Socialized

Not All Agencies Are Filled With Douchebags

alisamleo@gmail.com (alisa leonard-hansen) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:17:00 +0000

Clever girl...

Who Says the Viral Stunt is Dead?

alisamleo@gmail.com (alisa leonard-hansen) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:02:00 +0000

Then and Now

alisamleo@gmail.com (alisa leonard-hansen) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 20:45:00 +0000

via

US CTO Aneesh Chopra Discusses Administration's Technology Priorities

alisamleo@gmail.com (alisa leonard-hansen) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:15:00 +0000

Following

alisamleo@gmail.com (alisa leonard-hansen) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:14:00 +0000

TweatFreak, 50 to Follow

alisamleo@gmail.com (alisa leonard-hansen) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:10:00 +0000

Well, another "who to follow on Twitter" list! Sadly, I have been somewhat MIA due to (gasp! client work!) from both Twitter AND dear old Socialized...never fear, I'm returning slowly, working out some new thoughts that hopefully won't be overly boring, pedantic or irrelevant (that's all we can hope for, no?). Well here it is, as Jon Stewart would say, you're moment of zen...or the 50 people to follow on Twitter (according to AdWeek's TweatFreak)...yours truly is #2, although, ahem, its in alphabetical order!:

@adbroad Helen Klein Ross. Partner at Supporting Characters and writer of the Ad Broad blog and the @bettydraper Twitter account. Well versed in social media as both an adviser and a practitioner.

@alisamleo Alisa Leonard-Hanson. Social-media strategist at iCrossing. For the tech-minded, a strategist very focused on the issue of data portability and what it means for marketing.

@armano David Armano, former vp of experience design, Critical Mass, now heading to Dachis Corp. Heavy focus on the ins and outs of social media.

@awolk Alan Wolk. Creative strategist, industry pundit and occasional play-by-play man at Little League games.

@bastholm Lars Bastholm. Chief creative digital officer at Ogilvy and a man unafraid to tweet from his hospital bed.

@bbhlabs Ben Malbon. Director of BBH Labs. Strategies for the digital world.

@benkunz Ben Kunz. Director of strategic planning at Mediassociates. Witty industry commentary with a willingness to call BS on social-media marketing gone awry.

@BestBuyCMO Barry Judge, CMO, Best Buy. Insights from the client side.

@BogusBogusky The imagined life of the Crispin Porter + Bogusky creative leader.

@cshirky Clay Shirky. New-media pundit, professor and prophet of doom for traditional media.

@dabitch Åsk Wäppling. The force behind Adland, the mother of all advertising blogs.

@davidburn David Burn. Self-described "content machine" and writer of the AdPulp blog. Indefatigable chronicler of all things advertising, journalism and entertainment.

@dougchavez Doug Chavez. Senior manager of digital marketing at Del Monte. A client with agency chops. Also a frenetic triathlete.

@edwardboches Edward Boches, chief creative officer at Mullen. A full-fledged Twitter convert ready to share and interact on ad topics.

@faris Faris Yakob, chief technology strategist, McCann Erickson. All things interactive.

@fefaromano Fernanda Romano. Global creative director for digital and experiential advertising at Euro RSCG.

@flytip Rich Ting. Ecd, mobile and emerging media/applications group, R/GA. A mobile guru who even has his infant daughter using Twitter through an RFID contraption.

@fredwilson Fred Wilson, partner at Union Square Ventures. An early Twitter investor, Wilson is a venture capitalist with a recent knack for spotting technology and media trends.

@gapingvoid Hugh MacLeod. Cartoonist, business thinker and author of the forthcoming book Ignore Everybody.

@heif Scott Heifferman. CEO, Meetup. An advertising skeptic and true believer in real-life communities.

@HighJive HighJive. Self-described "conqueror of cultural cluelessness" and author of the MultiCultClassics blog.

@iboy George Nimeh. An American based in London as managing director at Iris Digital. Unafraid of the f-bomb.

@ischafer Ian Schafer. CEO of Deep Focus and ubiquitous Internet ad pundit.

@jeffjarvis Jeff Jarvis. Journalist, customer-support agitator, author of What Would Google Do? and BuzzMachine and believer that "advertising is failure."

@jetpacks Dave Wilkie. Advertising "hack" and author of the Where's My Jetpack? blog.

@jkretch Jordan Kretchmer. Vp of brand, The Current Network. Became a Twitter ad legend with his decision to open up the brand's RFP process through Twitter.

@joemarchese Joe Marchese, CEO of Social Vibe. The startup's CEO dissects the social scene and gives insight on getting agencies on board with his company’s melding of social marketing and charity.

@johnbattelle John Battelle, CEO, Federated Media. Thoughts about social media and search.

@karllong Karl Long. Experience Curve blogger and T-shirt connoisseur.

@katrinalimbaugh Katrina Limbaugh. Director of communications for Zig. A good mix of ad links with minimal agency self-promo.

@leighhouse Leigh Householder, associate strategy director at Ologie. Author of the Advergirl blog, she offers a mishmash of personal and professional with an emphasis on social media and brands.

@luckthelady Angela Natividad. Blogger for Adrants. Best described as a "skeptical optimist," she delivers marketing news (and life lessons) with personality and panache.

@MackCollier Mack Collier. Social-media consultant. Digital media insight without the douchebaggery. His down-to-earth perspectives make him one of the more respected consultants on the speaker circuit.

@MarketingProfs Ann Handley. Chief content officer at Marketing Profs. A dose of marketing wisdom without the annoying side effects of the punditocracy.

@markwnek Mark Wnek. Chairman and chief creative officer of Lowe New York and one of the more active "traditional" ad guys on Twitter.

@MCHammer Hammer. Rapper, pastor and Internet celebrity devoted to the networking and marketing power of Twitter and its ability to shorten the distance between entertainer and consumer.

@meat99 Tom Ajello. Founding partner, Poke New York. A tech enthusiast and occasional fist-bumper who preaches building things that advertise rather than advertising.

@mikearauz Mike Arauz Strategist at Undercurrent. Chronicles the latest and greatest in Web culture without the Digg nerd factor.

@mtlb Bill Green. "Idea guy" for Plaid and the force behind the Make the Logo Bigger blog. A quirky, comprehensive look at the world of advertising and social media.

@nicknotned Nick Denton. CEO of Gawker Media. The blog impresario (or "gossip merchant," as his bio says) began using the service again just last month after a nearly yearlong hiatus.

@patkiernan Morning anchor on NYC news station NY1 and the editorial force behind Pat's Papers, an insightful and amusing daily summary of U.S. news headlines. Joined Twitter fairly recently but got up to speed in a New York minute.

@pblackshaw Pete Blackshaw. Evp of digital strategic services at Nielsen Online. Tweets about the quest for buzz online.

@revbillytalen Reverend Billy. Pastor of the Church of Stop Shopping and preacher that advertising has made the world worse, not better.

@rgleeson Renny Gleeson. Global director of digital strategies at Wieden + Kennedy. Unafraid to share his music choices via Blip.fm.

@spikejones Spike Jones, firestarter at Brains on Fire. The resident Twitter curmudgeon, frequently unimpressed by social media stalwarts.

@tombed Tom Bedecarré. CEO of AKQA. The rare agency CEO who comes across as somewhat normal on Twitter. Admirable restraint in self-promotion.

@umairh Umair Haque. Director of Havas Media Lab who ponders the new rules for brands in the "edgeconomy."

@vinnywarren Vinny Warren. Owner of The Escape Pod, creator of "Whassup campaign. Insight on the digital world from an old-school creative.

@whatsnext BL Ochman. A consultant and social-media savant who actually knows what she's talking about.

@woodlandalyssa Consumer/tech/travel publicist and prolific observer of the NYC media world.

on internetting

alisamleo@gmail.com (alisa leonard-hansen) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:38:00 +0000

-- Benjamin Kunkel on the pleasures and pitfalls of internetting, for the n+1 Book Review

Data.Gov is Live!

alisamleo@gmail.com (alisa leonard-hansen) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 02:42:00 +0000

I have been a rather poor blogger lately....alas, too much client work and travel and perhaps a little too much laze. Working on a few posts, in the meantime, Data.Gov is live! Check it out...back to the blogging soon!

Holy Freak-- Google Wave Seeking an Open, Socially Contextual Web

alisamleo@gmail.com (alisa leonard-hansen) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:01:00 +0000

Google announced a new open source protocol, Wave, they will be rolling out later this year providing "a new model for communication and collaboration across the web"-- i.e. integrating social context (communication) and interaction with documents and apps (collaboration). Google's description below:

What is a wave?

- A wave is equal parts conversation and document. People can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.

- A wave is shared. Any participant can reply anywhere in the message, edit the content and add participants at any point in the process. Then playback lets anyone rewind the wave to see who said what and when.

- A wave is live. With live transmission as you type, participants on a wave can have faster conversations, see edits and interact with extensions in real-time.

As you can imagine the DataPortability Project is very excited to learn more about this project and are seeking input from the developer community to better understand its relevance to data portability and the future web (social context, anyone?)

Below is a longish video (1 hour plus) of Vic Gundotra, VP of engineering at Google, introducing Wave at Google IO:

My HOLY FREAK Moment: Facebook + OpenID

alisamleo@gmail.com (alisa leonard-hansen) — Thu, 21 May 2009 15:00:00 +0000

So my good friend over at Silicon Alley Insider discovered my Facebook status proclaiming my shock at Facebook's actual adoption of OpenID (the rumors had been swirling for a while, but I never thought I'd see it happen). Now, to Nick's point in the article, he wasn't exactly clear on what all the fuss was about other than it's a new "handy feature" for logging into Facebook.

My response as found in the article's comments as to why there's all the fuss:

"Hey nick...thanks for the shout out....i can understand the 'its neat but not big news" POV...but if you buy that value of data portability, this is a big move for that. Granted, I actually totally agree with Joe...

@Joe Weisenthal...OpenID is too geeky for the non-geek user (no one gets using a URL instead of an email as an identifier) but nevertheless, the simple fact that Facebook took this step is amazing from a (potential) data access standpoint. I remember hearing rumblings a while ago about FB supporting OpenID but never thought I'd see it happen. However, as far as open standard identity services go, OpenID is the current "leader"...but

to @bojan babic's point, yes, FBC was a great step in allowing for interoperability and identity data portability, but FBC fails to leverage any kind of standards (as to be expected). I'm not entirely sure why FB would pass the leading role to OpenID, I'll have to see exactly what Zuck said about it, but my initial guess is that it has to do with the data portability community pushing for standards for identity, relationship and activity data markup and the interoperability of that data...if FB is going to stay in the game once our identities become decentralized, they are going to have to start embracing open standards....but again, I could be just speaking obtusely here.

PS- more on data portability at the www.DataPortabilityProject.org"

Status Updates (Infographically) Explained

alisamleo@gmail.com (alisa leonard-hansen) — Wed, 13 May 2009 14:47:00 +0000

Is there any other way to explain things other than infographically?

Status updates explained from quub.com on Vimeo.

via

Making The Business Case for Data Portability & Media

alisamleo@gmail.com (alisa leonard-hansen) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 21:11:00 +0000

Elias Bizannes, Co-founder and Vice Chair of the DataPortability Project makes the case for data portability and how interoperability is a win-win situation for digital media companies:

Read more of his thoughts on the information value chain and how it underlines the business case for data portability, brilliant stuff!

on data

alisamleo@gmail.com (alisa leonard-hansen) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 13:56:00 +0000

Just a little saying that my team hears me say way too much...

just a reminder from the horse's mouth

alisamleo@gmail.com (alisa leonard-hansen) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 16:39:00 +0000

-Tim Berners-Lee, Weaving The Web

Be Nice or Leave: Faris Yakob = Awesome

alisamleo@gmail.com (alisa leonard-hansen) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:42:00 +0000

Just when I think I'm going to rip my hair out and keel over from the sheer boredom of benign "social media" conversations that reverberate oh so loudly within the blasted echo chamber...I remember to call on my friend Faris's blog...and like always, he never fails to deliver. I love you Faris!

Be Nice Or Leave

View more presentations from Faris Yakob.

YouTube + Facebook Connect Update

alisamleo@gmail.com (alisa leonard-hansen) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 16:35:00 +0000

So after a brief conversation with the Google/YouTube folks, I found out that apparently YouTube is not supporting Facebook Connect as a login option for YouTube across the board. The Sprite "Green Eyed World" brand channel is using Facebook Connect by embedding an app as an iFrame in the channel page, as my colleague Matt Schultz discovered upon further investigation. And apparently any siting of Facebook Connect on YouTube is a one-off implementation at the brand page level.

Still, as YouTube mentioned, you would need to work directly with them when enabling your brand channel with Facebook Connect. I feel like YouTube is definitely hedging at something here...certainly rolling out universal support for Facebook Connect across YouTube a la Vimeo would be a giant move for both Facebook and YouTube, not to mention how it might threaten the movement for decentralized data portability. Certainly Google with its Friend Connect initiative that uses open standards to enable portability would lose traction should YouTube support FBC. But who knows? Will wait and see...

Twitter Enters the Data Portability Ring

alisamleo@gmail.com (alisa leonard-hansen) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:51:00 +0000

Twitter has now entered the data portability ring with Sign in With Twitter, using open standard OAuth for user authentication. It was only a matter of time until they joined in the data portability rounds, and now most of the mainstream news covering the announcement is already touting a Facebook Connect vs. Sign in with Twitter war. Is it though? Frankly, I think all of the major players attempting data "portability" ("accessibility" is probably more appropriate, and accurate) is a GREAT thing, and not necessarily a war-- yet.

Its not a war yet because the biggest challenge to data portability is still that it is largely a very geeky concept. Believe me, mention "data portability" to any of your friends and you'll likely get blank stares. But, with the advent of the major social services providing what average users perceive as "login capability on 3rd party sites," you begin the slow process of passively educating users on the idea that their services online need not be siloed, that they can access them and the personal data they contain, from anywhere online. As they become used to being able to access one service or another, and the identity and relationship data housed in those services, from 3rd party sites, then you begin to train their behavior and perception of what their online experience is and should be (a completely portable, remixable one).

So, for now, I welcome any and all players in the field to start and test their own data portability initiatives. Will we eventually reach an apex in the war between open vs. closed? Certainly, but again, much like the AOL analogy, open networks will always win out.

As my colleague Jayson Phillips just tweeted:

"@alisamleo competition breeds recognition, which shall hopefully breed adoption. Which, in turn, should lead to data access innovation"

Quite right!

SNL On Direct Marketing...Awesome

alisamleo@gmail.com (alisa leonard-hansen) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 04:15:00 +0000

SNL Direct Mail Marketers Alliance

AGAIN, VALUABLE DATA ANYONE?

The Now Network

alisamleo@gmail.com (alisa leonard-hansen) — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 19:57:00 +0000

I know this is old, but kudos to Sprint for all the cool data viz....and while I used to be a Sprint customer, I switched over to AT&T, alas, because of the bloody iPhone...

the new content, the new king

alisamleo@gmail.com (alisa leonard-hansen) — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 18:49:00 +0000

Twas Only A Matter of Time: Facebook Connect + YouTube

alisamleo@gmail.com (alisa leonard-hansen) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 21:51:00 +0000

I have talked a lot about Facebook Connect here Socialized. I believe its one of the initial step towards data portability (from a consumer perspective, not a development one) and is indicative of the future of "social media"-- that is to say, every site and service online with have social context and connectedness through the interoperability of user identity (and relationship) data.

Now Facebook can put another feather in its Connect cap with YouTube now implementing Facebook Connect (thanks to my buddy Nicholas Carlson over at Silicon Alley Insider for alerting me), at least on its sponsored pages. Will be interesting to watch FBC develop, as it is speculated that they will back an ad network into Facebook Connect by the end of the year or once they have a solid network of particpiatory sites and services. Couple FBC into content-rich YouTube and both parties may just hit their revenue sweet spot if you consider how valuable FB user and behavioral data can fuel YouTube's advertising options. Just something to keep your eye on...

PS- a little birdie at Facebook mentioned that said FBC ad network has been on the table over at Facebook, but that an ad network isn't likely in the next 6 months...now with YouTube implementing FBC, we may see it sooner than later...

The "Search and Social Synergy" Post: Re-think Visibility

alisamleo@gmail.com (alisa leonard-hansen) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 01:39:00 +0000

So as a "social media strategist" (I know, I know) who was not born out of the practices of SEO, but rather from a research background in emerging Web technologies, I have long cringed at the "search and social synergy" promises touted by search engine types (that is to say that social activity increases visibility in search engines). Why you ask? Certainly activity in social media produces benefits of creating visibility in search engines, and you will find many an article and blog post on just how to use Twitter or blogging or YouTubing to increase visibility in search. And that's all very well indeed...but I take issue with the notion that visibility in search engines = visibility period.

While we know search engines are vital touch points (indeed, usually the first touch point of the majority of online sessions), we would be remiss to assume that this is the only place where visibility matters. Indeed, it is in social spaces that people "live" online...endlessly traversing an ecosystem of social spaces-- an ecosystem in which content and links are exchanged as currency.

So what of visibility in social spaces? Building visibility in these spaces is developed through active, ongoing participation (that is relevant and useful)-- and not simply through the oft-SEO driven tactic of simply pushing content and seeking to link build.

So let's re-think our notion of visibility....visibility in engines and in social spaces. The first of course, being visible when and where there is specific intention to find information and the second, being visible for unintentional, or passive discovery. Certainly the two work in tandem, but the approach to building visibility in these two core areas are very different. Visibility in social spaces comes through building real social equity, or network influence, as gained through timely, useful (real value exchange) and relevant engagement over the long haul.

Lets think about being Visible in these two ways:

Discovery with intent = visibility in engines

Discovery without intent = visibility in social spaces

Both are key.

Am I sounding like the echo chamber? Perhaps...but hey, I think its worth it for us to keep discussing...

ya know...

alisamleo@gmail.com (alisa leonard-hansen) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 15:48:00 +0000

"Why Facebook Can't Succeed" is Missing the Point

alisamleo@gmail.com (alisa leonard-hansen) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 21:16:00 +0000

Edmund Lee recently wrote a post on The Big Money entitled "Why Facebook Can't Succeed: Letting readers call all the shots is great for community but bad for business" in which he supposes that Facebook's lack of revenue is somehow tied to their "habit" of bending to the will of their users, to quote:

Facebook, the world's largest social network, suffered under the tyranny of its own users in early February after the company rewrote its long-standing terms of service. Many members interpreted the revised rules to mean that the company would own every bit of uploaded ephemera, resulting in closed accounts and a rash of anti-Facebook groups—on Facebook. Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg clarified the company's position, but users wouldn't budge, many commenting with the same four words: "Delete my account, please." After three days, Facebook reinstated the original terms.

What does this signify other than the usual digital shriek so often found on Web sites everywhere? Just this: Social networks are doomed to fail. At least Facebook is, so long as it continues on its current path. By heeding to the objections of its grumbling users, Facebook has essentially painted itself into a revenue corner.

Dear Mr. Lee, I respectfully disagree.

First, we need to forget “social networks”....Facebook is a DATABASE. Pure and simple. Facebook Connect? Merely an attempt (none too disguised) to remix their database data into a revenue stream (hence, my speculation about a FBC ad network). Secondly, I continue to be appalled at journalist’s inability to know the difference between, and the significance of, Facebook’s perpetual LICENSE to do WHATEVER they want with user data vs. ownership of said data (OWNERSHIP IS A RED HERRING).

So, “why Facebook can’t succeed”? Well, it has little to do with advertising....if they don’t succeed it will be because they fail to 1) admit to themselves (which I know they have) and publicly that they are in fact a database (they use lots of fancy rhetoric around bridging consumers and marketers and really, they are selling “data” but through the interstitial layer of advertising) and 2) monetize like a database...ie: sell data.

He also makes the claim that Facebook won’t succeed due to bending to the will of Facebook users. Not so. Again, they really didn’t change ANYTHING about the TOS after the outcry. They simply were effective at misdirection. They made the issue about OWNERSHIP (which its not) and therefore they still retain that all-encompassing license! And everyone thinks its all fixed. ALSO...people hate the new redesign . Zuck’s response? “Get over it.” Not exactly bending to the will of the masses. Facebook has never actually bent to their community’s will....they simply have been very good at making it seem as if they have. And what else would you expect from a company’s who’s board members are ex-DARPA directors? :)

Questions for Facebook I Wasn't Allowed to Ask

alisamleo@gmail.com (alisa leonard-hansen) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:35:00 +0000

I recently had the opportunity to interview Facebook's Product Marketing Manager, Kasey Galang. Kasey was conducting a workshop, "Harnassing the Social Graph," at SES New York a few weeks ago and obliged me with some insight into Facebook's marketing products. While I appreciated the interview, I did not get the chance to ask the questions I REALLY wanted to....so for the genericized, Facebook-approved interview, read here. The questions I really wish Facebook would answer?

1) Facebook has made a lot of shifts over the past year, most notably the latest move towards a more streams-based application. Do you believe "streams" are the future of the social Web?

2) Facebook announced Facebook Connect for iPhone apps at SXSW. There seem to be a lot of game-based applications utilizing FBC, can you comment on some other exciting, non-game based implementations of FBC for iPhone coming up?

3) It seems that an Facebook Connect Ad Network is a logical step for the platform, and I noticed that FBC is listed under the “Advertising” options page. Can we expect such and ad network to roll out?

4) I’m not going to ask about the TOS hubbub, but what does Facebook think about creating an environment that provides value exchange between end users and vendors with Facebook providing that platform and brokering the data from which they could derive revenue?

5) We have heard that Facebook is committed to supporting open standards, is there a plan for Facebook to support OpenID login in the near future?