Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Zuckerberg Turning Facebook Into Twitter?
Silicon Alley Insider reports: Last fall, Facebook tried and failed to acquire Twitter for $500 million in Facebook stock. So what has Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg done since the deal blew up? Since then, Facebook has bit by bit taken on Twitter-like features as its own.
Fox Sports To Twitter During All-Star Game
MDN reports: Get ready for sportscasters to increasingly tweet from the booth as they call games. Fox Sports is offering a sample of what's likely to come when a roving reporter will use Twitter during the broadcast of baseball's All-Star Game next month.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
New York Times looks to mobile as way to charge for content
Kogibbq Twitter Presentation
Check out @seanpercival presentaion "Kogibbq Twitter" http://tinyurl.com/kmaoh9
YvetteForGoode.com
Help my friend Yvette win the Murphy-Goode contest -check out her video at http://bit.ly/104O7P and vote for her at http://bit.ly/PnCXp
Do I need to be on Facebook?
200m users - 1/5 of all internet users
Average user spend 20 minutes a day on Facebook
Users exchange 4b piece of info, 800m photos and 8m videos monthly
Facebook is becoming a second internet
Google search is math and machine driven vs. Facebook search which is friends and family driven – think word of mouth or word of mouse
Facebook has the best collection of personal data on the web – allows for hyper targeted messages and advertisements
Facebook is driving traffic to sites – hyperlinked stories, videos, posts
Yes
Report: Twitter users buy more music
UK Independent reports: A new NPD Group study finds that active Twitter users buy 77 percent more digital music downloads on average than non-users. Additionally, 12 percent of those who have bought music in the last three months also report having used Twitter, versus 8 percent of overall Web users.
"Based on their music-purchasing history, active Twitter users are simply worth more to record labels and music retailers than those who are not using Twitter," says NPD entertainment analyst Russ Crupnick.
A third of all Twitter user reported buying a CD in the prior three months, and 34 percent reported buying music digitally, compared to 23 percent and 16 percent for overall Web users. Another one-third of Twitter users listened to music on a social networking site, 41 percent via online radio and 39 percent watched music videos online. Overall, they are twice as likely than average Web users to visit MySpace Music and Pandora.
"Twitter has the potential to help foster the discovery of new music, and improve targeted marketing of music to groups of highly-involved and technologically savvy consumers, but it has to be done right," Crupnick said. "There must be a careful balance struck between entertainment and direct conversation on one hand, and marketing on the other. Used properly Twitter has the power to entertain -- and to motivate music fans to purchase more new albums, downloads, merchandise, and concert tickets."
"Based on their music-purchasing history, active Twitter users are simply worth more to record labels and music retailers than those who are not using Twitter," says NPD entertainment analyst Russ Crupnick.
A third of all Twitter user reported buying a CD in the prior three months, and 34 percent reported buying music digitally, compared to 23 percent and 16 percent for overall Web users. Another one-third of Twitter users listened to music on a social networking site, 41 percent via online radio and 39 percent watched music videos online. Overall, they are twice as likely than average Web users to visit MySpace Music and Pandora.
"Twitter has the potential to help foster the discovery of new music, and improve targeted marketing of music to groups of highly-involved and technologically savvy consumers, but it has to be done right," Crupnick said. "There must be a careful balance struck between entertainment and direct conversation on one hand, and marketing on the other. Used properly Twitter has the power to entertain -- and to motivate music fans to purchase more new albums, downloads, merchandise, and concert tickets."
Friday, June 19, 2009
Facebook Taps Privacy Hawk as Lobbyist
WaPo reports: Facebook's newly minted lobbyist used to be one of the company's most formidable adversaries.
As a prominent privacy advocate, Timothy Sparapani, former senior legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, argued that Internet companies have too much control over consumers' data. The self-described "privacy zealot" didn't join Facebook until seven months ago because he was uneasy about revealing personal information on the site.
Now Sparapani is responsible for shaping Washington's view of Facebook, the world's third-most-viewed site with more than 200 million users, and the privacy policies that will define its business. It's a sign that one of Silicon Valley's most influential companies wants to cultivate influence in Washington, and much earlier than its tech titan predecessors Google and Microsoft.
Sparapani has earned a reputation in Washington as a tenacious champion of consumers' privacy rights. At the ACLU he fought against racial profiling in airport security lines and pushed for stricter rules for how patient information should be used in electronic medical records.
He joins Facebook at a time when Congress is considering placing restrictions on how Internet companies collect, store and use consumer data. Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.), chairman of the House subcommittee on communications, technology and the Internet, and ranking member Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) have asked Google, Yahoo and Facebook for policy recommendations. Privacy watchdogs say the companies' self-regulation has failed to fully inform users of how their personal information is treated online.
"I think it's a big deal if someone tracks what you look at and where you go without your personal approval," said Rep. Joe L. Barton (R-Tex.). "It still is a little bit of a Wild West out there, and I think it's time that Congress take a look at that and bring the law to that area."
As a prominent privacy advocate, Timothy Sparapani, former senior legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, argued that Internet companies have too much control over consumers' data. The self-described "privacy zealot" didn't join Facebook until seven months ago because he was uneasy about revealing personal information on the site.
Now Sparapani is responsible for shaping Washington's view of Facebook, the world's third-most-viewed site with more than 200 million users, and the privacy policies that will define its business. It's a sign that one of Silicon Valley's most influential companies wants to cultivate influence in Washington, and much earlier than its tech titan predecessors Google and Microsoft.
Sparapani has earned a reputation in Washington as a tenacious champion of consumers' privacy rights. At the ACLU he fought against racial profiling in airport security lines and pushed for stricter rules for how patient information should be used in electronic medical records.
He joins Facebook at a time when Congress is considering placing restrictions on how Internet companies collect, store and use consumer data. Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.), chairman of the House subcommittee on communications, technology and the Internet, and ranking member Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) have asked Google, Yahoo and Facebook for policy recommendations. Privacy watchdogs say the companies' self-regulation has failed to fully inform users of how their personal information is treated online.
"I think it's a big deal if someone tracks what you look at and where you go without your personal approval," said Rep. Joe L. Barton (R-Tex.). "It still is a little bit of a Wild West out there, and I think it's time that Congress take a look at that and bring the law to that area."
Newser attracts $2.5m in first round funding
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Facebook hit by privacy blow
FT reports: European privacy regulators could be about to throw a spanner into the works of attempts by social networking sites such as Facebook to find new ways to increase profits as they try to restrict the way internet groups release personal data.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Twitter Is a Player In Iran's Drama
WaPo reports: The State Department asked social-networking site Twitter to delay scheduled maintenance earlier this week to avoid disrupting communications among tech-savvy Iranian citizens as they took to the streets to protest Friday's reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The move illustrates the growing influence of online social-networking services as a communications media. Foreign news coverage of the unfolding drama, meanwhile, was limited by Iranian government restrictions barring journalists from "unauthorized" demonstrations.
"One of the areas where people are able to get out the word is through Twitter," a senior State Department official said in a conversation with reporters, on condition of anonymity. "They announced they were going to shut down their system for maintenance and we asked them not to."
A White House official said "this wasn't a directive from Secretary of State, but rather was a low-level contact from someone who often talks to Twitter staff." The official said Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, tweeted, according to news reports. "Twitter is simply a medium that all Iranians can use to communicate," the official said.
Twitter did not respond to a request for comment yesterday.
The move illustrates the growing influence of online social-networking services as a communications media. Foreign news coverage of the unfolding drama, meanwhile, was limited by Iranian government restrictions barring journalists from "unauthorized" demonstrations.
"One of the areas where people are able to get out the word is through Twitter," a senior State Department official said in a conversation with reporters, on condition of anonymity. "They announced they were going to shut down their system for maintenance and we asked them not to."
A White House official said "this wasn't a directive from Secretary of State, but rather was a low-level contact from someone who often talks to Twitter staff." The official said Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, tweeted, according to news reports. "Twitter is simply a medium that all Iranians can use to communicate," the official said.
Twitter did not respond to a request for comment yesterday.
How MySpace fell off the pace
LAT reports: Some say it clung too long to a 'portal strategy' while Facebook kept its focus on social networking and surpassed MySpace in U.S. users.
Signaling the depth of its problems, MySpace on Tuesday said it was laying off 420 people -- nearly one out of every three employees -- as part of an aggressive restructuring that seeks to make the company smaller and more agile. The action follows a management shake-up in April, in which MySpace founder Chris DeWolfe was replaced as chief executive by Facebook's former chief operating officer, Owen Van Natta."Simply put, our staffing levels were bloated and hindered our ability to be an efficient and nimble team-oriented company," Van Natta said in a statement. "I understand that these changes are painful for many. They are also necessary for the long-term health and culture of MySpace."
Van Natta's comments underscore just how troubled Murdoch's big Internet gamble has become in the rapidly changing world of social media. Highly touted initiatives, such as MySpace Music, failed to live up to expectations, even as the site's developers constantly play catch-up to the technological innovations of others. "MySpace ended up not being the leader that it wanted to be in the social-networking realm, on the tech front, on the ad front -- and now on the usage front," said Debra Aho Williamson, an analyst with researcher eMarketer.
The perceived missteps are numerous. Some observers say it clung too long to a "portal strategy," in which it sought to amass an audience around entertainment content. By contrast, Facebook maintained its focus on features that enhance the social-networking experience, such as the "News Feed" that matches the immediacy of Twitter's staccato updates.
"The speed with which a company like Facebook is able to innovate and keep things fresh is the key to survival in this space," said Charlene Li, founder of Altimeter Group, a research firm specializing in social networking. "There are new things like Twitter that come along. What does Facebook do? It does Twitter . . . and it does it better."MySpace's miscalculations have cost it ground in its competition against Facebook.
Signaling the depth of its problems, MySpace on Tuesday said it was laying off 420 people -- nearly one out of every three employees -- as part of an aggressive restructuring that seeks to make the company smaller and more agile. The action follows a management shake-up in April, in which MySpace founder Chris DeWolfe was replaced as chief executive by Facebook's former chief operating officer, Owen Van Natta."Simply put, our staffing levels were bloated and hindered our ability to be an efficient and nimble team-oriented company," Van Natta said in a statement. "I understand that these changes are painful for many. They are also necessary for the long-term health and culture of MySpace."
Van Natta's comments underscore just how troubled Murdoch's big Internet gamble has become in the rapidly changing world of social media. Highly touted initiatives, such as MySpace Music, failed to live up to expectations, even as the site's developers constantly play catch-up to the technological innovations of others. "MySpace ended up not being the leader that it wanted to be in the social-networking realm, on the tech front, on the ad front -- and now on the usage front," said Debra Aho Williamson, an analyst with researcher eMarketer.
The perceived missteps are numerous. Some observers say it clung too long to a "portal strategy," in which it sought to amass an audience around entertainment content. By contrast, Facebook maintained its focus on features that enhance the social-networking experience, such as the "News Feed" that matches the immediacy of Twitter's staccato updates.
"The speed with which a company like Facebook is able to innovate and keep things fresh is the key to survival in this space," said Charlene Li, founder of Altimeter Group, a research firm specializing in social networking. "There are new things like Twitter that come along. What does Facebook do? It does Twitter . . . and it does it better."MySpace's miscalculations have cost it ground in its competition against Facebook.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Social media fuels Iranian protests in wake of presidential election
Monday, June 15, 2009
Twitter, a tool of protest?
The Atlantic Monthly/The Daily Dish reports: The Iranian government shut down various lines of communication after a contested national election, but it forgot one: Twitter. "Old guard mullahs were caught off-guard by this technology," Andrew Sullivan writes. Meanwhile, Twitter users also protested CNN's lack of coverage of the Iranian elections, notes Mashable's Pete Cashmore, increasing the site's role as a media watchdog.
H&M and Starbucks labelled best brands on Facebook
Google working on Twitter-style search engine
Andrew McCormick at revolutionmagazine.com reports: Google is seeking to benefit from the explosive growth of Twitter's live search feature by creating a microblogging search engine of its own.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Friday, June 12, 2009
Democrats stoke grassroots US healthcare campaign
Reuters reports: From a living room in Kansas to a bagel shop in New York to an Alabama church, Democrats have started mobilizing support for President Barack Obama's healthcare reform plans.
Suburban housewives and social workers mixed with Baptist ministers, college students, retirees and many others at grassroots gatherings over the weekend. Spurred by the Democratic National Committee's burgeoning political machine dubbed "Organizing for America," thousands of such meetings had been planned for Friday through Monday.
Those attending the scripted two-hour events viewed a videotaped message from Obama, shared personal stories and made local battle plans to counter the expected stiff opposition.
"It's going to be a vicious fight," said 76-year-old Hank Putsch who attended an organizing meeting on Saturday at a Kansas City restaurant. "The insurance companies and healthcare companies are gearing up to oppose this. We've got to get our voices heard."
Obama has declared this summer "make-or-break" time for healthcare reform and has called on Congress to pass comprehensive legislation by the end of the year, saying America can no longer afford the costs of a system dominated by profit-driven insurance and healthcare companies which leaves 46 million people uninsured.
Suburban housewives and social workers mixed with Baptist ministers, college students, retirees and many others at grassroots gatherings over the weekend. Spurred by the Democratic National Committee's burgeoning political machine dubbed "Organizing for America," thousands of such meetings had been planned for Friday through Monday.
Those attending the scripted two-hour events viewed a videotaped message from Obama, shared personal stories and made local battle plans to counter the expected stiff opposition.
"It's going to be a vicious fight," said 76-year-old Hank Putsch who attended an organizing meeting on Saturday at a Kansas City restaurant. "The insurance companies and healthcare companies are gearing up to oppose this. We've got to get our voices heard."
Obama has declared this summer "make-or-break" time for healthcare reform and has called on Congress to pass comprehensive legislation by the end of the year, saying America can no longer afford the costs of a system dominated by profit-driven insurance and healthcare companies which leaves 46 million people uninsured.
How Firefox Gets Grass-roots Marketing Right
Garrick Schmitt of AdAge writes: At times it feels like the ad industry is constantly besieged by bad news: Budgets are getting trimmed, mass audiences are splintering into niches, display ad click-through rates are at all-time lows and no one has figured out the social-media equation just yet.
Couple that with an increasingly cluttered and information-saturated marketplace and it's no wonder advertisers and agencies are constantly looking for new strategies and approaches.
Funny then how few have looked to Mozilla and Firefox for guidance. The tiny nonprofit Mozilla Corp., whose open-source Firefox web browser has 22.51% of the market and is the second-most-popular browser behind Microsoft's Internet Explorer, practices grass-roots marketing at its finest.
Mozilla competes against Microsoft, Apple and Google -- arguably the biggest and most valuable brands in the world -- and it succeeds with no traditional advertising (or big budgets) to speak of. It may have taken Barack Obama's historic political campaign and election to alert the ad industry to the power of grass-roots marketing, but the ongoing success of Mozilla's Firefox marketing efforts are more relevant for most.
But that's a shortsighted perspective. Grassroots marketing, it turns out, is perfectly suited for our digital, networked world. New players such as T-shirt company Threadless and the micro-finance company Kiva.com have built businesses through these tactics, as have a few more established companies such as Amazon (which built its business through an affiliate marketing program), PayPal, Zappos.com and even Google. Let's not forget about Barack Obama either.
As the ad industry starts to look beyond traditional advertising formats (both digital and analog), Firefox's grass-roots success can't be ignored.
Despite the collective nature of Mozilla, there is still a robust, savvy marketing department at work, albeit a much smaller one than that Apple or Microsoft. And, like any good advertiser or marketer, Mozilla's marketing team is explicitly focused on driving adoption, creating an image, inspiring our imagination and moving people to identify, evangelize and -- ultimately -- choose their product.
Couple that with an increasingly cluttered and information-saturated marketplace and it's no wonder advertisers and agencies are constantly looking for new strategies and approaches.
Funny then how few have looked to Mozilla and Firefox for guidance. The tiny nonprofit Mozilla Corp., whose open-source Firefox web browser has 22.51% of the market and is the second-most-popular browser behind Microsoft's Internet Explorer, practices grass-roots marketing at its finest.
Mozilla competes against Microsoft, Apple and Google -- arguably the biggest and most valuable brands in the world -- and it succeeds with no traditional advertising (or big budgets) to speak of. It may have taken Barack Obama's historic political campaign and election to alert the ad industry to the power of grass-roots marketing, but the ongoing success of Mozilla's Firefox marketing efforts are more relevant for most.
But that's a shortsighted perspective. Grassroots marketing, it turns out, is perfectly suited for our digital, networked world. New players such as T-shirt company Threadless and the micro-finance company Kiva.com have built businesses through these tactics, as have a few more established companies such as Amazon (which built its business through an affiliate marketing program), PayPal, Zappos.com and even Google. Let's not forget about Barack Obama either.
As the ad industry starts to look beyond traditional advertising formats (both digital and analog), Firefox's grass-roots success can't be ignored.
Despite the collective nature of Mozilla, there is still a robust, savvy marketing department at work, albeit a much smaller one than that Apple or Microsoft. And, like any good advertiser or marketer, Mozilla's marketing team is explicitly focused on driving adoption, creating an image, inspiring our imagination and moving people to identify, evangelize and -- ultimately -- choose their product.
Army does an about-face on social media
FoxNews.com reports: The Army has lifted its long-standing ban on soldiers' using social-networking sites from domestic bases. The Army's order says the move is meant to "leverage social media as a medium to allow soldiers to 'tell the Army story.'" The reversal doesn't apply to bases abroad.
Twitter's value to Dell? More than $2 million
Mashable reports: The Twitter account @DellOutlet -- which tweets discount offers for Dell products -- has generated more than $2 million in sales in 2 years, making it among the biggest concrete business successes on Twitter. The Twitter account has gained more than 620,000 followers in the two years it has operated. The sales are significant, notes Ben Parr, but they don't come close to the $61 billion generated by the entire company last year.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
True/Slant Tries to Reinvent Online News
TheWrap reports: Web destination looks to meld opinion and analysis while rethinking stale ad model. True/Slant is the brainchild of media veteran Lewis Dvorkin, a former editor at Forbes, Newsweek, the New York Times and, until April 2008, senior vice president of AOL News and Sports. Dvorkin's site is preparing a new business model called "Ad Slants," which will provide advertisers their own pages, profiles and posts, similar in look and feel to the profile pages of contributors.
Social Campaigning - how to negotiate the new political landscape
The election of Barack Obama validates a new era in political organizing – especially in terms of the Internet. True, the Obama campaign employed 150 individuals who were dedicated to web communication and development, and it is estimated that the campaign spent $34m building and maintaining its cutting edge web platform. But consider the results. In addition to winning two serious political contests against better-known candidates, the Obama campaign was able to develop an email list of 13 million people and secure close to $500m in fundraising donations from these web efforts. Not a bad ROI and not a bad way to start one’s reelection efforts.
The Internet proved to be the essential tool for Obama to be successful.
Answer these two quick questions: 1) Name the most memorable Obama television commercial? 2) Name the key primary speech that propelled Obama?
There were no any memorable television commercials and the speech that propelled him in being a viable candidate was his Iowa Jefferson-Jackson dinner speech in November 2007, which became an Internet and viral success. So much so, that my friends in Holland were sending me copies of the speech to make sure I was informed. Consider that for a minute: Europeans, for the first time, were able to shape and influence how their American friends should vote.
That is the power of the Net. The impact of paid commercials is giving way to the power of word of mouth and viral communications. All of which gives credence to the new advocacy reality - to be successful in this new political landscape, new communication tools and platforms need to be created and new skills will be required.
Social media platforms matched with compelling home pages are the answer – basically one must think and act in terms of social campaigning. These communication tools have the potential to bring the concept of democracy to a new level.
What happens when someone visits your homepage? Have you added a new social media tool to your advocacy efforts? What happens when your issue is typed into the Google toolbar?
The Internet proved to be the essential tool for Obama to be successful.
Answer these two quick questions: 1) Name the most memorable Obama television commercial? 2) Name the key primary speech that propelled Obama?
There were no any memorable television commercials and the speech that propelled him in being a viable candidate was his Iowa Jefferson-Jackson dinner speech in November 2007, which became an Internet and viral success. So much so, that my friends in Holland were sending me copies of the speech to make sure I was informed. Consider that for a minute: Europeans, for the first time, were able to shape and influence how their American friends should vote.
That is the power of the Net. The impact of paid commercials is giving way to the power of word of mouth and viral communications. All of which gives credence to the new advocacy reality - to be successful in this new political landscape, new communication tools and platforms need to be created and new skills will be required.
Social media platforms matched with compelling home pages are the answer – basically one must think and act in terms of social campaigning. These communication tools have the potential to bring the concept of democracy to a new level.
What happens when someone visits your homepage? Have you added a new social media tool to your advocacy efforts? What happens when your issue is typed into the Google toolbar?
Monday, June 8, 2009
Book Promotion - Social Media Style
The following ideas outline a strategy for promoting, marketing or advocating a book and/or author using advance online communication tools.
Simple, quick and easy tools to maximize an author's work and increase a book's reach.
CORE CONCEPTS
It is essential to answer these questions and employ these concepts before proceeding with the development and execution of any online marketing and publicity effort.
1. What is your message – why should people care?
2. Offline activity drives online activity and online activity drives offline activity – the web is not a one off solution. All marketing and publicity efforts must work in concert.
3. You must be willing to participate and be engaged for social media and advocacy to be effective
4. You must seek ways to integrate and add value to your marketing activities
5. Always look for ways to reinforce your message and marketing efforts
6. Maximize your content, product and ideas – ask yourself “how else can I use this?”
7. You must be flexible to hear what is happening, open to discovering and failing
IDEAS
Blogging/Email
Start a blog based on material from your book and lectures – not just current ideas and materials, but maximize existing content
Guest post on blogs relevant to your interests and invite other experts a place on your blog
Make yourself available for interviews from bloggers
Release content that can be used for free with attribution – chapter from a book
Use Twitter as a vehicle for your content to be searched – any post, media mention and quick note should be posted
Start a podcast or videocast with interviews of other leading experts
Send out a useful newsletter by email
Contribute articles to newsletters/emails to liked minded and/or civic organizations
Social Networks
Create and lead groups on LinkedIn and Facebook
Develop a dedicated social network using Ning
Target groups directly on social networks with like minded interests – ask them to support your efforts and/or offer to contribute content/ideas
Answer questions on LinkedIn Answers, Yahoo Answers and other question sites
Network online with sites like LinkedIn or Twitter
Webinar/Webradio
Host and organize a monthly webinar – using existing content or inviting likeminded individuals to present or speak
Develop a weekly online radio show using BlogTalkRadio – format could be news, an interview, general information and trends
Google Maps/Video
Add maps, videos and photos to enhance the reading experience of blogs – taking the extra step to better paint a picture of the land area being discussed
Incorporate YouTube by capturing television interviews and making them able to be viewed
Use Kyte to display your writting studio
eBook
Create a free ebook and post it online – take sections of your current book and make it available on your website and other allied websites
Presentations
Post presentations on SlideShare, Scribd and DocSharew
Biz Dev
Amazon tie-in/business relationship by providing the ability for most active readers to easily purchase other books mentioned or recommend
Events
Sponsor an event and/or distribute your book
Speak to targeted business groups in specific regions of the country
Photograph events and meetings on share them on Flickr
Post online updates from trade shows
Video interviews with leading thought leaders at industry gatherings
Reporters/Press
Respond to press queries on Help A Reporter Out
Suggest a story to a reporter or blogger
Seek book reviews in leading publications
Book signings/readings at leading “thought” book stores – for example Politics & Prose or Trover’s bookstores in DC
Simple, quick and easy tools to maximize an author's work and increase a book's reach.
CORE CONCEPTS
It is essential to answer these questions and employ these concepts before proceeding with the development and execution of any online marketing and publicity effort.
1. What is your message – why should people care?
2. Offline activity drives online activity and online activity drives offline activity – the web is not a one off solution. All marketing and publicity efforts must work in concert.
3. You must be willing to participate and be engaged for social media and advocacy to be effective
4. You must seek ways to integrate and add value to your marketing activities
5. Always look for ways to reinforce your message and marketing efforts
6. Maximize your content, product and ideas – ask yourself “how else can I use this?”
7. You must be flexible to hear what is happening, open to discovering and failing
IDEAS
Blogging/Email
Start a blog based on material from your book and lectures – not just current ideas and materials, but maximize existing content
Guest post on blogs relevant to your interests and invite other experts a place on your blog
Make yourself available for interviews from bloggers
Release content that can be used for free with attribution – chapter from a book
Use Twitter as a vehicle for your content to be searched – any post, media mention and quick note should be posted
Start a podcast or videocast with interviews of other leading experts
Send out a useful newsletter by email
Contribute articles to newsletters/emails to liked minded and/or civic organizations
Social Networks
Create and lead groups on LinkedIn and Facebook
Develop a dedicated social network using Ning
Target groups directly on social networks with like minded interests – ask them to support your efforts and/or offer to contribute content/ideas
Answer questions on LinkedIn Answers, Yahoo Answers and other question sites
Network online with sites like LinkedIn or Twitter
Webinar/Webradio
Host and organize a monthly webinar – using existing content or inviting likeminded individuals to present or speak
Develop a weekly online radio show using BlogTalkRadio – format could be news, an interview, general information and trends
Google Maps/Video
Add maps, videos and photos to enhance the reading experience of blogs – taking the extra step to better paint a picture of the land area being discussed
Incorporate YouTube by capturing television interviews and making them able to be viewed
Use Kyte to display your writting studio
eBook
Create a free ebook and post it online – take sections of your current book and make it available on your website and other allied websites
Presentations
Post presentations on SlideShare, Scribd and DocSharew
Biz Dev
Amazon tie-in/business relationship by providing the ability for most active readers to easily purchase other books mentioned or recommend
Events
Sponsor an event and/or distribute your book
Speak to targeted business groups in specific regions of the country
Photograph events and meetings on share them on Flickr
Post online updates from trade shows
Video interviews with leading thought leaders at industry gatherings
Reporters/Press
Respond to press queries on Help A Reporter Out
Suggest a story to a reporter or blogger
Seek book reviews in leading publications
Book signings/readings at leading “thought” book stores – for example Politics & Prose or Trover’s bookstores in DC
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Local and European elections 2009: How the Conservatives and Barack Obama are building Politics 2.0
UK Telegraph: Barack Obama’s US election campaign is widely said to have changed the landscape for politics online, and today Britain’s first election of that new era is taking place. But have the candidates standing for local and European office really noticed?
Mr Obama raised over $500million online, had a web team of 150 people, and he used the internet to drive a momentum that came to be seen as almost unstoppable. Unsurprisingly, many British politicians and party workers have wondered if those tactics could be a panacea for British voters’ apathetic attitudes to actually voting, especially in European and local elections such as those taking place today. All the major parties have offered support to candidates who wish to build innovative websites, but the Conservatives are also trying to tap the social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter etc. Jeremy Hunt MP, the party’s Spokesman for Online Campaigning, and also Shadow Culture Secretary, said that the party has “tens of thousands of fans and followers on Facebook and Twitter, and they provide us with a great channel to create a collaborative partnership with our supporters”
When it comes to candidates in today’s elections, however, its been email marketing and blogging that all parties have used more than ever before to persuade people to vote or donate. While Labour and the Liberal Democrats are also on social networking sites, and actively using them for recruitment, only the Conservatives have gone one step further by building a Facebook application. Borrowing an idea from the Obama campaign, it allows supporters to “donate” their status to the Party. The Tories can tap in to their supporters’ rings of “Facebook friends” – every online acquaintance of a person who signs up for the application sees that their friends are voting Conservative.
Mr Hunt says that it “has meant that hundreds of thousands of people whose only connection to the Conservative Party is via their friends who are supporters of ours, have now received Conservative messages encouraging them to vote for us.” The aim is to break down the barriers between a person’s social life and their role as a voter. For the General Election, these tactics will be used by all mainstream parties, in part because similar applications often take only a day to write.
Indeed, senior party figures from across the spectrum believe that British people’s reluctance to declare their voting intentions is a significant barrier to building the momentum that will be vital for elections where, for the foreseeacble future, voters will be sceptical about all mainstream politicians in the wake of the Telegraph’s expenses revelations.
Mr Hunt says that, in the future, “more interaction with MPs, Candidates and Councillors online via social networks and their websites will encourage civic participation.” He highlights the website of Grant Shapps as a very good example of this new trend. The MP for Welwyn Hatfield has, for instance, his own channel on video-sharing website YouTube, and a very active online forum for local members, to which he contributes extensively himself.
Traditional campaigners, however, will find comfort in Mr Hunt’s observation that “in political terms, the internet should never be seen as an end in itself”. He points out that even party members’ links to their local Associations, and donations, tend to be “bound up in a membership subscription, raffle or event ticket. Online can and does increasingly support all of these activities.” That means political debate, in person is likely, for now, to become more prominent, and that all parties are seeking in fact to use the web to further bolster greater real world engagement with their politicians at all levels.
Mr Obama raised over $500million online, had a web team of 150 people, and he used the internet to drive a momentum that came to be seen as almost unstoppable. Unsurprisingly, many British politicians and party workers have wondered if those tactics could be a panacea for British voters’ apathetic attitudes to actually voting, especially in European and local elections such as those taking place today. All the major parties have offered support to candidates who wish to build innovative websites, but the Conservatives are also trying to tap the social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter etc. Jeremy Hunt MP, the party’s Spokesman for Online Campaigning, and also Shadow Culture Secretary, said that the party has “tens of thousands of fans and followers on Facebook and Twitter, and they provide us with a great channel to create a collaborative partnership with our supporters”
When it comes to candidates in today’s elections, however, its been email marketing and blogging that all parties have used more than ever before to persuade people to vote or donate. While Labour and the Liberal Democrats are also on social networking sites, and actively using them for recruitment, only the Conservatives have gone one step further by building a Facebook application. Borrowing an idea from the Obama campaign, it allows supporters to “donate” their status to the Party. The Tories can tap in to their supporters’ rings of “Facebook friends” – every online acquaintance of a person who signs up for the application sees that their friends are voting Conservative.
Mr Hunt says that it “has meant that hundreds of thousands of people whose only connection to the Conservative Party is via their friends who are supporters of ours, have now received Conservative messages encouraging them to vote for us.” The aim is to break down the barriers between a person’s social life and their role as a voter. For the General Election, these tactics will be used by all mainstream parties, in part because similar applications often take only a day to write.
Indeed, senior party figures from across the spectrum believe that British people’s reluctance to declare their voting intentions is a significant barrier to building the momentum that will be vital for elections where, for the foreseeacble future, voters will be sceptical about all mainstream politicians in the wake of the Telegraph’s expenses revelations.
Mr Hunt says that, in the future, “more interaction with MPs, Candidates and Councillors online via social networks and their websites will encourage civic participation.” He highlights the website of Grant Shapps as a very good example of this new trend. The MP for Welwyn Hatfield has, for instance, his own channel on video-sharing website YouTube, and a very active online forum for local members, to which he contributes extensively himself.
Traditional campaigners, however, will find comfort in Mr Hunt’s observation that “in political terms, the internet should never be seen as an end in itself”. He points out that even party members’ links to their local Associations, and donations, tend to be “bound up in a membership subscription, raffle or event ticket. Online can and does increasingly support all of these activities.” That means political debate, in person is likely, for now, to become more prominent, and that all parties are seeking in fact to use the web to further bolster greater real world engagement with their politicians at all levels.
European politicians not sold on social media
BetaNews reports: On Thursday, the European Union undertook the second-largest election in the world, voting in 27 countries to fill 736 seats in the European Parliament. They've got Greens. They've got fascists. They've got countries that want into the system and countries that want out. But you know what they haven't got? They haven't got a whole lot of social networking drama about it.
Yet. According to a spring survey by Fleishman-Hillard, members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are only just starting to see the point of extending their digital presence past having a Web site. That part they get -- 75% of MEPs surveyed have a Web site -- but just under one-quarter of the group blogs, and only about a quarter of those who do blog take the time to comment on other blogs. As for Twitter, 62% have either never heard of it or have no plans to use it.
"Television appearances" were the communication mode most often rated "very effective" or "effective" by the respondents, with 94% saying so. As much as 80% found "a website" to be very effective or effective, behind speaking at events and, oddly, a bit ahead of one-on-one meetings. Three online approaches were bottom-of-the-barrel tactics for the politicians -- blogging or microblogging (51% "very effective" or "effective"), online video (45%), and online advertising (33%). They don't pay most attention to the blogosphere in any case; only 49% say they consider what they find on stakeholder Web sites "very important" or "important" to shaping their thinking, and just 22% regards blog posts as such. Ow.
That's an interesting disconnect from an earlier Fleishman-Hillard survey, in which the company found that Europeans actually spend more time online than they do using other media, and that consumers say the information they find online has more impact than it does coming from other sources. The Fleishman-Hillard researchers are sanguine in any case: "At the time of the 2004 elections, YouTube and Twitter did not exist and Facebook was open to select university students. In such a short space of time, it is in part amazing that these forms of communication rank so highly."
The politicians agree that change is coming. Alexander Alvaro, an ALDE member representing Germany and one of the first European politicians to establish a serious online campaign effort back in '04, says, "In the 2009 election, I may be one of the few to use the full range of Internet tools. As the EP Digital Trends survey shows, we have a long way to go to catch up with our US colleagues but a great deal to gain."
Yet. According to a spring survey by Fleishman-Hillard, members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are only just starting to see the point of extending their digital presence past having a Web site. That part they get -- 75% of MEPs surveyed have a Web site -- but just under one-quarter of the group blogs, and only about a quarter of those who do blog take the time to comment on other blogs. As for Twitter, 62% have either never heard of it or have no plans to use it.
"Television appearances" were the communication mode most often rated "very effective" or "effective" by the respondents, with 94% saying so. As much as 80% found "a website" to be very effective or effective, behind speaking at events and, oddly, a bit ahead of one-on-one meetings. Three online approaches were bottom-of-the-barrel tactics for the politicians -- blogging or microblogging (51% "very effective" or "effective"), online video (45%), and online advertising (33%). They don't pay most attention to the blogosphere in any case; only 49% say they consider what they find on stakeholder Web sites "very important" or "important" to shaping their thinking, and just 22% regards blog posts as such. Ow.
That's an interesting disconnect from an earlier Fleishman-Hillard survey, in which the company found that Europeans actually spend more time online than they do using other media, and that consumers say the information they find online has more impact than it does coming from other sources. The Fleishman-Hillard researchers are sanguine in any case: "At the time of the 2004 elections, YouTube and Twitter did not exist and Facebook was open to select university students. In such a short space of time, it is in part amazing that these forms of communication rank so highly."
The politicians agree that change is coming. Alexander Alvaro, an ALDE member representing Germany and one of the first European politicians to establish a serious online campaign effort back in '04, says, "In the 2009 election, I may be one of the few to use the full range of Internet tools. As the EP Digital Trends survey shows, we have a long way to go to catch up with our US colleagues but a great deal to gain."
How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live
Time mag: The one thing you can say for certain about Twitter is that it makes a terrible first impression. You hear about this new service that lets you send 140-character updates to your "followers," and you think, Why does the world need this, exactly? It's not as if we were all sitting around four years ago scratching our heads and saying, "If only there were a technology that would allow me to send a message to my 50 friends, alerting them in real time about my choice of breakfast cereal."
I, too, was skeptical at first. I had met Evan Williams, Twitter's co-creator, a couple of times in the dotcom '90s when he was launching Blogger.com. Back then, what people worried about was the threat that blogging posed to our attention span, with telegraphic, two-paragraph blog posts replacing long-format articles and books. With Twitter, Williams was launching a communications platform that limited you to a couple of sentences at most. What was next? Software that let you send a single punctuation mark to describe your mood? (See the top 10 ways Twitter will change American business.)
And yet as millions of devotees have discovered, Twitter turns out to have unsuspected depth. In part this is because hearing about what your friends had for breakfast is actually more interesting than it sounds. The technology writer Clive Thompson calls this "ambient awareness": by following these quick, abbreviated status reports from members of your extended social network, you get a strangely satisfying glimpse of their daily routines. We don't think it at all moronic to start a phone call with a friend by asking how her day is going. Twitter gives you the same information without your even having to ask.
The social warmth of all those stray details shouldn't be taken lightly. But I think there is something even more profound in what has happened to Twitter over the past two years, something that says more about the culture that has embraced and expanded Twitter at such extraordinary speed. Yes, the breakfast-status updates turned out to be more interesting than we thought. But the key development with Twitter is how we've jury-rigged the system to do things that its creators never dreamed of.
In short, the most fascinating thing about Twitter is not what it's doing to us. It's what we're doing to it.
I, too, was skeptical at first. I had met Evan Williams, Twitter's co-creator, a couple of times in the dotcom '90s when he was launching Blogger.com. Back then, what people worried about was the threat that blogging posed to our attention span, with telegraphic, two-paragraph blog posts replacing long-format articles and books. With Twitter, Williams was launching a communications platform that limited you to a couple of sentences at most. What was next? Software that let you send a single punctuation mark to describe your mood? (See the top 10 ways Twitter will change American business.)
And yet as millions of devotees have discovered, Twitter turns out to have unsuspected depth. In part this is because hearing about what your friends had for breakfast is actually more interesting than it sounds. The technology writer Clive Thompson calls this "ambient awareness": by following these quick, abbreviated status reports from members of your extended social network, you get a strangely satisfying glimpse of their daily routines. We don't think it at all moronic to start a phone call with a friend by asking how her day is going. Twitter gives you the same information without your even having to ask.
The social warmth of all those stray details shouldn't be taken lightly. But I think there is something even more profound in what has happened to Twitter over the past two years, something that says more about the culture that has embraced and expanded Twitter at such extraordinary speed. Yes, the breakfast-status updates turned out to be more interesting than we thought. But the key development with Twitter is how we've jury-rigged the system to do things that its creators never dreamed of.
In short, the most fascinating thing about Twitter is not what it's doing to us. It's what we're doing to it.
Tech Titans' Ties to Washington Grow Closer -- and More Complicated
WaPo reports: In 1993, well before the introduction of tweets, iPhones and online video, a Silicon Valley engineer was invited to Capitol Hill to teach lawmakers about the future of the Web and how to use it. It would be among many visits to Washington for Eric Schmidt, who was Sun Microsystems chief technology officer.
Now chief executive of Internet titan Google, Schmidt and the company's ties to Washington have only grown stronger.
Schmidt is a member of President Obama's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Three other Google executives have left the firm to work in the administration, including the company's former head lobbyist Andrew McLaughlin, who will be the nation's deputy technology officer.
Yet with the company's rapid growth and dominance in Internet search technology has come heightened scrutiny. Google, whose motto is to do no evil, has attracted three antitrust investigations. This week, sources confirmed that the Justice Department is investigating whether Google, Microsoft and other high-tech giants entered into a pact on the recruiting and hiring of one anothers executives, a violation of anticompetitive rules.
Now chief executive of Internet titan Google, Schmidt and the company's ties to Washington have only grown stronger.
Schmidt is a member of President Obama's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Three other Google executives have left the firm to work in the administration, including the company's former head lobbyist Andrew McLaughlin, who will be the nation's deputy technology officer.
Yet with the company's rapid growth and dominance in Internet search technology has come heightened scrutiny. Google, whose motto is to do no evil, has attracted three antitrust investigations. This week, sources confirmed that the Justice Department is investigating whether Google, Microsoft and other high-tech giants entered into a pact on the recruiting and hiring of one anothers executives, a violation of anticompetitive rules.
Differences between activits and donors
From Hotline on Call: A new GW School of Political Management study explores the differences between the activist (dubbed poli-fluentials) and donor sets, concluding that members of the latter group might open their wallets to give but don't necessarily do more.
Donors emerge as relatively passive participants in campaigns and elections, online and offline, with respect to any political activity other than donating that requires the slightest amount of initiative. They are primarily campaign money donors. Their contributions put them on lists of other candidates and causes, and they receive online communications from campaigns and issue advocacy groups at the same rate as Poli-fluentials. But they rarely take any action once they receive these communications other than to donate.
Meanwhile, political blog readers, we learn, tend to be poli-fluentials, not donors.
Worth a read.
Donors emerge as relatively passive participants in campaigns and elections, online and offline, with respect to any political activity other than donating that requires the slightest amount of initiative. They are primarily campaign money donors. Their contributions put them on lists of other candidates and causes, and they receive online communications from campaigns and issue advocacy groups at the same rate as Poli-fluentials. But they rarely take any action once they receive these communications other than to donate.
Meanwhile, political blog readers, we learn, tend to be poli-fluentials, not donors.
Worth a read.
Heresy on the Right - A handful of new Web sites try to rewire conservative media
CJR reports: Electoral defeat tends to spawn bouts of ideological tinkering—when the Democrats lost the presidential election in 2004, a clutch of books soon emerged, bristling with prescriptions for the ailing left. Last year’s resounding losses for the GOP, from John McCain to dog-catcher, will no doubt produce a similar outpouring of what-now books. For some on the right, though, the revolution has already begun, and their catalysts for rethinking conservative politics are a handful of new, online publications.
These new outlets, all of which have cropped up in the last year, are varied in their focus: Big Hollywood examines the nexus of politics and pop culture; The Next Right is a group blog run by political consultants that counsels Republicans on how to run modern campaigns; and The New Majority, launched by David Frum, is a magazine of ideas designed to lead conservatives out of the political wilderness. A fourth new outlet, Culture11, was built for narrative nonfiction and arts criticism, but it folded on January 27 (five months after it launched), a victim of the sharp drop in its investors’ stock portfolios.
So each has its niche, but all share certain important features: they are online-only, more engaged with popular culture than traditional conservative media, and, except for Big Hollywood, eager to challenge conservative orthodoxy whenever necessary. They may make the conservative opinion journalism of tomorrow look a lot like the liberal opinion journalism of yesterday.
Complete article - click here.
These new outlets, all of which have cropped up in the last year, are varied in their focus: Big Hollywood examines the nexus of politics and pop culture; The Next Right is a group blog run by political consultants that counsels Republicans on how to run modern campaigns; and The New Majority, launched by David Frum, is a magazine of ideas designed to lead conservatives out of the political wilderness. A fourth new outlet, Culture11, was built for narrative nonfiction and arts criticism, but it folded on January 27 (five months after it launched), a victim of the sharp drop in its investors’ stock portfolios.
So each has its niche, but all share certain important features: they are online-only, more engaged with popular culture than traditional conservative media, and, except for Big Hollywood, eager to challenge conservative orthodoxy whenever necessary. They may make the conservative opinion journalism of tomorrow look a lot like the liberal opinion journalism of yesterday.
Complete article - click here.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Critics Rip Proposed Obama Pick from Google
eWeek reports: As rumors swirl that President Obama plans to appoint Google Director of Public Policy and Government Affairs Andrew McLaughlin as White House deputy CTO, consumer watchdogs bay over possible ethics violations.
Although Google's director of global public policy, Andrew McLaughlin, has not—at least officially—been nominated for anything by President Obama, two public policy groups are already upset over McLaughlin's reported pending jump from Google to being Obama's deputy CTO.
According to published reports, McLaughlin is set to accept the White House position. Google confirms that McLaughlin is leaving Google but declined to comment on his future plans.
Consumer Watchdog and the Center for Digital Democracy, though, said McLaughlin's appointment as the White House deputy CTO would violate the intent of President Obama's ethics rules meant to end the revolving door between lobbyists and the executive branch.
"We do not object to Mr. McLaughlin's appointment because he is associated with Google per se," Consumer Watchdog and the Center for Digital Democracy wrote in a June 3 letter to Obama. (PDF) "The problem is that he has been a lobbyist for the biggest digital marketing company in the world, and we believe no special-interest-connected person should assume a position of vital importance to the country's future."
The letter added, "It would be just as inappropriate for a lobbyist from Microsoft, Yahoo or any similar technology company to be appointed deputy chief technology officer."
McLaughlin built Google's presence in Washington from a one-man shop to the search giant's current sprawling complex in the nation's capital. Among McLaughlin's duties was to serve as a registered lobbyist for Google in 2007, and as of March 2009 he was listed as assistant treasurer and designated agent for Google's political action committee.
Before joining Google, McLaughlin worked at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. He has also served as vice president, chief policy officer and chief financial officer for ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers)."No lobbyist or special interest political operative from one of the leading Internet companies should be placed in such a key position where they can influence technology policy," Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, said in a statement. "Appointing someone from a Google (or Microsoft, AT&T, etc.) lobbying shop to this position sends the wrong message—that the well-connected can still make a quick trip to the White House through a special-interest revolving door."
If McLaughlin joins the Obama administration, he will be joining former Google Project Manager Katie Stanton, who is serving as the White House Director of Citizen Participation, and former Google Head of Global Development Initiatives Sonal Shah, who is heading up Obama's White House Office of Social Innovation. Google CEO Eric Schmidt was a close advisor to Obama's transition team and serves as a member of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
"Mr. McLaughlin is very good at what he does—lobbying around the world for Google's interests," said John M. Simpson, consumer advocate at Consumer Watchdog. "That's not what this job requires. It should not go to any person whose most recent position has been advocating policy for a technology company."
Although Google's director of global public policy, Andrew McLaughlin, has not—at least officially—been nominated for anything by President Obama, two public policy groups are already upset over McLaughlin's reported pending jump from Google to being Obama's deputy CTO.
According to published reports, McLaughlin is set to accept the White House position. Google confirms that McLaughlin is leaving Google but declined to comment on his future plans.
Consumer Watchdog and the Center for Digital Democracy, though, said McLaughlin's appointment as the White House deputy CTO would violate the intent of President Obama's ethics rules meant to end the revolving door between lobbyists and the executive branch.
"We do not object to Mr. McLaughlin's appointment because he is associated with Google per se," Consumer Watchdog and the Center for Digital Democracy wrote in a June 3 letter to Obama. (PDF) "The problem is that he has been a lobbyist for the biggest digital marketing company in the world, and we believe no special-interest-connected person should assume a position of vital importance to the country's future."
The letter added, "It would be just as inappropriate for a lobbyist from Microsoft, Yahoo or any similar technology company to be appointed deputy chief technology officer."
McLaughlin built Google's presence in Washington from a one-man shop to the search giant's current sprawling complex in the nation's capital. Among McLaughlin's duties was to serve as a registered lobbyist for Google in 2007, and as of March 2009 he was listed as assistant treasurer and designated agent for Google's political action committee.
Before joining Google, McLaughlin worked at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. He has also served as vice president, chief policy officer and chief financial officer for ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers)."No lobbyist or special interest political operative from one of the leading Internet companies should be placed in such a key position where they can influence technology policy," Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, said in a statement. "Appointing someone from a Google (or Microsoft, AT&T, etc.) lobbying shop to this position sends the wrong message—that the well-connected can still make a quick trip to the White House through a special-interest revolving door."
If McLaughlin joins the Obama administration, he will be joining former Google Project Manager Katie Stanton, who is serving as the White House Director of Citizen Participation, and former Google Head of Global Development Initiatives Sonal Shah, who is heading up Obama's White House Office of Social Innovation. Google CEO Eric Schmidt was a close advisor to Obama's transition team and serves as a member of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
"Mr. McLaughlin is very good at what he does—lobbying around the world for Google's interests," said John M. Simpson, consumer advocate at Consumer Watchdog. "That's not what this job requires. It should not go to any person whose most recent position has been advocating policy for a technology company."
Revealed: the brands loved by teens online
The Global Habbo Youth Survey (GHYS) Brand Update 2009 found teens have complex and often contradictory relationships with brands.Close to two-thirds of teenagers, when asked online, said they always buy their favourite brand, but half said brands don't not influence their purchasing decisions.
Familiarity is important to teenagers when making purchasing decisions, with over half preferring the most popular brands, and 53 per cent saying they do not prefer less well-known brands.The survey, which questioned 112,000 teens online from over 30 countries, found 61 per cent prefer brands targeted specifically at them, but half said they do not want to buy the same brands as their friends.
Teens in the US and UK see brands as a way of defining individuality and standing out from the crowds, whereas teens in other markets use brands to show membership of a certain group.
The Habbo online survey found that teens favour the following brands: full report - click here
Familiarity is important to teenagers when making purchasing decisions, with over half preferring the most popular brands, and 53 per cent saying they do not prefer less well-known brands.The survey, which questioned 112,000 teens online from over 30 countries, found 61 per cent prefer brands targeted specifically at them, but half said they do not want to buy the same brands as their friends.
Teens in the US and UK see brands as a way of defining individuality and standing out from the crowds, whereas teens in other markets use brands to show membership of a certain group.
The Habbo online survey found that teens favour the following brands: full report - click here
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Snagit - totally cool application
Capture anything you see on the screen. Edit and combine those captures. Share them via your favorite applications. Organize and find them again later. The more you use Snagit, the more ways you'll find to use it!
Check it out @ www.http://www.techsmith.com/screen-capture.asp
Check it out @ www.http://www.techsmith.com/screen-capture.asp
Facebook and Twitter enter the living room with Xbox 360
Elizabeth Clifford-Marsh of revolutionmagazine.com reports: Microsoft has revealed plans to integrate Twitter, Facebook and Last.fm with its Xbox 360 gaming console.
The move will allow Xbox Live subscribers to publish screenshots from their games to their Facebook profile, communicate with other players and their non-gaming friends and stream Last.fm's radio service for free.
Facebook users will be able to view status updates and full screen photos on the console's Dashboard, while subscribed Twitter feeds will be updated instantly onscreen.
Microsoft said integrating social networking and gaming will increase Xbox Live's reach, as it gives all members of the family a reason to use the console.
Microsoft hopes Twitter and Facebook APIs will encourage developers to build apps that bridge the divide between social networks and console games, and fully integrate the service with the gaming experience.
Facebook is expected to strike similar integration deals with Sony's Playstation 3 and Nintendo's Wii.
Microsoft bought a 1.6 per cent stake in Facebook for $240 million (£117m) in 2007.
The move will allow Xbox Live subscribers to publish screenshots from their games to their Facebook profile, communicate with other players and their non-gaming friends and stream Last.fm's radio service for free.
Facebook users will be able to view status updates and full screen photos on the console's Dashboard, while subscribed Twitter feeds will be updated instantly onscreen.
Microsoft said integrating social networking and gaming will increase Xbox Live's reach, as it gives all members of the family a reason to use the console.
Microsoft hopes Twitter and Facebook APIs will encourage developers to build apps that bridge the divide between social networks and console games, and fully integrate the service with the gaming experience.
Facebook is expected to strike similar integration deals with Sony's Playstation 3 and Nintendo's Wii.
Microsoft bought a 1.6 per cent stake in Facebook for $240 million (£117m) in 2007.
Chinese government blocks Twitter
Dan Leahul of revolutionmagazine.com reports: Chinese authorities have reportedly blocked domestic access to websites such as Twitter, Flickr, Hotmail, Blogger and Bing in the build-up to the 20th anniversary of the June 4 Tiananmen Square massacre.
Twitter users in China began reporting outages in service Tuesday afternoon, many taking to blogs and news outlets to voice their outrage. Users also reported having trouble accessing the site through third party clients, such as TweetDeck and Twhirl.
The Chinese government regularly tightens access controls to social networking websites when approaching politically sensitive dates. Google's YouTube has been blocked in the country for a number of months, with access granted intermittently, usually for government meetings.
Hours after the blocks were reported, 'China Blocks Twitter', 'Twitterblock' and 'FuckGFW' (great fire wall) began rising in Twitter's trending topics list.
Twitter users in China began reporting outages in service Tuesday afternoon, many taking to blogs and news outlets to voice their outrage. Users also reported having trouble accessing the site through third party clients, such as TweetDeck and Twhirl.
The Chinese government regularly tightens access controls to social networking websites when approaching politically sensitive dates. Google's YouTube has been blocked in the country for a number of months, with access granted intermittently, usually for government meetings.
Hours after the blocks were reported, 'China Blocks Twitter', 'Twitterblock' and 'FuckGFW' (great fire wall) began rising in Twitter's trending topics list.
TweetDeck considers pay-for-play Twitter start-ups
BR reports: Popular Twitter client TweetDeck may begin charging start-ups upwards of $50,000 to be included as a default link, image or video service for the application, according to reports.
The company is reportedly ready to capitalise on its position and is looking at charging start-ups upwards of $50,000 to be included -- and even more to be situated as the "default service".
TweetDeck rivals, such as Seesmic and iPhone client Tweetie, currently allow start-ups to feature for free on their sites, however, TechCrunch reveals that is also likely to change.
The "pay-for-play" model would allow TweetDeck to secure revenue and appease investors, who injected $300,000 into the company in January.
The company is reportedly ready to capitalise on its position and is looking at charging start-ups upwards of $50,000 to be included -- and even more to be situated as the "default service".
TweetDeck rivals, such as Seesmic and iPhone client Tweetie, currently allow start-ups to feature for free on their sites, however, TechCrunch reveals that is also likely to change.
The "pay-for-play" model would allow TweetDeck to secure revenue and appease investors, who injected $300,000 into the company in January.
Digital canvassing: Tories launch Facebook application
BR reports: the UK Conservative Party is calling on its supporters to 'donate' their Facebook statuses in the run-up to this week's European elections.
The opposition party has created an application which allows it to automatically update supporters' Facebook status with campaign messages. One lets the users' friends know they have installed the software while the second message is a reminder of why people should vote Conservative. A third, planned for polling day, takes the form of a call to action from Tory leader David Cameron. If they wish to users can still manually update their statuses.
This latest piece of campaigning activity follows a raft of digital initiatives by the Tory party. It has increasingly turned to online activity because of the cost-effectiveness of the media compared to above-the-line advertising.
Activity has included buying words on Google relating to MPs expenses to seize the initiative in the row while Cameron has subjected himself to questions via a CoveritLive blog and through Twitter.
Jeremy Hunt, online spokesman for the party, said digital activity such as using Google pay-per-click was a key part of the Tories' campaigning strategy. ‘This will continue apace as the General Election draws closer.'
The opposition party has created an application which allows it to automatically update supporters' Facebook status with campaign messages. One lets the users' friends know they have installed the software while the second message is a reminder of why people should vote Conservative. A third, planned for polling day, takes the form of a call to action from Tory leader David Cameron. If they wish to users can still manually update their statuses.
This latest piece of campaigning activity follows a raft of digital initiatives by the Tory party. It has increasingly turned to online activity because of the cost-effectiveness of the media compared to above-the-line advertising.
Activity has included buying words on Google relating to MPs expenses to seize the initiative in the row while Cameron has subjected himself to questions via a CoveritLive blog and through Twitter.
Jeremy Hunt, online spokesman for the party, said digital activity such as using Google pay-per-click was a key part of the Tories' campaigning strategy. ‘This will continue apace as the General Election draws closer.'
Monday, June 1, 2009
Twitter proves to be a page-turner
Guardian reports: Celebrity endorsements and media coverage have increased the social media site's popularity but is it really a journalistic tool?
If it's not Ashton Kutcher threatening to take a "Twitter hiatus" over a proposed Twitter television show making the headlines, then it's his wife, Demi Moore, showing us her dentistry, Stephen Fry and Jonathan Ross tweeting their every thought, or Kirstie Alley and Lily Allen posting updates on their love - or otherwise - of Susan Boyle. If there is anyone left who hasn't heard of Twitter, it won't be because of lack of celebrity endorsement or media coverage.
In the last year coverage of the microblogging service has soared - LexisNexis counted more than 3,000 news stories mentioning Twitter in a five-day period in April, according to a recent article by Paul Farhi in the American Journalism Review, while a Google search returns up to 500m mentions - and the site's number of users has apparently risen with it. A report by TechCrunch found the site's UK internet traffic had increased by 974% during the last year.
And it isn't just newspapers who love a new media trend. The publishing world, which only a few years ago was desperately trying to turn popular blogs into bestselling books, is monitoring the recent spate of Twitter novels - ongoing slices of life in 140-character bites.
What's the truth behind the hype? After all, a recent US study by Nielsen showed that while user numbers are growing, "60% of people end up abandoning the service after a month". Is Twitter just another case of the mainstream media getting over-excited about social media? So common is this trend that the community has come up with the term Jason - Just Another Social Network.
If it's not Ashton Kutcher threatening to take a "Twitter hiatus" over a proposed Twitter television show making the headlines, then it's his wife, Demi Moore, showing us her dentistry, Stephen Fry and Jonathan Ross tweeting their every thought, or Kirstie Alley and Lily Allen posting updates on their love - or otherwise - of Susan Boyle. If there is anyone left who hasn't heard of Twitter, it won't be because of lack of celebrity endorsement or media coverage.
In the last year coverage of the microblogging service has soared - LexisNexis counted more than 3,000 news stories mentioning Twitter in a five-day period in April, according to a recent article by Paul Farhi in the American Journalism Review, while a Google search returns up to 500m mentions - and the site's number of users has apparently risen with it. A report by TechCrunch found the site's UK internet traffic had increased by 974% during the last year.
And it isn't just newspapers who love a new media trend. The publishing world, which only a few years ago was desperately trying to turn popular blogs into bestselling books, is monitoring the recent spate of Twitter novels - ongoing slices of life in 140-character bites.
What's the truth behind the hype? After all, a recent US study by Nielsen showed that while user numbers are growing, "60% of people end up abandoning the service after a month". Is Twitter just another case of the mainstream media getting over-excited about social media? So common is this trend that the community has come up with the term Jason - Just Another Social Network.
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