Have you noticed the shift in focus of the evolving digital expert? We have… The Gapingvoid team and I have collaborated on many projects over the last decade. Our work has focused on prodding executives and entrepreneurs to think differently in their approaches to digital Darwinism and disruption. Whether we’re speaking to startups about the next big thing, attempting to humanize corporate culture and innovation or exploring ways to engage audiences in more meaningful ways, art and story carry our…
What Makes Someone a Thought Leader?
That was the question I was recently asked by my friend Vivienne Neale. I wasn’t sure how to reply. After all, we all have our “thought leaders” whom we follow. Me, I always wanted to be part of a community where doing meaningful things made belonging matter. Honestly, I don’t consider myself a thought leader. I simply shared my ideas and work because I felt alone in my mission to change the future of business. I’ve always believed I couldn’t do…
3 Realities of Social Media
Guest post by Michael Brito. Follow him on Twitter, add him on Facebook or read his blog. Source: Shutterstock This post is a reflection of my personal experiences working in the enterprise and does not reflect the point of view of previous or current employer. Reality #1: Consumers already get it; brands are still trying to figure it out Consumers use the social web to talk about everything including products. Sometimes they are praiseworthy, sometimes not. There are no strategic…
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…
Building Bridges Between Knowledge and Aspiration
Image Credit: Jeremy Ginsberg There’s no shortage of businesses, and more specifically, the individuals who represent them, seeking insight, answers and direction to simplify, organize, and elucidate the intimidating and confusing social media landscape. Likewise, social media experts, gurus, and ninjas are seemingly ubiquitous. Far too many of us expect others to build bridges that connect disparate communities rife with individuals starving for logical and defensible insight and direction directly to us. In the end however, it’s our sole responsibility…
Social Media is Rife with Experts but Starved of Authorities
Perhaps Lewis Carroll was peering into the looking glass when he wrote “Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There.” In it, we were introduced to Tweetle Dum and Tweetle Dee, a curious duo that always shared a fruitful, entertaining, and complementary conversational exchange even though they always agreed to battle each other. Some suggest that the significance of Alice’s encounter with the twins explores how curiosity leads to the unknown and therefore, may not be worthy of…
The 2009 Semmys Honor The Conversation Prism
Every year The Semmys nominates the best posts in marketing. Last year, the Social Media Manifesto was recognized and this year, The Conversation Prism was spotlighted. Thank you! When Jesse Thomas of JESS3 and I started to lay the foundation for the Conversation Prism, we realized that it was a much larger task then simply categorizing social networks and placing them within a visually-rich graphic or chart. My goal was to observe, analyze, dissect, and present the dynamics of conversations,…
Which Blog Platforms Power the Top 100 Blogs?
Source Is 2009 the year you finally dive into the world wide web of blogging? Or, is it the year you switch blogging platforms or services? It is for me. In fact, I’m exploring the near-term migration of PR 2.0 from Blogger to WordPress (both self-hosted). Make no mistake, even with the popularity of micro communities such as Twitter, aggregated streams/lifestreams such as Strands and FriendFeed, and tumblelogs (Tumblr), blogging is still one of the most effective and visible stages…
The Poetry of Social Networking to Court Customers and Invest in Relationships
Sean Percival is a published author, developer, blogger, and an overall online marketing and SEO expert. A short while ago, Sean asked if I would write the foreword for his new book, MySpace Marketing. Que, the book’s publisher, has graciously granted me permission to share the foreword with you. While the premise encompasses MySpace, as a social marketer, you could theoretically insert any “social network name” and find that the guiding principles and ideologies are perpetual. Enjoy… — In the…
Conversation Prism: The Language of Human Connections is International
When Jesse Thomas of JESS3 and I started to lay the foundation for the Conversation Prism, we realized that it was a much larger task then simply categorizing social networks and placing them within a visually-rich graphic or chart. My goal was to observe, analyze, dissect, and present the dynamics of conversations, how and where they transpired. We immediately realized that V1 would be short-lived and the need for continual iteration in order to document the evolving conversation online would…
