Blogging Continues to Rumble Along | Mark Evans Tech

here's an excerpt from a blog post by mark evans about blogworld expo, going on this week:

blogTwitter is sexy and Facebook now has more than 300 million registered users. But what about blogging? Blogging isn’t sexy anymore and it is being assailed as a passing fancy, especially by the mainstream media.

The truth, however, is the blogosphere is doing just fine: the number of blogs, blog posts and people reading blogs continues to grow. Meanwhile, the mainstream media continues to launch blogs as part of its mad scramble to embrace the social Web.

What became obvious during BlogWorld Expo is that blogging is the solid citizen of the social Web, while Twitter and Facebook are the wild children. Another reality is that Twitter and Facebook are, in many cases, complementary tools used by bloggers rather than tools that replace blogging.

Before anyone writes off blogs, think again.

More: Here’s an audio clip from social media maven Robert Scoble on whether blogging during tech conferences such as BlogWorld Expo is dead.

via markevanstech.com

not sure about the claimed attacks on blogging by "the mainstream media" that mark assails here. maybe the canadian press has a secret vendetta not shared by their american counterparts?

in addition, is it really surprising that a meeting called "blogworld" would put blogs at the center of the social media universe (talking pre-galilean here of course)? blogs are content repositories and as such, are essential to any inbound marketing strategy. but facebook is the public face of the social web - to call it a "wild child" seems disingenuous.

Marketers as Content Instigators | othersidegroup.com blog

As marketers, this has become an interesting new challenge. We used to play the role of content creator ourselves. But with blogs, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube established as important communications channels, we’ve taken on a larger role of content aggregator and distributor, and even more important, content instigator.

I may be going down the road of coining yet another term for something someone has already named, but I think this is an important distinction to make. In order to get the right content in the right place with the right voice at the right time, we’ve got to have authenticity. And authenticity comes from having the actual person write, record, perform etc. Or as close to that as possible. We spend a lot of time worrying about what we’re going to create (a video, a podcast, a blog post, a newsletter article??)  and where we’re going to put it (on the website, on the blog, on youtube, on twitter, on facebook, everywhere??)

via othersidegroup.com

great post from Kate Brodock that highlights a new role for marketers - that of noodge (sp, trudy?. "I'm not a doctor, but I play one on tv" won't fly in the age of content marketing - to pull in and retain a target audience means establishing a system to create and deliver useful content, not spin. the marketing person can serve as reporter, but the copy has to come from somewhere...

Thinking about creating a Facebook fan page? Don’t just jump in | Social Media Answers

Thinking about creating a Facebook fan page? Don’t just jump in.

By: Kevin Palmer on 10/13/2009
Thinking about creating a Facebook fan page? Don’t just jump in.

Over the last few weeks I have come across multiple tutorials on creating a Facebook fan page. None of these tutorials were exactly groundbreaking and they all essentially said the same thing. (You can import your RSS feed! Integrate Twitter! You can have conversations! People can share your stuff!) Another trait they have in common is that they completely ignored the fact that different Facebook pages have different default settings that you can’t change once they are selected.

Here is a great resource on the different default settings available based off the type of page you are setting up.

So BEFORE setting up a Facebook page here are two things you should do.

1)      Look at other pages in and out of your niche.

Go look at your competitors, go look at other brands/people/artists that you like, and examine what you like about their page. Pay close attention to a couple of different areas. The first being what is in the information section of their profile, these differ based on what profile you choose.

Take a second to see what features beyond the standard page setups that you like. Take a few seconds to find out what applications are powering these features. Some applications you can determine just by looking at that section, you can also try searching for the functionality through the Facebook application directory, or if all else fails ask.

2)      Layout your desired page on paper first

Think about the desired applications you want to add and then draw out a sample page. Start thinking about the layout now to avoid total and utter application overkill and glut. What is the most important information that you want to share on your page? What is the best way to share it? How can you keep the focus on this information without people getting lost in unimportant bells and whistles?

Thinking about the layout before jumping in gives you a roadmap but also helps you think about goals. I find that a lot of the time when you just jump and start playing with the tool the idea of goals and strategy get lost in the shuffle.

via socialmediaanswers.com

excellent advice from kevin

On Twitter, Information Beats Sentiment

On Twitter, Information Beats Sentiment

Written by Sarah Perez / October 2, 2009 6:22 AM / 4 Comments

Researchers at Pennsylvania State University recently revealed the results of a study which looked into how people were using Twitter to talk about products. Companies, of course, fear what a negative barrage of tweets can do to their brand, leading many to establish Twitter accounts themselves to provide information, customer service, and support. As it turns out, these businesses may not need to worry too much about what the "Twitter effect" can do their image after all. The study revealed that the number of brand-related tweets where sentiment is expressed is not the dominating force that you may think. In fact, the majority of tweets mentioning a brand are merely casual comments or tweets from someone giving or seeking information. And when sentiment is expressed, it's generally positive.

More Tweets are Information-Seeking, Not Opinions

According to the study, which looked at 150,000 tweets, 11.1% of the brand-related tweets were information-providing while 18.1% were information-seeking. The latter of these two is especially useful to companies looking to understand what questions and concerns customers have about their products. However, the large majority of the tweets - 48.5% - were simply comments made in passing which mentioned the brand but whose primary focus was something else.

The remaining 22.3% of tweets were sentiment-related, meaning tweets in which a user was expressing an opinion about a brand, either negative or positive. What was surprising about this subset was that users were more likely to express positive tweets than they were to complain.

Why So Cheery, Twitter?

This seems odd, actually, given that the Internet has typically been a place for disgruntled consumers to rant and rave more so than it's been a place to praise what works. You can see this type of negative sentiment expression everywhere from online forums to whiny blog posts about how such-and-such company "did me wrong!" In fact, the desire to express a negative opinion even seems to dominate feedback systems like blog comments, for example. Rarely does a writer receive comments like "great post" or "I totally agree" - rather, more comments are resemble "you're wrong and here's why" or "how could you not mention X?"

That's why it's strange to hear that on Twitter, it's positive sentiment that reigns. What makes this platform more different than the rest of the Internet as a whole? Are Twitter users simply happier people? Or has the data been skewed by marketing campaigns where Twitter users are encouraged to tweet nice things about the company in order to win a prize?

Perhaps it's because Twitter simply makes it easier to express yourself, allowing for a better balance between negative and positive sentiments. Typically, sharing your opinion on the web meant exerting a good deal of effort. Writing a blog post, recording a video, or leaving a blog comment are things that take time. For the most part, busy, information-overloaded web surfers aren't going to take that time unless something really gets them fired up. Twitter, on the other hand, is so quick and easy to use, you can post a missive of joy in only seconds. And the 140-character limit allows you a no-pressure way of doing so.


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  1. We're looking at millions of brand-related tweets to create http://rankspeed.com and I confirm that most of them are neutral, some are positive and few are negative.
    The percentage of positive tweets is really relevant if you compare this number with other brands. One number alone does not really make sense.

     Posted by: Florent Author Profile Page

    | October 2, 2009 7:19 AM



  • Without going into a long dissertation on the psychology of color, I'd say a contributing factor to Twitter positiveness is the GUI.

    "happy", "cute", bordering on cartoonish ( in a good way ) look and feel, the great emphasis on left-to-right page read with profile pictures being first, plus the subtle use of serif and sans serif fonts, all subliminally contribute to positive input.

    Posted by: Todd | October 2, 2009 7:23 AM



  • I soo... wish you guys (and e-marketer, who reports on the study) would include the citation to the original source. Was this study published? Where? Who are the authors? If I want to read the original study, where do I find it?

    I assume it's based on this news release from PSU:
    http://live.psu.edu/story/41067 - and they don't provide a citation either :(

     Posted by: Mihaela (Dr. V) Author Profile Page

    | October 2, 2009 7:42 AM



  • Different purpse for communication. If I'm in a support forum - chances are I have a problem. With blogs -the format itself seems to solicit feedback - "here's info, little opinion, what do you think?". So the commenter goes into critical thinking mode. Same story with forums. Now social networking on the other hand is a different story. For most of us Twitter is not yet a forum for conversation, more like shouting into a clammed of other voices. So we tend to speak with emotion, especially current emotion. So it's more natural to say "I love Foldgers". Plus, how many blog posts make you think about the morning cup.

     Posted by: Rob Colburn Author Profile Page

    | October 2, 2009 7:43 AM



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    M.I.T. Lets Student Bloggers Post Without Censoring - NYTimes.com

    Dozens of colleges — including Amherst, Bates, Carleton, Colby, Vassar, Wellesley and Yale — are embracing student blogs on their Web sites, seeing them as a powerful marketing tool for high school students, who these days are less interested in official messages and statistics than in first-hand narratives and direct interaction with current students.

    But so far, none of the blogs match the interactivity and creativity of those of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where they are posted prominently on the admissions homepage, along with hundreds of responses from prospective applicants — all unedited.

    via nytimes.com

    a lesson for membership organizations?

    The 8 Major Differences Between Traditional and Internet Consumers | Microgeist

    Customers are no longer just customers. They not longer sit in front of the tube and absorb messages from self declared authorities or people who play doctors on TV. At the very least, even with the traditionally no-brains medium of television, viewers are encouraged to call in, ask questions or vote on the most talented singer. At a more advanced level, people are providing the content, commentary via comments, technological infrastructure, design, acting, video production and everything else involved in producing, consuming and interpreting content. By the time that someone has participated, even in the most rudimentary level in this process, they are more media and business savvy. This creates a more critical consumer who can see past hype, misdirection and has the resources to independently vet claims.
    via microgeist.com

    this is the shift I describe to clients, to friends and family, passersby: marketing has to change with the consumer!

    Twitter Inventor Invests in Foursquare

    Dorsey’s investment with Foursquare is personal and not on behalf of Twitter, but his involvement with both companies might raise some questions as Twitter enters the geolocation arena themselves with the upcoming launch of their location APIs.
    via mashable.com

    seems like foursquare is getting pretty darn close to some kind of tipping point...

    How Sharing Links Has Become Big Business - NYTimes.com

    Your parents probably told you that sharing was simply the right thing to do. But on the Web today, inducing people to share links has become big business, all about driving traffic back to a site and increasing ad revenue. Young companies like AddThis (owned by Clearspring Technologies) and ShareThis are the giants of this particular corner of the Web, syndicating their catalog of sharing buttons — at no charge — to major Web sites, and developing ways to make money by selling data about who is sharing, and how much, back to Web publishers and their advertisers.
    via nytimes.com

    share and share alike