So, I've been signing up for all of these random online social networking services just to try them out. I'm not really conducting a scientific study of the various features they offer, but I am interested (along with about 95% of the rest of the new media scholar community) as to how they conceptualize networking/community(?). To make a long story short, I just received an email from Ziki.com that read, in part:
Ziki has crafted an innovative program that will assure you to be listed on the top spots on major search engines (Google, Yahoo & soon MSN). Available only for the first 10 000 members.Our initial sponsored links program tests showed a very positive and enthusiastic feedback.
Even better, some of you wrote to share how proud they were when they typed their name in Google or Yahoo : their Ziki profile was on the top list of the search results. Cool feeling.
YES we are doing a free advertising campaign for you !
Why are we doing this ? Because we know you are concerned about your online identity and some of you might want to promote theimselves and their content. Simple.
We hope you will enjoy this unique feature, which is a powerful management tool of your online identity.
This is how it works: log in to your Ziki account, click on "Promote my Ziki" and then click on "Sponsored links".
Just check the box to authorize Ziki to buy these sponsored links on Google and Yahoo and we do the rest.
To be eligible for this program, we require the following inputs in your Ziki profile : first name, last name, your picture (not at 5 years old!!), a URL of your blog or website, and at least one personal feed. Don't forget to describe yourself with at least 5 tags and make sure the "about me" section is filled in. Please go back to your profile and check we have everything we need.
If you don't enlist this program, you will just miss out.
This offer is limited to $10 per person of sponsored links and over a one year period.
I can't really articulate why, but this totally freaks me out. There's something sort of creepy about Ziki taking out ads for a bunch of their users - it's clear that they're trying to push as many people as they can to the site in the hopes that they, too, will post their profiles. I don't like the idea of my online identity being used to sell something (Me? My online profile? I'm not sure what.) Additionally, I'm not happy that they make specific requirements about the nature of the profiles they'll promote (real first/last name, current photo, 5 tags, etc.).
Up until now I've been using my Ziki to aggregate feeds from Flickr, del.ici.ous, etc. - which, while probably not useful for anyone else, is a great time-saver for me. But this whole ad thing is making me think about cancelling my account altogether.
Update: Check this post's comments to see what the folks at Ziki have to say.
Hi Adrienne
We hear you and there is no need to cancel your account:-) This program is on an opt-in basis, so if you don't enlist, we won't purchase sponsored links for you.
This may not be the case for you, but for quite a lot of people, when searching for their name, either wrong or outdated stuff comes first, or information they'd rather not advertise much. So it's important that they can refer people searching for them to a profile that they control, which presents their right picture and aggregates sorts of all their digital life in one place. With our program, we're not trying to use your online identity, but rather help you control it. Relying on organic indexing to control what people find about you can be risky, as organic search listings can vary from one day to another and you're not sure which info will make it to the top of the list. While with paid placement, you're guaranteed of what people find. So this is what we're offering to our users: the possibility to control what people find about them when searching for their name on Google, Yahoo and MSN. As for the requirements to qualify for the program, if you're going to point everyone who searches for your name to your Ziki profile, we think it's preferable to have a complete profile rather than an empty one or a partially completed one, which may send out a wrong image of yourself to people visiting it. So, again, the whole idea is really not to upset you but rather the opposite. And as previously mentionned, we're promoting only the Zikis of people who are authorizing us to do so. I hope this helps to understand what we are trying to do.But do feel free to contact me if you'd like to further discuss, I'll be happy to talk to you. And don't hesitate to tell me if there are specific features you'd like to see implemented, we like feedback! And you are right, one of the greatest Ziki features is the possibility to aggregate content from different sources and use your Ziki as your personal public homepage. So please keep using your Ziki like this! Cheers - Severine