A Paper-less Facebook?

Everyone’s favorite multi-purpose social network last week released a “reader” for iOS devices that many are saying will eventually replace the company’s seminal newsfeed. It is simply called Paper, and allows the user to meld a handful of topics he or she wishes to follow, i.e., technology, enterprise, pop culture, into one’s newsfeed. ReadWrite’s headline…… Continue reading A Paper-less Facebook?

Facebook’s Real Audience

Photo: Eliza Kern, GigaOMYou mean you missed it? Yesterday the world’s biggest social network held a news conference — its third in four months. The reaction from a sampling of tech prognosticators was mixed. Dave Winer:I can’t believe the idiots at the FB press conf applauded the fact that the cheezy HTC phone comes in four…… Continue reading Facebook’s Real Audience

How Social Media Drives BIG Events

For last year’s Social Media Week event in New York, I had hoped to pull together a session that looked at how big events use social media tools and channels to drive awareness, brand esteem, web traffic and attendance. Instead we produced a PCNY co-hosted event called “Socializing the News” that featured the social media…… Continue reading How Social Media Drives BIG Events

Verizon’s Real Brand Ambassadors

Photo: CaptivationMedia.com A shared goal of every marketer toiling in the social spheres is to identify and amplify the voices of their brands’ most passionate advocates. The process of finding, anointing and catalyzing online brand ambassadors has evolved over the years after a rocky start. In the pre-Twitter and Facebook era, one cruise line “listened…… Continue reading Verizon’s Real Brand Ambassadors

Social Overload

A year ago, I penned a post titled “My Big Messy Social Life” in which I listed the many social media channels and the varied degrees of my engagement therein. It contrasted with one I had posted two years earlier titled “Socially Engaged” where I described how each channel was distinct and thus required different rules for…… Continue reading Social Overload

Facebook’s Presser

Tech Blogs 100% Confident They Don’t Know What Facebook Will Announce Tomorrow But let’s all report on it anyway! rww.to/Y5NfFy— ReadWrite (@RWW) January 14, 2013Most journalists these days do not have the luxury to leave their workspaces to physically attend a news conference. This is especially true when the announcement itself is completely cloaked in…… Continue reading Facebook’s Presser

Twinkle Twinkle Twitter Star

J. Paul Vance (AP Photo)The opening segment of CBS’s “60 Minutes” looked at the tragedy in Newtown and noted the fact that early reports, spread initially through social channels and eventually via mainstream media, were false. No, the killer’s mother didn’t teach at Sandy Hook elementary school, and no, it wasn’t Ryan Lanza, but his…… Continue reading Twinkle Twinkle Twitter Star

Of Cookies & Cruises

Anyone who’s ever conducted a Google search has encountered that moment when one, two or seven days later up pops a related product ad in your desktop, laptop or mobile browser’s window. These cookie-enabled ads seem to surface on some of the most random sites.The issue of how online marketers use tracking cookies and one’s…… Continue reading Of Cookies & Cruises

Hoaxing a Facebook Revolt

Over the long weekend, I couldn’t help but notice the incipient beginnings of a groundswell revolt percolating on the world’s largest social network.Specifically, two wall posts caught my eye, each citing Facebook’s recent changes to its privacy settings and purported ways to protect one’s private and/or copyrighted content. The first was intended as a way…… Continue reading Hoaxing a Facebook Revolt

Storytelling & Other PR Schemes

I’m prepping for two sessions at next weekend’s PRSA International Conference in San Francisco. The first will consist of a conversation with three in-house social/tech PR pros from: Facebook, Skype (Microsoft-owned) and Twitter.The idea grew out of a similar session held last spring in New York as part of PRSA’s Digital Impact Conference. That panel featured…… Continue reading Storytelling & Other PR Schemes