A Round Up of 2012... And some seminal trending photos...


Oh what a year it’s been ladies and gentlemen, and of course in the world of web one week adds up to a lifetime, so what were the seminal moments of 2012. Just for a bit of nostalgia, here are Cybergirl’s top five moments (with a few seminal ‘trending’ FB images thrown in for posterity):

1.    Tax avoidance – yes 2012 was the year that Goliath companies such as Google, Starbucks and Amazon finally got called to account over their corporate (read tax avoidant behavior) – what was the result, tentative boycotting of Starbucks and their resolution to pay 20 million pounds worth of corportation tax over the next two years, well aren’t they admirable. Next time Cybergirl goes for a large Americano – there’ll be soe negotiating at the till let me tell you. On the plus side, is the tide finally turning? Has the subject that Cybergirl has been banging on about since this blog first started four months ago finally caught the public imagination enough to warrant winder scale boycotting?
2.    The launch of the IPhone 5, it came, it saw, it conquered with 5 million sales and counting, and then well everyone realized that it was almost identical to the iPhone 4S – surprise surprise (ditto for the IPad mini).
3.    Hoaxes dominated Facebook, if Cybergirl had ten pounds for every time a copyright statement/human rights infringement/ridiculous legal terminology was posted, reposted and then went onto insight general hysteria across the world’s largest social networking site, well Cybergirl would be a very rich woman indeed.
4.    The Kindle Fire hit the shops! Yes at last there was a viable contendor to the Apple Monopoly (see point 2.) By October the device was said to be ‘the best selling product on the company’s website.’ Which can’t be said for the IPad Mini.
5.    Gangham Fever spread like wildfire across the world… Yes if you had a beady eye on what it takes to constitute a viral hit – well just rethink that, multiply it by 100 and add a dance akin to a horseback rider swaggering into a western bar.
6.    And last but certainly not least the tragedy that was Apple Maps. In the 24 hours since Google Maps was released for the IPhone it was downloaded 10 million times – a statistic that surely speaks for itself.

So there they are; our top five web related news stories of 2012. What lessons can be learnt from these archane and yet often completely revelatory stories? 1) Fame is a heady mix of electro beats, canny marketing and strange dancing – yes it’s all about luck at the end of the day. 2) no matter how badly Apple behave people will still buy their products (sad but true) and finally 3) if it’s a written in a status update the majority of people will believe it – use this at your peril…

Now for those images - my favourite of 2012:











Till next year ladies and gentlemen. Merry Christmas from all at The GWG...

Social Media Becomes Customer Service.... Is this the way it's going?




Ah yes folks, it’s that time of the week again! Time for a well, timely little anecdote. So here we go! Cybergirl’s boyfriend (read ‘date’) is a rather nice young man who scoured the web for the perfect birthday present for his beloved mother. What could he get her that would really improve her quality of life? No, not pearls, no not a bottle of champagne swiftly necked in ten minutes, but what about a lovely new Dell computer complete with Windows 8? Wouldn’t that just be the loveliest present to mark a significant birthday? Bien Sur! Absolutement! Definitely!

So off ‘the date’ goes on Saturday morning – all the way to the UPS delivery office in Kilburn to retrieve said parcel, and, after much negotiating (and a rather tricky interchange with UPS – no a photocopy of your passport is definitely not allowed) he finally gets the Dell computer home (nicely wrapped up in it’s big cardboard box). Mum appears, spying the huge parcel with glee (yes it’s present hand over time!) She turns it over, rattles the box (just a little!) and then tears through the brown parcel tape with the nearest knife to hand. And what does she find? A computer that doesn’t work - a computer stuck on the Dell page – not even Windows 8, (no shiny happy birthday experience either).

So what does ‘the date’ do given that it’s a Saturday night and Dell do not have a customer service line open ready and waiting to fix the problem...? He goes on Facebook of course, and there, hopeful that the power of social media will prevail, he uploads a video of the Dell computer doing, well absolutely nothing at all. Now here’s the interesting part.... What happens in the minutes that follow? Well not only does ‘the date’ get a very swift email from UPS apologizing for his rough treatment (yes he mentioned that too), but the next morning Dell send one message requesting the serial number of said computer. Now that was Sunday, we are now (at the time of writing) Wednesday, and what was happened? Again, Absolutely (drumroll) nothing at all.... So much for the power of social media... Now I know I haven’t always been the greatest advocate of Apple and their corporate behaviour, but at least they have a shop you can walk into if something goes wrong, and a lovely Genius bar attendant to wipe your tears away and assure you that your problem will be swiftly dealt with. When customers are reduced to tracking down Facebook Pages in order to get a response from technology companies, well something has gone very wrong in the area of customer service. Dell – I’m sorry to name and shame, but you won’t be on Cybergirl’s Christmas list come 2013.

Just for posterity, here's the link to the video in question:




Over and out. 

Copyright Hoaxes down at Facebook... And the Google/Apple War Rages On...


So Cybergirl logs onto the FB this week (as per usual) and what does she find? A slew of the following posts…

In response to the new Facebook guidelines I hereby declare that my copyright is attached to all of my personal details, illustrations, comics, paintings, professional photos and videos, etc. (as a result of the Berner Convention).
For commercial use of the above, my written consent is needed at all times!
(Anyone reading this can copy this text and paste it on their Facebook Wall. This will place them under protection of copyright laws.) By the present communiqué, I notify Facebook that it is strictly forbidden to disclose, copy, distribute, disseminate, or take any other action against me on the basis of this profile and/or its contents. The aforementioned prohibited actions also apply to employees, students, agents and/or any staff under Facebook's direction or control. The content of this profile is private and confidential information. The violation of my privacy is punished by law (UCC 1 1-308-308 1-103 and the Rome Statute).

Facebook is now an open capital entity. All members are recommended to publish a notice like this, or if you prefer, you may copy and paste this version. If you do not publish a statement at least once, you will be tacitly allowing the use of elements such as your photos as well as the information contained in your profile status updates...

Everyone is manically posting and reposting – but what is this scaremongering all about? Is it really possible for third parties and FB itself to use all of our personal information, our images, our data since FB birth - are we seriously at risk? Prayed on by a dark, three headed monster intent on consuming our digital presence and reproducing it in the form of publicity fodder for all manner of nefarious publications? (Cue scary music) – well it turned out there was no need to panic – the –‘copyright’ doctrine was a well thought out hoax that took the majority of Fb users hook, line and sinker and offered some sweet, green ‘I told you so’ moment to the ones who managed to work it out ahead of time.

Cybergirl particularly enjoyed the following post from a fellow FB user:

In response to new blah blah blah I blah my blah blah blah in occurrence from blah notwithstanding blah blah blah blah blah tremendous self importance blah. Blah blah blah blah Roswell blah. Blah blah blah. Blah copyright blah blah blah I AM IMPORTANT AND BEAUTIFUL blah. Blah. Blah! Blah? Blah blah blah too much blah spare blah time blah blah they will come for our blah children. Blah.Officially blah only to refer to blah within the confines of blah and private. Blah blah. Secret blah blah insecurity blah image. BLAH!

So what is the moral of the story? Generally, anything that is filled with legal jargon, related to Facebook and its infringement of human/copy ‘rights’ and allows the reader merely by posting, a lifetime protection from the aforementioned risk – is generally too good to be true. Anything, and I mean anything you post on FB – treat it as officially in the public domain… Because in all but name – it is. See a friend who recently vied for a job at Google and won – what did he post? The slightly uncryptic ‘Larry said yes’ – the young man in question also had something to say about Apple which readers of this blog might enjoy:

‘Bad Apple’ - accompanied by the following photo…



Cue the following comment from the user’s friend:

"Yes...good time to be a Google analyst rather than Apple one huh??"

Hmmm, my sentiments exactly.

And just to finish - here's another image Cybergirl particularly enjoyed...


And just for posterity - here's another...



The Website of the Year Awards... What Makes a Destination Domain?







They came, they saw, they conquered! Yes last night was the much lauded Website of the Year Awards here at The GWG, and what a night it was... Tensions rose, Prosecco corks popped, mini hamburgers were dessimated in their hundreds and the great and good of the digital world mingled to super netoworking effect. What a night it was – actually incredibly moving also, a tribute to the founders of note who have carved out their own little slice of web magic... (Click here for the winners...)

Which brings me to the title of this week’s post, what does it take to create a brilliant website?

The elements are fourfold (ignore them at your peril):

-       The frontend
-       The backend (come on don’t laugh)
-       The functionality
-       The design

 These foundations (supported by robust tethered beams) must be paid heed to if a domain is going to scale the heights of say Net-a-Porter....

The beams consist of:

  • -       Providing up to date original content in a myriad of forms. All search engines lap it up like Pavlov’s dog.
  • -       Next up it’s quality not quantity – bear this in mind! Look at sites like Nowness – (that purposely limit the amount of content they upload). The site sources artists (from the world of fashion art and photography) to provide enduring, boundary pushing content. Never forget that just as the web’s greatest strength is the abundance of information available, so too is this its downfall...
  • -       Think outside the box; how can you make that newsletter more appealing? How can you impart information more succinctly and swiftly? How can you target your reader with content tailored to user preference (see StumbleUpon for a stunning example). Never stop asking questions. Because all good business stems from providing a solution to a user's problem.
  • -       Never underestimate social media – it’s the past, the future and the present. More traffic, more readers and more unique hits come via this stream than any other – fail to harness it at your peril.
  • -       Simplicity is key – not only will this allow your site to play to its strength across a wide range of search engines, but the sites that are really pushing the boundaries are mutually unexclusive in this regard, united by the clean, sharp, high res imagery that can be found on Squarespace for example. Again quality not quantity – use graphics sparingly.
  • -       Search facilities are core to user experience. How swiftly does your server break down a request? In how many seconds is a well-timed response pinging its way back to your friendly unique user? This is where the back end comes in - functionality is key.
  • -       The product – to finish, no domain however flashy, well designed and custom built is going to last the distance if it’s a case of style over substance.

So there are Cybergirl’s tips... Look at the winners of the Website of the Year Awards - they have all paid heed to these simple concepts.
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