It’s been a while

I hate blog posts saying sorry for not updating here for a while, but…. sorry for not updating here for a while. I have been busy trying to crank up TechCrunch UK since the re-launch and doing some glamourous-sounding (but hard-working I might add) trips to events abroad, including Web 2 Expo Berlin and Les Web 3 in Paris. And on that note, the fruits of my efforts appear to

Will closed social networking kill off User Generated Content?

I just need to blog this while it’s still in my head. I’m sure others have come to the same conclusion in a more erudite manner, and posted longer pieces. But I’m starting to wonder if the “User Generated Content” revolution, which was supposed to be taking over the world somewhere around about now, may not hit the heights it was predicted to. Why? Because social networking could well take

The Great Internet Crash of ’07

Remember back in ’07 when you put your whole life online? One day a man opened too many tabs in Firefox spent too long on Facebook and took the Internet down… Life was never the same again. People were forced to print out their blog and hand out pages on the street. Nigeria’s spam economy collapsed… (thanks to Valleywag)

New event: Brunch Bites 1.0

Come for brunch with blogger and journalist Mike Butcher, this Wednesday in Soho… EVENT: Brunch Bites 1.0 (BETA) Date: Wednesday, August 1, 2007 Time: 10:30am – 12:00pm Location: The Breakfast Club, Soho 33 D’Arblay Street London Also on Upcoming Map Venue: http://www.thebreakfastclubsoho.com/ Email: editor@bitesmedia.com Description: Into digital media, marketing, music, mobile and Web 2.0? Got a startup? Come for brunch with blogger and journalist Mike Butcher, mbites.com and Bites Media,

Turn Facebook statuses into a twitter feed?

Julian Bond at Voidstar has a great post on routing all your and your friend’s Status updates from Facebook to Twitter using Mario Menti’s excellent TwitterFeed service. Now, here’s my question. Is this not completely insane? Keeping up with Twitter feeds is hard enough. Adding Facebook status updates would hasten my “Twitter Bankruptcy”. At least with Twitter most people tend to keep in the back of their head that at

WordCamp for the UK?

It seems to me that something like Wordcamp should be done in the UK. The techies have their BarCamp. Why not something around content? And it doesn’t have to be just about WordPress skills…. (I use Drupal for instance). Perhaps someone could provide a venue? People can showcase their skills/services. And I can learn how to be a better blogger! I dare say there are a few other people we

It’s all over for the astroturfers

You’re a PR or marketing company worried about social media and blogs? Hey, why not start posing as if you are a customer, extolling the benefits of your clients product! Better still, set up a fake blog and do it there! Wrong! Trevor Jeffords, Associate of law firm Eversheds, writes in their latest e80 newsletter: “Under new laws in the UK, businesses will soon be prevented from “falsely representing oneself

Who’s driving social media? Not the agencies

This is thin stuff. “There is increasing buzz around buzz.” Oh, come on. You guys need to realise that online identity in the form of a MySpace or Facebook profile is as much content as anything someone might ‘upload’. Furthermore, microblogging a la Twitter is the tip of the ice-burg. When ‘uploaders’ include those who are happy to blog in just 140 characters (many more than the blessed 8% I

Joined-up marketing thinking

Justin Kirby over at dmc.co.uk has created a new site around how the theory and methodology of “Connected Marketing” is evolving and also being put into practice. He’s published a series of new podcast interviews for the site including ones on “Open Innovation, Trends and Engagement” marketing. Check it out.