Social Media for Business
May 28, 2009
How smart companies are using Twitter and Facebook—and what’s next on the horizon. Click here for Business Week’s article: An Executive Guide to Social Media.
Everything you always wanted to know about Google
December 3, 2008
…but were afraid to ask.
This slideshare presentation (best viewed on full screen) by fabernovel, addresses some key questions about the company’s future: how Google won’t be affected by the crisis, its relation with Microsoft and its advantages on Facebook, its footprint in the infrastructure and mobile world etc..
The Internet President
November 29, 2008
Barack Obama is being dubbed the ‘internet president’ having used the web so successfully in his election campaign.
Blue State Digital were behind the president-elect’s web operation. This feature from news.bbc.co.uk includes a short video interview with managing partner Thomas Gensemer, where he explains how he thinks the internet will impact on the Obama presidency.
Video Interview: Dell and Social Media
November 27, 2008
Whatever you might think of their PCs or their customer support (or lack thereof) etc, Dell are frequently cited for being quick off the block in adapting to “Marketing 2.0″.
As a useful follow up to the previous post, Jeremiah Owyang talks to Bob Pearson, Vice President, Communities & Conversations at Dell, in this short interview about how Dell are utilising Social Media. He addresses the following questions (among others):
- Is social media superficial branding, or does it truly change the company?
- How does an economic downturn impact Dell’s social media efforts?
- Is it better for customers to self-support each other rather than calling Dell Support?
- Is social media impacting the bottom and top line at Dell?
Social Media Marketing Examples
November 23, 2008
Steve Rubel from Edelman Digital calls this “the most useful page on the web“. The list, developed by Peter Kim, documents concrete examples of how companies are starting to ‘leverage’ Social Media tools to reach, engage, and build a relationship with their audience.
He also offers one of the better definitions of Social Media Marketing here.
Five Big Ideas
November 18, 2008
If you’re not already familiar with intellectual trends such as Cognitive Dissonance and Situationism, this handy little cheats guide to some of the big ideas floating around business and politics these days is a good place to start. All very useful for confusing colleagues at work while providing potentially impressive chat-up material that’s guaranteed to leave them wanting, say, Reciprocal Altruism.
Is the Internet Changing Your Brain?
November 15, 2008
The Internet is not just changing the world we live in, it’s also changing the way our brains function. For example by regularly searching online you’re improving your brain’s ability to filter information and make snap decisions. It might also lessen your ability to memorise or retain information in the long term.
Gary Small, a neuroscientist from UCLA argues that our web-trained minds could dramatically steer the course of evolution in this article in Newsweek.
If you find this interesting you might also want to check out Is Google Making us Stupid? by Nicholas Carr.
5 Common Website Usability Failures
November 11, 2008
When content plays second fiddle to advertising it’s more frustrating than you might think. This list from Tech Cult illustrates how mainstream media sites are often engineered to favour the advertiser. It reminds me of how RTE turns up the volume during commercials.
Seth Godin’s Tribes – Free audio book
November 10, 2008
Download the audio book from here. I haven’t listened to it but read the book a few days ago. It’s a quick read full of inspiring advice about taking the lead and breaking away from routine and being a ‘heretic’ (among other things). I’m not about to review it; reviews here if you like. I’m really adding this post as an excuse to include this magnificant photograph taken from the Tribes presentation.
YouTube plans to show full-length movies
November 6, 2008
Two years after they paid $1.65bn for YouTube, Google are trying to find ways for it to make money. The latest idea is to offer full-length feature films in the next “30 to 90 days”, according to CNET. Having recently started testing full-length TV shows, parent company Google is negotiating a deal with at least one major movie studio that would bring ad-supported movies to the most popular video sharing site on the Web.
But will anyone watch?
Politics and the changing media landscape
November 4, 2008
This article in yesterday’s New York Times assesses how this year’s election has profoundly and irrevocably changed the nature of political campaigning:
The credit crisis as Antarctic expedition
November 3, 2008
While the volume of information online is truly mind-boggling and continues to grow exponentially, there’s often a shortage of explanation to help declutter the chaos. We’re now seeing more and more short video explanations using screencast software or simple whiteboards to help make complex ideas easier to understand.
In this example, Marketplace Senior Editor Paddy Hirsch explains how banks have gotten frozen in their tracks, awaiting a rescue. More coverage of the financial crisis can be found at Marketplace.org.
Information overload and the future of content
October 31, 2008
In light of the rise of the internet and the proliferation of web-based content, how can newspapers survive and do well as businesses in the future? In this article Philip Meyer suggests that the audience (and therefore the money) will come from specialized, more niche-based providers who offer deeper analysis and investigative reporting, and not general media.
His Choice
October 29, 2008
Here’s a short inexpensive ad from the Obama campaign where the facts speak for themselves. It’s brilliantly effective and probably the best ad of the entire election:
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1185304443/bctid1885474357
Web 2.0 Expo In Berlin
October 29, 2008Luis Suarez from IBM provides some highlights from last week’s Web 2.0 Expo in Berlin using a smart gadget for showing decks called Slideshare.
http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/elsua/web-20-expo-in-berlin-day-1-highlights-27970
Information R/evolution
October 26, 2008This is a follow-up to Michael Wesch’s enormously popular The Machine is Us/ing Us. It explores the ways in which we find, store, create, critique, and share information.
Seth Godin on Web 2.0
October 15, 2008A leading thinker and writer on how the web has turned business and marketing on its head, Seth Godin talks lucidly about Web 2.0, social networking, and blogging.
Traditional Media’s Digital Transformation: Five Guiding Principles
October 12, 2008Some sound advice for traditional media as it continues to converge with digital:
The Democratic Primary Season in 8 Minutes
October 10, 2008Sharp and well-paced rundown of the US primaries earlier this summer informs and entertains. Great use of digital media:
Tiger Woods Responding to a Fan’s YouTube Video
October 6, 2008This video ‘response’ from Tiger Woods is a clever bit of marketing for Electronic Arts. A fan points out a glitch in Tiger Woods 08 on YouTube saying that Woods can hit a golf ball while walking on water. EA react by showing how it’s done and gives themselves a promotional boost for in the process.
Google’s Adwords and Analytics
October 5, 2008
Google Analytics Interface Tutorial
October 2, 2008A brief overview of how to use the Google Analytics interface. If you are new to Google Analytics or you’d like to pick up a few tips on how to use some of the different features, this video is a good place to start.
Jeff Bezos and online innovation
October 2, 2008The dot com boom-and-bust is often compared to the Gold Rush. From one who pretty much single-handedly defined online shopping and rewrote the rules of commerce while ushering in a new era in business, Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos makes the case that the dot com boom-and-bust cycle is more like the early days of the electric industry.
LinkedIn explained in a few minutes
September 30, 2008This is just one example from a popular series of home-spun explanatory Social Media videos made by CommonCraft using a whiteboard-and-paper format they call ‘Paperworks’:
Creative Storytelling is Key to Online Copy
September 18, 2008Kevin Kelly: Predicting the next 5,000 days of the web
September 15, 2008In his 2007-12 TED talk, Kevin Kelly observes that the web, as we know it, is only 5,000 days old. Now, Kelly asks, how can we predict what’s coming in the next 5,000 days?
Clay Shirky – Here Comes Everybody
September 10, 2008Clay Shirky speaking at Harvard Law School’s Austin Hall on Feb. 28, 2008 describes how various groups form and use technology to organise and co-ordinate their efforts.
“Web 2.0″ in just under 5 minutes
September 8, 2008This is a succinct and flowing demonstration of the “Web 2.0″ idea that has won Michael Wesch several awards. More about him here:http://www.ksu.edu/sasw/anthro/wesch.htm
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