The Steve Rubel Stream

The Steve Rubel Stream http://www.steverubel.com Insights on emerging technology and trends posterous.com steverubelhttp://feedburner.google.comSubscribe with My Yahoo!Subscribe with NewsGatorSubscribe with My AOLSubscribe with BloglinesSubscribe with NetvibesSubscribe with GoogleSubscribe with PageflakesSubscribe with PlusmoSubscribe with Live.comSubscribe with Yourminis.com Sat, 13 Mar 2010 02:56:25 -0800 Instapaper: Now Even More Useful with Email http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/steverubel/~3/xGsIrawUeSs/instapaper-now-even-more-useful-with-email http://www.steverubel.com/instapaper-now-even-more-useful-with-email <p> I love services I can interact with via email. I can post to my Facebook page via email and I can do the same here. One of my favorite services is <a href="http://www.instapaper.com">Instapaper</a>. I use it to bookmark and save articles to read later, which I often do in bulk on long plane rides.<p /><div>Earlier this week it <a href="http://twitter.com/instapaper/status/10358204340">quietly added a killer new feature</a>. You can now email in URLs or newsletters and it will save them to your Instapaper account for perusal later. I find this invaluable. </div> <p /><div>Kudos to <a href="http://www.marco.org/">Marco Arment</a> for continuing to build out a killer product. This is by far the most valuable service I have added to my arsenal over the last year or so. And it continues to get better. You can <a href="http://www.instapaper.com/extras">get the details here</a> at the bottom of the page.</div> <p /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/SVKwbf8LUu4ZoAYIAO7AfjFw4NEHEb6Pvb5hOTPtodAHgzSHNnw0sFj5WTwz/Screen_shot_2010-03-13_at_5.47.png'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/fGZaBlYYxtLza3yndF6TZRiUKaD3t2lBXy1Yzm9XND984heozgJyNJPzweMe/Screen_shot_2010-03-13_at_5.47.png.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="213"/></a> </div> </p> <p><a href="http://www.steverubel.com/instapaper-now-even-more-useful-with-email">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://www.steverubel.com/instapaper-now-even-more-useful-with-email#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=xGsIrawUeSs:0LmFXZQv4To:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=xGsIrawUeSs:0LmFXZQv4To:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=xGsIrawUeSs:0LmFXZQv4To:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/steverubel/~4/xGsIrawUeSs" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/8207/steverubelnew.jpg http://posterous.com/people/3y76Rtgx4 Steve Rubel Steve Steve Rubel http://www.steverubel.com/instapaper-now-even-more-useful-with-email Sat, 13 Mar 2010 02:47:46 -0800 What URL Should You Emphasize? For Me, It's All About Relationships http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/steverubel/~3/d_jjoNbxxh4/what-url-should-you-emphasize-for-me-its-all http://www.steverubel.com/what-url-should-you-emphasize-for-me-its-all <p> For the last four years I had two URLs on my business card - my employer's web site and my blog. But recently, when I went to order a refill, I changed the plan. <p /><div>I of course kept the link to <a href="http://EdelmanDigital.com">EdelmanDigital.com</a>. However, with space limited, rather than directing people to yet another web site (this one) I indicated where they can find me on the sites where I know they are already spending time, Twitter and Facebook. So far, I am glad that I did.</div> <p /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/wkO9MtKEArC5JM8ICVHQp8orfULkmwApKOwPxipOZCqBZ1jLJxmuXD4aY65a/Screen_shot_2010-03-12_at_7.29.png" width="242" height="373"/> <br /></div><p /><div>Blogs aren't dying anytime soon. In fact, the New York Times today has <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/14/fashion/14moms.html?ref=technology">an article</a> today about how they are great <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/27/us/27iht-currents.html">personal branding</a> vehicles for moms. However, I have started to put a greater emphasis in growing my community where you already are. The reason is, it's easier to build and manage relationships and measure them. <a href="http://www.steverubel.com/ads-drop-dot-com-urls-in-favor-of-facebook-us">I mentioned that some companies</a> are already going this route, but it's worth considering as a strategy for individuals as well.</div> <p /><div>For the last two weeks I have been really putting my focus on building deeper relationships through <a href="http://twitter.com/steverubel">Twitter</a> and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/steverubelstream">my Facebook page</a>. I particularly like the latter because I get all kinds of data about the people who subscribe to the page. And I expect this will only improve. For example, I can see that my demographic split is not where I would like it to be, so <a href="http://www.facebook.com/steverubelstream?v=feed&story_fbid=374261901843&ref=mf">I am making an effort</a> to try to bring more women into the conversation. I continue to do it all (which, ironically, is why I am posting this here), but I am finding the conversations in my "spokes" deeper, more rapid and more rewarding at times than here on "the hub." But the data helps me get smarter.</div> <p /><div><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/0sAwwfNvYwV7FiBEQx9YOoV0ccwWtuKET8xS7G4Ure4ba9ppNucdxDCyaTb2/Screen_shot_2010-03-13_at_5.23.png'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/MdUvtGgBq7jyfezNP1M2k5S4L6OyvFgVzjMZvfxE0oy2G1nhyP3THcBwdEPR/Screen_shot_2010-03-13_at_5.23.png.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="200"/></a> </div><div>I believe that this year we're going to see a lot of bloggers come to the same realization that Facebook is an awesome tool for building relationships - something that many bloggers crave. Most traffic to blogs, I suspect, comes in through Google. This is great traffic of course, but in many ways it's devalued since <a href="http://www.google.com/support/googleanalytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=81986">bounce rates</a> are high. Now I see many bloggers continuing to do it all - Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and their blog. However, some may start to slowly favor Facebook for the same reasons I am if the social network continues its growth track. In some ways, this is already starting.</div> <p /><div>One of my favorite blogs is <a href="http://www.makeuseof.com">MakeUseOf</a>. I subscribe to their email newsletter and every now and again they send out a reminder to readers to fan them on Facebook. That's smart. <a href="http://www.facebook.com/makeuseof">They're up to 13,000 fans</a>. Here are the reasons they play up: likes, comments and social sharing. However, I also believe that relationships and data play a role here as well. This isn't just about Facebook. If they can give us similar stats, Twitter too will be a larger focus for many. Subconsciously, I suspect it is for many. I am seeing that people are blogging less than before.</div> <p /><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/x2zytuRya8nsCqiNJt7Djvij1ifYEtKf8h2vRghG2iBq2xzSfFBE1NeGUkQQ/Screen_shot_2010-03-13_at_5.03.png'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/hY6G52eco411b2ilTb81HjVjvPyfwHxZ75oo8BpbCBFuit7Eg0RgPKSMIMVB/Screen_shot_2010-03-13_at_5.03.png.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="413"/></a> <br /></div><p /><div>What primary URLs do you give out these days? Do you send people to your blog, Twitter, Facebook or your company site? How has this changed in recent years? You may have them all on your card but I bet there's one or two that you prioritize. For me, it's my company's web site and now <a href="http://www.facebook.com/steverubelstream">my Facebook page</a>. However, I will continue to <a href="http://www.google.com/profiles/steverubel#about">do it all</a>. In many ways, I think you have to since not everyone likes or is even on Facebook.</div> </p> <p><a href="http://www.steverubel.com/what-url-should-you-emphasize-for-me-its-all">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://www.steverubel.com/what-url-should-you-emphasize-for-me-its-all#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=d_jjoNbxxh4:z0PzB4O7Z-Q:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=d_jjoNbxxh4:z0PzB4O7Z-Q:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=d_jjoNbxxh4:z0PzB4O7Z-Q:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/steverubel/~4/d_jjoNbxxh4" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/8207/steverubelnew.jpg http://posterous.com/people/3y76Rtgx4 Steve Rubel Steve Steve Rubel http://www.steverubel.com/what-url-should-you-emphasize-for-me-its-all Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:18:00 -0800 How Google Approaches Social Media As A Team Sport http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/steverubel/~3/ZJIY3SIA8UU/how-google-approaches-social-media-as-a-team http://www.steverubel.com/how-google-approaches-social-media-as-a-team <p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dannysullivan/1612052795/"><img class="posterous_download_image" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2235/1612052795_5ffdf8a934.jpg" border="0" height="249" width="500" /></a></p> <p><span style="font-style: italic;">Photo credit: Karen Wickre via Danny Sullivan</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><em>The following was <a href="http://edelmandigital.com/2010/03/11/digital-lab-notes-how-google-approaches-social-media-as-a-team-sport/?parent=home&pageId=8">cross-posted</a> on the <a href="http://edelmandigital.com/">new Edelman Digital web site</a>. </em></p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Another month, another visit to Silicon Valley – my home away from home – and, with it, another visit to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Googleplex" target="_blank" style="color: #2970a6; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Googleplex</a> in search of insights. This time I chatted with <a href="http://www.google.com/profiles/wickre" target="_blank" style="color: #2970a6; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Karen Wickre</a>, who oversees Google’s growing armada of blogs and Twitter embassies.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Google, perhaps more than any other company, has a culture of openness. Often a company’s culture shapes its communications strategy. And that’s certainly the case with Google. So social media comes naturally.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Karen first launched Google’s corporate blog back in 2004. Today the company has digital embassies for virtually every product. This armada spans dozens of <a href="http://www.google.com/press/blogs/directory.html" target="_blank" style="color: #2970a6; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">blogs</a>, <a href="http://www.google.com/press/twitter_directory.html" target="_blank" style="color: #2970a6; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Twitter profiles</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/google" target="_blank" style="color: #2970a6; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">YouTube</a> and more recently <a href="http://www.facebook.com/Google" target="_blank" style="color: #2970a6; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Facebook</a>.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Back when the <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" style="color: #2970a6; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Official Google Blog</a> launched, posts were conservative. Wickre, a former tech journalist, told me over breakfast that early items were almost whimsical, focusing on the <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2004/05/chicken-la-king.html" target="_blank" style="color: #2970a6; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">food at Google</a> (which I can assure you, rocks).</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">While the blog still features some trivial fare, no one could call it – or any of Google’s other digital assets – a light weight. In fact, the opposite is true. Google uses its armada to take on hard issues like<a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/new-approach-to-china.html" target="_blank" style="color: #2970a6; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">China</a>, public policy and <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/search/label/privacy" target="_blank" style="color: #2970a6; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">privacy</a>. And it largely eschews <a href="http://googlepress.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" style="color: #2970a6; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">press releases</a>, unless they are financial or material to shareholders.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">While Wickre doesn’t oversee all these embassies, she serves as a beacon for the teams that manage them – subject matter experts like product managers, engineers and marketers. Like a good coach, she provides templates and best practices and answers questions as they come up. Wickre, in the meantime, is turning her attention to how the company can strategically use its own Buzz product.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Wickre is one of an emerging breed of professionals that companies hire to manage/lead companies down the social media path. Not nearly enough credit goes to people like her. These individuals are often the ones who have to effect change – with the help of partners like us.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Google, perhaps more than any other company, is a model of social media success. One reason is that they tap into the <a href="http://edelmandigital.com/2010/01/22/digital-lab-notes-business-thats-real-time-visible-and-data-driven/" target="_blank" style="color: #2970a6; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">three key trends</a>that I wrote about earlier. They are real-time, visible and data driven. However, what they do best is embrace using multiple messages, formats and stories.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">I subscribe to a fire hose feed for all the Google blogs as well as their Twitter and Facebook embassies. On any given day you will find a wealth of news, tips and stories that are tailored to specific interests. Only care about Gmail? There’s an <a href="http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" style="color: #2970a6; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">embassy for that</a>. How about<a href="http://twitter.com/Googlepubpolicy" target="_blank" style="color: #2970a6; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">policy</a>? That too.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">However, Google’s social media success goes beyond just having lots of teams engaged. Each venue slants the content to the reader/viewer’s needs and utilizes different formats – short form, long form, video, images and more. The end result is that Google creates massive surface area that make them hard to miss in an age where information choices are ubiquitous.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">The takeaway here for companies is that, when possible, they should consider creating several blogs and – more likely – digital embassies inside existing communities. One Twitter presence might not be enough. The same goes with Facebook. (Note that this is just one approach and not the only one. Some advocate centralizing content into a single place. There are pros/cons to each.)</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Businesses today need to consider having multiple streams that are mapped to high priority interests. This creates surface area and lots of entry points for stakeholders to get engaged. What’s more, the content should be “<a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/1561641/the-case-for-handcrafted-social-media" target="_blank" style="color: #2970a6; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">hand crafted</a>“- eg tailored to each community. And these spaces should be managed by identifiable employees who are subject matter experts.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">This is how I am tailoring my own content. I use <a href="http://twitter.com/steverubel" target="_blank" style="color: #2970a6; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Twitter</a> for sharing/conversing around links and news. My new <a href="http://www.facebook.com/steverubelstream" target="_blank" style="color: #2970a6; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Facebook community</a> is for discussions and sharing insights and observations. While <a href="http://www.steverubel.com/" target="_blank" style="color: #2970a6; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">my Posterous blog</a> site is for essays, videos and the occasional digital doodles.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">Now scaling might intimidate some. According to a recent <a href="http://smartblogs.com/socialmedia/2010/03/10/time-and-roi-are-the-greatest-social-media-marketing-concerns/" target="_blank" style="color: #2970a6; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Smartbrief survey</a>, time is the chief obstacle to engaging in social communities. However, if a business makes social media a team sport, as Google does, anyone can succeed.</p> </p> <p><a href="http://www.steverubel.com/how-google-approaches-social-media-as-a-team">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://www.steverubel.com/how-google-approaches-social-media-as-a-team#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=ZJIY3SIA8UU:nwKMdDc4-ag:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=ZJIY3SIA8UU:nwKMdDc4-ag:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=ZJIY3SIA8UU:nwKMdDc4-ag:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/steverubel/~4/ZJIY3SIA8UU" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/8207/steverubelnew.jpg http://posterous.com/people/3y76Rtgx4 Steve Rubel Steve Steve Rubel http://www.steverubel.com/how-google-approaches-social-media-as-a-team Mon, 01 Mar 2010 02:25:00 -0800 Ads Drop Dot-Com URLs in Favor of "Facebook Us" http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/steverubel/~3/_Mc08JRz98g/ads-drop-dot-com-urls-in-favor-of-facebook-us http://www.steverubel.com/ads-drop-dot-com-urls-in-favor-of-facebook-us <p> <div><em>The following is also my March <a href="http://search.forbes.com/search/colArchiveSearch?author=steve+and+rubel&aname=Steve+Rubel">Forbes.com column</a>.</em></div> <p /> <div><em><span style="font-style: normal;">Today it seems that many marketers are literally tripping over themselves to invade social networks in force. There's almost a land grab underway as businesses rush to set up hubs on the "big three": Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. You can definitely sense that we've passed a tipping point.</span></em></div> <p /> <div>All at once, businesses large and small are increasingly recognizing that they need to go where the people are. And with 100 million Facebook users in the US who spend an average seven hours on the site each month (<a href="http://www.allfacebook.com/2010/02/facebook-users-spending-7-hours-a-month-on-site/">Nielsen</a>), it's surely a no-brainer. When your local pizzeria is promoting their Facebook page at the register, as mine does, then you know that marketing has changed. The same applies to Twitter and YouTube.</div> <p /> <div>However, with this land grab, a controversial shift is underway. The trusty dot-com URL, at least its role in marketing, maybe dying.</div> <p /> <div>Some companies are de-emphasizing spaces they own, like their web site, in all of their ads. Instead, they're pushing people towards spaces they rent where people are spending time - e.g. their Twitter, YouTube Facebook hubs.</div> <p /> <div>Case in point: UniBall. During the Winter Olympic games I was surprised to see the pen manufacturer use its TV ads to point people to <a href="http://www.facebook.com/UniBall">its Facebook page</a>. There UniBall is giving away 10,000 pens. Nowhere in its ads does Uniball promote its own web site. It's all about Facebook. Clever.</div> <p /> <div>Much the same, I noticed the New York Knicks basketball team in its outdoor ads had only three calls for action - an SMS code, Twitter and Facebook. Again no URL. A dot-com was nowhere to be found.</div> <p /> <div style="text-align: center;"><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/BPOvAxpqwOG5jVB7fZHyVyUPCvXEjj4sPhCix367zP2WJ1Wd6QDWOoOPjZGD/Screen_shot_2010-03-01_at_5.19.png.scaled.1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/vJahmHa570JZOgIL8MpgaZpKACW5F0rS37s5HSF0G9rK1BygBzbAdsZv4fz8/Screen_shot_2010-03-01_at_5.19.png.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="313"/></a> </div> <p /> <div>Finally, during <a href="http://mashable.com/2010/02/05/future-journalist-thoughts/">a recent Mashable event</a> in New York, Columbia Journalism professor Sree Sreenivasan pointed out that this is becoming the norm in the motion picture business. Perhaps this is a function of living in a world where people hardly use bookmarks any more and just Google.</div> <p /> <div>If this all sounds familiar, it should. <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/02/is_facebook_jus.html">It's all reminiscent of the mid-1990s</a> when URLs started popping up in TV ads and billboards. Or worse, when AOL keywords first surfaced in the early 1990s. These were curious at first, then later, welcome. Now I guess a URL is just boring. </div> <p /> <div>However, this time it's different.</div> <p /> <div>For starters, when marketers promote their social network hubs over their URLs they risk that more savvy consumers will see right through it. People could perceive it as a flat attempt to look cool and hip. Consumers already skeptical of advertising and this just adds to it.</div> <p /> <div>Second, the use of "heavy artillery" - e.g. advertising - to round up more fans and followers is equally controversial. This would be fine if it lead to true person-to-person engagement. However, many brands are just using their Twitter and Facebook presences to spew out updates, without any thought to how consumers will benefit by essentially opting in. UniBall is providing value but others don't go to such lengths.</div> <p /> <div>Finally, much the same, very few businesses treat social networks as personal, conversational spaces. Hardly any feature real employees. And a scant few aim to advance shared interests.</div> <p /> <div>So while it's welcome that marketers are beginning to promote the hubs they rent in all of the relevant communities, few are really optimizing them into true relationship builders. Most are devoid of humans - e.g. employees - and many look like faceless companies that are trying to check off boxes or slap shiny logos on their site.</div> <p /> <div>In some ways, it makes sense to me that marketers are emphasizing their spaces where people are spending time and where they can be easily found. However, at the same time, with so few understanding what it takes - people - to really build credible relationships, I wonder how long this trend might last and if a backlash is the works.</div> <p /> <div style="text-align: left;">If I were a dot-com URL, I wouldn't write my will just yet.</div> </p> <p><a href="http://www.steverubel.com/ads-drop-dot-com-urls-in-favor-of-facebook-us">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://www.steverubel.com/ads-drop-dot-com-urls-in-favor-of-facebook-us#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=_Mc08JRz98g:RY5NsX2A6os:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=_Mc08JRz98g:RY5NsX2A6os:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=_Mc08JRz98g:RY5NsX2A6os:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/steverubel/~4/_Mc08JRz98g" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/8207/steverubelnew.jpg http://posterous.com/people/3y76Rtgx4 Steve Rubel Steve Steve Rubel http://www.steverubel.com/ads-drop-dot-com-urls-in-favor-of-facebook-us Sun, 28 Feb 2010 05:29:52 -0800 Bringing the Stream to Facebook http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/steverubel/~3/PumLxI-Bg4g/bringing-the-stream-to-facebook http://www.steverubel.com/bringing-the-stream-to-facebook <p> <div><span style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; border-collapse: collapse;">I am making a slight shift in my content strategy. My Posterous-powered site will continue to feature insights, observations and essays about emerging technologies. It will include any content - text, photos, videos - where some degree of depth is required. This includes my AdAge and Forbes columns. I have also renamed it the Steve Rubel Stream to better reflect its mission.</span></span></span></div> <p /><div><span style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; border-collapse: collapse;">Now I am also adding <a href="http://www.facebook.com/steverubelstream" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(28, 81, 168);">a Facebook Page</a> that will feature everything that's posted here plus exclusive content for those of you who opt in and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/steverubelstream">become a fan</a>. It's very similar to how I <a href="http://twitter.com/steverubel">approach Twitter</a> - which also features links that I don't always share elsewhere. The difference is that the new Facebook Page will sit in between what I do here and Twitter and hopefully spark a rich discussion from a broader group of people who don't necessarily read blogs or use Twitter. </span></span></span></div> <p /><div><span style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; border-collapse: collapse;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/steverubelstream">Please become a fan today</a>. <a href="http://www.facebook.com/posted.php?id=358584190691&share_id=367467153464" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(28, 81, 168);">My initial post</a> asks for input on the pros/cons of creating different content for each social network. As always, if you have thoughts on how I can evolve this I am all ears.</span></span></span></div> <p /><div><span style="border-collapse: collapse;"><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/1Y47bRJY9avr5MWdGPuqXsHB0GDxtDWTnZ4Z8W9okxNwa2wTbuGNhl6BNJmm/Screen_shot_2010-02-28_at_8.15.png'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/W7GzudrKzq4NOho41D28jl2H79QqXLf5jQQO3jSIIIdmsf4jruDBdi4Q5XQV/Screen_shot_2010-02-28_at_8.15.png.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="299"/></a> <br /> </span></div> </p> <p><a href="http://www.steverubel.com/bringing-the-stream-to-facebook">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://www.steverubel.com/bringing-the-stream-to-facebook#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=PumLxI-Bg4g:nbDfdJNGfPk:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=PumLxI-Bg4g:nbDfdJNGfPk:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=PumLxI-Bg4g:nbDfdJNGfPk:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/steverubel/~4/PumLxI-Bg4g" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/8207/steverubelnew.jpg http://posterous.com/people/3y76Rtgx4 Steve Rubel Steve Steve Rubel http://www.steverubel.com/bringing-the-stream-to-facebook Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:42:47 -0800 BNO Breaking News Service is Now on Facebook http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/steverubel/~3/gvDBlbQWhAs/bno-breaking-news-service-is-now-on-facebook http://www.steverubel.com/bno-breaking-news-service-is-now-on-facebook <p> <div style="text-align: left;">BNO <a href="http://www.breakingnews.com/">Breaking News</a>, a service that first made its name <a href="http://twitter.com/breakingnews">on Twitter</a> and was later <a href="http://mashable.com/2009/11/23/msnbc-breaking-news/">acquired by MSNBC</a>, is now <a href="http://www.facebook.com/BreakingNews">on Facebook</a>. It just started to syndicate updates into my news feed about Former Vice President Dick Cheney's <a href="http://twitter.com/BreakingNews/status/9501426490">heart episode</a>. It's great to see this service make its way to Facebook where we can also comment on status updates in line. Hopefully millions more will discover BNO Breaking News as more see Facebook as a source of news.</div> <p /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/A4uqlLeCNC530ns1dRTQEc7alKu0zHt0ahD5srnaZ12t7kK70TfaxWRJF7CZ/Screen_shot_2010-02-22_at_7.33.png'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/BfrL3lrGUtSRggHy2rsT2ZaU3MQ3bmLWH3BgotOmvO8nVdtEQhQhCPKONcHc/Screen_shot_2010-02-22_at_7.33.png.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="367"/></a> <br /> </div> </p> <p><a href="http://www.steverubel.com/bno-breaking-news-service-is-now-on-facebook">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://www.steverubel.com/bno-breaking-news-service-is-now-on-facebook#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=gvDBlbQWhAs:IiCF3XtJDbY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=gvDBlbQWhAs:IiCF3XtJDbY:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=gvDBlbQWhAs:IiCF3XtJDbY:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/steverubel/~4/gvDBlbQWhAs" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/8207/steverubelnew.jpg http://posterous.com/people/3y76Rtgx4 Steve Rubel Steve Steve Rubel http://www.steverubel.com/bno-breaking-news-service-is-now-on-facebook Sun, 21 Feb 2010 05:49:00 -0800 AP is Visionary: They See a "Siteless Web" http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/steverubel/~3/mWE9ywRYXrU/ap-is-visionary-they-see-a-siteless-web-comin http://www.steverubel.com/ap-is-visionary-they-see-a-siteless-web-comin <p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/v9BxFeO8oA5jfk2gDtpz0Bjl36AwWhvmma4C86SWDsijcO51UogOb85smpM2/Screen_shot_2010-02-21_at_8.21.png'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/RVlZsuDCYxnAblZb5BCidRxFzpihT1upgE5kvEx4zKKaw93ZTLRaGigJNgeH/Screen_shot_2010-02-21_at_8.21.png.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="318"/></a> </p> <p><a href="http://techcrunch.com/2010/02/20/the-ap-twitter-facebook/">TechCrunch reports</a> that the Associated Press is using <a href="http://twitter.com/ap">their Twitter account</a> to push their followers to their <a href="http://www.facebook.com/APNews">Facebook page</a>. On that hub they syndicate many <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">stories</span> blog posts and dispatches <a href="http://www.facebook.com/notes/ap/riveting-tale-of-sinking-ship-silences-verbose-brazilian-journalists/10150094124080651">as full text</a>. Unlike Danny Sullivan (<a href="http://twitter.com/dannysullivan/status/9408900169">here</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/dannysullivan/status/9408856266">here</a>), I think this is a downright brilliant and visionary move. What's more it's a natural for a wire service like AP. Here's why.</p> <div>AP sees that the future of media is headless, which I wrote about <a href="http://www.steverubel.com/the-next-great-media-company-wont-have-a-web">here six months ago</a>. Paul Gillin echos my thoughts and calls this <a href="http://gillin.com/blog/2010/02/welcome-to-the-site-less-web/">the siteless web</a>.</div> <p /> <div>Wire services like AP and Reuters have in one sense flourished since the dawn of the consumer Internet. You can't visit a news site without running into one of their stories. Often, some of the featured and more popular stories on Yahoo News (an underrated news giant) are from wire services. However, there's an inherent problem today with that model and this approach tries to solve it.</div> <p /> <div>As wires like AP and Reuters syndicate their content everywhere, they have struggled to build any kind of meaningful relationship with readers. In some ways they've become so ubiquitous they're commodity. Others, like the New York Times, have done a much better job by offering benefits to registered members - but also with a lot more investment and infrastructure. </div> <p /> <div>The AP is now changing the game for news by not only going where <a href="http://mashable.com/2010/02/16/facebook-nielsen-stats">attention spirals are taking us</a> but by also using their content to curate a conversation on Facebook and - above all - build relationships.</div> <p /> <div>As of this writing, the AP page on Facebook has 9,400 fans. I bet this will grow over time as people spend more time on Facebook and slowly become more accustomed to getting their news there, in addition to friend updates, games,etc. Swap out the word fans and replace it with subscribers and suddenly you can see where I am going and why this is a smart idea. It's CRM for news!</div> <p /> <div>Over the weekend <a href="http://www.google.com/profiles/rdfrench">Robert French from Auburn</a> and I <a href="http://www.google.com/buzz/steverubel/7d4119L3JRs/Three-Ways-to-Manage-Your-Attention-with-Facebook">have been debating on Google Buzz</a> the value of Facebook as a news source. It does have a ways to go but it's coming. <a href="http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=66794">Six years ago</a>, as an experiment, I lived off blogs as my sole news source. I might try that again with Facebook. I continue to be impressed with how media companies are starting to experiment and the utter richness of the conversation that occurs in a very navigable, digestible format.</div> <p /> <div>LATER:: <a href="http://www.google.com/buzz/steverubel/bY3ndnoToW3/AP-is-Visionary-They-See-a-Siteless-Web-Coming">In response to this post, Viki asks on Buzz</a> if I see a similar future for Google Buzz. In a word, yes. With content infinite and attention finite, the media will go where people are. This includes Twitter, Buzz and YouTube. The media is already all over Buzz - case in point, <a href="https://www.google.com/profiles/huffpostbuzz">the Huffington Post</a>. However Facebook is the 800 pound gorilla - for now.</div> </p> <p><a href="http://www.steverubel.com/ap-is-visionary-they-see-a-siteless-web-comin">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://www.steverubel.com/ap-is-visionary-they-see-a-siteless-web-comin#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=mWE9ywRYXrU:eCDlwy-RDwY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=mWE9ywRYXrU:eCDlwy-RDwY:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=mWE9ywRYXrU:eCDlwy-RDwY:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/steverubel/~4/mWE9ywRYXrU" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/8207/steverubelnew.jpg http://posterous.com/people/3y76Rtgx4 Steve Rubel Steve Steve Rubel http://www.steverubel.com/ap-is-visionary-they-see-a-siteless-web-comin Thu, 18 Feb 2010 05:27:23 -0800 Three Ways to Manage Your Attention with Facebook http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/steverubel/~3/xwxVGABDx0c/three-ways-to-manage-your-attention-with-face http://www.steverubel.com/three-ways-to-manage-your-attention-with-face <p> <div style="text-align: left;">It took me awhile but I have become a big evangelist for Facebook. It's now my primary source of information. I suspect, <a href="http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/facebook-users-average-7-hrs-a-month-in-january-as-digital-universe-expands/">from looking at the data</a>, that this is true for millions - although I bet most don't even realize it. <a href="http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/facebook-users-average-7-hrs-a-month-in-january-as-digital-universe-expands/">Nielsen reports</a> that <i>the average</i> American spends seven hours a month on Facebook - that's staggering when you think about bounce rates and how mission-oriented web users are. (Note - Nielsen is a client.)</div> <p /><div style="text-align: left;">The main reason I am digging more into Facebook these days is that, in an age of infinite noise, the site actually helps me manage my attention. What's more it makes it easier for me to connect with streams I care about from brands, news sources and thinkers like Jeremiah Owyang and Om Malik. I also like the richness of the conversation and how it's easy to read, navigate and respond.</div> <p /><div>Still, as great as Facebook is, the site has its annoyances. You need to dig in a bit to tweak it. Once you do, however, I find it becomes a really powerful way to manage your attention. Here are three ways I am making Facebook rock my world ....<p /><div><b>Tune out Inane Updates</b></div><p /><div>First, while games are huge on Facebook, I really don't care about my friends' gaming activity. I am not alone. "<a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/I-dont-care-about-your-farm-or-your-fish-or-your-park-or-your-mafia/207382931457?">I don't care about your farm, or your fish, or your park, or your mafia</a>" has attracted over five million fans. Thankfully, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/technology/18askk.html">the New York Times today</a> details how you can tune out say Farmville updates from friends...</div> <p /><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0.8ex; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-left-style: solid; padding-left: 1ex;"> <i>"On your regular News Feed, you can also weed out the constant updates from any of the farming, organized crime, vampire, space, fantasy or casual games your friends may be playing on Facebook. Just move the mouse cursor to the end of the first line from an update from say, Mafia Wars, and click the Hide button that appears. A box pops up giving you the option to either hide game updates (or the friend) from your News Feed."</i></blockquote> <p /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/TwyMKFwOMskQHNBDvoxhpvR6YdqsAgAXJCLH4civpowOViEl4HYoWmoame5y/Capture3.jpg" width="320" height="54"/> <br /> </div><p /><div><b>Organize Pages Into Lists and Use the Search Box</b></div><p /><div>I have fanned more than 350 pages on Facebook. You read that right. The reason is that I treat Facebook as my primary newsreader. I want to see these updates in my real-time stream. </div> <p /><div>Still, if you have fanned more than a few pages, I would recommend setting up lists to make this all manageable. I have set up several lists that I navigate from my phone as well as on the web site. These include lists for client pages and people, news sources/reporters and more. Lists help keep Facebook in check from becoming another source of overload.</div> <p /><div>Also, don't forget the search box. Often, when all I have time is a a quick scan of the headlines, I head to the box and type in one or more of my favorite sites. This is harder to do on say Twitter. Plus Facebook offers summaries.</div> <p /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/UT4Cy6YRYRJYc2o191Jnw9WSkg8mOqDkS7JxvyaJHGJFa95OGqKbOZa3CaQD/Capture2.jpg" width="335" height="88"/> <br /> </div><p /><div><b>Set Your Priorities</b></div><p /><div>In an age of information abundance, quality and signals rule. Still, each individual's definition of what is signal varies. Once you find individuals or pages that add value to your life, you can prioritize them in your feed. Head down to the bottom of your news feed and click on "Edit Options." There you can tell Facebook which people and pages to show more of. </div> <p /><div>Right now, this is how I am tracking the Olympics. I have asked Facebook to prioritize updates from four Olympic-related pages that I have fanned. Once the games are over I will turn this off. But for now, it's a great way to keep up with the news.</div> <p /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/YgEADXkNaUJDWm4QakXYwXBGFb2yB9fhHSNrT52xL6E24pQ9tFErNmx2Mwgm/Capture.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/IsZ7cDed62vOFSZHb0hBPbQHzqSfsZf4xHBExPZMTaCmstHyAhWhE5W7lzIp/Capture.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="355"/></a> </div> <p /><div style="text-align: left;">How are you using Facebook? Are you like me in that you're spending more time on the site or are you in the opposite situation? Share your thoughts in the comments below. Also if you log in with Facebook the comments can be shared on your profile and mine.</div> </div> </p> <p><a href="http://www.steverubel.com/three-ways-to-manage-your-attention-with-face">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://www.steverubel.com/three-ways-to-manage-your-attention-with-face#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=xwxVGABDx0c:IafrQ8SFezk:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=xwxVGABDx0c:IafrQ8SFezk:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=xwxVGABDx0c:IafrQ8SFezk:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/steverubel/~4/xwxVGABDx0c" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/8207/steverubelnew.jpg http://posterous.com/people/3y76Rtgx4 Steve Rubel Steve Steve Rubel http://www.steverubel.com/three-ways-to-manage-your-attention-with-face Mon, 15 Feb 2010 05:13:00 -0800 Facebook Now Drives More Traffic to Key Sites Than Google http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/steverubel/~3/MO0uhvx0fpE/facebook-now-drives-more-traffic-to-web-sites http://www.steverubel.com/facebook-now-drives-more-traffic-to-web-sites <p> <div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/mIqYVDcCOO13s6RefvYT1q6AeR7elf7mFPGiUR1MS40zpFZGYmmnMsijiMuf/Screen_shot_2010-02-15_at_8.04.png" width="243" height="245"/> </div> <p><em>UPDATE: A couple of notes to clarify this post. First, the chart above, which I pulled from compete.com, shows the top sites that Facebook drives traffic to. Also the headline has been updated to reflect that Facebook is driving more traffic to portals than Google. The San Francisco Chronicle story, linked below, notes that Facebook is only starting to encroach on Google for other sites. The trend, however, still holds.</em></p> <p>We're at the beginning of a major shift in how we find, consume and interact with information. If the 2000s was the Google decade, then the 2010s will be the Facebook decade. Already, you can see the writing on the wall - pun intended. Case in point: <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=google+decade+danny+sullivan&aq=f&aqi=&oq=">a search for</a> "google decade danny sullivan" pulls up <a href="http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=279872289901&comments&ref=mf">his Facebook note</a> higher than a <a href="http://searchengineland.com/the-google-decade-search-in-review-2000-to-2009-34830">blog post</a> (an item I wanted to include here for context). But that's nothing. Look at the data.</p> <div><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/14/BUU51C0AMN.DTL">According to new stats from compete.com</a> Facebook is becoming the web's top source of traffic (link <a href="http://www.facebook.com/JeremiahOwyang">via Jeremiah Owyang</a> on where else, Facebook). The image above is a snapshot I pulled from <a href="http://compete.com">compete.com</a>. It shows where Facebook is sending traffic...</div> <div><br /> <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0.8ex; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-color: #cccccc; border-left-style: solid; padding-left: 1ex;"><em>"According to Web measurement firm Compete Inc., Facebook has passed search-engine giant Google to become the top source for traffic to major portals like Yahoo and MSN, and is among the leaders for other types of sites.</em></blockquote> <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0.8ex; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-color: #cccccc; border-left-style: solid; padding-left: 1ex;"><em><br /></em></blockquote> <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0.8ex; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-color: #cccccc; border-left-style: solid; padding-left: 1ex;"><em>This trend is shifting the way Web site operators approach online marketing, even as Google takes steps to move into the social-media world.</em></blockquote> <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0.8ex; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-color: #cccccc; border-left-style: solid; padding-left: 1ex;"><em><br /></em></blockquote> <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0.8ex; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-color: #cccccc; border-left-style: solid; padding-left: 1ex;"><em>Some experts say social media could become the Internet's next search engine."</em></blockquote> <p /> <div>That last line is key. I see Facebook starting to look more like Google while Google tries and stumbles at becoming more social. Bing will start to play a central supporting role here. I see Facebook and Bing becoming an "<a href="http://www.allfacebook.com/2010/02/facebook-search-bing-2/">Axis of FTW</a>" that will disrupt Google on every front. (Microsoft is an Edelman client.)</div> <p /> <div>You can already see it coming...</div> <div> <ul> <li>Titan/Facebook Chat will <a href="http://www.steverubel.com/google-buzz-is-about-protecting-gmail-ad-doll">challenge Gmail</a> in communications</li> <li>Facebook pages will disrupt Google - especially if they were to integrate Bing Maps and location technology a la Foursquare. This can quickly position Facebook as the Web's Yellow Pages, an area that Google and Yelp currently dominate</li> <li>Facebook will make <a href="http://www.steverubel.com/photo-facebook-search-social-news-search">search more social</a>, allowing it to become annotated and curated. This up-ends Google's core business. It also makes the Facebook self-serve advertising model smarter and more effective as it collects more data about where it sends traffic. This threatens Adwords</li> </ul> <div> <div>Social networking is here to stay. It's where attention spirals are flowing and no one looms larger than Facebook. (Link sharing on Facebook <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/allfacebook/~3/hhcKyFAB4Jw/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email">rose 500%</a> in six months.) And while Facebook has plenty of critics and they run into the occasional privacy concerns, I believe that they will dominate the landscape the next few years. In fact, I see them becoming the number one web site in the world in under three years. <a href="http://www.steverubel.com/facebook-could-eat-the-web">It could eat the web</a>.</div> </div> <p /> <div>Now a lot could go wrong. It is possible that Facebook will become <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/02/is_facebook_jus.html">AOL the sequel</a>. But <a href="http://www.steverubel.com/the-two-faces-of-facebook">I don't see it</a>. There's no alternative and the more we put into Facebook the more value we gain from it. This is a different era where vertical integration (e.g. owning and controlling the whole experience) is a <em>major plus</em>, especially if it's elegant and simple. There's too much information and things vying for our attention today. This turns vertical integration and simplicity into a competitive advantage.</div> </div> <div> <p /> <div>So what does this mean? I believe business web sites will become less important over time. They will be primarily transactional and/or for utility. Brands will shift more of their dollars and resources to creating robust presence where people already are and figure out how to <a href="http://www.steverubel.com/go-big-get-your-employees-on-the-bus-or-go-ho">activate employees en masse</a> in a way that builds relationships and drives traffic back to their sites to complete transactions. <a href="http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=139558">Media companies will do the same - they will be "headless."</a></div> <p /> <div>Google and search will remain important for years to come. However, what we're seeing is the beginning of big changes where social networking and Facebook will further disrupt advertising, media, one-to-one and one-to-many communications, not to mention search.</div> </div> </div> </p> <p><a href="http://www.steverubel.com/facebook-now-drives-more-traffic-to-web-sites">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://www.steverubel.com/facebook-now-drives-more-traffic-to-web-sites#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=MO0uhvx0fpE:SjFuXsFOToM:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=MO0uhvx0fpE:SjFuXsFOToM:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=MO0uhvx0fpE:SjFuXsFOToM:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/steverubel/~4/MO0uhvx0fpE" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/8207/steverubelnew.jpg http://posterous.com/people/3y76Rtgx4 Steve Rubel Steve Steve Rubel http://www.steverubel.com/facebook-now-drives-more-traffic-to-web-sites Sun, 14 Feb 2010 06:27:00 -0800 Google Buzz is About Protecting GMail's Ad Dollars, Not Social Networking http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/steverubel/~3/h-1orPVTNu8/google-buzz-is-about-protecting-gmail-ad-doll http://www.steverubel.com/google-buzz-is-about-protecting-gmail-ad-doll <p> <div>One of my chief issues with <a href="http://www.google.com/buzz">Google Buzz</a> is that there's no "there." Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc all have destination sites or apps that allow the user to mentally switch contexts from one-to-one/one-to-few communication to one-to-many. Mike Elgan touches on this <a href="http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/article.php/3864381/Why-Google-Buzz-Isnt-Buzzworthy.htm">here</a>. </div> <p /> <div>This got me wondering: why didn't Google build a hub for Buzz to begin with? I suspect the reason is simple. With Buzz, Google isn't trying to create a new social network. Rather, it's trying to sure up GMail - a major source of ad revenues - from the forthcoming Facebook onslaught. </div> <p /> <div>Even though Gmail has hundreds of millions of users, they actually have much to fear. The enemy is Facebook. With its integrated chat, Facebook Connect and <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2010/02/05/facebooks-project-titan-a-full-featured-webmail-product/">its forthcoming full-featured mail product</a>, Titan, the social network giant has a good shot at syphoning users from Gmail just as Google did to Yahoo Mail and Hotmail half a decade ago. Ponder that.</div> <p /> <div>In addition, here are some of my other thoughts on Google Buzz...</div> <div> <ul> <li>After playing with it for a few days, there's definitely a lot I like. <a href="http://www.steverubel.com/serenity-now-google-buzz-is-google-wave-light">I still don't see it going mainstream</a> - especially given <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/13/technology/internet/13google.html?src=sch&pagewanted=all">the privacy kerfuffle</a>. This will only scare mainstream users. However, that said, I bet Buzz will become an important niche player for enthusiasts much like Friendfeed was during its heyday. What's more it will encourage everyone else to up their game. </li> </ul> </div> <div> <ul> <li>Yesterday on Buzz <a href="http://www.google.com/buzz/steverubel/CyRyXJyA55R/I-still-dont-see-Buzz-going-mainstream-However-for">I outlined 20 ways</a> it can improve. The product team, notably <a href="http://www.google.com/profiles/elatable">Bradley Horowitz</a>, chimed in and said they are taking all feedback seriously. This weekend's <a href="http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/new-buzz-start-up-experience-based-on.html">privacy tweaks</a> back up words with action. What else are we missing?</li> </ul> </div> <div> <ul> <li>Finally, tips are rolling in around the web. The Next Web and Google Operating System blogs have <a href="http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2010/02/13/complete-guide-google-buzz/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Appetite+%28The+Next+Web+Apple%29">great tip round-ups</a>. Most notably <a href="http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2010/02/google-buzz-tips.html">Google Operating System details</a> how you can search all public updates, even people you're not following (#8). They also reveal how to save these as persistent searches (#9). As you can see from the screen grab below, this is a really handy way to search social content from within Gmail.</li> </ul> <div style="text-align: center;"><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/yrZilBrhjBHXCFcgECfvtGnt5p671gPk9Egu3sqHow0hQFQ8HnhuuVfjDoX5/Screen_shot_2010-02-14_at_9.17.png'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/dTgkIvvN8V2MaDgjQHk1NK278Ns2Rw8MhjrUBRtakHIp5QH3oUUH6zCWHRix/Screen_shot_2010-02-14_at_9.17.png.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="258"/></a> </div> </div> </p> <p><a href="http://www.steverubel.com/google-buzz-is-about-protecting-gmail-ad-doll">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://www.steverubel.com/google-buzz-is-about-protecting-gmail-ad-doll#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=h-1orPVTNu8:JHeSsucck98:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=h-1orPVTNu8:JHeSsucck98:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=h-1orPVTNu8:JHeSsucck98:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/steverubel/~4/h-1orPVTNu8" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/8207/steverubelnew.jpg http://posterous.com/people/3y76Rtgx4 Steve Rubel Steve Steve Rubel http://www.steverubel.com/google-buzz-is-about-protecting-gmail-ad-doll Wed, 10 Feb 2010 08:39:00 -0800 Serenity Now: Google Buzz is Google Wave Light, a Non-Starter http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/steverubel/~3/l_iUxF1O8zQ/serenity-now-google-buzz-is-google-wave-light http://www.steverubel.com/serenity-now-google-buzz-is-google-wave-light <p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/ylhkXr1MpqDnp5QbukCQv8CFidBk88cbVfq13KWsg8JNhxKAhxRXafJSr6ZB/seinfeld_s9e3.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/PHIsReJwtoVi5kUBFEmxc1A9RAx9FhVT0FEDSUh4lGRoDCYMHzyDmUqzVLh6/seinfeld_s9e3.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="382"/></a> </p> <p>Those of you who know me or have been reading my work for awhile are probably well aware that I love Google products - especially Gmail. I even stopped using Google Reader in favor of subscribing to email newsletters from the blogs I care about so I can peruse/search them there. One less inbox that I have to manage is a good thing.</p> <div>So, with that, you would naturally assume that I would love <a href="http://www.google.com/buzz">Google Buzz</a>. Well, I just got it in my Gmail today and my first take is that <a href="http://www.steverubel.com/google-wave-rss-the-sequel-in-other-words-doa">it's Google Wave Light</a>. Is the technology great? Sure. However, it's way too complex for the masses. It doesn't organize social information, it makes it even more of a mess.</div> <p /> <div>Like it or hate it Facebook offers what Jeff Jarvis calls "<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/jun/11/mondaymediasection.news">elegant organization</a>." Twitter, while less organized, is equally simple. Google Buzz is only a service a mother could love - maybe Sergey Brin's mother. It's the Anti-Friendfeed. Here are five things wrong with it...</div> <p /> <div>1) I can't easily find my content within Gmail. I have to go to <a href="http://www.google.com/profiles/steverubel">my profile page</a> to find it</div> <p /> <div>2) I can't easily hide the items from my inbox. This requires <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5468067/banish-google-buzz-updates-from-your-gmail-inbox">a filtering hack</a> that mere mortals do not know even exists</div> <p /> <div>3) Noise, noise and more noise - there are no lists like in Twitter or a news feed in Facebook that tells you the "top stories" or even <a href="http://www.steverubel.com/friendfeed-brings-best-of-day-to-lists-helps">"Best of Day" feature</a> that Friendfeed had. A way to <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10449662-265.html">organize social content</a>? <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/10/technology/internet/10social.html">A productivity tool</a>? Hardly</div> <p /> <div>4) It slows down Gmail somewhat - what happened to <a href="http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2009/06/google-launches-discussion-about-how-to-speed-up-the-web.ars">Google's mission to speed up the web</a>?</div> <p /> <div>5) Finally, it shows in some ways Google is losing their focus. They're getting too big and therefore launch half-baked products that take them away from their core. They are feeling the heat from Facebook and Twitter instead of remaining true to their mission to organize the world's information.</div> <p /> <div>In short, Google Buzz leaves me crying <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Serenity_Now">Serenity Now</a> - and I am a social enthusiast with <a href="http://www.google.com/profies/steverubel">his hands</a> in lots of pots!</div> <p /> <div>Call me when this is baked but once again Google is showing that social is really their Achilles Heel. <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/introducing-google-social-search-i.html">Google Social Search</a> is a winner. <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/relevance-meets-real-time-web.html">Google real-time search</a> is also a winner. They show what Google does well. This product shows Google at their worst. So, now that I have it, I don't see Google Buzz taking off and I am tempted to even turn it off. How about you?</div> </p> <p><a href="http://www.steverubel.com/serenity-now-google-buzz-is-google-wave-light">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://www.steverubel.com/serenity-now-google-buzz-is-google-wave-light#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=l_iUxF1O8zQ:RqZUQvFsYxY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=l_iUxF1O8zQ:RqZUQvFsYxY:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=l_iUxF1O8zQ:RqZUQvFsYxY:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/steverubel/~4/l_iUxF1O8zQ" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/8207/steverubelnew.jpg http://posterous.com/people/3y76Rtgx4 Steve Rubel Steve Steve Rubel http://www.steverubel.com/serenity-now-google-buzz-is-google-wave-light Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:04:00 -0800 Facebook Pulls Lexicon Analytics Tool http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/steverubel/~3/7H8jyvsSIaE/facebook-pulls-lexicon-analytics-tool http://www.steverubel.com/facebook-pulls-lexicon-analytics-tool <p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/s7BzGOkKqhjICoqTCo9153v12F2p2PSATmM2oiHD9TqWG3ZVTTphK87LT10E/Screen_shot_2010-02-09_at_4.52.png'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/vIUStakbDTDle3oN1D4KKnOEcQpKABMqDFqabLTtViuHPLfgPanVdUFqFkhJ/Screen_shot_2010-02-09_at_4.52.png.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="98"/></a> </p> <p>Facebook has taken its promising Lexicon tool down from the site. Perhaps this happened when they pushed their new redesign. Lexicon, like Google Trends, provided limited yet interesting data on site-wide trends. You can read more about it <a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/facebook_lexicon.php">here</a>.</p> <div>From the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/lexicon/">Lexicon site</a>....</div> <p /> <div> <blockquote> <div><em>"Thank you for your interest in Lexicon. We are removing the Lexicon product from Facebook for the time being. We may bring components of Lexicon back in the future, but we are focusing development on our analytics tools for Page owners, advertisers and Platform developers."</em></div> </blockquote> <div>Analytics remains a major focus at Facebook for advertisers and page owners. They recently <a href="http://www.allfacebook.com/2010/01/facebook-presentation/">pushed out a tool</a> that lets page owners see detailed data about their individual items. Still, I would like to see the social network emulate Google more in how they share global data.</div> </div> </p> <p><a href="http://www.steverubel.com/facebook-pulls-lexicon-analytics-tool">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://www.steverubel.com/facebook-pulls-lexicon-analytics-tool#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=7H8jyvsSIaE:Wlro7Joj1l0:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=7H8jyvsSIaE:Wlro7Joj1l0:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=7H8jyvsSIaE:Wlro7Joj1l0:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/steverubel/~4/7H8jyvsSIaE" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/8207/steverubelnew.jpg http://posterous.com/people/3y76Rtgx4 Steve Rubel Steve Steve Rubel http://www.steverubel.com/facebook-pulls-lexicon-analytics-tool Mon, 08 Feb 2010 10:52:00 -0800 Trust in Friends Declines, Trust in Experts Rises - Social Media and PR Still Win http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/steverubel/~3/JsRq_Bjnddw/trust-in-friends-declines-trust-in-experts-ri http://www.steverubel.com/trust-in-friends-declines-trust-in-experts-ri <p> <div>Last week Edelman, my employer, published our tenth annual Trust Barometer study. <a href="http://www.edelman.com/trust/2010/">You can read the full report here</a>. One of the more juicy statistics that <a href="http://adage.com/article?article_id=141972">Advertising Age</a> and others noted is that trust in peers surprisingly dropped dramatically from 47% to 27%.</div> <p /> <div> <div><a href="http://blogs.zdnet.com/Foremski/?p=1107" target="_blank">Tom Foremski says this is bad for PR</a>:</div> <blockquote> <div><span style="font-style: italic;">"This is bad news for PR agencies because social media has been the ‘point of the spear’ for so many firms. This is what brings in new business."</span></div> </blockquote> <div>While he's right that social media has been a big business driver, I respectfully disagree with Tom that this is bad news for the PR agencies. It won't make the PR industry's case for social media budgets any less compelling. In fact, it's awesome news. Here's why...</div> <p /> </div> <div>If you dig into the report, you'll note that the Trust data shows that we're desperately seeking out experts. This is unsurprising given the torrent of information we're all contending with. We're self-curating and in the process seeking out higher authorities.</div> <p /> <div style="text-align: center;"><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/PTZBpKXWJcWa2sKe9PsDzhLcPCn2HUsqqEVsghKURKlOrKXbWCUj98O0XAoc/Capture.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/KOeSQZNObyYBJdlcd89bX8weOs07uDURAKjYMLaJG7pJI7A7z2w4b8VvUe1g/Capture.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="327"/></a> </div> <p /> <div> <div>Taking this a step further, this is where PR agencies shine. We have <em>decades of experience</em> positioning companies, NGOs, execs and employees in the ranks as subject-matter experts. So what does this have to do with social media? A lot. Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, you name it are by far the fastest and most effective ways for an any individual or a company to build a thought leadership footprint. So, if you think about it, this isn't 2012 scenario as Foremski suggests. All it means that we'll have to work harder to build credibility through online thought leadership. If you're doing this <a href="http://www.steverubel.com/go-big-get-your-employees-on-the-bus-or-go-ho">with scale</a>, you will win.</div> <p /> </div> <div>In addition, beyond that, we will have to do it all to break through the noise. So I don't see this as bad news at all. Richard Edelman, our CEO, sums this up best with his quotes in <a href="http://adage.com/article?article_id=141972" target="_blank">Advertising Age</a>:</div> <blockquote> <div><span style="font-style: italic;">"The events of the last 18 months have scarred people," Mr. Edelman said. "People have to see messages in different places and from different people. That means experts as well as peers or company employees. It's a more-skeptical time. So if companies are looking at peer-to-peer marketing as another arrow in the quiver, that's good, but they need to understand it's not a single-source solution. It's a piece of the solution."</span></div> </blockquote> <p><em> </em></p> <p><em> <div><span style="font-style: normal;">Bingo. All this means is less fluff more substance. And that's a good thing.</span> </div> </em></p> <p> </p> </p> <p><a href="http://www.steverubel.com/trust-in-friends-declines-trust-in-experts-ri">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://www.steverubel.com/trust-in-friends-declines-trust-in-experts-ri#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=JsRq_Bjnddw:XX5skXmct-Q:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=JsRq_Bjnddw:XX5skXmct-Q:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=JsRq_Bjnddw:XX5skXmct-Q:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/steverubel/~4/JsRq_Bjnddw" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/8207/steverubelnew.jpg http://posterous.com/people/3y76Rtgx4 Steve Rubel Steve Steve Rubel http://www.steverubel.com/trust-in-friends-declines-trust-in-experts-ri Mon, 08 Feb 2010 07:31:00 -0800 Facebook Will Centralize the Social Web http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/steverubel/~3/P2bAk-lf7rk/facebook-will-centralize-the-social-web http://www.steverubel.com/facebook-will-centralize-the-social-web <p> <div>Michael Arrington <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2010/02/07/social-feels-like-search-a-decade-ago-lots-of-noise-and-lots-of-spam/" target="_blank">laments about about the decentralized nature of social content</a> on TechCrunch today...</div> <blockquote> <div><em>"The online social landscape today sort of feels to me like search did in 1999. It’s a mess, but we don’t complain much about it because we don’t know there’s a better way.</em></div> </blockquote> <div> <p>You might be <a href="http://www.steverubel.com/facebook-could-eat-the-web">sick of hearing this from me</a>, but strongly believe that Facebook is the next Google. It took me a while to "get religion," but now I have it. Just as Google brought a simple way to search the web, my observation is that Facebook is poised to do the same for organizing and - this is key - centralizing social content</p> <p>Google will continue to dominate "pull." But Facebook will aggregate content, make it social and rule "push." Using our social circle it will surface content that we care about just when we want it - and allow us to comment on it all. As more people use Facebook to connect, share and create, a network effect takes over - and the system get even smarter.</p> <div>Here's an example. In my newsfeed today I saw an item from CNN about Sarah Palin. Within minutes it had dozens of comments. Some 20 minutes later it had 300 comments. Now that pales in comparison to the 2775 comments (as of this writing) that <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/02/07/palin.presidential.run.tea.party/index.html?hpt=T2%20">the actual story</a> on CNN.com has. However, over time through Facebook Connect, I suspect this to become more cohesive so that you can follow the conversation in either place.</div> <p /> <div style="text-align: center;"><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/9eiQuUCzUKQPrOcasuEfdT0rFivuVvcOKxvwMHRMFSB9Mnv5uY2jPPGzZtAo/Capture.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/Eg3WKqdq6bIOFVrtANVrq3FlGEZZZ1LFWdvyn7ZnY0HKyJqd5soh4j8qdYfV/Capture.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="308"/></a> <a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/ri5DtjxMQvttobsRgx12U5a8pbDrnJoGTAJMl4DW44scrsNEJx9T6sC0GGAt/Capture2.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/2jRlKs5XLLHliYmvH515hjgxAY1wD8cQ6IrxtGmfMA4N3CeqY2tVEZx8oy76/Capture2.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="327"/></a> <div><a href='http://www.steverubel.com/facebook-will-centralize-the-social-web'>See and download the full gallery on posterous</a></div></div> <p /> <div>Facebook has done an extraordinary job at making social elegant, simple and organized for millions. Couple this with the search deal with Bing, I believe they will be a force to be reckoned with - one that challenges Google on every turf.</div> </div> </p> <p><a href="http://www.steverubel.com/facebook-will-centralize-the-social-web">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://www.steverubel.com/facebook-will-centralize-the-social-web#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=P2bAk-lf7rk:caRA0C_NilM:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=P2bAk-lf7rk:caRA0C_NilM:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=P2bAk-lf7rk:caRA0C_NilM:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/steverubel/~4/P2bAk-lf7rk" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/8207/steverubelnew.jpg http://posterous.com/people/3y76Rtgx4 Steve Rubel Steve Steve Rubel http://www.steverubel.com/facebook-will-centralize-the-social-web Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:54:00 -0800 Facebook Could Eat the Web http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/steverubel/~3/DgwWYFpjfvc/facebook-could-eat-the-web http://www.steverubel.com/facebook-could-eat-the-web <p> <div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/kJwewguckhGjyBgcHJAsqtdDxtjDIdpttEAcmoJrbzghzCIFwwlgvBJEDqpD/media_httpfarm2static_doldu.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" height="375"/> </div> <div> <div><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mastermaq/942327913/">Photo credit: mastermaq</a></div> <div>Like almost everyone else on the planet, it seems, I am spending more time on Facebook than any other site. The lone exception is Google. The reason I know this is that Safari, my browser, lists Facebook as my most visited site when I access its <a href="http://arstechnica.com/apple/guides/2009/02/safari-4-focus-top-sites-browser-in-a-nutshell.ars">top sites feature</a>.</div> <div>In addition to using Facebook to check in on what my family, friends and colleagues are up to, I have been using it as a newsreader for months. The screenshot below is my reader. This is something that the company suggested everyone do <a href="http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=276507062130">here</a>. Although I suspect that most users haven't taken the steps top create a dedicated news list as Facebook suggests, there's not doubt that the social network is becoming a critical source of information. Yesterday, Hitwise published <a href="http://weblogs.hitwise.com/us-heather-hopkins/2010/02/facebook_largest_news_reader_1.html">a fascinating report</a> that illustrates just how large Facebook looms as a source for news.</div> <div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/qHfdhhDAytFeynGheConeIduGzexGeJchEqdcJDCanrctykGiaoqagwAAszy/media_httpphotosfakfb_iqviz.jpg.scaled1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/qHfdhhDAytFeynGheConeIduGzexGeJchEqdcJDCanrctykGiaoqagwAAszy/media_httpphotosfakfb_iqviz.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" height="424"/></a> </div> <div>But something bigger is going on here...Facebook is eating the web.</div> <div>Yes, Facebook is <em>becoming the web</em> for millions and millions of people. As I have written before, there's <a href="http://www.steverubel.com/five-incredibly-useful-things-you-can-do-with">already a wealth of amazing things</a> you can do within the site without ever leaving. What's more, as I also speculated, the site giving rise to <a href="http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:j7DWsq4pAcEJ:adage.com/article%3Farticle_id%3D139558+rubel+headless+media&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=safari">headless media companies</a> like Zynga that don't need a web site to succeed.</div> <div>In short, I believe Facebook is unstoppable. <a href="http://www.theatlanticwire.com/opinions/view/opinion/3-Reasons-Facebook-Will-Usurp-Google-2394">They aren't just the next Google</a>. They're the next web.</div> <div>Here's where I see things shaping up from here.</div> <div>First, Facebook will move from being a solely place where people connect to each other to a site where people connect with businesses and, more importantly, the people who work for them, <a href="http://www.steverubel.com/go-big-get-your-employees-on-the-bus-or-go-ho">as I wrote yesterday</a>. This, as my friend Robert Scoble, points out is an area <a href="http://scobleizer.com/2009/03/26/facebook-is-lucky-it-missed-buying-twitter-and-now-should-eat-yelp/">where others dominate</a>. But I expect Facebook will catch up fast. They will buy Yelp and/or Foursquare - or just implement similar technology - and become the yellow pages of the web.</div> <div> <div> <div>Facebook may not even need to buy Yelp to make it happen. They are already slowly becoming the yellow pages. Everywhere I go I see signs like the one above telling us where we can find a local business on Facebook. In addition, last night during a fascinating session on the future of journalism (<a href="http://docs.google.com/present/view?id=ac48t3fnkswg_78dsfw6zcf">archived here</a>), Sree Sreenivasan from Columbia Journalism School noted that movie posters don't have URLs anymore. They just tell us to go find them on Facebook. That's significant.</div> </div> </div> <div> <div>Second, Facebook will start to give web developers more tools to build entire rich micro-sites that exist solely inside the social network. <a href="http://www.dmnews.com/1-800-flowers-blooms-with-facebook-transactions/article/151320/">Check out what 1800Flowers is already doing</a>. Such a move will encourage more companies to focus 100% of their web marketing efforts on maximizing their Facebook presence. And why not? The site has 350+ million users, <a href="http://www.techcrunch.com/2010/02/01/facebook-coo-sheryl-sandberg-world-economic-forum-davos/">half of whom</a> log in at least once a month. It's much easier to go where people are than to get them to come to you.</div> <div>Third, Facebook will get serious about search. It's an untapped monetization pipeline that can bring in billions - especially when they couple social algorithms with crawlers. <a href="http://www.steverubel.com/sooner-or-later-facebook-will-launch-its-own">Phones too</a>.</div> <div>So what could derail Facebook? A lot. People could tire of it. But I don't see that happening. In fact, I see us putting more of our content inside Facebook and I see them making it all easily searchable and accessible from any device and leveraging connections to make it all even more powerful.</div> <div>Now history says I will be wrong. AOL tried this and lost. But AOL did not have the algorithms and social connections that Facebook has in place, so I think we're in a different era. Facebook could eat the web or, perhaps more likely, become a parallel universe web. But, the question is this - will the web allow itself to be eaten or will two webs emerge? Time will tell.</div> </div> </div> </div> </p> <p><a href="http://www.steverubel.com/facebook-could-eat-the-web">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://www.steverubel.com/facebook-could-eat-the-web#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=DgwWYFpjfvc:pR_bYmKnB0M:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=DgwWYFpjfvc:pR_bYmKnB0M:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=DgwWYFpjfvc:pR_bYmKnB0M:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/steverubel/~4/DgwWYFpjfvc" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/8207/steverubelnew.jpg http://posterous.com/people/3y76Rtgx4 Steve Rubel Steve Steve Rubel http://www.steverubel.com/facebook-could-eat-the-web Wed, 03 Feb 2010 09:10:00 -0800 Go Big, Get Your Employees on the Bus or Go Home http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/steverubel/~3/No_O244KZDs/go-big-get-your-employees-on-the-bus-or-go-ho http://www.steverubel.com/go-big-get-your-employees-on-the-bus-or-go-ho <p> <p><em>The following is also my column in next week's issue of Advertising Age.</em><p /></p> <div><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; border-collapse: collapse;"><strong>Go Big, Get Your Employees on the Bus or Go Home</strong></span></div> <p /> <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; border-collapse: collapse;"><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/iDeaFdkEDhtdqnsGurubBxmDrwbdgfDGsrgszDbBJcDubIAuHoqyIvnqDmBp/media_httpfarm4static_wxDvH.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="375" height="500"/> </span></div> <p /> <div><em>Photo credit: </em><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/pwz/3660594747/"><em>Traffic by scottpowerz</em></a></div> <div><br /> <div>The single biggest challenge that marketers face over the next ten years is attention scarcity. Bank on it. <div><br />According to Andreas Weigland, Amazon.com's former chief scientist, <a href="http://blogs.hbr.org/now-new-next/2009/05/the-social-data-revolution.html">more data was generated by individuals in 2009</a> than in the entire history of mankind. Human attention, however, is finite - and arguably, it shrinks as we age.  <div><br />The end result is downright ugly. It's like 25 lanes of traffic trying to squeeze through two Lincoln Tunnel tubes during the peak of rush hour. Your marketing programs may be the biggest, baddest bus in the flow, but you're competing with everyone else for the same space and time. Chances are, however, your bus is empty. Park that idea for now. We'll come back to it.</div> <div><br />Each individual, whether it's a stay-at-home mom or a twenty-something online addict, will develop his/her own coping mechanisms. Some of these decisions will be conscious. Many of them won't be. And that spells trouble for marketers.</div> <div><br />Already one of the ways we're coping is by digging deeper into social networking sites to connect with our friends and interests. According to Nielsen, globally consumers spent more than five and half hours on social networking sites in December. This represents an 82 percent increase year over year. Human beings have always been drawn to each other. Social networking just makes this easier and scalable - or does it?</div> <div><br />Robin Dunbar, professor of Evolutionary Anthropology at Oxford University, discovered that <a href="http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article6999879.ece">we are only capable</a> of managing 150 friendships - this includes brands. Once again, we're handicapped by our darn brains.</div> <div><br />Marketers know they need to be engaged in social networks. Some <a href="http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007479">45% of senior marketers surveyed</a> by The Society for Digital Agencies said that social network engagement is their top priority. However, many marketers that I speak to don't understand the sheer scale that's required, given the above challenges. </div> <div><br />To succeed in a world where attention remains scarce and our brains are limited, businesses must go beyond campaigns and move to real-time engagement. I believe the best way to accomplish this is scale. This means every business must become a social business by deeply integrating their often decoupled employee engagement and digital engagement initiatives.</div> <div><br />In short, to revisit the aforementioned metaphor, you must go big, get your employees on the bus, put more buses into the traffic flow or go home.</div> <div><br />So what exactly does this look like? It means unshackling your employees. It means equipping them with tools, policies and the means to engage with stakeholders around the clock. Finally, above all, it means allowing your workforce to unlock and share their company and subject-matter expertise. </div> <div><br />According to<a href="http://www.edelman.com/trust/2010/"> fresh data from our own Edelman Trust Barometer</a>, we're desperately seeking expertise. Informed publics are more likely to trust what they hear from experts over any other source.</div> <div><br />However, the reality there are very few companies understand this. Most are still taking a campaign approach to social networks where it's the brand, not the people, that are the voice - and there's usually only one.</div> <div><br />What's worse, the Berlin Wall stands tall inside Corporate America. <a href="http://www.economist.com/specialreports/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15351002">Robert Half Technology found</a> that only 10% of corporate chief information officers grant their employees full access to social networking sites. Those that do probably aren't guiding them. <a href="http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007493">Manpower reports</a> that only 20 percent of companies have social network policies.</div> <div><br /><a href="http://web.hbr.org/email/archive/managementtip.php?date=020310">Change must begin at home</a>. If you don't get your employees on buses, your competition will and it will be harder to covet attention. This is every business' challenge in 2010 and beyond.</div> </div> </div> </div> </p> <p><a href="http://www.steverubel.com/go-big-get-your-employees-on-the-bus-or-go-ho">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://www.steverubel.com/go-big-get-your-employees-on-the-bus-or-go-ho#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=No_O244KZDs:ENHNoy9oXig:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=No_O244KZDs:ENHNoy9oXig:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=No_O244KZDs:ENHNoy9oXig:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/steverubel/~4/No_O244KZDs" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/8207/steverubelnew.jpg http://posterous.com/people/3y76Rtgx4 Steve Rubel Steve Steve Rubel http://www.steverubel.com/go-big-get-your-employees-on-the-bus-or-go-ho Mon, 25 Jan 2010 10:39:00 -0800 Presentation: Communicating in the Age of Streams http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/steverubel/~3/9ZJjSHffic4/presentation-communicating-in-the-age-of-stre http://www.steverubel.com/presentation-communicating-in-the-age-of-stre <p> <p>Last week during the launch of <a href="http://seesmic.com/seesmic_desktop/look/">Seesmic Look</a> in New York, I gave a presentation on communicating in the age of streams. You can watch the video <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmQk1tZOGR0#t=84m04s">here</a> or below (if for some reason the embedded video doesn't go direct to my part of the talk, simply scroll to the 1:24:04 minute mark). My slides can be found <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/steverubel/communicating-in-the-age-of-streams">here</a>. I have embedded them below as well with the YouTube video too.</p> <div> <div>A quick summary ...</div> <p /> <div>All of us - whether you're a stay at home mom or an executive - are going to have to cope with the firehose. There's more information coming at us than we can handle. Information will scale. Human attention is finite. This presents a major challenges to those of us who are in the attention business. It's like 25 lanes of traffic trying to squeeze into the Lincoln Tunnel all it once. Your marketing campaign is just one bus.</div> <p /> <div>To mitigate this ongoing trend of streams, communicators will need to: 1) be as ubiquitous as possible, 2) adopt multiple messages, stories and formats and 3) make sure you allow your employees to get out there - in other words, use the force, don't fight it.</div> <p /> <div>More in the embedded media below.</div> <p /> <div style="text-align: center;"><object height="417" width="500"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/cmQk1tZOGR0#t=84m04s&hl=en&fs=1" /></param><param name="wmode" value="window" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cmQk1tZOGR0#t=84m04s&hl=en&fs=1" allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" wmode="window" height="417" width="500"></embed></object></div> <p /> <div style="text-align: center;"><object height="417" width="500"> <param name="movie" value="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=seesmicstreams-100122123320-phpapp02&stripped_title=communicating-in-the-age-of-streams" /> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /> <embed src="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=seesmicstreams-100122123320-phpapp02&stripped_title=communicating-in-the-age-of-streams" allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" height="417" width="500"></embed> </object></div> </div> </p> <p><a href="http://www.steverubel.com/presentation-communicating-in-the-age-of-stre">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://www.steverubel.com/presentation-communicating-in-the-age-of-stre#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=9ZJjSHffic4:74twQIqdrPM:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=9ZJjSHffic4:74twQIqdrPM:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=9ZJjSHffic4:74twQIqdrPM:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/steverubel/~4/9ZJjSHffic4" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/8207/steverubelnew.jpg http://posterous.com/people/3y76Rtgx4 Steve Rubel Steve Steve Rubel http://www.steverubel.com/presentation-communicating-in-the-age-of-stre Mon, 25 Jan 2010 10:14:00 -0800 Forbes Study: CMOs More Bullish on Social Media than Apps http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/steverubel/~3/Ua3KYbcHpXg/forbes-study-cmos-more-bullish-on-social-medi http://www.steverubel.com/forbes-study-cmos-more-bullish-on-social-medi <p> <p>During a recent meeting with Forbes they shared with me a summary of their recent survey of Chief Marketing Officers (embedded below). There are two notable trends here - which Forbes isn't connecting, but I am.</p> <div>First, social media is seen as the single most promising marketing vehicle amongst all respondents and those who oversee more than $5M in annual spend. Note how social media surpasses other tactics that get a lot of attention - notably mobile applications and search engine marketing.</div> <p /> <div style="text-align: center;"><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/uACf58eBJBexFVdrnvC1L16mXCVIggugzaBsfgBkgmd8z045T5pQ5tb7anRK/CMO_Survey_Results_2.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/A0l0gTBo9yoqjA9VUyBipmT5SGI2kYxGYkqUkq8Ow42dbwq8fSlBEwk6AM94/CMO_Survey_Results_2.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="353"/></a> <br /></div> <p /> <div>Second, some 73% of CMOs surveyed oversee PR. I don't have the data, but I imagine this is a new trend. In the past, PR would sit in all kinds of other departments. Now it seems to be more closely aligned with marketing.</div> <p /> <div style="text-align: center;"><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/p9uF8yiT1sr8lslR2kG0H32tsylHQCWAy34TpYv9YqUI29yiJjoWhOGT3BLU/CMO_Survey_Results_1.jpg.scaled.1000.jpg'><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/ezEZQkeUgKoLCF2zRQUnLzJmW8oGIczblC0oI0PLNeBtdMD3EMx4lQ8lkxqc/CMO_Survey_Results_1.jpg.scaled.500.jpg" width="500" height="353"/></a> <br /></div> <p /> <div style="text-align: left;">Now the Forbes study doesn't say this, but I fundamentally believe that other than placing ads, PR is in the best position to manage a business' social media endeavors. The reason is that engaging in social circles requires an understanding of psychology and also it is an uncontrolled discipline. Both of these play well to the skills of PR practitioners. If I were a CMO controlling $5M in spend with an interest in social media and I oversaw PR, I would connect these dots. I suspect that's what many are doing.</div> <p style="text-align: center;"> <div class='downloadFlyout'> <div class="downloadIcon"><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/ZbGaWdTd17wxB3mV26oRXkBzUQSJ5s94TZVR9t0LB6u3SHNFjUzQ5ZusV3BG/CMO_Survey_Results_11.16.09.pdf'><img src='http://posterous.com/images/filetypes/pdf.png' style='border: none;'/></a></div> <div class="downloadlinkInstructions">Download now or <a href='http://www.steverubel.com/forbes-study-cmos-more-bullish-on-social-medi' style='color: #bc7134;'>preview on posterous</a></div> <b><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/ZbGaWdTd17wxB3mV26oRXkBzUQSJ5s94TZVR9t0LB6u3SHNFjUzQ5ZusV3BG/CMO_Survey_Results_11.16.09.pdf'>CMO Survey Results 11.16.09.pdf</a></b> <span class="downloadSize">(2137 KB)</span> <br class="clearboth"/></div> </p> </p> <p><a href="http://www.steverubel.com/forbes-study-cmos-more-bullish-on-social-medi">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://www.steverubel.com/forbes-study-cmos-more-bullish-on-social-medi#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=Ua3KYbcHpXg:Ptn7c5jq-qk:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=Ua3KYbcHpXg:Ptn7c5jq-qk:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=Ua3KYbcHpXg:Ptn7c5jq-qk:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/steverubel/~4/Ua3KYbcHpXg" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/8207/steverubelnew.jpg http://posterous.com/people/3y76Rtgx4 Steve Rubel Steve Steve Rubel http://www.steverubel.com/forbes-study-cmos-more-bullish-on-social-medi Fri, 22 Jan 2010 12:52:00 -0800 Video Interview: Scott Monty, Ford Motor Company http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/steverubel/~3/NRYVk-5tmXc/video-interview-scott-monty-ford-motor-compan http://www.steverubel.com/video-interview-scott-monty-ford-motor-compan <p> <div>One of the great people I run into everywhere is <a href="http://www.scottmonty.com/">Scott Monty</a>, who heads social media at the Ford Motor Company. In this four and a half minute <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWiA6o1aacc&feature=player_embedded" target="_self">video</a>, which I shot yesterday, Scott talks about what he does in his day job, how social media is integrated into Ford's communications engine (pun intended) and how he works with his executives.</div> <p /> <div style="text-align: center;"><object height="417" width="500"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/JWiA6o1aacc&hl=en&fs=1" /></param><param name="wmode" value="window" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/JWiA6o1aacc&hl=en&fs=1" allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" wmode="window" height="417" width="500"></embed></object></div> </p> <p><a href="http://www.steverubel.com/video-interview-scott-monty-ford-motor-compan">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://www.steverubel.com/video-interview-scott-monty-ford-motor-compan#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=NRYVk-5tmXc:vCro82aTjNc:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=NRYVk-5tmXc:vCro82aTjNc:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=NRYVk-5tmXc:vCro82aTjNc:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/steverubel/~4/NRYVk-5tmXc" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/8207/steverubelnew.jpg http://posterous.com/people/3y76Rtgx4 Steve Rubel Steve Steve Rubel http://www.steverubel.com/video-interview-scott-monty-ford-motor-compan Tue, 19 Jan 2010 12:40:01 -0800 Ten Ideas for the New Decade - An Edelman Digital White Paper http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/steverubel/~3/DbatDxEi1jM/ten-ideas-for-the-new-decade-an-edelman-digit http://www.steverubel.com/ten-ideas-for-the-new-decade-an-edelman-digit <p> <div class='downloadFlyout'> <div class="downloadIcon"><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/RFyqTVKp2X7Tt5LsmgLMlBKQbv40VbPxYKE8fyJb9GbnLtQunwg4aeqyAP4l/10IdeasForTheNewDecade.pdf'><img src='http://posterous.com/images/filetypes/pdf.png' style='border: none;'/></a></div> <div class="downloadlinkInstructions">Download now or <a href='http://www.steverubel.com/ten-ideas-for-the-new-decade-an-edelman-digit' style='color: #bc7134;'>preview on posterous</a></div> <b><a href='http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/steverubel/RFyqTVKp2X7Tt5LsmgLMlBKQbv40VbPxYKE8fyJb9GbnLtQunwg4aeqyAP4l/10IdeasForTheNewDecade.pdf'>10IdeasForTheNewDecade.pdf</a></b> <span class="downloadSize">(3312 KB)</span> <br class="clearboth"/></div> <p>One of the best parts of my job is that I get to every day work with and learn from some of the smartest minds in the business - the Edelman Digital team. Today we published a brand new white paper with 10 ideas for the new decade. You can download the white paper <a href="http://www.edelman.com/insights/special/10IdeasForTheNewDecade.pdf">here</a> (PDF) or view it below. </p><p /><div>In the video below I outline the big themes in the paper. My full introduction follows.</div><p /><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="417" width="500"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/UEIJMCSPryU&hl=en&fs=1" /></param><param name="wmode" value="window" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/UEIJMCSPryU&hl=en&fs=1" allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" wmode="window" height="417" width="500"></embed></object></div> <p /><div style="text-align: center;"># # #</div><p /><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;">During the last decade, we’ve seen social and digital media move from being purely the domain of tech-savvy types into a mainstream phenomenon. All you need to do is consider one statistic: Twitter was mentioned on television nearly 20,000 times in 2009, according to SnapStream. As a result, companies are investing in it and – slowly – seeing results.</div> <p /><div style="text-align: left;">Given the hype, much attention has turned to guessing what will become “the next Twitter.” It’s ample fodder for tech and marketing pundits, the media and clients - especially at the beginning of a new year and a new decade.</div> <p /><div style="text-align: left;">However, in many ways this is the wrong question to ask. Where once it was hard to sleuth out emerging platforms like Twitter, YouTube and Facebook before they grew, now they just seem to surface out of nowhere. You’ll know the next Twitter when you see it.</div> <p /><div style="text-align: left;">The bigger opportunity for clients, we believe, is to identify the global societal and technological trends that are reshaping how we think, act and buy - and to pivot into them early. Trends today tend to develop more slowly and are harder to see, allowing clients to take a more thoughtful, thorough and systematic approach.</div> <p /><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;">In the following pages you will find 10 essays on such trends written by some of the smartest thinkers in digital marketing. These ideas, when looked at together, reveal four key themes:</div> <div style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>The shift to digital technologies by both consumers and marketers is now global and pervasive across all aspects of our life and growing daily.</li><li>Our engagement with each other is migrating rapidly from computer to handset.</li> <li>Companies (and organized interests) are just beginning to wake up to the engagement imperative - and how to fund and develop it over time.</li><li>And finally, the future is about carefully using the data people generate to make smarter decisions, while adhering to concerns over privacy.</li> </ul></div><div style="text-align: left;">We hope you enjoy our 10 ideas for the new decade. We welcome you to challenge us on our thinking. After all, that’s the only way we can grow.</div></div></div> </p> <p><a href="http://www.steverubel.com/ten-ideas-for-the-new-decade-an-edelman-digit">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://www.steverubel.com/ten-ideas-for-the-new-decade-an-edelman-digit#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=DbatDxEi1jM:zBDTqMUTMQ8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=DbatDxEi1jM:zBDTqMUTMQ8:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?a=DbatDxEi1jM:zBDTqMUTMQ8:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/steverubel?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/steverubel/~4/DbatDxEi1jM" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/8207/steverubelnew.jpg http://posterous.com/people/3y76Rtgx4 Steve Rubel Steve Steve Rubel http://www.steverubel.com/ten-ideas-for-the-new-decade-an-edelman-digit