In a conversation recently with good friend Jeremiah Owyang, he encouraged and motivated me to finally publish this post… Over the last decade, Social Media has slowly evolved not only as a new content publishing, sharing, and discovery medium, but more importantly as a peer-to-peer looking glass into the real world conversations that affect the perception, engagement, and overall direction of the brands we represent. Socialized media didn’t invent “conversations,” it simply organized and amplified them. My foray into the…
The Human Network: The Social Economy is influenced by Online and Offline Connections
I’m just returning from yet another year at the SXSW Interactive festival. The Geek Spring Break as its called is where thousands of digerati storm Austin Texas to learn, share and celebrate what I call the Social Economy. It’s something so special that I often struggle to truly capture and convey the emotional essence and inspirational spirit that brings together innovation, ideas, and the people who galvanize change and evolution. While the economy has crippled or altogether eliminated travel to…
In the Statusphere, A.D.D. Creates Opportunities for Collaboration and Education
Source It’s been an incredible week for stats, demographics, and authority trends related to Social Media this week. The Social Web is our Industrial Revolution and our Renaissance period. It is at the very least completely transforming how we communicate with each other and how we also discover and share content. Twitter, Facebook News Feeds, FriendFeed and other micro communities that define the Statusphere, are captivating and distracting our focus. But, while many argue that it’s decreasing productivity, I say…
Humanizing Social Networks: Revealing the People Powering Social Media
Compete: Top 25 Social Networks 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…
Are Blogs Losing Their Authority To The Statusphere?
What follows is the unedited Director’s Cut of my latest post on TechCrunch, “Are Blogs Losing Their Authority To The Statusphere?” My definition of Statusphere. Source Depending on which numbers you source or believe, all reports agree that the blogosphere continues to expand globally. As the leading blog directory and search engine, Technorati maintains a coveted Authority Index which is considered amongst bloggers as the benchmark for measuring their rank and selling their position within the blogosphere. Authority is defined…
Social Networks Now More Popular than Email; Facebook Surpasses MySpace
You heard that right…no matter how much time we sink into our inbox trying to keep up with all that barrage of never-ending mail, a new report sent over by Nielsen (thanks Sandra Parrelli) claims that Social networks and blogs are now the fourth most popular online activity today. The report, “Global Faces and Networked Places,” features data captured from December 2007 through December 2008 and reveals some very interesting statistics worth noting. Here’s are the highlights: Two-thirds of the…
I Like You: The Emerging Culture of Micro Acts of Appreciation with Macro Impact
Source Like is the new favorite, which was at the time, was the new bookmark. This small, but important feature will no less, reinforce relationships between friends and followers and those who produce, interact with, and share content. Made popular by services such as FriendFeed, and now Facebook, the idea of liking an update is much bigger than merely bookmarking or favoriting (yes, it’s a new verb in the social web) updates from friends and contacts for later reference. The…
BackType Connects the Conversation Graph
I’m a strong supporter of BackType and the work of Christopher Golda since the debut of the highly valuable comments search engine last September. Listening effectively requires extensive and active monitoring of not only blog posts and Tweets on Twitter, but also blog comments and other active networks that define the Conversation Prism. It’s how identify active communities that necessitate not only responses, but ongoing participation. BackType brings blog post comments into the spotlight. Whether you’re managing an online reputation…
Tracking Brands on Twitter to Improve How You Listen and Engage
Recently, I reviewed Twibs, a directory that lists all brands and businesses currently using Twitter. Electric Artists released Tracking Twitter, a new app that is a real-time listing of the top brands, media, television, entertainment, and celebrities that the team is currently following on Twitter. While this service offers appeal as a directory for consumers seeking their favorite brands and personalities on Twitter, it’s much more promising as a real-time monitor of how businesses, media properties, and celebrities are using…
Facebook Swims Its Way into Your Lifestream: What the Facebook news means to you
Shot at Mark Zuckerberg’s 2008 F8 keynote This week Facebook hosted a blogstar-studded event to introduce a more people-focused platform for interacting around your Facebook statusphere in “Twitter time.” Let’s review what this news means to you as a user and as a new media enthusiast. After Facebook’s failed attempt at acquiring Twitter, the company seems to be on a b-line to unite people in an online social graph while connecting them through a dynamic and rapid fire conversation and…