There’s an incredible discussion circling the blogosphere aka The 250 aka The Echo Chamber regarding distributed conversations and the potential loss of control of our content. Normally I don’t let myself get caught up in every popular meme cycle, but this is a informative and important conversation and personally I think it’s worth your time. And, it just so happens to be a natural extension to my recent post, “Ladies and Gentlemen, The Conversation Has Left the Building,” which explores…
Lifestreams and Activity Feeds Channel Your Online Brand
Friendfeed officially launched this week making it the latest entrant into the foray of applications dedicated to channeling lifestreams and activity feeds. It also happens to be the newest ambassador for the emerging microblog and micromedia categories. FriendFeed offers a unique way to discover and discuss information among friends,” said Bret Taylor, FriendFeed co-founder. It’s a great way to sift through the overwhelming amount of information available on the Web. FriendFeed has the information that you care about, because it’s…
Transforming Customers into Evangelists: The Art of Listening and Engagement
I recently hosted a workshop at the Satisfaction event, Customer Service is the New Marketing. The topic I’m focused on was, “How to Listen to the Market and How to Engage Customers Online.” Fellow workshop leaders include Christopher Carfi, Deb Schultz, Chris Heuer, Jeremiah Owyang, Becky Carroll, and Douglas Hanna. Empowering your customers to become an extension of your marketing and sales forces isn’t new, but it isn’t widely embraced either. In fact, the function of most customer service has…
MicroMedia Paves the Way for Macro Influence
Warning! This post is about MicroMedia and the emerging market for Media Snacking, but it is not served as a “byte” sized snack. It is instead, a full meal, so I hope you brought your appetite. The inspiration for this story comes from a meme circulating through the Web that discusses “snacks” and the market for “media snacking.” It was started by Forrester analyst Jeremiah Owyang when he publickly asked whether or not you respect media snackers. He then tagged…
Jott Boosts Mobile Productivity Through the Power of Voice
Recently I wrote about Pinger and how it was a useful tool for using your voice to send “voicemail-based” text messages to individuals as well as different groups. I still use it for very specific messaging with my various teams. In addition to Pinger, there’s a new service which I can’t seem to stop using. And, since I’m on the road quite a bit these days, it is helping me keep pace with my workflow as if I were in…
Google Buys Jaiku, Lifestreams Go Mainstream
Disclosure, Jaiku is a client of FutureWorks and all opinions here are my own. Jaiku confirmed today that Google *hearts* the lifestream/microblog underdog, officially announcing that the previous rumors of a potential acquisition were true. The first question that I’ve been asked over and over again was why didn’t Google acquire Twitter and whether or not I think Yahoo will be forced to respond with the acquisition of Twitter or Pownce. While those discussions are indeed interesting, I think that…
Is Pownce the Twitter or Jaiku Killer?
There’s a new kid on the block and the edglings are a twitter over whether there’s room for another player in the presence application market. Pownce, the latest brain child from Digg founder, Kevin Rose, is off to a whirlwind start, with many asking whether or not it is already the “new” Twitter and Jaiku Killer. While Twitter and Jaiku are the current leaders, we’re really still too early to predict winners and losers in a market that is far…
Defining Social Media
After publishing, “The Social Media Manifesto, A Manifesto for Integrating Social Media into Marketing,” I decided to take a short break. I wanted it to reside online for people to discover before it was pushed down the page with every post to follow. Afterall, we do have a very short attention span these days and the important posts that exist across the blogosphere are unfortunately quickly forgotten. But that’s the point of the manifesto. There are conversations taking place across…
The Social Media Manifesto
In the past, I’ve spoken at PR, tech, and communications events about Social Media and how companies can engage in the conversations taking place with or without them. As much as I wanted to look into the future, I was rooted in the present as a means to connect it to the past. There are just too many new things to introduce to people and even more reasons why they should care. The discussion usually centered on the tools enabling…
Twitter Down Again, Sparks Adoption for Jaiku
Yes, it’s true. We are a fickle impatient bunch of early adopters looking for things to be there when we need them and work like we want them to. We do have patience with cool, new technologies and apps, but that patience quickly thins when it is tested too frequently. Yes I am a fan of Twitter. But, using Twitter can be frustrating at times. All too often, I’m forced to wait, sometimes without satisfaction, in order to hit the…
