via icanhascheezburger

I recently wrote a piece for Digiday Daily entitled, “The Twitterization of Everything and LOL Innovation”. The take away for marketers was something like the Bob Dylan lyric,

“And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone”

In the article I write the following,

The way in which we communicate has changed—as such, the nature of our language must change. Some refer to onslaught of web jargon such as “LOL” or “GTG” as the demise of the English language. I disagree with such this type of pedantic arrogance. There has certainly been a shift in the English vernacular, but it is not, in my estimation, a negative affair. Are people really that committed to preserving the King’s English?

This new vernacular of the web simply fits the way our society is changing. As with every societal change, the ways in which people express themselves needs to be altered. Communicating in the year 2009 is more immediate and increasingly mobile; the language we use must service these factors (if you still disagree, try texting in Chaucerian English—let me know how that goes for you).

As a student of language and innovation, I say, “Long Live LOL”!

If you get the chance, go over to the article and have a look. I would love to hear your thoughts.

(I will post the link as soon as the article is live)

Some of you may be saying, “Adam, we miss your great insights and cannot properly do our jobs without your wisdom”. Well, fear not–I have more articles on the way over at iMediaconnection and am also speaking at a number of events and giving a couple of webinars in the next few months. As always, you can reach me on Twitter as well @adambroitman

Why is A Media Circ.us so sparse these days?

The truth is, me and a business partner have a new venture entitled Circ.us. It will be another month or two before we announce what the big idea is, but we are busy cranking away right now, working with some pretty large brands (as well as some smaller, but totally cool brands–you know me, I do the cool).

Again, my apologies for the lack of information; rest assured I am getting some great things done over here.

Note: I will be at IAB Mobile tomorrow; stop by and say hello.

Those of us living in the new media/tech industry, have probably postulated about lifestreaming (or lifelogging) and presence sharing from time to time-and have probably been doing so for years.

We recently lived through the rise and fall of Second Life (I still love this platform for what it represents) and are witnessing the rise of platforms such as UStream.tv and Loopt. On a much larger scale, we are witnessing the incredible success of Twitter, and for better or worse were recently graced with the redesign of Facebook, which aims to bring you the social news, as it happens.

These platforms may be different in the way they present information, but they all share a few core elements that are becoming an increasing part of all of our lives; whether we are aware of it or not (and whether we like it or not),

• Real Time Social Interaction
• Real Time Multi Point Experience Sharing
• Non-Stop Streams of Social Data

These attributes have had a profound effect on early  adopters seeking ways to bring new layers of interaction to existing media, and new ways to broadcast their lives. But these platforms are not just for the diggerati anymore. All of us are slowly being inducted into this way of life. The real time web is slowly being infused into all media (and not just media on your PC).

This morning at the iMedia Breakthrough summit, one of the conference sponsors, Meebo, gave a presentation on the integration of their IM platform across multiple sites. Their message was aimed at advertisers, but something much more profound was present in the presentation. The ability to bring your friends with you across the web in real time, sharing content, ideas and experiences brought the notion of the real time, or experience web front and center.

I strongly recommend that you look at what Meebo is doing outside of their core platform, Meebo.com. I urge you to think about what Meebo is doing as more than just instant messaging; as it is, in essence a virtual world, much like Second Life. The only difference is that there are no avatars and it is not in 3D. If you disagree with me, great; but think about it a little before you simply dismiss what I am saying.

Question:

Social Outreach, Email Lead Generation and Cause Marketing?

Answer:

A new experiment by The Emerging Communications Conference.

My new friend Lee S. Dryburgh first approached me about the idea by telling me he had an idea for an experiment. His idea would help garner registration for the conference he is organizing, while at the same time do some social good; what could be bad about that!

I told him I loved the idea and that I would rely his efforts on to my community–so I am.

Here is how it works:

The goal is to achieve 10,000 sign-ups to the conference updates. For everyone who signs up for conference updates, eComm Media will pay 0.50 cents to The Shelter Network (charity watchdog rating here).

And Here Are the Calls To Action:

Instructions

I need help from two groups of people, the “social media gurus” and the rest of us!

The social media gurus I request help from are: Adam Broitman, Ayelet Noff, Ben Grossman, Brian Reich, Brian Solis, Carlos Hernandez, Chris Brogan, Chris Heuer, David Berkowitz, Eric Weaver, Gradon Tripp, Greg Verdino, Howard Greenstein, Laura Fitton, Jeff Pulver, Jeffrey Sass, Jeremiah Owyang, Jeremy Vaught, Jim Benson, Justin Levy, Rebecca Bollwitt, Robert Scoble, Robin Good, Steve Rubel, Susan Etlinger and Tim O’Reilly.

(if you would like to be added to this list or know somebody who should be by virtue of being considered a leader in the social media sphere please email me: Lee*eCommMedia*com).

I’d like the rest of us to blog this, Twitter this, email this to friends, IM it, Facebook share it, Digg it, Reddit – anything and everything across the social media space that you think could be effective.

Let’s see what we can do!

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You need to learn how to use Twitter because all of the young people are using it, right? Um, no way!

I don’t have the usage stats (kudos to anyone who can get them for me) but I don’t know anyone under twenty who uses Twitter (and yes, I do know people under twenty). In fact, most people I know who use Twitter are older than twenty-five. Still, if you are a marketer learning to use Twitter in order to learn how the next generation will communicate, you are doing the right thing.

When I opened up Twittelator today, I noticed that there was a new menu item; movies. I clicked on it, and had one of those, “ah ha” moments. The underlying value of this function was not the technology (Twitter), it was how the technology was being used to parse information, and get it to me in a more relevant manner. This is, in my opinion where this space is moving. It is not about mass/micro chatter. It is about finding relevant communities of micro chatter that can give you the info you want/need–when and where you want it.

Every once in a while I have a moment of zen, where a technology reveals an underlying something that is a signifier of fundamental, sociological changes.These moments of zen only come when I let my mind wander–you don’t always have to focus very hard to get your mind to interesting places.

Language is technology, and how we use language and information accelerates our culture.

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The above is the title I would have given my latest article over at iMedia–alas, they know best what brings in the traffic, and I love them for it

I bring up a number of topics that I plan on expanding upon on this blog. All of the marketing mistakes that I spell out are part of larger issues that I think about on an ongoing basis. I would love to hear which topics are most pressing for readers of this blog. I would be happy to do a deeper dive into any of these topics:

• Twitter is not a one-way megaphone, so don’t treat it like one
• Create buzz, but don’t let the bee get away
• Existing sites cannot be “SEOed.” Stop trying
• Feel free to stay at home in your walled garden — just don’t be surprised when no one shows up for the tea party
• Social media is a commitment, not a campaign
• When did things referred to as “viral” become a good thing?

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Image via Wikipedia

Starbucks is not new to the social media space. They have done some very interesting, yet questionably successful initiatives–mystarbucksidea.com being the most notable.

I got a message today that Starbucks was following me on Twitter. I had heard about their presence, but had not really taken a look into it. I felt that this would be as good a time as any to dig deeper.

On first glance it appears that Starbucks is doing everything by the book:

• Transparent
• Non-Corporate Voice (vernacular)

@evanhecht Hey … Sorry, I had a bunch of stuff to do today. I wish I could spend ALL my time here with you, that’d be way more fun

Attention all voters! Come in on Tuesday after you vote, get a Free cup of drip Coffee. http://tinyurl.com/joethere

My finger hurts. 1200 new Followers in the past 3 days. I just got through following the new Twitter-ers. Welcome! 1:24 PM Nov 6th from web

Overall I would say that Starbucks is doing a pretty good job. Starbucks also used Twitter as a way to communicate a promotion they were working on:

Starbucks on Twitter

Some may have taken issue with a brand using Twitter as a promotional vehicle. I say, as long as they are upfront and are adding value, it is perfectly fine.

I would love to hear others stories about Starbucks on Twitter; as they have been around for a little while already.

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RSS has drastically changed the way in which we experience media. In a recent article in Ad Age, Steve Rubel talks about a statistic that says, only 11% of internet users subscribe to RSS feeds. Rubel makes the following statement:

RSS is easy and relatively cheap to adopt, so there’s no reason for marketers to avoid it — but I don’t see it growing rapidly

I agree with Rubel that there will not be a major uptick in internet users knowlingly subscribing to RSS feeds. That being said, I think that this statistic is fairly insignificant, as RSS drives the way in which a great deal of  information is spread across the net, whether consumers are aware of it or not. RSS is also a key element in feeding infomration to search engines. RSS is one of the fundamental components behind the social web.

Another key element that has become part of the backbone of the social web is the API. I recently wrote an article for Minonline explaining the significance of The New York Times campaign finance API (as well as other API’s recently launched).

The article starts with the following:

The world of media and information has reached a crossroads. The speed at which information is disseminated has increased exponentially. This new, lightning fast mediation has made the reliance on traditional media vehicles impractical for many people—and subsequently has led to the downturn of many traditional media companies.

Amidst a sea of confusion and , at times, outright gloom; one traditional media company has shined like a light—guiding other struggling media companies to the shores of restitution. That company is none other than The Grey Lady; The New York Times.

The New York Times Company recently launched The Campaign Finance API (the first API, in a series API’s). It certainly was a big day for big media—but this launch did not get a whole lot of fanfare. Neither did the subsequent launches of the TimesTags API and the Times Movie Reviews API.

The lack of mainstream attention towards these launches came as no surprise to me; still, if you are in the media industry (especially publishing) and this news did not jolt your world a little bit, you may want to keep reading.

If you want to check out the rest of the article, head over to Minoline.com.

Yes, I would love to read the rest of the article, please take me there

A couple of weeks ago I had a conversation with Aaron Strout from Mzinga. He was recording for the Conversations With Mzinga Podcast–have a listen.

For those of you that were reading this blog when I posted more frequently and more personal things, thanks for staying with me (I am assuming you are staying with me, as you are reading this post). Things at crayon have been going really well. It is a pleasure working with such great minds. I have been very busy with work lately, but have managed to get in some speaking and writing as well. I began writing for Minonline after a fortuitous run in with the illustrious Amy Novak. I also continue to write and blog for iMedia (who continues to serve as my media family).

Last week I spoke on a really cool panel about digital innovation at a 212 event. For those of you that made it, thanks so much! Today I will be speaking at the New Marketing Summit in the lovely (with no cell reception) Foxboro MA. I am very excited about this as well. Next week it is on to the iMedia Financial Summit where the bald marketing team will take on Geary Interactive in an agency shoot out (note, Vigor Branding is helping out with the graphic design, as that is not what crayon does–you can be sure Joe Szala and team will do an amazing job of supporting Mr. Verdino and my brilliant strategy–hey, we are bald, after all).

Anyhow, that is it from me. I would love to hear from you. Send me comments, email, what you are up to-I would love to hear more about the A Media Circ.us community. Did you know it has almost been three years!

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