Mind Meld
Here is a collection of my own thoughts from posts and comments around the blogosphere.
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It's just a tool
“Like any tool, social media, including Twitter, can be used to commit a crime.
Witness (ahem) the ongoing case of the woman indicted for falsifying a
MySpace identity to motivate a girl to commit suicide. Whatever the
outcome of this particular case, we need to understand that social
media is a reflection of humanity. That’s the value of social media.
It’s not just that it can be used for this or that purpose (although
such uses have their place) but that it is a mirror of our collective
selves.
In this sense, social media, and microblogging in particular is the
stream of collective conscious, or panconscious (a topic on which I
have blogged previously).
As some consciousnesses are given to do good, and others to do crime,
so we will see this spectrum reflected in social media. The concept of
crime in the social media space is not very surprising in this context.”
Original post Oct 9th, 2008 @ 4:48am
Roger
Post a Comment
Legal ignorance (can hurt bloggers)
Our educational system fails to teach people how to survive in a
litigious society. Even if defamation laws were rewritten to
accommodate social media (what about what people say about each other
on Facebook?) most people would remain ignorant of obvious legal
pitfalls, let alone the nuances.
The Media Bloggers Association
recently introduced a requirement that, in order to join, its members
pass an online legal course. Certainly, anyone who is blogging
professionally ought to familiarize themselves with the legal basics.
Original post Sep 29th, 2008
Twips (Twitter Tips)
QUESTION
ANSWER
1. Follow other people. If they are interested they will follow you.
But choose wisely, since they may not bother if they see your interests
are not similar to theirs.
2. If you have a blog, put a Twitter badge on your blog.
3. Include your Twitter URL in your signature line, such as in emails (e.g., http://www.twitter.com/rha
4.
Network in social media such as Facebook and promote your Twitter URL.
(Your initial post above, for example, is a missed opportunity.)
5. Tweeto mucho. The more Tweets you make the more likely you are to be noticed.
6.
But… Quality is important, not just quantity. Tweet about what you
think your followers want to know about. For example, if you’re an
expert on something.
(Facebook)
Viral marketing history and social media
Great post, Chris. Thanks.
You’ve covered the main points pretty thoroughly. Just to elaborate on the theme: social media allows the realization of the original vision of viral marketing. This marketing technique was popularized in the mid-1990s before the Internet had become pervasive. In the early days of the Internet, marketing existed as vertical silos, the traditional top down methodologies transferred to the Web. Social media happened, breaking down the barriers, allowing horizontal (viral) transmission of information about products, companies, personnel, etc. In this way, viral marketing outgrew its rather seedy antecedents (such as pyramid schemes) to become an essential tool for corporate communicators.
Just thought you might appreciate the historical perspective.
Original post July 8, 2008 @ 8:14 am
Hi Jeremiah,
Nice post and a thoughtful perspective.
Is it inevitable, as the blogosphere evolves, that the power to distribute information will remain with those that have the resources to ensure that distribution most effectively?
A lone blogger who relies on ad revenue from his or her site will not have the same money to throw at promotion or publicity that a blog run by mainstream media will have.
It’s a gloomy prospect. The cynical, critical edge of a democratized information society dulled by the conformist standards of a plutocracy’s dogma.
The question is not so much the difference between one or the other (mainstream vs. blogger) but whether the system as a whole will indeed evolve.
Evolution is only possible where there is variation (in the blogosphere there is!), that variation is passed on (maybe) and there is selection for desirable traits (remains to be seen).
We assume it is the consumer that is the selective force. Do they select for controversy, quality, the desire to feed back? I don’t think we really know. Maybe, as you say, it just depends.
The crux of the matter though, is to what extent the mainstream press–driven by its business directives–supports, supplants or sabotages consumer driven evolution.
To take your point, does business driven media counter or support those tribal instincts to form groups. Whichever it is, what does that presage for the health of society, human discourse and sustainable commerce?
Original post July 9th, 2008 6:18 am
http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2008/07/09/how-blogs-and-mainstream-media-appear-the-same