Mark Zuckerberg’s Stationery Is Slick

If there’s anyone you’d expect to hear from through the web rather than snail mail, it would be Mark Zuckerberg. Yet some lucky folks might just see an old-school letter in the mail box from none other than Zucks himself soon – and quite a letter it is. Ben Barry, a graphic designer at Facebook, recently blogged photos of the stationery he designed for the Facebook czar – check it out!

I gotta admit I would love to get one of those grey envelopes myself. Barry said Zuckerberg wanted something “a little more personal and special” for responding to Facebook lovers sharing their stories, and this certainly hits the mark (hehe). I love to hear that arguably the biggest name in social media believes some occasions still call for a old-fashioned letter… at least until he figures out how to make a Facebook message look this slick.

What do you think of Zuck’s stationery?

Facebook’s “Email System” is Way More than Email

This morning we let you know that Facebook was making an announcement about their much anticipated Project Titan, a rumored web based email system that would challenge the likes of Gmail & Yahoo. Well folks, the rumors weren’t exactly accurate. Project Titan, or “Messages,” in and of itself isn’t a self-proclaimed “email killer” as much as it is a convergence conversation system. According to Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook will bring in SMS, email, IM, and Facebook messages into one place.

“Messages” Foundations

Seamless messaging – “Messages” will integrate across four platforms, listed above, into one singular system. The new platform will enable sending and receiving of all four forms of messaging. Messages no longer live in independent homes – your email account, your Facebook page, your phone – but will follow you to where you are depending if you are on or off-line, or if using a Facebook app on a smart phone.

Conversation history – The new messaging system will enable users to track all communications in a single thread, going across all platforms; a “box of letters,” if you will. This history will provide context to not only conversations, but relationships.

Social Inbox – There will three different inboxes categorized by conversation type: messages, other, junk. The first will group close friends and priority conversations. The second will comprise of messages from acquaintances, group messages, fan page messages, etc. The third is obvious: junk! The user will have control over who is categorized where, and can drag threads to different inboxes. Facebook will also allow users to bounce and filter messages from those you don’t want to hear from. This makes for a spam-proof and potentially much more private system than regular ol’ email.

Rollout

Facebook isn’t planning on rolling out “Messages” immediately or all at once. It will be an invite-only system for a bit, allowing users to give feedback and for Facebook to make necessary changes before opening it up to the general public. And while we want to be a part of that invite-only community, we think it is smart for Facebook to work out the kinks of the system before inviting the world in for criticism.

The Future of Email

Don’t worry, email isn’t dead. However, we think that this changes the way that friends will communicate with one another. Email, on the other hand, will take on a different set of priorities, maybe taking on more of a business role, enabling business partners and coworkers to maintain contact with each other. “Messages” will be used more for personal conversations with close friends.

Marketing Implications

As marketers, we must always be concerned about what Facebook changes mean for our clients. However, this new messaging system doesn’t alter Facebook’s awesome advertising platform. Ads will appear just as it did before: on the side bar. The content of the conversation will not play a role in the advertising displayed. The same old rules apply: content inputted into Facebook by the user will dictate advertising targeting options.

Our one critique is that it equalizes all forms of conversation. It assumes that people want to have the same kind of communication all on one platform. It doesn’t enable the ability to choose what topics you discuss over different platforms: it is all incorporated as one. Regardless, we think the ability converge on multiple platforms has great potential.

What do you think? How will this affect the way you communicate with your networks? Will you opt in to an @facebook.com address?