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…
The Gift of Compassion and Inspiration
Source: ILP Sometimes we are quick to judge with or without due cause. Even if we believe our views to be right, many times our perception is merely right within our world and not necessarily the worlds of others. Perhaps we’re caught up in the real-time aspects of having access to information and the power to publish on-demand. Maybe we need to seek justification for our unwillingness to step outside of our comfort zones. Or perchance, we’re simply repressing animosity …
Bloggers, Companies Must Assume Responsibility For Their Audiences
by Jason Falls Credit: NotSoGoodPhotography on Flickr Far be it from me to lament the ability for anyone to build or publish virtually anything now that the age of the consumer and age of information have intersected so gloriously. We are truly blessed to live in a day when, with a little time and instruction reading, even the tech-tarded can have their own blog or website and publish anything they want. The more adventurous and creative, or all-night code-bender freaks,…
Tweet This: Twitter Trademarks Tweets ™
Credit One of the more interesting, albeit not necessarily press-stopping, stories making the rounds in the blogosphere and Twitterverse currently is sure to make you scratch your head or raise your eyebrow in bewilderment. Twitter officially applied to trademark “Tweet” on April 16, 2009 according to Robin Wauters at TechCrunch. The confusion erupted when developers received the following email (h/t to Andy Beal) In its post, “May the Tweets Be With You,” Twitter explains its position this way, “as the…
Unveiling the New Influencers
Traditional influence has followed a systematic top-down process of developing and pushing “controlled” messages to audiences for decades, rooted in one-to-many, faceless broadcast campaigns. Personality wasn’t absent in certain mediums, it was missing from day-to-day communications. For the most part, this pattern seemingly served its purposes, fueling the belief that brands were in control of their messages, from delivery to dissemination, among the demographics to which they were targeted. It scaled very well over the years, until it didn’t… Unbeknown…
Top Media Outlets
Source While social and citizen media expand in influence and reach, we can’t ignore or neglect the prominence, credibility, and authority of traditional media – no matter how dearly we’re enamored with shiny new objects. BurrellesLuce recently published its 2009 Top Media List for 2009, which includes newspapers, blogs, consumer magazines and social networks. I’ve included all but social networks below as the rankings are outdated and inaccurate. I’ll publish an updated list shortly. Top 100 U.S. Daily Newspapers Rank,…
Twitter Flutters into Mainstream Culture: The New Competition for Attention Starts with You
Source Following the solo media vs. traditional media race that led Twitter into both relevance and irrelevance, the result is that the carefully guarded community and its unique culture are now permanently altered – for better or for worse. According to estimates sourced by Engadget Editor-in-Chief Ryan Block, Twitter grew by 1.2 million users simply as a result of the “Oprah-effect.” TechCrunch’s MG Siegler also explored the process for estimating Twitter’s path into the mainstream. What does 1.2 million new…
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…
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…
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…
