Welcome to the (R)evolution, a new series that connects you to the people, trends, and ideas defining the future of business, marketing, and media. Episode 6 features an interview with good friend Philip Kaplan otherwise known in the industry as Pud. Philip earned worldwide success as the founder of the infamous F*ckedCompany.com that chronicled the flameout of Web 1.0 excess, one company at a time. Kaplan went on to start several ventures including AdBrite, the largest independent ad exchange. While…
Exploring and Defining Influence: A New Study
Influence is bliss… The socialization of media is as transformative as it is empowering. As individuals, we’re tweeting, updating, blogging, commenting, curating, liking and friending our way toward varying levels of stature within our social graphs. With every response and action that results from our engagement, we are slowly introduced to the laws of social physics: for every action there is a reaction – even if that reaction is silence. And, the extent of this resulting activity is measured by…
What Makes an Influencer?
Influence is the subject of some of important conversations lately. Each time we surface questions, answers and new thinking that starts to reshape the landscape for how businesses view, define, and embrace influence. The socialization has democratized content and equalized influence. As such, we are at the inception of an an era when everyday people are presented with an opportunity to earn authority, trust, and leadership based on their actions and words. I’ve partnered with Vocus to take the conversation…
Influencing the Influencer
The competition for attention is focused on social networks as brands vie for awareness and consideration. Establishing a presence in Facebook and Twitter is as necessary as it is trivial. In the great social land grab, many organizations are missing true opportunities to connect with the fifth P of the marketing mix, people. It’s less about communicating with those individuals who are already following you online and more about those who aren’t. To excel in social media, engagement has its…
Please Repeat: Influence is not Popularity
…and popularity is not influence. In social media, influence has taken center stage. With the spotlight perfectly fixed on the “me” in social media, a large shadow is now cast over the “we” that defines the social web. As individuals begin to realize the possibilities and benefits that surface as a result of building connected social graphs, a very public exploration to find the balance between influence and popularity unfolds. What’s clear in this chapter of the ever-evolving Web is…
Influence is Bliss: The Gender Divide of Influence on Twitter
Influence is a controversial topic and its measurement and definition are increasingly scrutinized as social media democratizes one’s ability to earn stature and prominence in new online societies. There’s a clear delineation between influence and popularity and it’s important to understand that in social networks, influence is not derived by the quantity of followers, friends, clicks, or “likes.” Nor is it discernible by the frequency of which one participates in their respective communities. While these serve as indicators of influence,…
The Problem With Influence
Guest Post by Damien Basile, Read his blog | Follow him on Twitter Just recently Fast Company launched a contest to find the most influential people online. I say contest because that’s what it is. People vote if they’re encouraged or reminded to do so. The prize for “these” influencers is that the winners get their photo in Fast Company in varying sizes according to who is more influential (aka has more votes). I suppose the The more influence, the…
The Business of B2B Social Media
Social Media is often misconstrued as a medium for business-to-consumer or B2C engagement and discounted as a viable communications network for those companies focused on business-to-business transactions. However, B2B, as in any other field impacted by online activity, is faced with a prime opportunity to not only cultivate communities in social networks and other social channels, but also amplify awareness, increase lead generation, reduce sales cycles, and perhaps most importantly, learn and adapt to market dynamics in real-time. Ignorance is…
The Most Influential Conversations on Twitter in 2009
What follows is the unabridged version of my current post on Mashable, “Twitter’s Most Influential Topics of 2009.” As we ring in the New Year and usher in twenty ten, let’s take a moment to reflect on the topics that defined the real-time stream in Twitter. Twitter recently published a Top 2009 Trends list which essentially symbolized a digital microcosm of culture and conversations throughout the year. In many cases, Twitter served as the “wire,” connecting us to stories and…
With Klout Comes Influence: How To Find Influencers on Twitter
This is the uncut version of my latest post on TechCrunch… Measuring individual influence in Social Media is as coveted as it is elusive. While many tools claim to calculate authority, it is the definition of influence that requires clarification in order to grasp the relevance and differences of existing tools and services. For the sake keeping this discussion on track, let’s define influence. According to Merriam-Webster, influence is having the power or capacity to cause an effect. San Francisco-based…
