filed in: web
written by James on January 19th, 2010
Flock is a new web browser based on Mozilla (the same as Firefox) that allows you to keep track of all your social networking from one location. It’s an interesting solution but is it one that people are actually asking for?
How well does this really work? Let’s find out… (this post was written from within Flock)
Ok, so that’s a very limited test but it does look like Flock may become an interesting tool for social butterflies.
It allows you to update all your social networks from one application. Want to post to your blog or update Twitter or pop some photos on Flickr or even just happily waste time on Facebook? You can – all from one window and its not a one way street either. Once you allow it to log in to your accounts it will push feeds and tweets and anything else of relevance straight into your browser.
On top of this its a fully functional web browser that lets you search multiple sources without ever leaving the comfort of Flock. Want to search for dancing kittens in YouTube? Well, obviously you want to search for that and now its easier than ever. And it does so much more.
The big question is will it make any headway in a very dominated market? Possibly is my answer. Its certainly a fun tool and may well be right up your street. I suspect it could gain ground with teenage girls and several other key social networking groups but the problem is the only ones likely to know of it or go to the trouble of downloading it are the geeks and techies who by definition dont know any girls.
Firefox gained ground rapidly as a protest vote to Internet Explorer. It did all the same things but better.
And that’s where Flock falls down. It isn’t as comprehensive a web browser as the big players and its slower (probably ok for most people but for me it became irritating quite quickly) so by pitching itself as a hybrid-browser rather than a personal social portal it may come unstuck and of course its only a matter of time before Google and friends start including this kind of functionality and then it will be gameover.
Barely 2 weeks later and I have already given up with Flock. It certainly works but I tend to forget its there, its a little fiddly to use and I think I actually prefer the dedicated environment I get when I make updates to the blog, Facebook and Twitter.
I am admittedly probably not the intended market for this new browser but as my job requires me to look into new online technologies and persist in ways that many wouldn’t it isn’t exactly a good sign that I don’t intend to launch that particular application anytime soon.
An article about this has just been written by Utalkmarketing and can be seen at http://anewkindofmarketing.utalkmarketing.com//let's-flock-together/ they rate it as their favourite social media tool will be interesting to see how they get on with it over time as like James I tend to forget it is on my computer, but will be spurred on to try again having read someone else’s thoughts on it.
Purple Frog have been fulfilling Bosch Home Appliance promotions since 2009. The most recent campaign is the seventh and has proved to be the most successful to date. The success can be attributed to the effectiveness of the channels used within the marketing mix as well as the strong business proposition of a cash sum [...]
On 18th January McDonald’s started a twitter campaign to promote the brand’s guarantee of fresh produce with the hashtags #MeetTheFarmers and #McDstories. The wholesomeness of the campaign’s intentions soon crashed and burnt as consumers started to supply their own #McDstories (and comments). Topics covered included the meat content, McDonald’s horror stories – such as fingernails [...]
Mercedes Benz is the latest of a string of major brands to try to connect with a younger audience through social media. Two of Mercedes’ key initiatives are the ‘Escape the Map’ competition launched in November (now closed) and social media activity based around a Mercedes-sponsored Fashion Week.
Ok, so that’s a very limited test but it does look like Flock may become an interesting tool for social butterflies.
It allows you to update all your social networks from one application. Want to post to your blog or update Twitter or pop some photos on Flickr or even just happily waste time on Facebook? You can – all from one window and its not a one way street either. Once you allow it to log in to your accounts it will push feeds and tweets and anything else of relevance straight into your browser.
On top of this its a fully functional web browser that lets you search multiple sources without ever leaving the comfort of Flock. Want to search for dancing kittens in YouTube? Well, obviously you want to search for that and now its easier than ever. And it does so much more.
The big question is will it make any headway in a very dominated market? Possibly is my answer. Its certainly a fun tool and may well be right up your street. I suspect it could gain ground with teenage girls and several other key social networking groups but the problem is the only ones likely to know of it or go to the trouble of downloading it are the geeks and techies who by definition dont know any girls.
Firefox gained ground rapidly as a protest vote to Internet Explorer. It did all the same things but better.
And that’s where Flock falls down. It isn’t as comprehensive a web browser as the big players and its slower (probably ok for most people but for me it became irritating quite quickly) so by pitching itself as a hybrid-browser rather than a personal social portal it may come unstuck and of course its only a matter of time before Google and friends start including this kind of functionality and then it will be gameover.
But if you want to give it a spin head over to http://www.flock.com
Barely 2 weeks later and I have already given up with Flock. It certainly works but I tend to forget its there, its a little fiddly to use and I think I actually prefer the dedicated environment I get when I make updates to the blog, Facebook and Twitter.
I am admittedly probably not the intended market for this new browser but as my job requires me to look into new online technologies and persist in ways that many wouldn’t it isn’t exactly a good sign that I don’t intend to launch that particular application anytime soon.
An article about this has just been written by Utalkmarketing and can be seen at http://anewkindofmarketing.utalkmarketing.com//let's-flock-together/ they rate it as their favourite social media tool will be interesting to see how they get on with it over time as like James I tend to forget it is on my computer, but will be spurred on to try again having read someone else’s thoughts on it.