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Finding a job is all about connections. It’s about networking with former colleagues, clients, vendors, classmates, and friends. However, with the increasingly important role of technology in the job hunting process, how do employers and job hunters find or develop those connections? Just as friendship has gone the way of Web 2.0, with sites like Facebook and MySpace becoming the norm for socializing, so have corporate recruiters embraced online networking as a means of establishing professional relationships with potential employees.

One way in which recruiters are reaching out to job hunters is through targeted ads, groups, and messages on social networking sites. For example, Victoria’s Secret hosts a Facebook group which directs members to internship opportunities with the clothing and lingerie retail giant. Southwest Airlines has a similar group, offering not only internships but also job openings targeting college students studying in technology programs. The post specifically invites software engineers from six Texas/Oklahoma schools to apply, since Southwest is based in Dallas.

The idea is that by reaching out to current students and recent graduates, recruiters will be able to speak directly to potential entry-level employees. Also, as Southwest’s efforts demonstrate, those who spend time on Facebook and other social networking sites are more likely to be tech savvy, hence the job postings for their technology group. Employers have had great success with these targeted messages. According to the Wall Street Journal, Verizon Communications also used sponsored posts and groups on Facebook, which resulted in over one million clicks on their career site.

Recruiters and job hunters alike are also using video sharing sites to promote themselves and connect face-to-face with each other. A good example of this is the proliferation of recruitment videos up on YouTube and other video sharing sites. For example, this spot from Cisco highlights the diverse workforce, the fluidity of roles within the organization, and the personal interests of their employees. The actors (or real employees?), none of whomlook older than 35, are shown not just at work, but also at the beach surfing, at sporting events, in volunteer roles, and traveling around the world. The message is strong, the video is high-quality, and the market they want to reach is active on YouTube.

Job hunters are turning the tables on recruiters by using YouTube for self-promotion videos. This clever spot follows a graphic designer as she hands out resumes around town. The videographer asks her potential interview questions which highlight her passion for her field. Another great idea? Model Tomiko Foster created a video of the best shots of her portfolio, giving potential clients not only a look at her past work, but also an idea of her presence in front of the camera. The video also features a plug for her agency, Ford Models, and invites interested parties to visit their website.

Recruiters and potential employers are also utilizing video technology to set up interviews and meetings without the commitment of flying candidates across the country and picking up a large expense tabs. Employers can virtually meet with job candidates, and executives in offices around the country could potentially participate or observe the interview. Industry experts predict that more and more computers will feature video conferencing technology to allow the average job seeker access to employers all over the world.

Perhaps one of the first web tools to be utilized by recruiters and employers was the search engine. Most hiring managers spend a few minutes “Googling” job candidates before calling them for an interview, and if they find something unsavory or unattractive, the job hunter may not make it to the interview stage. If a potential candidate is featured in drunken photos on MySpace or wrote an inflammatory blog post about a past employer, recruiters are going to think twice about hiring him or her. It may be judgmental, but it’s the nature of business. Recruiters want to meet with people who conduct themselves professionally, and a racy Facebook profile could work against a job hunter.

Those candidates who are tech savvy are creating websites and profiles on business networking sites like LinkedIn. LinkedIn is essentially Facebook for business. Job hunters and employers alike create professional profiles which showcase their experience, opportunities, and best qualities. One can connect with former coworkers and find job opportunities through the online network. Once you establish a connection with a professional contact or colleague, you have access to all of their connections, etc. The site is fast becoming a new frontier for turning personal and business contacts into job leads and professional opportunities.

While a personal connection is always a sure way to find job leads, Web 2.0 technologies are helping to bridge the gap between technology and face-to-face contact. Through video conferencing, social/enterprise networking, and personal promotion, recruiters and job hunters are making it easier to get to know each other on the internet.

Professional athletes have always been big business for advertisers, but recent trends show that the pros are taking the lead when it comes to low-budget, online ads. Instead of allowing big-budget companies like Nike and Gatorade to create their images, athletes are reaching out to fans with Web 2.0 technology. Many have Facebook and MySpace profiles, contribute videos to YouTube, and write regular blogs. This grassroots marketing effort shows that celebrity athletes are stepping up to the plate to showcase their personalities, and it has helped them establish public identities outside of traditional sponsorships.

Perhaps no athlete has done a better job of web self-promotion than Chris Bosh, the charismatic forward for the Toronto Raptors. This rising star in the NBA is card-carrying member of the Web 2.0 generation. In addition to being the fourth draft pick in 2003 and taking the Raptors to their first ever division title, Bosh has his own YouTube channel, the only athlete to claim this “honor”. Bosh got the channel following the success of his hit YouTube video, in which he asks fans to vote for his inclusion on the NBA All Star team. Dressed in a cowboy hat and a bolo tie (Bosh is a native Texan), he stumps using the classic language of a used car salesman: “You think it’s $20? No sir. You think it’s $10? No ma’am. Even five? Uh huh! It is free! That is right, it is free!” In case you’re wondering, “Bubba” is played by Bosh’s brother.

Bosh’s hilarious self-promotion was a success, and he will be playing in the All Star game on February 17th. Fans on YouTube have commented that his sense of humor won their votes. As one commentator wrote, “NBA should be THRILLED to have this guy! Young superstar coming into his prime. Tech savy for the internet.” The video has received nearly 500,000 views, all for a production cost of approximately $20. As Bosh told the Wall Street Journal, $15 of that was for the cowboy hat. On his official blog, Bosh expresses his interest in continuing his YouTube success: “I think I’ve found a way for me to show people how I like to have fun. I have a few ideas for new videos so I want everyone to be on the lookout.”

Another NBA star has also taken his branding into his own hands. Steve Nash, an All Star who plays guard with the Phoenix Suns, enlisted amateur filmmaker Lola Schnabel to put together a web ad for Nike. The unusual part of this is that Nike had no creative control or financial stake in the beautifully shot and expertly edited ad. It features Nash’s other athletic talents like soccer and skateboarding, and he felt it could better reflect his personality than a big budget masterpiece produced by Nike. While Nash isn’t quite as wired as Bosh, the two NBA and YouTube stars may represent the future of how professional athletes interact with fans and advertisers.

The biggest surprise in this new trend is that advertisers have not objected to these independent ads. While Nike has not specifically promoted Nash’s spot, a spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal, “If an athlete remains true to him or herself and respectful to others and the brand, then it is hard to envision a conflict.” Nike’s position acknowledges that athletes are essentially brands or commodities, and as long as their self-promotion efforts align with those of their corporate sponsors, the benefits are universal. As more and more tech-savvy sports stars emerge in the professional leagues, we can look forward to an increase in viral, web marketing efforts by athletes, and for athletes.

Web video continues to amaze and amuse users, and the options for watching high quality content continue to expand. Now advertisers are getting in on the game, but not in the conventional (i.e. Google-run) way. Time Warner’s popular website, Very Funny Ads, highlights the best and funniest commercials from around the world. Launched in 2006 to coincide with TBS’s annual World’s Funniest Commercials special, the site gives viewers access to highly entertaining and frequently updated content while showcasing the brightest talent of the advertising world and the companies who use humor to hawk their products.

Advertising firms are well aware of the power of humor. Funny commercials make us stop and actually watch the duration of the ad. They feel more like a short film, and they are often shared around the water cooler or dinner table. Advertisers have long harnessed the power of funny during the biggest ad spectacle of the year, the SuperBowl. Funny commercials aired during the big game often spawn entire campaigns and recurring characters who become the backbone of future ad efforts.

One of the most successful of these funny ads aired during the Superbowl last year and is now featured on Very Funny Ads. This spot shows Kevin Federline, the ex-husband of Britney Spears, daydreaming of his life as a rap star while actually serving up fries in a fast food restaurant. The commercial is for an insurance policy through Nationwide, but the product seems overshadowed by the hilarious situation. The ad was wildly popular, generating thousands of news stories and millions in free publicity for the company, though whether it sold insurance policies is another question entirely. The commercial has had a second life on Very Funny Ads and YouTube, which helps keep Nationwide Insurance’s name in people’s minds. We remember it only because it’s funny, and web allows us to enjoy it again and again.

Another benefit of sites like Very Funny Ads is allowing users from all around the globe to see commercials aired overseas. This ad for Hydro, a Norwegian energy company, features daring and dangerous youngsters rerouting a train for their entertainment. The video is shot documentary style, as though one of the children is filming the incident. The captioning on screen says, “There are many young engineers. We can’t wait till they grow up.” The humor of the ad is universal, and it is a prime example of good content enabling a product to reach a global market.

While many forms of humor are universal (i.e. unexpected endings like in the Federline ad, absurdity like in the train commercial), sometimes companies who try to be funny in their commercials end up issuing formal apologies, pulling ad campaigns, losing customers, and probably firing their advertising firms. A great example of this can be found in this GM spot that was also featured during the SuperBowl last year. The commercial features a lovable yellow robot who makes a mistake on the factory floor, loses his job, and becomes so despondent that he jumps off a bridge. Alert readers will already have spotted the problem with this “funny” ad. Perhaps unemployed, depressed, and suicidal auto workers (be they human or robot) aren’t universally funny. The ad was also criticized for featuring the robot in the first place, since many auto workers have lost their jobs to automation in recent years. GM was forced to change the ending of the commercial so that the bridge jump was only a dream, but they never issued a formal statement.

Very Funny Ads streams videos and supplies links to the commercials they feature, but they do not allow downloads or embedding. Their content is updated frequently, and users are encouraged to suggest ads they would like to see featured on the site, though they cannot directly upload á la YouTube. This forum, and others of its type, give commercials which use humor a second life on the web. Perhaps we’ll see more and more advertisers using humor to give their commercials a longer lifecycle through video sharing and hosting websites. It certainly maximizes those advertising budgets.

The election season is reaching a fever pitch, and this election year the candidates are reaching out to voters in unique ways. All of the top contenders have some type of online presence, though some have been more successful in their social networking efforts than others. They have created Facebook pages and groups, MySpace profiles, YouTube videos, and encouraged their supporters to organize through Meetup.com. So far, Republican Ron Paul has focused on Web 2.0 tools more than any other candidate, and he tops the list of candidate Google searches for 2007. He has certainly started a trend, but the question remains: will hits and Facebook friends translate into votes?

The candidates have used different means of reaching voters who hang out online, and with varying degrees of success. Democrat Barack Obama’s Facebook group, “One Million Strong for Barack” was created by a supporter, and infamously joined by Rudy Giuliani’s daughter. Other candidates have copied the verbiage, including TV personality Stephen Colbert, though to date the group is home to just over 400,000 Facebook members. The group is a grassroots effort run by supporters, and is not affiliated with Obama’s campaign. This is in contrast to the other candidates Facebook groups, which are calculated PR moves. Perhaps this puts Obama ahead of the curve when election time arrives.

Another frequently used site is YouTube, where the candidates have jointly posted over 2500 videos since last January (452 of those belong to Republican Mitt Romney, never one to be camera-shy). Perhaps the most entertaining of these comes from Mike Huckabee, who is clearly trying to capitalize on the recent endorsement from Chuck Norris, a.k.a. Walker, Texas Ranger. Huckabee asserts (with straight face) that “there’s no chin under Chuck Norris’ beard, only another fist.” It’s clear this ad is meant to appeal to the YouTube demographic, as I’m sure my grandmother wouldn’t laugh at this joke.

Perhaps the most influential of the Web 2.0 sites used by presidential candidates is Meetup.com, a networking site which allows users to connect with others in their communities with similar interests. Their website states: “We want to see the world’s people self-organize. We believe that people can change their world, or the world by organizing themselves into groups - Meetups - powerful enough to make a difference.” Ron Paul has had tremendous success with Meetup, and his approximately 82,000 supporters have organized 21,000 offline events to fund raise and generate support for him. Whether he wins or loses the nomination, his success using Meetup and other social networking sites will likely be emulated in future election campaigns.

Web analytics company Compete has created a tool to track the candidates and their successes and failures using online networking. Candidate Facetime breaks up the candidates by party and shows what percentage of their “hits” are on their official websites, how their hits stack up against their competitors, and how many total hours people have spent learning about them through their Web 2.0 efforts. November’s data shows Ron Paul as a clear Republican frontrunner when it comes to generating online buzz, while Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John Edwards are neck-and-neck for the Democrats.

As Mike Huckabee points out on his Facebook group, “I believe that the internet will play a huge role in the 2008 campaign and sites such as this are wonderful tools for people to come together and show their support for the candidate of their choice.” Right he is, especially when it comes to gathering support among younger, more wired voters. Or are they “voters” when all they’ve done to express their political beliefs is to post a candidate’s name to an online profile? Are these groups just a way for lazy voters to establish a political identity, or will they transform into actual support for these candidates? We’re about to find out.

The day is soon approaching when the major electronic devices in our lives will become integrated. Our phones are already MP3 players, our digital cameras are already phones, and our phones are becoming more and more like laptops. The TV set seems to be the last man out in this trend, like the wimpy kid who gets picked last for the dodge ball team (no offense meant, I was that wimpy kid). In our heart of hearts, we all expected to be surfing the internet on our TVs by now, and it’s disappointing that it hasn’t come to fruition. However, some folks are working on providing internet video through our TVs, and the challenges they face are immense. With the high cost of service and hardware, the lack of quality content, the slow download speeds, and the complications of setup, there are definitely hurdles that these companies are going to have to jump.

Apple TV is a serious contender in this market, and some industry experts expect their business to grow significantly in 2008. Their relatively small box would be fairly easy to find room for in your entertainment center, but the 40GB version retails for $299.00, which is a bit much for the pleasure of watching YouTube on a widescreen. In addition to other internet video sites, Apple TV can access your iTunes library and display your downloads on your TV. The device works with a wireless connection, so it wouldn’t be practical if your home connection isn’t wireless.

Sony also released a device called “BRAVIA Internet Video Link”, which will be integrated into most of its new television sets to allow them access to free internet video content from providers such as AOL, Yahoo!, Grouper, and of course, Sony BMG and Sony Pictures. The BRAVIA link will access your broadband Ethernet connection, so it won’t be a problem for non-wireless subscribers. There’s also no extra fee for the service, though how long that will be true is another question. One is immediately suspicious that ISPs or cable companies (which are mostly the same these days) will find a way to charge you extra for downloading and watching videos on your TV. After all, as a Canadian man found out recently, providers always seem to find exceptions to the term “unlimited”.

There is another concern for companies looking to bring web video to the living room. Those Marshall McLuhan scholars may recall the mantra, “The medium is the message,” and while television is the medium of passivity, the internet is the medium of creativity, at least when it comes to user-generated video content. People do not contribute to their favorite TV shows, but they do increasingly contribute to the content we view on the web. People watch TV when they want to absorb, not create, and it’s unclear as to whether these two desires can be balanced.

So the question is: does anyone really want to watch YouTube on their TV? Do they want to flip on their TV and actively search for shows or do they want to consume whatever FOX, NBC, ABC, and CBS has planned for the evening? Forrester Research indicates that 80% of responders would not pay for an internet video TV device at any price (Wall Street Journal article). The makers of these adaptive devices may find that there simply isn’t a market for their product.

Another challenge they face is the rise of web-enabled cell phones. It seems that we’re watching internet video on increasingly smaller screens rather than on our increasingly humongous television sets. Web-enabled phones have seen huge growth this year, and their ability to entertain us seems endless. Who wouldn’t want to check out last night’s episode of The Office during the morning commuter rail ride?

Internet video TV devices may be barking up the wrong tree, but it’s not entirely a lost cause. The industry needs to do some serious thinking about their target market, and they need to make the devices less obtrusive and more affordable. Whether or not web video is brought to our TV screens, the idea of consolidating electronic devices will live on, and eventually our TVs will be able to join the rest of the proverbial dodge ball team.

We’ve all experienced it: someone sends a link our way, and it takes us to a popular commercial that has made its way onto YouTube. No doubt the company being spotlighted and the advertiser who produced the commercial are tickled pink by this phenomenon. After all, they usually have to pay TV networks to ensure their commercials reach millions of viewers. It must be a pleasant surprise when a popular website like YouTube accomplishes the same thing for free. This begs the question: why do some ads make the cut and others don’t? Let’s examine a few of the YouTube hits to see the common thread.

First, who could forget the hilarious ad showing a disastrous Wii accident. In demonstrating the realistic motions of the Wii baseball game, one guy says, “Now throw me a pitch just like we’re outside.” His buddy does exactly that, throwing the game controller at the expensive television, which falls onto and demolishes the even more expensive sound system. A narrator asks, “Wanna get away? Now you can with Southwest Airlines’ internet specials.” This ad breaks the cardinal rule of advertising, which holds that the product you’re selling should always be identifiable and obvious. However, by surprising the audience with the spectacular destruction of what we thought was the product, the advertisers are able to grab our attention and sell us cheap airline fares. The key with any ad is to get people to actually watch it, instead of doing something else while waiting for the program to return. This ad accomplishes just that in a very funny and engaging way. It also lampoons the incredibly popular Wii, which appeals both to adults who had to stand long lines to buy them for their kids, and to the generation of internet users who regularly post to YouTube. It’s no wonder this commercial is reaching new audiences on the video sharing site.

Another popular ad has not only become a hit on YouTube (over a million views), but also spawned various spoofs created by users. This Cingular ad (now AT&T) features a young girl arguing with her mother over the text messaging charges on their wireless bill. The girl speaks entirely in “text acronyms”, and the commercial cleverly provides subtitling for those of us who don’t understand the abbreviations. When asked who she is texting, she replied, “IDK, my BFF Jill?”, which has become a kind of mantra for texting addicts. Some YouTube spoofs have replaced the original subtitles with similar but naughtier “translations”, while others have entirely recreated the commercial with their own actors and scripts. The ad is meant to promote an unlimited text messaging service, but like many incredibly popular commercials the product is overshadowed by the humor of the ad. This example also appeals to a cross-generational group: those who have to pay the wireless bill, and those who spend a lot of time on YouTube.

Apple has also been a YouTube success in its “Mac vs. PC” ads. Some users have created medleys featuring all these ads, but a recent favorite has been the ad that criticizes Microsoft Vista. The “PC” character is accompanied by a security agent, complete with dark suit and ear piece. The security agent filters all of PC’s actions, saying, “Mac is asking a question - cancel or allow?” PC explains that Vista’s security procedures interrupt users to approve many functions that are invisible on a Mac. The ad ends with the security agent telling PC, “You are coming to a sad realization - cancel or allow?” This ad is perfectly suited to appeal to the average YouTube user, who is likely to keep up with technology trends and product releases. These Mac vs. PC commercials have also been spoofed, including a version with South Park characters and an hysterical (but nerdy) rap video.

These commercials have built success beyond the major TV networks by crafting a message that appeals specifically to a demographic that contributes to YouTube. The ads are funny, clever, and high-quality, with products or services that are directed at the Web 2.0 user (but paid for by their parents). These commercials all span the generation gap, and they are funny both to the network television audience and the YouTube audience. Ads that have a second life on video sharing sites are often those that poke fun at our current technology culture, be it Wii accidents, talking in texting language, or the frustrations of an OS upgrade. We like to laugh at these universal experiences, and sites like YouTube prolongs the life of clever ads. The advertisers reach new and eager viewers, without paying for airtime, and they get the last laugh.

No longer is web video content the playground of bored high school students and wacky YouTube “stars”. NBC and News Corp have gotten in on the game with the launch of Hulu, a website which gives viewers access to full length television series’ and movies, including popular shows like Heroes, The Simpsons, Saturday Night Live, The Office, and 24. The content is pulled from more than just NBC’s programming; Hulu has partnered with E! Entertainment, FUEL TV, SciFi Network and USA Networks to offer a diversity of shows from different providers. The content is not just pulled from the current prime time schedule either. Older classic shows, including Miami Vice and Alfred Hitchcock Presents, will also be available through Hulu.

Hulu has designed a customized viewing screen, allowing viewers to adjust the size of the window, the brightness/sounds from the browser, and the placement of the screen in the browser for multi-tasking. While not the typical video sharing site like YouTube, you can embed Hulu clips on your website and select start and stop times for custom clips. Content is also available at partner sites AOL, Comcast, MSN, MySpace, and Yahoo, all of which have their own video players for seamless viewing. The interface is sleek, yet familiar, and the picture quality is much better than your average web video.

Beta testing is being conducted privately, with a waiting list for users who want to test out the site (you can see a sample video by visiting the “blog” page). It seems, however, that feedback from a small test group is about as much viewer input as Hulu wants. The user participation stops at “thumbs up/down” functions, written reviews, and playlists. They have reportedly enlisted students from film schools to create content from existing offerings: one clips is a montage of the many times Homer Simpson says “D’oh!”

Is the user participation level at Hulu undemocratic? Hardcore YouTube fans might say so. The younger generation of Web 2.0 users have certain expectations for new sites, and those expectations generally include high-level customization/personalization, a forum where one’s own creativity or thoughts are showcased, and a highly interactive community surrounding the site (read: Facebook, MySpace, Second Life, or YouTube). Hulu might be fighting against that aspect of web culture, but they also might be aiming at a different audience entirely. Older web users tend to seek static entertainment from the web. Casual internet users in their late twenties and thirties have trouble buying into sites like Facebook because they can’t understand how to customize a page. They feel that by interacting with a website they might “break” something permanently. Perhaps Hulu is planning to cash in on this demographic, who feel more comfortable absorbing web content than creating it. This user might catch up on last night’s episode of House on a lunch break at work, for example.

Hulu will be free to users with revenue coming from ads. This is a smart move if they plan to compete with outfits like YouTube. Their press kit states, “Hulu’s (ambitious and never-ending) mission is to help consumers find and enjoy the world’s premium content when, where and how they want it”; this suggests that they don’t see themselves as competing with user-generated content sites, and I agree. They offer a different product entirely in the form of mainstream TV and movies. I, for one, hope the venture proves successful. How else will I catch up on all those missed episodes of The Office?

As a means of corporate communication, Web video is relatively new. Although YouTube has been in existence for more than two years, it has been primarily used as a form of entertainment for young, Web-savvy video sharing enthusiasts. However, because of the site’s usability and popularity, it was only a matter of time before YouTube, and others like it, would add commercial use to the list of possibilities created by video sharing.

As a nascent brand positioning tool, the full potential of Web video remains to be realized. It is possible to capitalize on this potential by learning how to use this tool. Keeping in mind the following points will help you navigate the difference between the old and the new.

1. Web video is not a commercial.
If you market your company in a Web video the same way you would for a television commercial, you will not be maximizing the low-cost, do-it-yourself atmosphere of the Web. With Web video, a good idea will trump a slick advertising budget any day of the week. By no means does this imply that you should forsake quality—merely that you can accomplish a whole lot more for a great deal less with Web video.

2. Web video tends toward a viral, rather than a blanket effect.
Instead of advertising from a single distribution point, Web video is all about distribution and re-distribution…and then more re-distribution. The number of viewers a Web video generates is proportional to how interesting it is.

3. Creativity is the key to successful Web video.

Whether people are inspired to watch your video with music, or humor, or an emotionally compelling story, the videos that get passed around and re-watched are the ones that depict something no one has seen before. Want to stand out from your competitors? Use a forum that is new to say something about yourself in a way that no one else can. It may not be as easy as it sounds, but if you can do it, it is worth the effort.

Web video, if produced with an eye toward its potential, can be a very powerful marketing tool, and can communicate your brand in a way that simple text or two-dimensional ads never could. If Web video is part of your overall search engine optimization (SEO) strategy, it can also help boost your search engine rankings and make your entire Web site more visible.