Commentary
Publishers Read This: Why You Need to Twitter
Kory Kredit just interviewed Guy Kawasaki for Media Post. If you’re a publisher, and you’re still wondering why you should care about Twitter, read this:
Kory: How do you think publishers/news outlets should be using [Twitter] for themselves?
Guy: At the very least they should be auto-tweeting their news feeds. So one [tactic] is pushing their own stuff out, and the other [tactic] is to monitor it to keep up with current events. I also think that you can foster loyalty. If I were a newspaper and [I'd] just published my quarterly venture capital roundup, I would be searching for …more…
New Facebook TOS: Trouble for Brands and Celebrities?
The Consumerist has posted a story about the new Facebook Terms of Service. I’m not a lawyer, but it certainly sounds like Facebook is claiming the right to use any of the content (photos, videos, notes) uploaded by their users, in any way they see fit — even if the user removes the content from Facebook and closes his or her account. …more…
The First Facebook Ad I Clicked
After more than a year of being a fairly active Facebook user, I clicked on a Facebook ad for the first time today. Here’s the ad:
Why did it work? …more…
The Future of Site Registration and Lead Generation Programs
Google Friend Connect, Facebook Connect and MySpaceID all offer ways for publishers to incorporate third-party logins and networking features on their site. The downside, of course, is that publishers lose some control over all of the data that they get when visitors register with them directly. But the upside for users – and for sites that figure out how to incorporate these features – are so high that publishers need to pay attention and start experimenting with these systems today. …more…
Marketing through Facebook Apps: What's (Not) Working
Adweek has a great article on advertisers’ continuing struggle to connect with Facebook users. The full article by Brian Morrissey is worth reading, since he provides some in-depth examples of marketing-driven applications that have failed to catch on with the audience.
Some of the pitfalls? …more…
Sunday In the Sandbox with Facebook Connect
Having been told by Tonia that I would have to provide useful content for this site, rather than just pronouncing from on high, I spent the Sabbath playing around with Facebook Connect (website | Tonia’s post,) to see whether I could extract something useful from it. …more…
BusinessWeek's Business Exchange
In August, The New York Times broke the news about BusinessWeek’s plans to launch Business Exchange. The article described the new product as a mashup between Wikipedia, digg and LinkedIn, with vertical topics suggested by users, links to content from across the web, and an unspecified set of social networking features. The plans represent a “significant loosening of control” for a traditional media property–but not too loose: new topics require editorial approval, and the editors reserve the right to remove objectionable content. Users have profiles which, interestingly, can be imported from their LinkedIn accounts, …more…
The Big Three Tweet to the Choir
Detroit executives are going social in their campaign to hand over their liabilities and failed business model to the state.
At the manfully named FastLane Blog, GM CFO Ray Young has posted a YouTube video, admitting mistakes were made in the past, discounting the possibility that mistakes will be made in the future, and thanking everyone for their support. Well, thank you, Ray. …more…
Facebook Connect: The Social Graph Becomes More Social
This was the week that saw the official launch of Facebook Connect and Google’s Friend Connect. To get caught up, read the Economist’s story about Facebook Connect, or get the Wall Street Journal’s take (subscription required).
A lot of the buzz around these new services focus on their ability to connect your friends to products, services or entertainment outside the wall of the network in which you are connected; and for marketers to promote their products to other people in your entire …more…
Show me the Business Model: IDC Swings but Misses
IDC released a new report, U.S. Consumer Online Attitudes Survey Results Part III, that “examines [Social Networking Services] audience reach compared to mainstream services, such as Google and Yahoo!, the demographics of SNS users, and consumer tolerance for SNS advertising compared to online advertising in general.” The highlight of their press release (titled “Social Network Users Less Receptive To Advertising”) is that more than half of U.S. consumers are now using social media sites, with very high levels of repeat visits and engagement. But … ads on social media sites have lower click-through rates than …more…
