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In case you didn't notice, the quest to own online identity and personal content has pretty much ended, now ruled by just a few big multinationals.

This morning I came across the billboard above. Notice the huge green button, leading directly to Facebook. I think it's probably an effective (and cheap) campaign, and surely it's very convenient for the marketing people who set it up ("Yes! No need to involve IT, Facebook is just plug-n-play.").

And through Facebook it's easy to engage consumers, even though a FB Page is far from ideal (!) for selling a product at all. But Facebook has now become the de facto standard for companies looking to get social with their customers.

It's not that I'm really frightened about this trend. I'm just sad to see open alternatives performing so poorly. Consider this: In most countries you are required to have a bank account to get a job. How else would you get paid? Modern companies prefer not to deal in cash. Yet no one seems concerned that banks are commercial entities that don't care about being evil or not and are only motivated by profit.

Could you imagine a future where a Google or Facebook account is required to get a job? In some ways you're already socially stigmatized if you don't sign up. That's rule number one in The Social Game: You must play to be a part of it.

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"According to Morgan Stanley, within five years global internet consumption on mobile devices will surpass the same activity on PCs. This sounds like good news. It's natural to think that browsers on the third screen (phones) and the fourth screen (tablets) will simply replace time spent in front of the same on a PC. That's not the case. Mobile devices, by their nature, force users to become more mission-oriented. As more internet consumption shifts to gadgets, it's increasingly becoming an app world and we just live in it. Innovation, fun, simplicity and single-purpose utility will rule while grandiose design and complexity will fall by the wayside."

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Here are my impressions
It's easier to find an address using gNavigation than the traditional GPS. First of all, there's a decent keyboard and touchscreen. Secondly, the way Google thinks about search is so much more advanced and versatile than a GPS where you are limited strictly to addresses. You can of course also use Voice Search, but it performs very bad in Danish yet (a search for 'Kålagervej' resulted in 'no virus' (!) but it will get better). Once you find your destination, simply click it to bring up the sleek new information page, and the hit the navigation button. The app will ask you to install a synthetic voice app so it can guide you by audio. It's a female robot voice with seriously bad pronunciation of Danish destinations. That's OK though, as the main thing is distance and actions ("In 100 meters, turn left at [road] and continue at [road] for 2 kilometers).

The 3D map view is awesome and performs surprisingly well on this old mobile. You can add layers, such as gas stations and restaurants, or even choose to add satellite view (which is a little odd since the data images are shot directly from above, but I'm sure it has it's use for sightseeing and more). Once your reach the destination you're offered to switch to street view to see what it looks like - just plain cool!

I noticed that gNavigation falls slightly behind the Garmin GPS. Just a few seconds/meters and it usually doesn't matter much, unless you have to do a lot of advanced turning in a short period of time. Maybe that will improve on a newer mobile. I also noticed that Garmin doesn't suggest u-turns, but Google does (which in one case was a much shorter trip).

Other cool features include a Navigation icon in the top menu, so you can always go back to navigation if you had use a different app. You can also explore your surroundings on the trip, simply by dragging the map across the screen. A navigate button will appear, click it to go back to navigation mode.

The bottom line
To conclude, I almost felt like I was rediscovering my G1 with this app. Seriously, it's a killer and it clearly shows the kind of advanced web-world interaction smartphones can provide with the latest grade apps out there. I may never buy a singular GPS again - it's purposed is being eliminated by the smartphone, just like it happened with MP3 players and is happening with point-n-shoot cameras. Yet, with the outrageous carrier plans for data roaming, a singular GPS device will still have a strong advantage once you leave Denmark and head for Sweden or Germany: The Garmin has all the European maps stored, my G1 doesn't and needs to pull them over the 3G connection. Maybe Google will have to offer some kind of offline access? I think so...

Oh, and don't try this alone the first time! You'll be very inclined to play around and that's not cool while driving (I was a passenger).

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The tools you use to manage an online community are of course not as tangible, nor as beautiful, as the ones found in Renzo Piano's studio above. But you'll need the same level of experience with your virtual toolbox, or the community you're trying to build could crumble and fall apart.

Last week at TechCrunch Nordic I promised to share some insights about the tools and approaches I use to manage Issuu's community. Here's a pretty lengthy post. I'd always advise you to split up long posts to get shorter and more frequent posts, but personally I sometimes like to just let it all hang out at once to create one definitive source. Bookmark it for later and read it when you have time.

Email newsletters
What? Email? Yeah, I know some people argued that email soon would be obsolete. I find the contrary to be the case. Why? Because people generally do not ignore an email, provided they think they'd be interested in the content. And consider this: Even hugely adopted 'disruptive' services such as Facebook Messages and Google Wave and Buzz all send you emails to notify you of new content. Make your newsletters relevant, make signup easy and irresistable (but always opt-in), and you're in a good place to reach a lot of people at once, set a postitive tone and highlight the good stuff your team is doing.

I use Mailchimp. It's an awesome service and it actually make newsletters fun. Just don't call them that because your community finds that word boring. Mailchimp has a terrific HTML/Wysisyg builder and excellent contact management that'll sync with your own databases. And it has a cute mascot too!

As I argued in my presentation last week, giving out email addresses for anything is a pain, and I see people using third party authorization more and more. That's OK too, just make sure you maintain the option to communicate directly with the people who enlisted this way, e.g. through updates or bulletins. Having a direct line of communication is essential to retain your community.

Emails and alerts via Gmail
Enough with the emails, give us something new and radical! Sorry, but in terms of managing a lot of inbound information, Gmail is my first choice. It's a powertool unlike any other, and it keeps all your info safely in the cloud which your Android phone loves it for (the Gmail app for Android is awesome, nothing like what you get on iPhone). I use a plethora of filters, labels, keyboard shortcuts, advanced searches, loads of Labs features, and Google Notifier for those really important mails. Basically, nothing really important happens without me knowing about it through Gmail. I was inspired by Steve Rubel's post about using Gmail as a personal nerve center (PNC). It's a strategy that could soon fill up your 7+ GB, so check out my post on freeing up Gmail storage.

Make sure you become a Gmail Ninja, don't linger over a single mail, deal with it in less than a minute. If it's important, save it for later once you've cleaned out the Inbox. Use Read/Unread/Starred as your simple sorting system. Use multiple email addresses, one for each type of communication (feedback, business, press etc.), it makes it easy to sort, forward and manage. Add several accounts to make it look like you're sending from the right place--it adds credibility around your person and, again, keeps the conversation correctly labeled.

The alerts I get to are too many to mention here, so I'll just recommend a few services:

• Google alerts - a classic that does the job.
• TweetyMail - a newcomer that collects all tweets relative to a query. I only use it for reading, not posting.
• Your own - setting up your own mailserver can be a cost-effective way of monitoring important events on your own site.

Twitter via IM
What's the most lightweight Twitter client you know of? Wrong. It's your IM client. I'm using Twitterspy, an XMPP bot that IMs you every time someone tweets you. I like it because it simple and runs on your default IM client (both desktop and mobile). You can also post with it, but I only use it to track certain brands and keywords in the ongoing conversation. Basically you just add im@twitterspy.org to your contacts. It's easy to manage using short commands (e.g. 'off' when you want silence--type 'help' to get the lowdown).

I've tried a host of different Twitter apps and generally think they're either too buggy, too limited or too memory-hogging. I'm pretty particular like that. But right now I'm using Twhirl, Seesmic and Brizzly (via Fluid) for my desktop, and Seesmic on my Android. I find it best to use a different app with each Twitter account or you will eventually screw up when you're posting. I also use autoposting via RSS (e.g. from our blog or specific Issuu folders that has their own RSS feeds) using Twitterfeed, an outstanding service that offered syndication even before it was a word in the public's mind.

Social networks
You need to link from your site and various communications to your presence on major social networks. People use them to keep up with you on their favorite social networks. Different services usually form different kinds of communities, with only little overlap. Think about it when you post on Twitter vs. Facebook and so on. Make sure you're active, at least in the beginning, and that you offer exclusives and other goodies to make membership exclusive. A lot can be done in terms of autoposting from one source to many, but don't forget that each social service is a community in its own right and should be managed with that in mind.

And the biggest argument about auto-syndicating one post to multiple networks? Originality! People can sometimes find it hard to engage with content that was shared from your blog, autoposted to Twitter and then pushed to Facebook. So, give 'em something unique once in a while.

Press and awareness
The press is an important stakeholder in terms of raising awareness of your brand. However, I've never had good results going the traditional route with press releases and a newswire service. Especially if you're trying to get US/UK media attention. I'm guessing your press release just drowns, and unless you're a known brand you won't get picked.

So how to get any media attention? For a startup the path of least resistance goes through industry events and awards. Compete for the awards you think you have a chance at winning, and partake in the events where you can get a speaker slot or pitching time. The media uses these venues as a guide for what's hot or not. In fact, some of the biggest media attention we've got so far was when a different media said we were hot (Time picked us for the best 50 websites of 2009).

Finally you need to know that journalists are always busy and rely heavily on their personal network. I shouldn't say that as it would probably mean a sad day for democracy. But it's a mere practical truth. So, if you know someone who knows a journalist, you should work that angle too; but only when you have relevant news to announce. News startups launch every day and the average journalist couldn't care less. What makes you so special? Timing is always essential when dealing with the press. Finally, when approaching tech blogs, offering an exclusive can be a way to go. It won't get you coverage if your project is no good, but it can help motivate them to cover a promising new service or feature.

Support
Support is a fact of life. You can count on it, and whatever you do you need to come up with a strategy for it. I'm not going to go into detail here, as it's a huge subject. But consider this: If you don't create a channel where your users can complain (or suggest features, give praise etc.) they're going to do it anyway elsewhere, e.g. on Twitter. So, I'm leaning towards either creating your own support forum or simply inviting feedback via email or forms. Take the (negative) conversations somewhere you're in control.

You need to allocate resources for whatever setup you choose, as it invariably creates expectations that you'll a) answer or at least b) fix whatever problem the user has. Responding is important for a newly launched service: Always listen and try to answer as much as you can. If you can't or won't fix the problem say that you're sorry as it helps people to see you understand their frustration. If you don't have resources to answer anything at all, then jump to the next paragraph:

Damage control should be on the top of your to-do list. Always seek out the haters in your community. Follow/friend them at least. When people know you're listening they tend to be nicer. If they're getting the facts wrong then correct them in a friendly way, and stick to the facts, not their opinion. Try to keep conversations private. If that's not possible, maybe leaving it alone is better. Always assess the damage before taking action, e.g. how many followers does the skeptic have on Twitter?

You can't make everyone happy at once, but try to make the most people happy with every single thing that you do. OK, I'm going to stop now, although I've probably left something out. But at least I think I left in quite a bit!

Finally I'll offer you a graphical nugget of how I think about communities. Use it to structure your thinking about community building:

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Update 2: Robin Wauters pointed me to http://techcrunch.com/2010/04/20/google-virtual-keyboard/ Seems like we're (I'm?) just first seeing this in Denmark now. It's a pretty neat feature, provided you're in a foreign country and wants to enter æ, ø, or å on a non-Danish keyboard. But a) why isn't it showing in Firefox (both signed in and -out), and b) why doesn't Google know I'm in Denmark and thus probably already using a Danish keyboard? Just saying.

Please enlighten me. Maybe I'm totally missing the point here. But why do I see a soft keyboard on the desktop version of Google.com (in both Chrome and Safari for Mac?).

Maybe Google thinks I'm on a mobile or other touch screen device, but I'm not. I recently became a Google Trusted Tester, but I didn't enroll for any tests like this, and you'll notice I'm not logged in.

Update: This is actually on Google.dk which Google.com redirect to by default here. And you'll notice that the soft keyboard has the special Danish characters too. I'm not seeing this on Firefox...

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via wrenchmonkees.com

Take a look at this wonderful piece of machinery art. It's part of Danish custom builders Wrenchmonkees' new Club Black series.

I've been looking into ebikes, or power bikes, a lot lately. Since I was 18 I've held an MC drivers license, but never owned a motor cycle. I'd buy a Brammo Enertia in a heart beat, if it was on sale in Denmark and I had cash to burn. http://www.brammo.com/gallery/

The carbon footprint and noise of gas bikes is what worries me the most. But the cafe racers from Club Black could make me forget all about that... What an impressive design and make (they've already exhibited in art & design contexts).

Bonus: Read the interesting story about cafe racers on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caf%C3%A9_racer

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