Author, Investor, Speaker, Mentor
A final “Friday Night Writes” piece from the redoubtable Brian Reese… Brian asked: “What makes you (or anyone of influence on Twitter…aka thousands/millions of followers) follow someone or re-tweet something from someone less influence? For example, do you look to further your own “brand-you” from a re-tweet, thereby decreasing the likelihood of re-tweeting something from … Continue reading Your influence comes from your content
As I browse both social media and traditional media, I, like many others, get the definite impression that opinions are both more divergent and strongly held than ever. If television produced the soundbite world, social media has made the soundbite seem like a Montaigne essay. This struck me when I read about a recent New … Continue reading Social media and the apotheosis of opinion
In recent months, a host of startups have arisen that help keep me informed about my friends’ information habits. We’ve gone far beyond the days when we could simply follow people via RSS or Twitter…now our RSS readers and Twitter homepages are so choked with information that we generally only view a tiny subset. I … Continue reading The value of a signal is inversely proportional to its frequency
At the risk of sounding (even more) like a crotchety old man, I feel like the online world is moving in exactly the wrong direction. I would argue that there is a direct correlation between the amount of effort a creator expends and the quality and value of that creation. For example, I listen to … Continue reading The content continuum and why I’m worried about the direction of the online world
Of course there’s a social media bubble. All over the map, everyone ranging from seed-stage investors to the public markets are paying inflated prices for social media assets. But while the current frenzy is a bubble, it doesn’t even come close to the magnitude and madness of the Dot-Com bubble. Back in those days, “eyeballs” … Continue reading Is There A Social Media Bubble?
One of the unexpected effects of the rise of social media may be its impact on the perception of inequality. We know that the perception of inequality can have a negative effect on happiness. Comparing oneself to others is a potent and dangerous temptation. Indeed, studies show that most people would prefer a situation in … Continue reading Does Social Media make people miserable?
I recently had the pleasure of attending a dinner for startup VPs of Marketing. I had a great time chatting with peers and laughing about the unrealistic demands we all face. “Get me in the Journal and fill the pipeline–but don’t spend any money.” The most interesting and worrisome aspect of the evening was the … Continue reading Is Social Media Marketing A Crock?
image courtesy of HubSpot There’s a lot of social in the air these days. I was chatting with Jeremiah Owyang of the Altimeter Group, and he said that there was even talk of scrapping the term “Enterprise 2.0” in favor of “Social Business”. While I do believe that social is necessary, it’s definitely not sufficient, … Continue reading Why Getting Social Is Necessary (But Not Sufficient) For Business
It’s seldom I have anything good to say about MTV, but their latest move is sheer genius. Here’s the scoop from NewTeeVee:Launching today, MTV’s Backchannel is a very cool-looking social game synergizing a very silly product— specifically, the network’s “reality” show The Hills. As the title suggests, Backchannel’s a chat interface that runs live online … Continue reading MTV Hits Home Run With Backchannel