PR Tech Leader Doesn’t Get the Blog Thing…
Paul Abrahams, ex FT hack turned flack at Wag-ED really doesn’t understand what all the fuss is about…
Is blogging the 21st-century equivalent of citizen band radio, the personal radio technology that became so popular in the late 1970s that it was included in a Coronation Street plotline and spawned a generation of bad Burt Reynolds ‘Good Ol’ Boy’ movies?
Mr Scoble created many millions of dollars in positive publicity for Microsoft, on a salary of less than $100K. I don’t think WaggEd could have done a fraction of that, for 100 times the payment Mr Scoble received.
It is pretty remarkable that any communicator doesn’t quite grasp the impact of participatory communications and social media – it is even more remarkable to go public with it in such a way. Don’t think bad of Wag-ED though, Frank Shaw has a pretty good blog running which I follow.
If all Paul was trying to do was ignite the debate with a contrarian view – and goodness knows we need them right now – he has done a great job.
Blogs a Powerful B2B Presence @ Media Buyer Planner
Well worth a look. According to the study, Blogs have made inroads into B2B technology companies with more than 53 percent of respondents saying the content they read in blogs has an impact on their work-related purchasing decisions. Some 80 percent of respondents say they read blogs, with 51 saying they read them at least once a week.
The Cascade Of Influence
Tom highlights how the cascade of influence is changing – using the LonelyGirl15 (LG15) story. Turns out that LonelyGirl15 (LG15) is in fact and aspiring NZ actress – and – that the videos were anything but amateur.
The first parts of the story were published in online sites, then came the major newspapers: New York Times, Chicago Tribune, LA Times with their coverage. Their stories then helped spark the interest of TV and radio news crews.
The LG15 story is not an important story in itself, but it is an important news story. This is not a contradiction, it is a description of its place in our culture.
The LG15 story shows how the media functions, how they influence each other. It shows how the media networks: blogger, citizen, mainstream, and anything in-between — push/pull news stories up into the broader mediasphere.
To get into the broader mediasphere, it seems news stories often have to make it into flagship publications of journalist rigor, such as the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, LA Times, the Wall Street Journal, and The Times (London.)
Tom says it well in an earlier post.
Yes, the subject matter of this story was not about anything that matters that much. But imagine this same type of cooperation on really important stories–that’s what excites me.
There is always intense competition to be first with a story–but that is good. And it is complimentary competition rather than adversarial. There is no such thing as bloggers versus mainstream media.
This is the media model for the future: a mediasphere that uses the best qualities of professional media combined with relentless pursuit of information by citizen journalists. That’s a potent formula that bodes well for our society, IMHO
Links & Blinks
- 21 SEO tips and tricks. Well worth a read.
- FunkySexyCool.com – power of social networking
- Google Earth gets free premium content. Once a user clicks on a featured content vendor, markers will appear on the images being viewed, designating the special features.
- The hard disk is 50 years old… And given the death recently of my Powerbook HD, the sooner they are replaced the better…
- When selling the CEO, keep it simple…
- NZ’s Warehouse founder wants to take company private…
- 50 Great design resources
- The Ultimate Mac software list
"Green" Resonates As A Message
Just in case you thought Sun and Dell were smoking something with all their Green messaging, take a read of this piece in Computerworld. In fact, Green is the new black when it comes to messaging. Take a look at the messaging leadership that GE is demonstrating.
In fact, GE is one of the few to extend it across to a brand play (“ecoimagination“) while maintaining a degree of authenticity. Sun on the other hand is really doing a great job of attaching the product to tangible benefits – like energy rebates – and product branding – “cool threads“.
What is going on here is interesting. Recognizing the very tangible commercial advantage of messaging green, companies like Sun, GE and Dell are moving beyond messaging as hyperbole and into making the message very real. The stand to gain from the mantra of “live the message and prosper”.
