by ZombieSkittles on November 12, 2009
I love my SocialVibe. I write about it a fair bit, and there is always a SocialVibe badge on the sidebar (which I ask now, if you could do the activity on it, thank you; it gets points which transfer to benefits for charity).
Today, SocialVibe have unveiled new profiles as the next step in their upgrade of the website. When they made the new dashboard and changed how to earn points, it was only a matter of time before the rest of the site followed suit.
This is what the new profile looks like (click it to enlarge it), and as a comparison, you have the screenshot of the old style here. The obvious idea here is to have the person’s activity for the charity and the ability to earn points for the person the focal points, and everything else secondary.
Everything is clearer and easier to read, and the unnecessary clutter has been removed from the old profiles to make the appeal better.
There’s not much to really say apart from that. You can check out my pimped profile at http://www.socialvibe.com/zombie_plan (and maybe possibly do an activity?), and see the changes for yourself. There’ll probably still be a bug or two since this is still new, but it looks nice, and I personally haven’t encountered any bugs as of yet (I normally get overwhelmed by them)
by ZombieSkittles on October 6, 2009
For those that found the previous post too long to read; SocialVibe have overhauled several aspects of their site including the badges (and the main site, which still has a few problems).
Now the badges are html instead of flash, so points earned from them are made by “engagements” rather than views. Luckily, the engagements earn plenty more points than the impressions earned on the previous badge. If just a couple of people complete the activity a day, then the amount of points earned for charity by my site isn’t actually changed. Just a few people doing a 30 second activity as opposed to 50-100 people needing to view the badges is quite a change.
So, to raise points and therefore money for To Write Love On Her Arms, I ask of you the simple favour of taking a minute out of your time to complete the task attached to the SocialVibe badge located in the sidebar.
by ZombieSkittles on October 6, 2009
SocialVibe has finally unveiled their new site to the public after much teasing and hype for the community.
The old and new SocialVibe dashboards. Click to enlarge.
As you can see, the display looks much brighter and more pleasant as a result. The new website features a much simpler display of points earned for your cause, and even an explanation of how your points translate to help. In the case of my cause To Write Love On Her Arms, “100 points = 9 minutes of online crisis and suicide prevention” (which I hate to brag, means I’ve earned over 34 hours. Just saying).
Now to earn points you can do activities similar to the ones on the Facebook application; you do something like watch a video or answer a question to earn points, then you link it on another social network and if someone else clicks the link and does the activity you earn even more points. As a negative, there seems to be a problem doing activities in Firefox.
Above is an example of the new badges SocialVibe uses, which links to an activity. Unfortunately, unlike the old badges I used to feature in my sidebar, these earn points through engagements rather than impressions. For those who don’t understand what I mean, basically the old badges just had to be seen for me to earn points. Whenever you came to my blog to read a post and the flash badges loaded, you helped me earn points for the charity in question. Now, the badges are html, and need someone to complete the activity on it before points are distributed. On the plus side, the new badges give more points for doing activities than views used to, making up for the disabling of earning from views.
In addition, the site displays an influence graph and shows how many points are made from each site you have a widget or SV application on.
Unfortunately other areas of the site such as the forums and profiles aren’t yet updated and still use the old theme, but hopefully the crew behind the site will improve everything and bring a sort of consistency to the site. I’m loving the new style though.
If you read this far and aren’t a member of SocialVibe already, considering joining by following this amazing link of amazingness, and feel it’s amazing power. Also, please consider doing the activity in the above badge; it will help charity, much like commenting here will ;)
by ZombieSkittles on September 2, 2009
One of my online obsessions is SocialVibe. I’ve blogged about it a few times, and try to get on there at least once a day.
When I first joined, the cause I chose to have my points go to (which get transferred into donations for it) was One Laptop Per Child, an organization that seeks to supply third world countries with the means to connect to the rest of the world and educate. To do so, of course, they plan to give each of the “world’s poorest children” cheap but durable and reliable laptops with content on them to entertain and educate.
Since joining two months ago, their “goal” on SocialVibe was reached little while ago. Looking today, OLPC has apparently reached 163% of their goal, so I’ve decided to move to another cause on SocialVibe.
To Write Love On Her Arms is a group that helps young people with depression, self-injury, and other problems they may face. I know a fair few people who have similar problems, and get told it’s a phase, or they’ll get over it. Their own doctors give them nothing more than a pat on the head. The idea that a cause like this is around makes me feel a little better.
Anyway, this was just to basically say I’ve swapped causes, so now the SocialVibe badges in my sidebar will raise money for TWLOHA.
by ZombieSkittles on August 16, 2009
Today I got delivered the inevitable ultimatum that the wrist band I wear, which was a reward from SocialVibe for the amount of points I’ve raised, couldn’t be worn anymore while I worked. My boss said that while it was great that I help charities, it can’t be worn for security reasons. Apparently back in the day, everyone wore them, and it became an issue because it was easy to slip a chip up your sleeve using it.
The question I pose is, HOW? The thing is a loose piece of rubber that sits on my arm, and isn’t thick enough to seat a chip on it. Is there some special technique I’m missing, or is there some attachment that turns it into a device utilized by professionals?
Later on I got the lowdown, that wristbands were actually banned a few years ago to stop people wearing similar bright orange bands that promoted the union’s campaign of the time. So unfortunately I have to put up with that.
Sucks.
by ZombieSkittles on July 26, 2009
So, as I wrote just over a month ago, I joined the social networking charity site, SocialVibe. The premise is that you create a profile, pick a charity (I chose One Laptop Per Child), and some sponsors. You earn points through participating on the website, and the posting of badges on your websites and other social networking profiles (such as Facebook). Those points translate into donations which the sponsors pay to the charity you’ve chosen.
As you can see, I have two of those badges in the sidebar of this blog, and on my MySpace profile as well. All of these have given me near 6000 points for my charity, which I’m quite proud of.
To add incentive for participating individuals, particular sponsors hold competitions for prizes, where you earn entries depending on how long your badges are visible. Prizes range from DVDs, USB flash drives, and so forth. Sponsors use the badges to promote THEMSELVES, while donating to charity.
If someone reaches the 2000 points mark, they qualify for a pink ball. The pink ball is the mascot of SocialVibe as you can see in their logo on the site, and serves as a physical reward for helping your charity. You apply for the ball, and within a month it comes in the mail. Along with it, a small card congratulating you on your effort towards helping people, a SocialVibe wristband, and a sticker, and of course, the pink stress ball you can see in the photo above. The whole concept is excellent, and if you want to help charity, and get a squishy pink spherical object for your efforts, I implore you to join. Raising money for your cause is practically effortless, and it feels good to help someone less fortunate than yourself.
If you are curious, here is a link to my profile. If you’re a member of the site, add me as a friend so I can check out how you’re helping.
by ZombieSkittles on June 21, 2009
I’ve always been aware that Novephel is an active member of SocialVibe, and that the site is essentially a social networking site that lets you earn points, which add up to donations towards a charity of your choice. I also recall him asking me to join the site. My answer to that was “Yeah, definitely” and was followed by me doing absolutely nothing towards that.
However, after seeing his blog post, I remembered, and decided to join today. It’s certainly interesting, and really easy to gather points, with most of what you CAN do contributing to your total points, including adding photos and updating your status. The forums are a giant cliché of message board posts, with all the classic “What Are You Listening To?”, “Your Favourite Bands”, and “Word Association” threads you expect in practically any message boards.
As you can probably notice; my sidebar is looking a little cluttered now with the addition of the SocialVibe badge, but it’s all part of getting the message out and gathering points towards the One Laptop Per Child charity. Why is there a band on it? Because each member picks a sponsor to help them support the charity they’ve chosen; I saw Rise Against, and since I like the band, went with them.
You can view my profile here, and if you want to participate and join SocialVibe, do it through this link, so I get extra points towards OLPC, every bit helps!
