Soundbites & Links
- Are blogs headed for a slowdown? “Research by Gartner, according to the magazine, found that the number of blogs will top out at about 100 million this summer. But it also noted that some 200 million blogs are no longer being updated–many of them abandoned by their authors.” What a terrible measure of the health of blogging. Lets look at the growth of posts, comments, video content. This is the equivalent of measuring the health of the Internet on the basis of URL registrations. Garbage.
- I’ve got some Joost beta invites if you’d like one. Still can’t get it to work on Vista though.
- Interesting: Scribd. Scribd is a free online library where anyone can upload. Use our embeddable PDF player to publish and view documents right in your web browser.
- Like this from Nick:
“I like to think of the blogosphere as a vast, earth-engirdling digestive track, breaking down the news of the day into ever finer particles of meaning (and ever more concentrated toxins). Another word for “parasitic,” in this context, is “critical.” Blogging is at its essence a critical form, a means of recycling other writings to ensure that every nutritional molecule, whether real or imagined, is fully consumed. To be called a literary parasite is no insult. It’s a compliment.”
- Rod Launches Xero (beta) and scores a Kiwi sports star. Brilliant move.
A Snapshot of the Marketing Business
Nice post here by Richard Edelman on an event they staged last week. Some highlights:
- Ideas are paramount. Too much time is spent on where to communicate, not enough on what to talk about. Ideas can be gathered by listening to stakeholders and consumers online. Yes! As much as I love the science of communications and marketing, we shouldn’t ever forget that first and foremost we are a creative profession!
- The new sweet spot for video content is a 3-4 minute segment, between long form (movie) and short form (30 second spot). This is the average length of segments on YouTube. Can’t wait till all corporate pitches conform to the same format – like Demo!
- There is further proof of Linda Stone’s adage, “The World of Continuous Partial Attention”. Thirty eight percent of those watching the Oscars on TV were also on-line. People may be watching TV but are watching TV differently.
Blinks & Links
- Edelman launches a writing blog.
- Michael Arrington’s list of Web 2.0 companies in 2007 he can’t live without.
- This Cringely article captures the Web 2.0 startup phenomena from the point of view of the VC’s.
- Stowe’s Ten Thoughts for 2007
- Fred forecasts continued expansion in social networking in 2007. Stowe agrees with his prognosis for large established sites going social:
Established communities will go social
Ebay. Amazon. Wikipedia. Motley Fool. New York Times. What do these sites all have in common? They are large content sites with enormous communities. As the web goes social, individuals in these communities want to meet, learn about, learn from or even date fellow members of these communities. Therefore, it makes a lot of sense for established communities to introduce social and profile aspects to their communities. First, it is a move that will get tech pundits talking, and the cluetrain folks applauding, as it embraces social and conversational aspects of community. Second, it will increase engagement between customers, therefore increasing the amount of time people will spend on the site. It also increases the amount of social capital individuals invest into their relationship with the content site, ultimately making individuals ambassadors of the brands into which they invest time.
Links & Blinks |
- Stowe on Goplan – a Basecamp competitor
- Musings on the value of social software
- New agency launches (in Second Life of course) – Crayon. Joseph Jaffe is behind the deal that has attracted some star players.
- Edelman gets socially responsible.
- Scrybe – new ajax-based organizer.
- After These Messages…
- Self Titled… a flash masterpiece…
