Source: Shutterstock In Social Media, we indeed cast digital shadows. We are what we tweet and in the era of equalized influence and democratized digital content distribution, our reputation does in fact precede us. The very tools we use to satisfy our quiet flirtations with vanity as we channel our inner micro celebrity are in actuality the same platforms that can also unravel the fabric of our stature. Why does Social Media seem to lower our guard? Why do we…
Market Engagement Optimization (MEO) and Net Trust Score
guest post by Chris Heuer, Creative Catalyst with AdHocnium, Director of iStrategy Labs SF and Founder of Social Media Club Source: Shutterstock The Problem with Marketing (and markets because of it) For over 15 years I have been looking at the world of marketing, advertising and public relations and seeing things a bit differently. I was not alone. Countless others also saw the real need for systemic changes, or dare I say reform, across the board. The fundamental challenge became…
FTC Values Sponsored Posts at $11,000 Apiece
What follows is the unabridged version of my latest post for TechCrunch, “FTC Values Sponsored Conversations at $11,000 Apiece“ Source: Shutterstock In May, I reviewed the proposed Federal Trade Commission guidelines that would ultimately affect and change how brands employ endorsements into their marketing, advertising, and communications programs. Today, the Federal Trade Commission made good on its threat promise by releasing its final revisions to the guidance it gives advertisers on how to keep their endorsement and testimonial ads in…
Social media consultants: A call to action
Guest post by Jennifer Leggio, Read her blog | Follow her on Twitter Source: Shutterstock If you’re dubbed a social media expert these days it’s almost like getting marked for professional death. It’s become even more popular to deny social media expertise as it has to claim faux expertise. Which means that the snake oiliest of the social media expert types have tried to give themselves a bit more oomph: they use the term consultant. Social media expertise in general…
In the World of Social Media, Women Rule
Source: Shutterstock I recently published a detailed survey and analysis of the demographics that define the most popular social networks. While I shared the overall data for general review, there were a few interesting observations that were extracted by Information is Beautiful, Mashable, and Next Web that certainly inspire conversations and reactions. The point of interest that’s worth review and discussion is that in Social Media, women rule. Facebook: Male: 43% Female: 57% Delicious Male: 48% Female: 52% Docstoc Male:…
Twitter Trends: Airline Hotlist August 2009
As Twitter adoption travels from the left to the right of Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovations Bell Curve, mainstream consumer behavior gathers momentum, manifesting into influential and telling market indicators. This invaluable behavior and sentiment eventually becomes deafening and without actively monitoring and analyzing this movement, we miss opportunities to learn, grow, and help. We need a prescribed lens into the real-time thoughts, observations, and experiences of real people, unfiltered, to make informed decisions and both lead and evolve along with…
FTC Seeks Wisdom of the Crowds on the Future of the News Media
The Federal Trade Commission is seeking your input regarding future of news media in advance of its upcoming workshops. The FTC seeks to explore the digital impact on consumption behavior and its correlating effects on the the business of publishing and journalism. The workshop will be held on December 1-2, 2009 and will consider a wide range of issues, such as Internet-related changes in advertising and the way people receive news, ideas for reducing costs and restructuring news organizations, potential…
Revealing the People Defining Social Networks
Source: Shutterstock Social Networks are among the most powerful examples of socialized media. They create a dynamic ecosystem that incubates and nurtures relationships between people and the content they create and share. As these communities permeate and reshape our lifestyle and how we communicate with one another, we’re involuntarily forcing advertisers and marketers to rapidly evolve how they vie for our attention. Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Yelp, and other online communities transformed the regimen and practice of marketing “at” people into…
Group Mentality: Twitter to Debut Lists
Long available using third-party Twitter tools such as PeopleBrowsr or TweetDeck, Twitter is readying the release of lists, or otherwise known in other networks (FriendFeed) as groups. This is welcome, albeit overdue, feature that allows users to categorize and organize information based on themes, interests, action items, locales, and friends/peers for future reference, followup and sharing. The Twitter blog goes into greater detail (note the fact that lists are public by default): The idea is to allow people to curate…
What if Twitter Had an App Store? Now It Does.
In October 2008, I documented months of research and analysis into a full directory of Twitter applications for communications and marketing professionals. In May 2009, I categorized the most applicable and qualified applications, and with the help of JESS3, we published The Twitterverse, a beta map of the Twitter universe that arranged relevant applications in a way that allowed us to see and navigate the landscape more efficiently and effectively. While working on the official release of the Twitterverse, I…
