Mediaboss Marketing

I'm not what you would call the most "tech savvy" person on the planet. Both my iPod Touch and smartphone are several years old, and I'm still really not sure what a Klout even is. When I was told about KYCK, which was described to me as "Facebook and Twitter combined, but for soccer fans," I was largely "meh" regarding the service. After all, I already have Facebook and Twitter. Do I really need another social networking tool, one specifically related to soccer?

Yes. It turns out that I do.

On the surface, KYCK really is like a combination of the best parts of Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus. You can choose your favorite teams and get news articles regarding those clubs posted onto your feed, follow and interact with players, friends and random fans, and even "check in" at live matches. In short, KYCK is an ideal tool for soccer fans who also use social networking services on a daily (hourly) basis.

Mac Lackey, KYCK founder and company CEO, has soccer in his blood. "I've been a lifelong soccer enthusiast," Lackey told me during a brief chat on Tuesday. "I grew up playing, played my whole childhood, and my dream was to play for a career." He went to college on a soccer scholarship before playing in the USL League, formerly the USISL. With Major League Soccer not yet in existence and a move to Europe "not a realistic option," Lackey found other ways to make a living via the beautiful game. Prior to KYCK, he built and sold four separate companies, including InternetSoccer.com, a "global (soccer) news portal" that he created in the late 90s. With KYCK, Lackey is now looking to bring the world soccer community together like never before.

KYCK, technically in private beta at the moment, is set to (hopefully) officially launch at the end of July 2012. After being tested by a small group, the service was opened up to a larger but still limited audience. After receiving over 500 requests from roughly 26 countries, KYCK reentered a test phase. It is now in the "request process," meaning those looking to join KYCK can either request an invite or be added by a friend who is already using the service.

One KYCK application that I find especially interesting is the "Events" option, which allows users to "check in" at a game. Such event pages list starting elevens and other information regarding that particular match. KYCK users who have linked their Facebook and/or Twitter accounts with the service will share that event page via their other social networking accounts, allowing individuals not on KYCK to view the event page. KYCK users will also have the opportunity to discuss the match with other fans via the event page. Potential users worried about spamming their Facebook and Twitter feeds with KYCK links should know that users can choose which non-event check-in posts are shared via their other social networking accounts.

Current KYCK users should notice two major improvements to the service in the near future. Videos that are shared via KYCK will be embedded on account feeds, allowing users to watch that video without having to navigate to that file's home website. The biggest change that's coming is what Lackey referred to as "media layers." "Right now, if you're on KYCK, there is your feed...a very traditional feed (comparable to what you'll see on Twitter), and this area called Top KYCKS," Lackey explained. "That is based upon your preferences (teams and user accounts you follow on KYCK). Right now, you have to switch between the two feeds. In the upcoming Version 3, the screen is split 60-40. 60 percent will be your feed, but 40 percent is your real-time content." The 40 percent portion will include both content that deals with teams you have selected to follow, as well as news items that are trending on KYCK.

The mobile KYCK application is a must for users who also own an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. Photos and videos can be uploaded to your account directly through the mobile app. Coming soon, the app will also be taking the check-in feature to a new level. Upon checking in via the app (once the latest version of KYCK is launched), you will be informed of other KYCK users who are also attending that match. Lackey told me that he's also interested in working with pubs and other establishments that are close to stadiums in order to inform users of the KYCK app about soccer-related food and drink specials in a particular area, as well as about meet-ups occurring before and after a match. The KYCK app is currently free, although there may eventually be an "enhanced version" sometime down the road.

KYCK isn't just for fans. Lackey told me that several players, such as Jozy Altidore and Omar Cummings, have accounts, and that the company will be reaching out to more players once the service is officially launched.

After playing around on the KYCK website for a brief amount of time, I have to say that I'm both very impressed with the current product, and that I'm also looking forward to the launch of Version 3. Social networking websites are how soccer fans from all over learn about breaking news and how they locate articles, and it's very useful to have one place to find such posts without having to scroll past comments regarding somebody's lunch or pictures of my friend's dog. It doesn't matter if you support a club that plays in Major League Soccer, the English Premier League, Serie A, La Liga or any other professional organization. There's something for all soccer fans on KYCK.

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KYCK: The Social Networking Tool for the Soccer World

PALO ALTO, Calif.

Facebook has new competition. A Palo Alto-based developer on Monday launched a new social networking website that has investors going "gaga."

Lady Gaga fans like Hayward's Elizabeth Ortiz are called "little monsters."

Ortiz proudly shows off her tattoo inside her lip that reads "monster."

"It's inspired by Lady Gaga," she said.

And now the so-called "Mother Monster" Lady Gaga has launched her own social networking website called LittleMonsters.com.

The social networking website was in beta testing for months and just went online to the general public Monday. Like Facebook and Twitter, users on LittleMonsters.com can have followers, chat, post comments and pictures and engage in other activities.

But unlike Facebook, the site is all Gaga all the time.

Palo Alto based company Backplane developed LittleMonsters.com.

Silicon Valley 411 reports the company raised $4.3 million from investors, far more than it needed.

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New social network site centered on Lady Gaga launches

London: Ever felt low if your friend gets more likes or tweets than you? You're not alone. Comparisons on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter make people feel anxious and under-confident, according to a poll.

The poll also found that more than half said these sites had altered their behaviour, especially suffering a negative impact from social media. Two-thirds said they were unable to relax or to doze off after spending time on the sites.

And one quarter of those polled said they had been left facing difficulties in their relationships or workplace after becoming confrontational online, the Telegraph reported.

Comparisons on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter make people feel anxious and under-confident.

In total, 298 people were polled by Salford Business School at the University of Salford, for the charity Anxiety UK. Of those, 53 percent said the launch of social networking sites had changed their behaviour and of those, 51 percent said the impact had been negative.

The research also demonstrated the addictive powers of internet, with 55 percent of people saying they felt "worried or uncomfortable" when they could not access their Facebook or e-mail accounts.

More than 60 percent of people said they felt compelled to turn off electronic gadgets in order to have a break, with one in three of those surveyed saying they switched the devices off several times each day.

The findings about behaviour changes after using social networking sites came from smaller in-depth research which was then carried out by Anxiety UK.

Nicky Lidbetter, the charity's chief executive said: "If you are predisposed to anxiety it seems that the pressures from technology act as a tipping point, making people feel more insecure and more overwhelmed."

Linda Blair, a clinical psychologist said many people suffered increased anxiety because they failed to take charge of the demands being placed on them. She said: "I think one of the key things is that people have begun to behave as though technology is in control of them, instead of the other way round. We can switch the gadgets off but a lot of us have forgotten how to."

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Facebook, Twitter lowering your confidence?

PEOPLE are said to get more affected by Facebook photos of others because these are real, un-Photoshopped photos of people they know.

We use social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook and blogs to virtually connect with people, updating each other with regular status reports and giving (and receiving) feedback about them. Social networking sites readily provide us with what we personally, professionally and socially needand everything for free.

Negative impact

However, we should also be aware of the negative impact of social networking in our life. Staying on those sites takes so much of your time, especially if you have no self-discipline. And notice how painful comments affect our thoughts and actions.

Several articles and studies worldwide have shown how social networking sites like Facebook can create a negative perception of ones body and weight when comparing ones photos with the photos of friends. Facebook users usually post photos of themselves at their best body shape and clothes. People with self-esteem and body image issues can become easily affected by these hard-to-reach images, just like when seeing photos of models and celebrities in television, magazines and newspapers. According to mental health specialists, people get more affected by Facebook photos of others because these are real, un-Photoshopped photos of people they know, like family members and friends.

Statistics

Results of an online survey for 600 Facebook users age 16-40 conducted by the researchers of Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard Pratt in Baltimore show that:

Eighty percent of the respondents visit Facebook once a day and more than half of them log on numerous times a day. This implies that constant Facebook use may affect ones body image, and can lead to weight obsession and preoccupation, unhealthy dieting practices and eating disorders as results of social comparison among Facebook peers.

Both young and old can be negatively affected by constant Facebook visits. In fact, a study this year conducted by professors at the University of Haifa shows that the more frequent an adolescent girl (average age: 14.8) spends on Facebook, the more chances of developing various eating disorders and negative body image.

How to use Facebook to avoid body image and self-esteem issues:

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Facebook can make you fat

By Kristen Powers

Published July 10, 2012

As college students, we all need technology to function, but some of us crave it. Whenever one of my professors doesnt use Blackboard, students get annoyed because the system makes accessing study materials and grades much easier. Cellphones have gone far beyond making calls and texting. I personally get lost and frustrated without a GPS, and the games and apps on smartphones have given many of us the means to kill time.

Smartphones are so prevalent that providers are reportedly worried about the possibility of a spectrum crunch (the idea that we could run out of airwaves)[http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/spectrum-crunch] for data signaling because of increased smartphone and Wi-Fi use. Even if that never happens, our fears of a theoretical spectrum crunch reflect how technology use is being taken to the extreme. As a result of our increased consumption of technology, social networking in particular, we have to deal with aspects of our social identities that never have existed before, and it is starting to have an unhealthy effect.

Online networks place a pressure on us to be available at all times. Of all the social networks out there, the one that seems to have nearly universal membership is Facebook. With its more than (901 million users as of March 2012)[http://newsroom.fb.com/content/default.aspx?NewsAreaId=22], Facebook's massive social network is severely distorting how we perceive our relationships with others. Some openly fret about their number of friends on Facebook, which is often in the thousands for more prolific users.

The idea we can maintain a contact network of this size in which people are anything more than a number on a web page is completely implausible. Research has shown (the brain cannot handle more than 100 to 150 meaningful connections)[http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/mar/14/my-bright-idea-robin-dunbar] with other people in one's immediate day-to-day life. Social networking has its purpose, but it is important we keep the purpose of sites like Facebook in context and avoid using it as a replacement for meaningful social interaction. Solely communicating with someone via text can get boring, and a lot of nuanced emotions can get lost when not communicating in person. Because of this, these sites should primarily serve as a sort of Rolodex, not as a social register or replacement for direct interaction.

Another distressing side effect of our increasingly large electronic identities is once you put something online, it exists indefinitely, which could be harmful for younger generations. If every thought I had as a 14-year-old was documented on Twitter, I would be living under a rock from embarrassment.

Whats more, the legacy you leave on the Internet could outlive you, giving others the freedom to manipulate it. At the Coachella Music Festival this year, holograms of the late Tupac Shakur and Nate Dogg appeared onstage. Though this performance helped increase the sale of Tupac's records by nearly 600 percent, some privacy advocates voiced their disapproval, and rapper Waka Flocka Flame complained record companies were (getting paid off a dead man's body.)[http://www.vibe.com/article/v-exclusive-waka-flocka-tupac-hologram-i-hated-it]

Most of us arent particularly worried about being regenerated as a hologram postmortem, but the increasing size of the average persons online presence is making it increasingly difficult for us to control the information we choose to share with people. As society increasingly judges people based on their online identities, this lack of control can be extremely frustrating. Because of the unhealthy effects of online social networking, I suggest we leave our laptops and make an effort to connect more with our friends face-to-face.

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Log off: social networking is bringing us down