One Flew Over the Cubicle's Nest

Cool sites

Some cool sites I've stumbled upon recently:

1) Top 100 marketing blogs (amazing array of bloggers)
2) Linked-in vs Facebook (compares new features as Linked-in tries to catch up)
3) You Tube adds new personalized profile pages (finally)
4)  5 ways  to make social media a part of everyday life (for all of us who struggle to keep blogs going and do everything else)
5) Most popular social networking  sites around the world (you might be surprised that Facebook isn't usually #1 outside the U.S.
6)Chris Anderson and the freeconomy : The decline of Big Media and rise of Niche Media. Wired editor Chris Anderson on "Freeconomics" and how it will change the media world (also see Wired Magazine this month)

For fun: 79 years of Oscar posters

 

Social Media Club Meeting Explores Enterprise Trends at Intel

Earlier this week, the Social Media Club of Silicon Valley met at Intel for a wide ranging discussion on social media and web 2.0 in the enterprise. Panel members includes:

• Dave McClure, 500 hats blogger,
• Jeremiah Owyang, social media researcher at Forrester
• Jennifer Jones, host of Market Voices, Podtech
  
• Eleanor Wynn (Intel) is an Enterprise Architect, Social Computing and blogger at http://blogs.intel.com/it/authors#eleanor_wynn
• Bob Duffy (Intel) Community Strategist and site manager for Open Port (interesting project)
• Shel Israel, moderator

This turned out to be a great discussion, and confirmed my beliefs about a lot of issues and trends. This includes the rampant rise of  video  online  and, more importantly, the rise of the Greater Conversation.

Israel explained that when he and Robert Scoble wrote  the book Naked Conversations  a couple of years ago, it was about blogging--that was it. Maybe a couple of pages on podcasting. Today social media is much bigger--FAcebook, MySpace, YouTube, and more recently, Twitter and a slew of other social media sites. People are connecting to each other in various ways. This is leading to a much more dynamic environment, with enormous potential--and  greater challenges for Corporate America to deal with. It's not enough to just throw up an executive blog or chase the latest hot fad (witness the problems with Second Life, which companies were rushing into a year ago).

For more details about Monday's meeting, see Stuart Henshall's write-up.

Cisco & Web 2.0

If you're wondering what Cisco has in mind when it comes to Web 2.0, you could have gotten a glimpse today when Dan Scheinman, SVP and GM of the Cisco Media Solutions Group, addressed an audience in his Higher Order Bits talk at the Web 2.0 Summit. 

The way the Cisco blog puts it, Cisco plans to be playing a part far beyond just being a connection or electronic pipeline company.

"...the network is more than a fire-hose of content. The network can ultimately provide a Web 2.0esque entertainment experience by bridging the gap between consumers and content owners...."

What with the explosion in bandwidth, and in options for users, the entertainment industry is struggling to provide the personalized experience people demand. Cisco plans to come to the rescue with something called, "Eos, a software platform that serves as an entertainment operating system enabling consumers to have an interactive, personalized, community-based entertainment experience, WHILE simplifying the administrative experience for content owners in engaging audiences, and distributing and monetizing their content."

There's a lot more to come from Cisco, but this be an interesting indicator.

Five Top Corporate Blogging Mistakes

It's interesting that two or three years into the social media movement and publication of books like Naked Conversations, and six years after the publication of ClueTrain Manifesto, most companies still don't "get it." Sure, they give it lip service and they may even set up a blog. But they don't really understand this is a different medium, a different voice, a different way of doing things. What's supposed to be a conversation ends up being a bastardized form of traditional PR or marketing in so many cases.

Most of the people we talk to are communication managers at Fortune 1000 companies, and they're smart people. But smart people make mistakes. Here are five examples of misdirected thinking when it comes to social media, particularly blogs.

1) Confusing blogs with traditional articles:  "We can't do blogs, not enough time to do them justice. No way I can write a blog every other day," said one. He, like many, assumes that writing a blog is like writing an article--lot of thought, lot of energy, reporting, researching, finessing, etc. They also see it as a traditional writing style, just another editorial in new clothes (vs a conversational style). It's like reconditioning, teaching people to write in short bursts rather than long winded sentences. Just watch the way the younger crowd text-messages. Make your point quick, then move on.

This leads to...

Facebook & Microsoft--is the Social Media Bubble Peaking?

Quick quiz: How does an Internet laggard catch up?
If you're Microsoft, you throw boatloads of money at the problem and  buy your way in. The company according to the Wall Street Journal is in talks with FB to buy a 5% stake for $300 to $500 million. That would value the private company at $10billion or more. Microsoft may have to fend off Google, which has also shown interest in FB, and the FB owners may actually want more money (yes, $10b valuation is considered stingy). So it's not done till it's done. Yet the scenario says wonders about the state of the social media business--and raises fears that we're looking at hyperinflated model, ripe for a fall ("irrational exuberance" anyone?)

It's not that FB isn't valuable and social media isn't a force. FB is adding 200,000 subscribers A DAY, and social media is here to stay. There's momentum we haven't seen in years. FB pulled off some brilliant moves, opening the doors to developers in May to crank out thousands of new applications and paving the way for the post-college crowd to join--which it has, in droves. But the business (and advertising) model hasn't been proven, and it's unclear how much they can wring out of their members. This isn't Google.

FB's Mark Zuckerberg still needs to figure out how to monetize its product, and as Eric Hippeau, a managing partner of Softbank Capital, say in the article, "It's not that easy to monetize social media."

Right now FB is being subsidized by Microsoft, to the tune of $75 million a year. But when that deal runs out, as Hippeau points out, they're going to have to crank up the ad sales machine--and the advertising model is still in question.

Think about how you use these sites. Very few people click on the ads. They're in it to meet and connect with people, not to buy cameras, deodorant or a car.

The article points back to another hyperinflated model--GeoCities-- as a warning.

Digg vs Facebook vs MySpace

Facebook and MySpace are getting more company: this week Digg is launching a host of new social media features, and will be rolling out more the rest of the year. Their goal, according to BusinessWeek, is to "make it easier for users to find others who share their passions by enabling them to form small groups of "friends" and create fuller personal profiles. There will be profile pages where users can post photos, personal interests, and links to personal blogs, web sites, etc. Like Facebook, users will be able to control whether all Digg users can see their info or just their "friends."

Digg's founders Jay Adelson and Kevin Rose are obviously trying to cash in on the social media craze and add some stickiness to their site. Right now less than one of out 5 (est) of the people who visit Digg are registered users; the rest of the 20 million plus users (by Digg's count) swoop in, read an article, and move on. Digg has historically (historical=3 years)been the domain of techies, and is known for a wide range of stories, many quirky, that people submit and vote on--or "digg". Popular stories rise to the top.

Digg may be late to the party with Facebook, MySpace already entrenched, and dozens of other social media sites emerging.  The focus is on creating small communities of 5 to 10 or 15 people, creating connections around like-minded subjects. But that's exactly what Facebook is doing and it has an army of developers cranking out new applications every day. It's also unclear whether Digg will be able to build communities around the "dugg" news items. Last, they also risk annoying their core base of techie users, who now have to compete with business, lifestyle and other topics (one cool facet of Digg are the acid-tongue comments and humor).

Adelson and Rose have a  balancing act in keeping the natives happy, while broadening their base. Still, with millions of visitors and a brand name, you can't count them out either.

Facebook and Personal Branding

Nice piece by Brian Solis on the emerging role of Facebook, and how it should be a part of your personal branding. With FB there's the usual cool factor and ALL those widgets; users, as he points out, can easily share a "wealth of integrated activity" including Twitter, Jaiku, Flickr for sharing photos, Meetup for sharing live events, RSS readers can be used to share relevant stories and so on. Then there are the community news streams (the news stream represents the collective activities of all your "friends" or community). These are shared experiences as well.

But the real key is about about how you interact and participate in that community. It's a form of personal branding, using social media platforms. You need to be involved in the conversations, and contributing in a positive way. it's a great way to showcase your activities, skill sets and knowledge--in a careful way. This is participation marketing.

Adding to this is the fact that Facebook will soon be integrating profiles into search engine results, meaning your little FB profile could potentially be open to millions (if you choose--FB wisely offers privacy controls if you want to stay under the Google radar screen).

For the critics and doubters--and there are many--this still sounds a little like High School smoke and mirrors. But as you'll see in the next few months, as FB goes mainstream using its powerful platform and emerging financial muscle, this could easily evolve into a central marketing hub--not just for blogging fanatics and marketers, but for anyone who wants to build a community...and their brand.

 

Social Media, the Wall Street Journal and the Marie Digby Scandal

Another day, another Internet scandal. The latest came to light last week when the Wall Street Journal broke the story that 24 year old singer and guitarist named Marie Digby wasn't a home-grown, girl-next-door, You-Tube wonder after all. Turns out Hollywood Records had signed Ms. Digby in 2005, 18 months before she became a You-tube phenomenon, and according to the Journal orchestrated a grass-roots scheme to get her "discovered" online. Ms. Digby played along, once writing in MySpace, "I NEVER in a million years thought that doing my little video of Umbrella in my living room would led to this--tv shows, itunes, etc!!"

Yippee!

The singer's supporters are crying foul, claiming the Journal blew the story out of proportion (See the billboard.com writer's rebuttal and Ms. Digby's angry response here).  They also point out how hard it is for a no-name to get any attention from the big labels; most slave away in obscurity for a lifetime--so, hey, what if she did do a little fibbing?

But in any case, it's pretty clear the innocent online "staging" was more than an accident.

These schemes are hardly new.

Tumblr, LifeStream--Hassle-Free Platform or Fast Food Blogging?

This story was posted a few months ago, but I'm reviving it because it's about an interesting, simplified blog format, called a "tumblelog." Tumblelog is a brainlessly simple--no-writing-required--way to share interesting tidbits and maintain a personal site with the least possible commitment. The setup is minimal and cost free through a publishing service called Tumblr.

This platform flies in the face of more "serious" bloggers who feel like they need more editorial meat to be legitimate. But it's ideal for those who just want to post quick little notes or videos and move on. Think about how many people drop their blogs because they don't have the time to keep them up. This is one possible solution--cut the maintenance to the minimum.

The Wikipedia explains that a tumblelog is a variation on traditional blogging that favors very short, mixed media posts with little or no commentary. Lifehacker describes it as a, "lightning-fast way to publish the stuff you run across on the web every day, and the layout includes large text, photos, links, and video frames." One example of a well-done tumblelog is projectionist.

Another scaled down, simplified format is Lifestream, which similarily allows users to create a sort of historical record of their lives through videos, photos, links and more--minus any lengthy postings.

Podcasts, the Death of Radio and the Possibilities for Small Business

Reading through The New Influencers on the chapter on podcasts, one quote struck me. Ron Bloom, CEO of Podshow Network, calling it "5/50", believes that within 5 years 50 percent of all content consumers listen to will be generated by other consumers. I would have doubted this statement a year ago, but I'm now becoming a believer. And why not? Radio is an outdated media that's  geared for the masses (whoever they are) built on an advertising model that doesn't hold up in the new world. Satellite radio and Internet radio have helped but they don't go far enough.

Podcasts fit well into the new world, where you can find whatever kind of content you want, when and where you want it. So no wonder it's exploding, from less than 100 podcasts three years ago to likely over 100,000 by now.  Advertising revenue could hit $300million by 2010--small by online advertising standards, but growing rapidly.

What's fueling this is a raging consumer demand. It's all part of a bigger trend of time-shifted media, which got ignited a few years ago with digital video recorder services like Tivo. Now consumers like me  can pick and choose whatever programs we want on our own schedules. Podcasts are a similar breed--download them and listen to them (in the car, on your iPod, PC, etc) at your convenience. I've discovered old radio shows and obscure NPR programs, among others.

  The ramifications for small business are enormous.