Digital influencers are building strong communities within mainstream social networking services. Here are some of the trends.
User-Generated Platforms on SNS
It’s time to reassess which Facebook groups you’re part of and which Twitter hashtags you are or aren’t using. The Web’s early adopters are carving out strong communities within mainstream social networks like Facebook and Twitter, keeping insider information abuzz on the inside. Facebook groups and Twitter hashtags are nothing new. But early adopters are now defining groups on social networking [...]

For nearly six centuries, we were in the Guttenberg era, using a vertical scheme to share information and thoughts; the next step of sharing is horizontal, organic and more human-centered. I strongly believe this applies as well to brands and the way in which they communicate with their customers. There’s pressure now to connect in a more “transparent and conversing” way (third link). This week Greenpeace and Nestle’s crisis and the very bad way Nestle handled it is the perfect [...]

Passion and greed. Those two words account for so much failure in new media, I can’t even begin to tell you. But I can tell you why, and you can fix it.
We’ve all been there. Sitting in the brainstorming meeting feeling the energy. Organizing ideas, turning ideas into goals and building plans to meet those goals. And it’s good: 500 Twitter followers, 750 Facebook friends and 1,000 blog readers by the third quarter of next year. Plans turn to implementation, and you slowly begin notice it. You [...]

Twitter is the latest brand wagon marketers in India (and elsewhere) are jumping onto. The lure of “free media” as well as stories of how brands (such as Dell) have actually generated sales via Twitter seem to be driving the craze.
But most marketers forget a basic fundamental of social media: It’s not about the media, and it’s not about marketing. All it’s really about is being “social” and giving your brand a face, while keeping in mind that not all [...]

As a Washington Post experiment, Joshua Bell, one of the finest violinists in the world, stood against a wall in a crowded Washington subway during the morning rush and played for 43 minutes. A total of 1,097 people passed by; seven paused to take notice. Three days earlier, Bell had filled the house at Boston’s stately Symphony Hall, where the pretty good seats went for $100 each. In the subway he earned $32.
This is the power of context. What great things are your customers [...]

A lot happened this week: Facebook became the most visited website in the U.S., surpassing Google; Twitter announced its At Platform; Foursquare is becoming a phenomenon, gaining 100,000 new users (I bet it will be 200,000 per week in no time). All this said, let’s take these facts and try to understand what’s happening on a larger scale. That’s what my links are about this week.
  

“Social Media Is Not About Conversations…It’s About Something Much More Amazing” on Silicon Valley Watcher
 
 This [...]

Originally posted on mariansalzman.com.
Late last week, I got the sad news that a former colleague of mine had died. Fred Rubin, whom I was fortunate enough to work with at Chiat\Day and JWT, passed away last Friday afternoon. My heart goes out to his family and to everyone who was touched by this great thinker who always did the right thing.
It’s remarkable how death forces us to reflect. Often it’s only after we lose someone that we become fully aware [...]

One of the things my first mentor and boss, Kitty Bundy, who is the director of lifestyle at Elite Model Management, told me was to tell a story in every project. As an intern then, I would assist with photo shoots, lookbooks and prepping models for go-sees, and Kitty would also ask me, “What is the story you’re trying to tell?” At first I didn’t understand what she meant, but I soon learned that she wanted me to help the [...]

It’s undeniable that more brands are catering to green causes. Car manufacturers are building hybrid cars, while other companies focus on how much carbon people produce.
At the South by Southwest Interactive Festival (SXSW) this week, green programming and presentations are definitely popular. On Monday, Nita Rollins, a trendspotter for Resource Interactive, gave a presentation on Digital’s Emerging Role in Unconsumption, to help educate brands on how they can promote “unconsumption” (being green) in their practices. She says that “buy one, [...]

I was looking forward to the Evan Williams keynote on Monday, March 15, at Austin’s South by Southwest Interactive Festival (SXSW). Williams, the CEO of Twitter and cofounder of Pyra Labs (creator of weblog-authoring software Blogger), was going to speak about the next generation of social media. I wasn’t alone. Multiple attendees were rushing to get a spot in the front row. This was the only session I attended where the room was filled and people were standing along the walls.
Moments [...]