial Times ran a front-page story which shows that not only businesses but also the public sector understand the benefits of digital communications: US intelligence agencies will launch a portal modelled on social networking sites!

No, government secrets will not be available to the general public. The US intelligence units plan to have an internal communications tool similar in its architecture to Facebook and MySpace, the two most popular social networking websites. This is an obvious acknowledgement that social sites have business application even in such areas as secret service.

The Financial Times reports that the new tool, A-Space, (AgentSpace? AnalystSpace?) will help share information among all the 16 US intelligence agencies. It will be a kind of MySpace for secret service officers. No doubt, this move is not greeted by all spies and secret agents as it involves the risk of sensible information being taken over by counter-intelligence and disclosure of undercover agents. Well, these guys should know better in what kind of business they are and what risks that involves. :)

Interestingly, the chief executives of MySpace and Facebook have been invited to participate at a conference in September to discuss the new system to be launched by the American intelligence in December.

I'd like to participate at such a conference. At least to meet the two guys, not to mention the curiosity of seeing American 007's in flesh. :)

Scottish police info box, Edinburgh, April 2007. Photo by Giedrius CP

Ideavirus

Everything starts from a thought or an idea. Any human action is usually conceived in one's brain and only then implemented. The way ideas travel sometimes makes us wonder.

Have you ever had this feeling that ideas "float" in the air? You may have met people who are considering the same ideas, projects and ventures as you? I'm amazed how different people may have the same ideas.

On a brief visit to New York City last summer, I spotted a strange figure in the Financial District. It was a monstrous rat that a group of people were marching around (pictured below). It turned out to be protesters who were unhappy about the way their employer treated them (low pay, long working hours?) and they campaigned in front of the offices of the ill-behaving company. That looked like an interesting way of attracting public attention to the issue.

A year or so ago a debt collection company in Lithuania used the character of a rabbit to draw public (and media) attention to companies that did not pay their bills in due time. A person dressed like a rabbit with a board signed "I'm indebted" stood by the offices of companies that wouldn't settle their accounts with suppliers.

The two campaigns - the American rat for bad employers and the Lithuanian rabbit for serial debtors - look very similar in terms of the PR tools employed. Ideas indeed travel in mysterious ways.

Rat in New York City, July 2006. Photo by Erlendas G.

First life, second life

I am amazed how computer-literate my teenage nieces are. Each time I meet them and ask them about the use of PC and the internet, I realise that we represent two totally different generations - "digital natives" (them) and "digital aliens" (me).

The way these two generations use e-tools and perceive two realities - online and offline - are extremely different. As a rule, "digital natives" view both realities as almost equivalent. They connect, chat and communicate with each other online extensively and these activities (the virtual world) have become an inseparable part of their lives. Meanwhile, for "digital aliens" like myself, online tools are merely a means to agree on the place and time of meeting with friends and colleagues in the real world.

The habits of "digital aliens" however change towards increasing digitalisation. Social-networking websites become popular not only with teenagers but with grown-ups too. For personal contacts and use, you may sign up with MySpace, the biggest social site, or Facebook, the second largest but apparently currently the "hottest" social network. There are a number of other social networks on the web, either of national reach or "multinationals".

Social networks may also be used for business purposes. The Economist, the business weekly, confirms that such websites do have business uses, including marketing opportunities. For example, I use LinkedIn, an online network for professionals, which has over 10 million users.

You may ask: why should one "waste" time on any of those social networks? Well, first, it is a fast and cost-effective way of maintaining contacts with your friends or colleagues, who may not necessarily be reachable by car.:) Second, it's a means of making new business contacts. I've used LinkedIn for such purposes and it has worked for me.

Of course, if you spend too much time online and get the feeling that the whole afternoon or evening has disappared, it's time for you to ask yourself: "Do I have a fulfilling first life?".

Manhattan network, New York City, July 2006. Photo by Giedrius CP

When theory and practice don't meet

Marketing professors at my business school used to say that it's easier and less costly to retain an existing customer than to attract a new one. Marketing textbooks would tell you the same thing. However, the reality in Lithuania is quite the opposite. At least in the mobile communications business. And I wonder why.

I had been a loyal and long-term customer of the largest mobile operator before I asked for some special treats when changing my status from a private customer to a corporate one last autumn. And then I realised (with a big surprise!) that, in terms of choosing a product or service provider, loyalty doesn't pay in Lithuania. The customer care officer of the mobile operator told me that they weren't able to offer me any preferential call rates or other benefits as gratitude for me being their loyal and always-pay-the-bill-on-time customer.

The sales person was indeed trying to come up with something that would make me feel that the mobile company appreciated me as an old customer. They had a very complicated system ("loyalty programme", they call it) which, unfortunately, was of no use to me. Finally, I got tired and asked her if I came to her as a new customer and asked for a new phone number, would I be entitled to some special rates? She said: "Yes".

At the time I thought "How ridiculous" and decided to end up the complication and signed up as a corporate customer for another 2 years (I wanted to keep the same phone number that I had been using for some years).

A month later I went to the second largest mobile operator and asked what they could offer me. I was a new customer to them. And "disloyal" to their competitor.:)

I signed up with them, kept my old phone number and (!) started benefiting from lower phone bills. Plus, they covered my contractual obligations (for terminating the contract earlier than in 2 years' time) to the previous mobile phone company.

Oh, I love beeing a new customer! I can tell that the account manager at my current phone company does indeed care for my needs. And I buy more from them.

I know people who have phone numbers from all the main three mobile operators in Lithuania. At the end of the contract term they threaten to leave the operator and thus they get some benefits for extending the contract. I can't be bothered to carry three mobile phones or use three different numbers (although I have a Lithuanian number and a UK number, but that's a different matter).

I feel it's about time to change my bank as I no longer receive the VIP treatment I've been used to.

FCUK (French Connection UK), Edinburgh, April 2007. Photo by Giedrius CP