The BBC reports on research by Danah Boyd which found that Facebook users come from wealthier homes and are more likely to attend college while MySpace users tend not to have gone on to further education. While “class” in the US does not map directly to income it is more about social life and networks. Hence Facebook users tend to be white and education oriented while MySpace teenager tend to
It’s highly timely that today we learn that the BBC has sent journalist Ben Hammersley to cover Turkey’s upcoming election using blogging, del.icio.us, Flickr, YouTube, and Facebook as a means of distribution. Because I’m working with two entirely independent journalists, who don’t have the BBC’s resources, to do almost the same thing during a three month trip to two Latin American countries. We have dubbed the project “Letters from Latin
How not to approach a blogger (this was sent to me on email). I have not disclosed the names involved so that – maybe – this person doesn’t lose their job, as my guess is that this is just naivety on their part: Hi Mike, My name is XXXXXXX and I work for XXXXXXX XXXXXXX – an agency that specialises in digital communication. I’ve been looking at your blog and
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
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
(First published: New Media Age, 17.05.07) I got three points on my driving license because of Twitter. What can I say? I was driving. There was a speed camera. My phone started buzzing with the latest frenzied Twitters from the launch of the Apple iPhone. What could be my defence? “My Twitter feed made me speed, M’Lud” Blogging never landed me in trouble with the law. So why has this
This is the text of a speech I gave at the PSFK London conference on Friday, June 1, 2007. It’s about how media owners now face some very harsh realities against both technology companies that put the power to publish in the hands of the ‘audience’ and smaller, cheaper to run media startups. There’s a little story about the first stirring of how a new kind of cheap to produce,
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.
Suddenly it’s all about trying to be nice to bloggers and get them on your side. Do I smell the whiff of fear amongst media and brands? Trailing in the wake on an event I ran recently are two further events on the subject. A seminar on “Blogger Relations” to help PR types to understand engagement with the blogosphere better is being run this Friday, May 25th. There is more
I’m flattered to be one of the judges for this year’s New Statesman New Media Awards which focus on the use of new media in nonprofits, government, engagement with MPs etc. Anyone interested needs to nominate projects that they admire here by May 31. You can see last year’s winners, and entries so far this year. You can also nominate your own project and enter more than one category. Oh,