CustomScoop's PR Blog Jots

Seasons Greetings as Marketing? (and Other PR PodJots)

Welcome to the last edition of PR PodJots of 2007! This week’s Jots are slightly abbreviated, as it seems that there is some sort of “holiday” coming up that has many of our regular podcasters off somewhere trapped in a “mall” or something. It’s a real mystery.

Despite this, a few intrepid souls maintained their usual rigorous podcasting schedule, unlike me, who will be taking the entirety of next week off! Therefore, no new PodJots next Friday. They will return the first Friday of 2008, January 4.

Marketing Over Coffee – Seasons’ Greetings as Marketing?

John and Chris welcome very special guest Scott Monty to the show this week. Among the issues on the menu this week, they discuss the idea of the holiday card as a marketing tool, something a few bloggers were touching on this week. Twist Image, Mitch Joel’s Montreal-based marketing firm, set a great precedent with their much-praised multi-media holiday greeting.

While most companies send standard holiday greetings to their customers and vendors, some are branching out into multimedia, a clever take often involving games or other interaction. Scott points out that at smaller companies like crayon with a lower budget, online video can provide a possible medium for holiday greetings.

Also discussed

• Google going social
• Online privacy
• The Nothing Show
• New media downturn?

Around the PR Podcast Horn (in alphabetical order):

For Immediate Release #302 and 303 – On the Monday show this week, Shel and Neville cover the latest Pew study on digital footprints, and Chip Griffin’s piece on the social media rulebook, which many disagreed with vehemently. On Thursday, Shel and Neville included coverage from Dan York on the Web Awards, a discussion on brands and social networks, and the demise of Blognation.

Forward Podcast – In the Forward Podcast’s first ever live show on Saturday, December 15, Paull Young and Luke Armour discussed what “you” are doing to address globalization with “academic powerhouses” Richard Bailey and Robert French. They discuss language issues—English as the universal “language of business,” for example—and other issues that will influence business on a global scale in the coming years.

Inside PR – Getting into the spirit of the season for the latest episode, Dave and Terry make their PR and social media “wish list.” Among their fondest wishes, they guys ask for improved measurement methods, for social media to become a PR staple rather than a niche, and for PR pros to stop claiming to be social media “experts” when they aren’t actually engaged in the community.

Marketing Martini – Bill Sweetman discusses domain names frequently, but have you ever thought about the particulars? This week he talks about the importance of having a domain name that ends in .com. He emphasizes the need to buy your brand’s dot-com name through a site like Go Daddy, and the importance of domains to branding.

PRobecast – In an especially fun episode, Doug Haslam, Tim Alik and Adam Zand cover a range of subjects. They discuss the Webkinz craze and the ethics of advertising to children, as well as whether it’s kosher to break up with a significant other via social media. The team also gives their thoughts on Chip Griffin’s controversial “Rulebook” post on Media Bullseye, and whether Google Knol is a viable competitor for Wikipedia.

Six Pixels of Separation – Mitch Joel continues to focus on a wide variety of topics this week, letting audience audio comments dominate much of the show and spur the discussion. He also calls for lots of comments with thoughts on 2007, which he will compile into a “Yule Log” episode for next week’s show. In his “six points” this week, Mitch offers six ways to optimize online advertising.

That's Not Fair--Or Is It? (and Other PR Blog Jots)

Life Isn't Fair
Communications Overtones
Many in the blogosphere are debating (probably fruitlessly) the intricacies of the fair use rule in copyright law. Boiled down to the basics, fair use allows artists to use copyrighted materials in parodies. In reality, the law has far too many shades of grey for even experts to adequately explain, which results in heated debate about definition of the term and where it applies. Kami Huyse tackles the debate continuing to swirl around the Richter Scales bubble video, and the complex questions behind fair use. “As someone who heavily uses Flickr photos to illustrate this site, I am very concerned about making sure that credit is given. No photo is used here unless it links back to the original source. Plus, my tool doesn't even pick up a photo unless is has been marked public. But is that enough? Do I have to get permission every time?”

I'm Linking to a Post About Writing, What a Surprise!
Tough Sledding
Since I began writing for CustomScoop’s blogs this year, I’ve been continually emphasizing the need for quality writing skills for anyone working in communications. Getting through to an audience is difficult enough, if you’re not armed with excellent written communications you’re starting out by swimming upstream. Bill Sledizik underlines the importance of writing, particularly in training the PR pros of tomorrow in his classes at Kent State. He offers some worthy grammar and punctuation tips that everyone in PR should keep in mind. “Good writing involves far more than I can summarize in a blog post. Good writing is about content, context, tone, organization, flow and texture. It’s about choosing words precisely and punctuating sentences accurately. Good writing also means sweating the “little stuff” — the details of grammar, usage and punctuation. It means caring enough to use the language artfully but also correctly.”

Monitor, monitor, monitor!
Engage in PR
After making an offhand remark on Twitter regarding his general dislike for photo-sharing website Slideshare, Kyle Flaherty was surprised to receive an email from the company’s CEO the very next day. She was looking for his feedback in more detail, remarking that they learn more from users who aren’t wild about the site than those who love it. This is an excellent example of using social media monitoring to engage in your target community, and turn criticism into a positive development. “I was astonished at how quickly Rashmi had touched base and how willing she was to get feedback from me. I immediately sent her an email with a few of my thoughts about why I wasn’t an overall fan of SlideShare, which she answered within hours with some really helpful tips and tricks for using SlideShare.”

We Wish You a Merry (Geeky) Christmas
PR Works
I’ve noticed a few Christmas greetings trickling into my inbox incorporating video or other multimedia this holiday season. Is this how the social media geeks celebrate the holidays? Dave Jones compliments Mitch Joel and the team at Twist Image for their creative take on the holiday card, comparing it to a sort of “People magazine” for nerds, as it highlights some of the higher-profile bloggers and podcasters in this space. Some other cards offer video greetings, while others offer interactive games. “For a full round-up of the online Christmas card shenanigans, Kate Trgovac has done the heavy lifting and clicked, viewed, watched and listened to some of the latest, greatest (and not-so) over on the One Degree marketing blog over a few posts.”

Community vs Cancer (and Other PR Blog Jots)

Community Vs. Cancer
Every Dot Connects
As any regular readers are aware, I’m a huge Twitter cheerleader. But never have I looked on in awe at the power behind this community until this week, when I noticed people changing their avatars to include peas, or “peavatars” as some are calling them (see my peavatar here). The reason? Susan Reynolds, a blogger and “power networker” on Twitter, is undergoing a mastectomy this week, and has used frozen peas to ease the pain of her breast biopsies. Connie Reece discusses the Twitter-based movement to fight breast cancer, and to show support for Susan. “In the days to come, Susan’s family will be by her bedside, caring for her and assisting her recovery. But an entire socialmediasphere will be rallying around her cause, lifting her spirits and doing our small part to help find a cure. Join us, won’t you?”

Do You Need to Lose Excess Media Fat?
Pardon the Disruption
While we don’t often highlight CustomScoop’s own staff blogs on the Jots (we prefer to spread the love around!), I thought Chip Griffin’s post on media snacking was one worthy of mention. The end of the year might be a good time to reevaluate your content intake—perhaps it’s time to clean out your feeds and start fresh, or finally purge those blogs you hardly ever look at from your reader. What will you do for a “new media diet” come the new year? “For one, I need to do a better job of reading books.  I still read a fair amount, but too often I go for easy reads designed to simply entertain or to read an important industry book to allow me to better address trends.  But I also need to read longer magazine articles and other more meaty content on a more regular basis.”

Do You Smell a Rat?
PR Squared
2007 has fostered a lot of great success stories in social media. More companies than ever before are adopting it as part of their communications strategies, and its legitimacy as a medium will only continue to grow in 2008. But as more of the Fortune 500 start noticing blogs and other forms of social media, are they serious about change, or are they only paying lip service? Todd Defren examines this question, and argues that even a high profile company could do more harm to the validity of social media if they don’t do it right. “In some select cases we found our prospective clients more interested in paying lip-service to Social Media ideals than in true change.  They were looking to mark off the check-box, as in, ‘Social Media? Yep, we got that.’”

Is Education the Answer? (and Other PR Blog Jots)

More Tips for Blogger Outreach
Communications Overtones
Perhaps in a reaction to the numerous bloggers who are calling out PR firms and professional flacks for lazy pitching practices, I’ve seen an uptick lately in posts offering constructive advice to companies looking to dip a toe in the blogger outreach waters. I applaud all these efforts, the more we try to educate PR pros on the best ways to reach out to key influencers, the less bloggers will have to complain about. Kami Huyse offers ten common sense tips on forming relationships with influential bloggers. “I have synthesized the words of a few others and added a bit of my own advice to help newcomers navigate this area.  Call it bloggers relations, blogger outreach or influencer outreach (my new favorite term), but remember that it is all about the attitude you bring to the game and the golden rule, ‘Do unto others as you would have them do to you.’”

Buzz Advertising
The Flack
With the Superbowl looming weeks away, advertisers are already gearing up for the expected PR bump the best ads usually receive. Peter Himler wonders how viral video will continue to affect advertising, noting several buzz worthy YouTube spots (including the Whopper video I discussed in yesterday’s Jots). He argues that it seems the point of advertising in many ways is to become the newest “big thing,” rather than to simply get your product in front of the eyeballs who happen to be watching the spot when it runs. This concept is especially valid when you consider the number of TV viewers who are timeshifting, watching programs on DVR and fast-forwarding through commercials. “Many marketers no doubt count on that PR pop to justify their multi-million dollar investments. They retain PR firms to "leverage" their clients' creative to end up on the list of "most recalled." In fact, the noise for this year's game already has started. Perennial big bowl bettor Budweiser floated Ferrell (at left) to whet the media's appetite. As the marketing disciplines blur, we're seeing more and more ads created explicitly to set mainstream and citizen media's tongues-a-wagging (versus only reaching the audience du moment).”

Wait Til Next Year...
Marketing Conversations
It’s that time of year again! Movie critics are coming out with top ten lists, news outlets are conducting “year in review” segments, and bloggers are making predictions for new developments in the year ahead. As 2007 winds down, Jonathan Trenn offers up his own fearless predictions, including the idea that women are going to be moving up in the social media world. As the proud owner of some female chromosomes, I hope he’s right. I’ve wondered before why it is that in a profession with so many women, there aren’t more powerful female PR bloggers. Perhaps 2008 will set a new trend. “More often than not, men are early adapters, while women are more cautious. But women seem to use the internet more for social reasons. We’ll see some significant success stories from social networks that are either specifically designed for or are primarily geared to women. And they won’t tolerate being overly marketed to or egregious violations of their privacy.”

The Whopper Freakout (and Other PR Blog Jots)

Is Time the New Metric?

Six Pixels of Separation

Responding to the fascinating new online video commercial from Burger King, “The Whopper Freakout,” Mitch Joel wonders if there isn’t a new metric when thinking about measuring influence in social media. The video is more than seven-minutes long, 14 times the length of a normal TV spot, and yet it has over 90,000 views on YouTube. The personal nature of the video, which examines how people would react if Burger King decided to pull the Whopper from its menus, requires a commitment from the audience, is this commitment the new metric that should hold our attention? “That’s the new currency of the Social Media space and the new metric we need to understand and learn from. Spending 7:35 with Burger King (something I would never normally do) is what inspired me to Blog about Whopper Freakout Commercial.”

Pick a Category, and Category

PR Studies

Blogging has evolved rather quickly in the few years since it became popular, peaking as 2006’s Time magazine person of the year was revealed to be “You.” Richard Bailey ponders the evolution of the blog from meaningless chatter to well-reasoned, respected contribution to the media landscape. He notes that rather than comparing blogging to traditional print journalism, we should be comparing it to the conversations taking place in the social media world, and wonders where exactly blogging “fits” in the “publishing ecosystem.” “Compared to the semi-public (and barely literate) conversations on social media sites like Facebook (2007’s ‘new new thing’) blogs seem considered, valuable and highly literate. The froth has gone, but there’s something substantial left. Yet rather than being too quick and easy, the criticism now comes from those who find the process of blogging too ponderous, too dull and without an immediate feedback loop.”

It’s Not the Conversation

Now is Gone

Suggesting a repositioning of the “old formula” set up for communication and interacting with stakeholders, Ike Pigott lays out the idea of throwing out the old definitions of audience and community. He argues that the word “conversation,” a favorite buzz word in social media that has been overused to the point where it’s become cliché, has become the focus of far too many efforts in the social media environment. Ike points out that conversation can mean many different things, and the focus should be on interaction, yes, but also credibility. “So, I’m officially calling off the “conversation” as the be-all end-all unit of exchange. You don’t need to have a “conversation” to succeed in business. You do need to earn the credibility required to be granted the Final Word regarding your product, performance, or service. Because people are talking, whether you’re listening or not.”

Blogger Outreach, in Plain English (and Other PR Blog Jots)

Look Before You Leap
Web Strategy by Jeremiah
The correct way to conduct PR outreach to bloggers (or if you even should at all) continues to be a hot topic in the PR blogosphere, and Jeremiah Owyang offers some simple, common-sense tips to anyone looking to get into the game. Aiming his post towards entrepreneurs and startup companies (from whom he’s been receiving a number of pitches lately), Jeremiah boils down the keys to pitching bloggers as simply taking the time to listen, target an audience, and engaging in dialogue. “It still amazes me that even after books like Naked Conversations and Cluetrain have come out that people haven’t figured out how to join the conversation. Sure, a very overused term the ‘conversation’ still is about dialog between two or more individuals. Want to prove your worth as a vendor or consultant? Leave savvy comments on blogs (joining existing conversations) that add to what’s already been said, and start a blog (lead your own conversation).”

Does Anyone Really Care About Privacy?
The Buzz Bin
It was a pleasure to meet Geoff Livingston in person this morning at the fourth Social Media Breakfast; he gave a great talk about the differences between audiences and communities, and a keen participant asked about whether social media enthusiasts can honestly expect privacy. Geoff directed us to this post, regarding the recent Pew study that shows Americans aren’t as vigilant about keeping tabs on their online privacy as one might think. The study reveals that while 47 percent of Americans are checking on their online footprints, they aren’t doing so with nearly enough regularity. “Technology marketers must be thrilled about this now proven lack of concern on privacy.  This eases the adoption of data intense applications like location based services, new semantic web technologies as well as initiatives like open identity. They keys to success for companies using identity data is to clearly communicate information usage, garner permission, and follow through on their commitments.”

Stealth Social Network
Chris Brogan
I officially admit that I’ve been linking to Chris Brogan too much lately, but his “100 Posts” series has been yielding such great fruit I’ve been unable to help myself. Perhaps I will place an official Brogan embargo on the rest of this week—right after today’s Jots. Today he points out the clever nature of what appears to be a new social networking platform from Google. They’ve been slowly adding features to their various popular applications, all of which just might add up to a social network you’re already automatically using, and some potential competition for the closed garden of Facebook. “When Facebook started to make a difference over 2007, and people started hiding inside the very closed walls, Google came up with this, a way to do a lot of the same social features without making us dig up our Orkut account IDs. In fact, think about it, your social network is your contact list. No invitations necessary. That’s the coup de grace. You’re already bought in, at least insofar as Google can help you convert your friends to your new social network: your inbox.”

Don't Block Me, Bro! (and Other PR PodJots)

The Rundown, With Shel Holtz – Stop Blocking Campaign

The Rundown host Luke Armour welcomed respected podcaster and half of the For Immediate Release duo Shel Holtz to the show this week. Shel appeared to discuss the Stop Blocking campaign, designed to prevent employers from blocking employee access to social networking websites. Shel argues that sites like these can be beneficial, and that if employers aren’t checking their workers for hard copy versions of things that may be distracting, then why should they discriminate against web-based content? Strumpette’s Brian Connolly called in to join the discussion, questioning Shel as to why any rules (such as speed limits and traffic signs) exist at all if most people aren’t breaking them.

I must agree with Shel on site-blocking. Most of us in salaried positions (versus employees paid by the hour) have spent plenty of evenings and even some weekend time devoted to work tasks. Whether it’s a big project or a new campaign, or an internal presentation, work can often encroach on our free time, particularly in the days of Blackberries, laptops, and home Internet access. Therefore, if an employee spends a little time on sites like Facebook each day, is productivity really going down as much as employers claim? Not to mention, as Shel rightly points out, blocking access to certain Internet sites shows a complete lack of trust between the employee and company. If you don’t trust your workers, why’d you hire them in the first place?

PRobecast – Live-Blogging Conferences

In a reference to his excellent article for Media Bullseye, Doug Haslam (joined by his Topaz colleagues Adam Zand and Tim Alik) discusses the Society for New Communications Research Symposium, which Doug spent live-Twittering and Seesmicing. He points out that live-blogging events used to be considered a faux-pas, but that through Twitter’s emergence at South by Southwest, things have changed. The Topaz guys debate the topic, with Tim and Adam a bit more skeptical that it’s possible to truly pay attention to a speaker while tapping away at a keyboard.

This debate is pretty interesting. On one level, you can argue that it is disrespectful to be focused on your laptop while someone (who probably spent at least some time if not a lot preparing for their presentation) is speaking. It’s also a distraction for those in the audience. On the other hand, for those of us who don’t have my boss’s grueling travel schedule, we’re not going to make it to 90 percent of the conferences that interest us. People live-tweeting or blogging an event can get the themes and interesting aspects of a conference out to the masses in real time. What are your thoughts?

Also discussed:

• Social Media Club Boston event
• The Blog Council
• Word of Mouth vs Viral
• Media Bullseye
• Facebook’s Beacon apology

Around the PR Podcast Horn (in alphabetical order):

10 Golden Rules of Internet Marketing – Jay Berkowitz features live interviews for WebmasterWorld’s PubCon 2007 in Las Vegas. He speaks with Matt Cutts of Google, among others. He also discusses LaunchPR’s Top Ten PR Launches of 2007, Squidoo lenses, Facebook, and “how to tell if you’re a web old timer.”

The Client Side – In the second episode of a two-part discussion, Michael Seaton explores the elements of effective client-agency relationships. He looks at the idea of the Balanced Scorecard, which can help set appropriate expectations and both clients and agencies determine which measurements are the most important.

FIR #300 and #301 – Congratulations to Neville and Shel recording their 300^th FIR podcast on Monday!  To celebrate their milestone, the dynamic duo reflects on previous shows and offers updates on a number of hot topics covered on past shows, including corporate blogging, ethics, and Second Life.  On Thursday’s show, the pair features a report from Eric Schwartzman of On the Record … Online podcast who discusses how traditional media sources are factoring in online searches when writing and titling articles.

Inside PR – In line with the spirit of giving during the holiday season, this week Terry and David discuss the benefits of pro bono work, and some tips on how to get a public relations firm on board with your philanthropic cause. Terry argues that doing pro bono work can be good for an agency, and that it gives them a chance to hone their PR skills and perhaps be used as an opportunity to make new contacts, develop employees, and even generate a solid case study.

Managing the Gray – CC Chapman continues his discussion on “little f” friends versus “capital F” Friends. That is, who do you really know, and who is just an online acquaintance? Managing relationships in real life is hard enough, but blogging and podcasting can cause an audience to think they know someone quite well, which a caller refers to as “one-way intimacy.”

Marketing Martini - Bill Sweetman reposts his inaugural podcast in which he discusses the importance of optimizing search engine search terms.  Sweetman relays a humorous story of a client who was curious as to why the searches for “baseball videos” didn’t direct traffic to the client’s website, only to realize that there were no plural mentions of the word “videos” anywhere on the site.  Sweetman recommends people use Google AdWords Keyword Tool to avoid common search term snafus.

Marketing Over Coffee – John and Chris offer up their usual robust blend (see what I did there?) of topics on this week’s episode, including a discussion of marketing automation (I didn’t know what it was either), Google Reader stats for Marketing blogs, and an excellent breakdown of web analytics tools such as Google analytics, Heatmap and Crazyegg.

On the Record - Eric Schwartzman goes “on the record” with Colin Farrington, General Director of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.  Farrington reveals that he has an aversion to blogs because blogging has not improved the political climate in Britain.  He argues that knee-jerk reactions may prove fatal to many students’ future careers and advices that “people think before they blog.”

Six Pixels of Separation – Mitch Joel also touches on a diverse set of topics this week, with listeners chiming in with great comments from all over the world in this episode. Speaking of comments, Mitch’s six tips this week involve creating compelling audio comments. He recommends keeping it relatively brief (two minutes or less), and ensuring that you’re adding a fresh perspective to the conversation.

Not That There's Anything Wrong With That...(and Other PR Blog Jots)

Yada yada yada...
Chris Brogan
In the 1990s, NBC Thursday night programming was a veritable powerhouse. It wasn’t until “CSI” came along on CBS in 2000 that any other network could compete with the “Must-See TV” lineup. Chris Brogan takes a look at NBC’s formula of sandwiching less popular shows between their three all-stars, “Seinfeld,” “Friends,” and “ER.” He thinks the same concept can be applied to growing your audience on blogs. Among other tips, he recommends trying to engage audiences that already engaged elsewhere, a “crossover audience” from another popular site may be drawn to yours if you write about similar themes. “I mentioned above that your product had to standalone and that crossovers stunk on TV and comics, but what I didn’t say and should is that AUDIENCE crossover is magic. Wherever you can find ways to get a big product’s audience to interact with you, it’s good. Don’t get onto someone else’s blog and just pimp the hell out of your blog. That won’t work. It just comes off as seeming wayyyyy too self-serving. But it doesn’t hurt to write a follow-on topic really quickly that augments a blog whose audience might really love your stuff.”

Tips To Improve Your Googleability
Personal Branding Blog
Now that we know some excellent tips for growing your audience, how do you improve searchability? If your personal brand is doesn’t turn out well in Google search results, continuing to expand your audience may prove challenging. Robert David Hunter offers some excellent tips for improving your “Google visibility,” including establishing a presence on business networking sites such as LinkedIn, and making sure your name appears somewhere in your blog’s title. “You will notice that some popular social networks carry a lot of weight (see picture above) in Google. From what I’ve noticed, Facebook, LinkedIn, Lyro, Technorati, YouTube, Twitter and Blog Catalog are favorable. You should join these popular services, so that you can “own your brand” on Google. If you have negative publicity associated with your brand, by joining these networks, you can push those results down, so that if someone Google’s you, your personal brand will be secure. Also, purchase your domain name immediately (yourname.com).”

Dear CEO Blogger...
PR Squared
In an open letter to CEOs thinking about jumping into the blogosphere and participating, Todd Defren lays out some specific advice for them to ponder before doing so. He urges CEOs to spend at least a month just listening and reading other blogs before starting their own, and getting to know a few bloggers in their field. He points out that many a CEO ego has the potential to be crushed by the somewhat cliquey nature of the blogosphere, and that they can’t expect to shoot to the top of Technorati as soon as they put thoughts to keyboard. Todd recommends easing in, and keeping expectations in check. “Same with blogging, Chief.  Think of it as an extended block party.  You’re certainly invited, but please don’t expect to be Mr. Popular right away.  Giving freely of your attention in the form of commenting & linking liberally to your peers’ blogs is the equivalent of handing out your BBQ goodies.  It could take YEARS, but sooner or later your neighbors will come to respect, expect and love your contributions.”

Thunderdome: Target and Wal-Mart
The Buzz Bin
Wal-Mart in Target already battle it out for their share of the mainstream retail consumers (though I’m not even convinced they are in the same league, Target’s audience seems to be young adults with money to burn whereas Wal-Mart targets—heh—the lower income families), and they may be taking that fight to social media. Both have suffered well-publicized astroturfing gaffes (though some may argue Wal-Mart’s was more egregious). Larissa Fair think that now is the time for Wal-Mart to take advantage of the bad publicity hit Target is taking and make a social media comeback. “Though Wal-Mart may (or may not) have learned from their mistakes, they keep trying to prove their willingness to listen and engage their customers. Hopefully Wal-Mart will be able to get it right this time, and really become a part of the community, as we have seen with Dell, SouthWest, and other companies that have successfully engaged the public through their blogs (and willingness to acknowledge their downfalls).”

The New Super Tuesday (and Other PR Blog Jots)

Super Twitter Tuesday
Web Strategy by Jeremiah
I think everyone in the social media circle understands the value of microblogging platform Twitter, but it is sometimes helpful to explain to those new to the platform why it might be (or might not be) a good fit for their needs. Jeremiah Owyang caused a “Twitter explosion” yesterday by Tweeting a post about the value of Twitter conversations and urging his readers to leave their Twitter names in his comments, and add him as a friend. The result? A huge wave of new connections throughout the Twitterverse, and a broad response from the blogosphere. Talk about power of the community. “This is a good test of what could happen in an emergency, as folks were using Twitter to get messages out during the South CA fires a few months ago. The viral activity in and around Twitter was amazing, people of like minded interests were leaving their twitter profile below, then connecting to each other at a rapid rate, it then spread the the blogosphere slowing both twitter.com and my blog.”

Alone at the Top?
PR 2.0
In the wake of Jeremiah’s successful Twitter experiment, Brian Solis argues that Twitter is truly a conversation hub (or ecosystem, as some are calling it), but is quick to point out that it is hardly alone in this function. Conversations are happening throughout the Internet, and Brian reminds users not to ignore other social networks in favor of Twitter. He does underline, however, that the service is an extremely useful resource, and the top platform of its kind operating today. “And conversations are not unique to Twitter, it's just one of the places where you can start and join discussions that matter to you. Conversation hubs are everywhere. That's the entire foundation of Social Media. Twitter just happens to be the most popular microblogging network out there right now and it represents the first micromedia tool that will have mass appeal. But, depending on the market demographic and segment, those hubs are stationed across the Web.”

Does Social Media Lend Itself to Astroturfing?
Now Is Gone
Does the loosened editorial nature of social media, and its adoption by major news outlets (comments on newspaper stories, for example), lend itself to an increase in “homespun” astroturfing? Ike Pigott examines the issue, considering the idea that the Internet has created its own self-styled “experts” on any topic, out there tossing ideas and arguments as proven facts without any citation, or leaving comments with similar arguments under several different names. He calls it human nature to attempt to manipulate others into our way of thinking. I’m not sure this necessarily counts as astroturfing, per se, but it is an interesting point. “The impulse to Astroturf is in our DNA. It’s always been there, lodged in the part of our brain that makes us social creatures. If we don’t recognize that, we run the risk of enabling non-genuine activity on the sites and communities we build. This lack of vetting is what places “lowly bloggers” so far down the food chain of news. It takes time and effort to build a reputation for accuracy, neutrality, and consistency.”

What's On Your Social Media Bookshelf?
Pro PR
While blogs are some of the best up-to-the-minute information and news in the social media and public relations world, there are also many excellent reading choices out there. Joe Thornley offers some micro-reviews of the books on his social media bookshelf, including “The Cluetrain Manifesto” (a must read), “Naked Conversations,” “Everything is Miscellaneous,” and (a book whose relationship to social media I’d yet to consider) “The World is Flat.” What social media books are you currently reading? “Thomas Friedman explores the potential for the ubiquitous Internet to transcend geography and transform the global economy. My children are no longer in competition with the kids in their school or city. They now can look forward to a life in which they compete and share with people on the other side of the globe. Sweeping changes for North Americans and Europeans who have taken for granted an economic order that emerged in the mid-fifties.”

Forgive and Forget? (And Other PR Blog Jots)

Forgiving Facebook
Marketing Conversation
While many in the blogosphere are still feeling the sting of Facebook’s much-maligned Beacon program, Jonathan Trenn reports that there’s at least one group that’s ready to forgive and forget: media buyers. He points readers to an article in Mediaweek reporting that ad buyers are essentially satisfied with Facebook’s mea culpa and alterations to their Beacon program. Jonathan points out that this mentality may be misguided, but is unsurprising—media buyers, after all, aren’t necessarily concerned about privacy, but about selling. “Beacon didn’t push the envelope, it used technology to interfere with the traditional buy/retailer relationship, causing many to feel that their privacy was compromised.  And, as an advertising vehicle, it did nothing for the recipient of the ’story’ unless the thing that was purchased was something that the end reader had expressed an interest it.”

SNCR in Review
Social Media Group
I’ve been meaning to write my own rundown on the SNCR Symposium in Boston last week, but in the meantime please check out Maggie Fox’s excellent summary. She gives some of the highlights of the event, with descriptions of the panels that ranged from non-profit groups and social media to healthcare 2.0. She also gently chastises the representative from Coca-Cola present to discuss the company’s collaboration with Eepybird, the creative group responsible for those mesmerizing “Diet Coke and Mentos” videos. “In his presentation, the gentleman from Coke pretty much glossed over the fact that the company’s initial response clearly indicated they had no understanding of the power and value of the video and excitement it generated, focusing instead on their subsequent efforts to engage. I asked him about what it had taken Coke to get from dismissive to directly involved, it would have been an interesting perspective on the issues facing large, less-than-nimble companies. However, his answer contained mostly platitudes and excuses, which was a bad move with the SNCR audience.”

If You're a Blogging Egomaniac and You Know it, Clap Your Hands (clap clap)
Blogstring
After a long day at the SNCR event, I didn’t stick around for the Social Media Club Boston event organized by Todd Van Hoosear, and it seems I missed an excellent discussion. The attendees voted on several “debate topics,” including a few that assert not-so-complimentary viewpoints on social media and blogging. For example, are bloggers and social media enthusiasts really just big-headed egomaniacs looking for affirmation of their own superior thinking? Nathan Burke (whose blog, full disclosure, I co-author) summarizes the event, and tries to answer a few of those provocative questions. “I don’t think social media is the cause of a cult of personality and egomaniacal tendencies. I don’t think that egomania is necessarily a result of using these ego-broadcast platforms. Egomaniacs have existed for the span of human existence, with or without digital communications. The social web has simply made it easier for self-promotion on a worldwide level in a fast, nearly effortless, free way. Another thought was this: When everyone is using social media for promotion, people need to build a “personal brand” out of necessity just to stay competitive.”

DIY Twitter Improvement
Six Pixels of Separation
In an examination of the continuing evolution of microblogging platform Twitter, Mitch Joel considers the best strategies for building a solid Twitter community, one that will provide the most benefit. He notes the circumstances that often result in someone “not following you back,” something that some of the Twitterati find most offensive. I’m split on this issue--when I recently picked up a slew of new followers I followed them all back, and found that not everyone Tweets about things I’m especially interested in. There are others that argue that Twitter is a conversation, and to not follow back those that follow you is to eschew that conversation and miss the point. Mitch suggests achieving balance by not trying to do too much too soon, adding friends gradually, and starting with only those you truly know. “Twitter is easy to use, but it's becoming increasingly more challenging to build a substantial community - which is what makes it most valuable. I'm fearful that we're entering an era where there are lots of people on Twitter, but not that many connected to one another. Twitter is useless if you don't build a community, and it's hard to build that community unless you've already provided value in your feed.”