Social Media and Digital Activism

What is the relevance of new social networking technologies in our culture and society; and how can we use these tools for digital activism in order to foster positive social change, throughout the world. This is the central question for an historic event, which I am co-executive producer here in New York on March 15th, at the prestigious Paley Center for Media. Ai Weiwei, the leading Chinese contemporary artist, and unquestionably the most prominent social activist in China today, will take the stage to engage in a conversation with Jack Dorsey, co-creator of Twitter, and Richard MacManus, the founder of RWW - Read-Write-Web, the international technology blog.
Stay tuned here for updates and links to the event on this important topic.

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Social Commerce: Needs Integrated Platforms

As information sharing and socialization converge on the Web, it has become increasingly important that software development should focus on creating intuitive platforms that connect an individual's interaction needs with the world around him. By bridging the gap between social consciousness, transactions and socialization, the next-generation social media platform needs to incorporate three key components: social responsibility, eCommerce and communication.

Charities As we have seen during the Haiti Earthquake relief, social responsibility is top priorities for all brands, from celebrities to multi-national corporations. Despite the effectiveness of fundraising efforts, there has always been a distance between the message and the medium. By providing a platform where individuals of influence and celebrities can leverage their influence to generate donations instantly, without changing sites, fundraising efforts stand to mobilize more donations.

By eliminating extra steps, the platform should deliver both the content and the means to participate in charity events.

eCommerce Have you ever purchased anything directly through a social media site? Probably not. Social media sites have created a chasm between interest and transaction that has not been crossed in one application. By reducing the distance between consumers and purchase, companies stand to generate more sales on an integrated platform. Add a layer of security and bank account information protection to it, and you have an easy-to-use transaction system that makes spending simpler, immediate and safer.

A new platform needs to integrate online commerce with the user-experience so that content creators and retailers can have more direct access to consumers.

Communication The next best thing to having a person next to you is being able to see them, hear them and interact with them in real time. Web video streaming and VoIP need to be first-class citizens in the feature set. So does the instant sharing of thoughts, media, insights and content. A converged platform where mobile, Web and you intersect is paramount. Also, privacy must be a top concern and efforts to keep out unwanted wandering eyes must supersede all others.

Interaction must be instantaneous and protected. The next-generation social network must focus on the individual, not the worth of their content. I want to thank Ivan Pena for his contributions to this blogpost.

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20 Social Media Marketing Applications

MCP Promotions put this cool list of applications for monitoring brand reputation, and social media marketing:

1)http://BackTweets.com : A search engine for Twitter. See who's tweeting your links and more. Can also sign up for email alerts of new findings.

2) http://Addictomatic.com : A little different than the others , you type in a keyword, topic or phrase and out it goes searching the top blogs, news sites, Google, Technorati, Ask, YouTube, Flickr, Digg, Topix and more. You'll be given a personalized results page to bookmark with everything it finds related to your topic.

3) http://Buzzoo.net : All about Internet buzz, it tracks several different websites to bring you what's "hot" right now.

4) http://Surchur.com : Search for the latest and greatest on topics that are popular right now. Type in a keyphrase and it searches blogs, social news sites, photo and video sites for your chosen topic.

5) http://Commentful.Blogflux.com : This service watches for comments on blog posts, Digg, Flickr, and others and notifies you of any findings.

6) http://AlertRank.com : A better way to organize and sort Google alerts. Get a daily report emailed to you in a spreadsheet format of what it finds.

7) http://BoardTracker.com : A search engine for forums only. Monitor discussion boards and be notified by email when a thread matching your search terms is discovered. Free to use.

8) http://www.google.com/alerts : I've been using this "secret weapon" for years. Simply type in your name or company name and receive daily emails of results found. They do the work, you receive the links. Free and nice.

9) http://BrandsEye.com : An online reputation management tool with a real-time, concise overview of your online reputation. Multiple levels of services and pricing available. Starting at $1.00.

10) http://Twazzup.com : Another Twitter only search engine.

11) http://SiteMention.com : Type in your url and find out what's being said about you. The results returned are gathered from Google Blog Search, Twitter, FriendFeed, YouTube, MySpace, Digg, Delicious and many more.

12) http://Brandwatch.net: This service tracks your brands, companies, even the ompetition. Sign up for free weekly updates on any brand. Their detailed reports break down what sites like you, your most talked about features, weekly summary of all blogs and forum activity. Very similar to the old "press clipping" service.

13) http://Trackur.com : A tool that scans many websites including blogs, news, image and video sites, forums and notifies you of any mention of your brand, products/services. Easy to use and affordable. Prices vary depending on need, a personal account is only $18.00 a month, corporate account $88.00 a month with other options also available. Try a "personal" account free for 14 days.

14) http://FiltrBox.com : This one searches online news sources, Twitter and others to find out what's being said about you or your company. Pricing is based on the number of users, but there is a free version that provides "5 filters" and 15 days of what they call "article history".

15) http://SocialMention.com/alerts : Just like Google Alerts but for social media. Enter your keyword phrase and email address to be notified of any new findings. Searches blogs, microblogs like Twitter, bookmarks, comments, events, images, news, videos and more.

16) http://BlogPulse.com : A search engine that searches only for data posted to blogs. Enter your keyword, hit submit and off it goes to gather results.

17) http://BackType.com : Billing itself as a "conversational search engine" they index millions of conversations from social networks, blogs and other social media.

18) http://sm2.techrigy.com : Industry insiders claim this to be the leading social media monitoring solution online. Choice of free or paid version. Free is limited to five searches and 1,000 results. There are three paid professional levels: Gold, Diamond, or Platinum.

19) http://ReputationDefender.com : This paid service finds out everything there is to know about you online, and if negative information is found they try to have it removed. Different types of plans are available such as "My Reputation", "My Privacy", starting at only $14.95 a month.

20) http://Topsy.com : Topsy will track your tweets that have been retweeted so you can find out who's been sending you all that "link love". Type in your Twitter user name and you'll be amazed at what you find.

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LOU VIEWS: TOP TRENDS FOR 2010

TOP TRENDS FOR 2010

The Top Trends to Watch in 2010!

SOCIAL COMMERCE

An increasing number of marketers and retailers have established a presence on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. For now, retailers are intent to learn from exploratory efforts and a “testing” phase. Customer retention, building brand awareness, and generating leads provide a sufficient ROI. In 2010, retailers will become more serious about trying to measure social media’s impact on sales.

CONSTRUCTIVE CAPITALISM

The convergence of philanthropy, commerce, and sustainability morphs into a business model that appeals to consumers, drives traffic and engagement, and proves highly profitable. Doing good becomes a prerequisite for success and no longer an after-thought.


RISE OF TRUST AGENTS AS POINTS OF INFLUENCE

As the cost for attention from fans, members, and customers grows scarce, practices for generating “trust” in an authentic, and transparent way will become a priority and measurable. Influence grows your business. Trust drives Influence. Influence demands trust.

INFORMATION ART IS THE POP ART

Watch this cool breed of info-artists utilizing technologies to visually present data, signals, and information in a visually inspiring context. The growing wealth of data and the access to rich and diverse data sources have made the art of data an artistic expression with growing popularity.

PUBLIC RELATIONS = SOCIAL RELATIONS

Expect a greater emphasis by marketers to move away from traditional media to promote to consumers, moving towards encouragement for individuals to talk to others about what makes your offer special. Social Testimonials are hot. Watch as traditional media “disassembles” and social networks “assemble” People are the media.

SEARCH GIVES WAY TO FILTERING AND SORTING.

There will be proliferation of new tools and applications to enable individuals and groups to filter and sort the flow of incoming data content. More attention will be paid to RSS feeds, and managing the information relevant to you.

CONVERGENCE OF T.V. AND WEB

Time on Internet watching traditionally-based TV or cable video content will leap forward in percentages, and create genuine havoc with broadcaster and cable media carriers.

SOCIAL GAMING AND VIRTUAL ECONOMIES
The advance footprints on how retailing and online commerce evolve will be tested and proofed in social gaming. This will explode in 2010 and shift the paradigm for what makes an economy grow.


COLLABORATION NOT CONSULTATION
More talent is needed for shorter periods of time, but with longer-term relationships. Collaborative thinking will become an important compliment to consultative expertise for productivity in a socially connected network.

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Attention is Scarce, Right?

Attention is scarce right? Maybe we can attract more attention to our own passions and compassions if each of us focused more attention to the passions and compassions of others. Attentive attention. Staying longer in the moment. By focusing deeper on the issues and topics which matter most to you, it is likely to produce a deeper level of attention back, satisfying your desire for attention to issues and topics of interest to you. These interactions build "trust" and generate influence. When you give your attention to something, you are investing, and earning social currency in the eyes of your friends, family, and broader network of contacts. I think social networks are reducing the distance between celebrities and the rest of us.

2010 will likely affirm the "power" of one.

A healthy trend.

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Emergence of the Ambient Stream

If you want to know how to fully grasp the depth and impact of social networks, begin visualizing the flow of information as an "ambient stream" made of many digital signals and work harder in 2010 to self-curate the way in which you personalize the ambient stream to keep yourself informed, enriched, and motivated.

When trying to understand the prospect of a building a personalized "ambient stream" here are a four key building blocks which thought leaders like Edo Siegal are suggesting as
as well:

1. Realtime Web
(Twitter, news flows, world events, and other topics/content

2. Published Information (sites, blogs, Wikipedia, etc.)

3. Geolocation Data (your location and information layers related to it.

4. Social Communications (social graph updates, IMs, emails, text messages,

The first generation experiences in "ambient streams" have been well illustrated and executed with Google Reader where you list favorite content through an RSS feed,much
like a content tributory, it all flows...As we begin to adjust our mindset to viewing information as a flow, and digital signals as patterns, our ability to "curate" improves, we can maximize the benefits of "realtime" news, and insure that important content is archived for a deeper view at a later date.

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And Now an "Ad" from One We Trust and Follow!

I think most people will agree that Influence is maintained with trust. Chris Brogan and Julien Smith's new book "Trust Agents" blueprints the impact of "Trust Agents" and is a great primer. A fairly large conversation is developing around platforms that will enable those of Influence, celebrities, and bloggers, for example, to attract marketers willing to compensate those of Influence for "tweeting" their messages to followers, fans, viewers, and customers. Influence holds value for "messaging" and is worthy of being compensated for, if the "messaging" is relevant to the followers, and not disguised. One of the platforms that look very promising is Likes.com which launches in December. and claims that a "revolution" is coming to online advertising. Lots of people will react adversely to the concept of advertising messages being "tweeted. Tweeting Ads" makes me queasy, and certainly does not connote success. That being said, I believe we will see a version of endorsement, where influence will attract compensation, and those of us who are following will be receptive if the product and service fits our shared values, and it is not spoken loudly. "Tweeting Endorsements" suggests a deeper connection, and requires an investment by the "influencer" to qualify that the the product or services being promoted are relevant. Followers will respect that.

Stay tuned. This topic will be gather momentum in 2010.

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