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Munich Airport Terminal
KPMG Building in Munich
Google Buys Zingku
Google is at it again, buying up stuff and trying to change the world!
October 10th, 2007
We haven’t heard much about Zingku since it was predicted it would be hot in ’07 in the Mashable Social Networking Awards. However, Google now appears to agree with us, acquiring the company for an undisclosed amount. Currently, the Zingku site is closed for new registrations as the company moves to Google.
Google never seemed to do much with Dodgeball, another mobile social networking tool of sorts it acquired, so it will be interesting to find out what the game plan is here. Other recent Google news in the mobile space include the rumored Gphone, and the company’s bid on wireless spectrum in both the US and UK.
Frontpage Digg and Reddit stories going to Satellite
TV
Sky News to rely on Digg/Reddit etc for news
 This week’s New Media Age magazine has an article about a revamp at the UK satellite TV station, Sky News which will include the launch a new program which sounds suspiciously similar to the BBC News 24’s own “Your News”, where they run a commentary on which news articles people are reading on their own webstie. The interesting snippet though was that part of the half hour slot (7:30pm from Oct 2nd) will include discussions of the top stories appearing on social bookmarking websites such as Digg, Reddit and Technorati.
So, now if a website hits the front page of those sites, not only is there the high profile link and blog-chatter driving traffic to the site - it could also appear on a fairly major TV news program as well.
The other key difference is that the Sky News version will run every day - while the BBC version seems to be a weekly show. Sky News is majority controlled by Rupert Murdoch’s News International.
Microsoft & NBC Buy Newsvine : Digg Next?
October 10th, 2007
Happened on October 8th!
Adding to the trend of large media conglomerates and proven companies (Fox, eBay, Yahoo, Condes Nast) dipping into the social networking, bookmarking and news sharing pie, MSNBC has acquired Newsvine, the social news and discussion site, for an undisclosed price.
And remember, MSNBC stands for Microsoft & NBC. With the purchase, Microsoft adds to its selection of search and web properties, gains a new platform to advertise on (they have an ad contract with Digg too) and showcase Live Search on. NBC (or MSNBC) gains a brandable news site which Keith Olberman will probably be plugging much more often than Bill O’Reilly ever plugs MySpace (owned by his boss).
What does this mean for Newsvine? From the Newsvine Blog:
Newsvine will continue operating independently, just as it has been since launching in March of 2006. Msnbc.com is committed to maintaining and growing the community and features that have made Newsvine what it is today. In other words, Newsvine will be the same Newsvine you’ve always known, only stronger. Over the next few years, Newsvine technology and content will make its way onto msnbc.com, and vice-versa where it makes sense. Our users’ columns and content will remain as they have been, as we work hard with msnbc.com to implement improvements and enhancements.
So, with Delicious, Newsvine, StumbleUpon and Reddit all being acquired over the past couple of years, when will Digg sell? How fast? And to who?
Writing for the Social Media Everyman
10-10-07
Written by a prolific Digger, #4 in the top diggers list.
Original article can be read at CopyBlogger here
Does social media make us dumb?
You may have read the study from the Project for Excellence in Journalism and the general reaction to it (the consensus was that social media sites make you stupid and uninformed). While the conclusions are incorrect, the study is incredibly telling about the social media audience and how to write for it.
For example, according to the study, social media users care less about mainstream news and hard-hitting journalism (even though both are present) and prefer content from disparate, sometimes unverified, and sometimes extreme (even conspiracy-theorist) sources that generally appeal to their baser instincts or guilty pleasures (i.e. Paris Hilton).
What does this mean for my writing?
This doesn’t mean that you start writing about Paris Hilton, but this does help you understand what your audience is looking to get from an information outlet and model your content for the social media everyman. The social media everyman is looking for an entertaining diversion, while being receptive to learning something new if presented in an “edutainment” format that ties the lesson into popular culture.
What do I mean by this? Have a look at the following CopyBlogger articles:
I know many of you thought that Brian was just watching too much E! (and he probably does) but there’s much more to it than that. The hooks used in these articles are celebrities that your average person (however educated or uneducated) knows of or has heard something about and can on some level relate to.
So how do I appeal to the social media everyman?
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Start with the familiar: Introduce your article by drawing from a source that you think the social media audience will relate to and is interested in. Pop culture will often provide the perfect hook.
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Introduce the unfamiliar: Once you’ve established a relationship with the reader by finding common ground, you can introduce your topic (i.e. the analysis or educational aspect of your article).
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Connect the two: Once you have established common ground and introduced your insight, you need to connect the two. This makes your content easy to understand and digest for the readers, but also easy to remember, comment on and apply to their own lives.
While I don’t suggest you dumb down your content for social media, I do recommend that if you’re writing specifically with the social media audience in mind, understand the mentality and what they’re looking to get from Digg, Netscape, Reddit, StumbleUpon, etc, and appeal to that desire.
Note: Copyblogger has also featured equally successful posts (as a credit to both Brian and the readers) referencing Benjamin Franklin, Mark Twain, Aristotle, Plato and Ernest Hemingway. The success of these posts may explain why the History Channel is so popular. :)
HOW DO YOU CHECK YOUR GOOGLE PAGE RANK?
What is pagerank?
How do you get it?
Can you buy it?
Does it matter?
WEB TOOLS
make your business building more effective:
120 Social Media websites you can use with PageRank!
We have a list of over 120 Social Networking and Social Bookmarking Sites for you to use! If you use any sites that are not listed here please let us know and we will add them to the list.
As many of you know we have been writing a lot about Social Networking and Social Bookmarking sites. It is essential to get links to your site. Any kind of link helps but the best kind of link is a one way link that points to your site and doesn’t require you to reciprocate which what this list is all about. The higher the page rank of the site linking back to you the more valuable the link to your site will be. The following list was originally found at WEB 2.0 Revealed web site and details what each Social Site does as well as the page rank. Use them all or use a few that you haven’t heard of. Check them out and see if your topic fits the site. Remember the more links you have the more popular you site will become. Provided, you are creating good content for your target audience.
We are also going to create a Social Networking List Page for this list and will update it as we find more. If you have any sites that are not on this list, leave a comment and we will add it the list. SOCIAL BOOKMARK SITES
- 34Things - To do List, Activity Lists [PR 8]
- Aboogy
- AllMyFavorites - [PR 4]
- Article Tag - Social bookmarking service. [PR4]
- aworldofhelp - [PR4]
- Backflip - General [PR 6]
- beanrocket - general [PR 6]
- Bookkit - [PR4]
- Bookmark Manager - [PR5]
- BookmarkSync -[PR5]
- BibSonomy - [PR1]
- blabb.com
- Blauer Bote Bookmarks / link - Bookmark manager for German & English [PR 5]
- BlinkBits - [PR 4]
- BlinkList - [PR6]
- BlogHop - [PR7]
- BlogLot - [PR 2]
- BlogMarks.net - [PR 6]
- BlogMemes.net - [Network also has French, Spanish and Portuguese version - BlogMemes.info] [PR5]
- BlogLines.com - [PR 8]
- BlogPulse - [PR7]
- Blue.us - [PR4]
- BookmarkTracker - [PR 5]
- browsr - [PR5]
- BuddyMarks.com - [PR6]
- butterfly - [PR 4]
- Chipmark.com - [PR 5]
- clipclip - [PR4]
- clipfire - [PR 6]
- Clipmarks - [PR4]
- commontimes - [PR6]
- Connectedy - Converts browser bookmarks into social categories. [PR5]
- Connotea - Social bookmarking for the scientific community. [PR7]
- Complore (Research Collaboration Tool for Researchers)
- del.icio.us - [PR 8]
- de.lirio.us - [PR 6]
- Digg - Technology site combining social bookmarking, blogging, RSS, and non-hierarchical editorial control. [PR7]
- diigo - [PR6]
- dinnerbuzz - for guide to restaurants, bars, and coffee shops anywhere in the world. [PR5]
- Dog Ear - [PR3]
- Dohat.com [P33]
- Dutch Social Bookmarking site - This is the (currently only) Social Bookmarking site for the
Netherlands. [PR3]
- Fark - [PR8]
- Favoor (Available in English and German) [PR3]
- FeedMeLinks [PR4 /PR3]
- Feedmarker - RSS and ATOM aggregator & bookmarks manager. [PR5]
- Filangy [PR5]
- Flikr - social bookmarks for photos [PR8]
- Furl - this is similar to Similar to del.icio.us [PR8]
- GetBoo - [PR1]
- Gibeo - [PR6]
- GiveALink - bookmarks for academic research [PR4]
- GoKoDo MyBookmarks [PR4 - MAIN SITE]
- GoobToob - Video clips, vote your favorite videos to the top, and submit new video clips.
- Google Notebook
- H2O Playlist - [PR6]
- Hotlist Anywhere - [PR5]
- Hot Links - [PR6]
- Hyperlinkomatic - [PR5]
- i89.us - [PR 3]
- IceRocket - [PR7]
- IndiaGram (Also has a voting system like Digg.com) [PR4]
- Indiamarks (Bookmarking site dedicated to Indian community) [PR2]
- Jots [PR6]
- Kaboodle - [PR6]
- Kinja - Blog bookmarking & aggregation service [PR 7]
- leze.de and - German Internet Bookmarking Service [PR3]
- Lilisto -[PR3]
- linkaGoGo - [PR7]
- linkfilter - [PR6]
- linkroll - - [PR6]
- LibraryThing - for books - [PR7]
- Linux Bookmarks (LQ) - Bookmark, tag, annotate and share links to Open Source and Linux related sites - - [PR7]
- ListMixer - [PR6]
- Listible - [PR2]
- Lookmarks (beta) - search & share bookmarks - [PR5]
- Ma.gnolia - [PR5]
- Maple - [PR6]
- Mecanbe - - [PR 6]
- memestreams - [PR 5]
- Millions Of Games - casual games, tagged, rated and bookmarked by hundreds of users daily - [PR 5]
- MotorKen - [PR 5]
- MyProgs - Social bookmarking for the programs that you personally use, etc. - [PR 6]
- Netvouz - [PR 6]
- Network Menus - - [PR 4]
- Newsvine - [PR 7]
- NowPublic - [PR 6]
- O Y A X - bookmarking service with groups - [PR 4]
- PeerMark - [PR 4]
- popurls.com
- RawSugar - [PR 6]
- Reader˛ - [PR 6]
- Reddit - [PR 7]
- Rojo - [PR 7]
- Rollyo - [PR 6]
- Rrove.com - social bookmark service for locations. - [PR 5]
- Save Your Links - [PR 5]
- Scuttle.org - [PR 6]
- Scuttle - Download the script and start a bookmarking service. Web-based social bookmarking system. Allows multiple users to store, share and tag their favourite links online.
- Segnalo - Italian Social Bookmarking - [PR 5]
- Shadows - [PR 7]
- Shoppersbase (Bookmarking website for online shoppers)
- Shoutwire - [PR 5]
- Simpy - offers Social bookmarking with tagging & full-text searching. - [PR 6]
- SiteJot - [PR 5]
- sitetagger - [PR 2]
- Slashdot - [PR 9]
- Smarking - [PR 5]
- Spurl - stores copies of the pages saved. - [PR 6]
- Squidoo - General topics [PR 5]
- Start Aid - [PR 5]
- Start - General by Microsoft [PR 7]
- StumbleUpon
- Social Bookmarking (Provides users with a personal social bookmarking sub-domain)
- Sync2It’s BookmarkSync - [PR 5]
- Tab Marks - [PR 5]
- taghop - [PR 4]
- Tagsy - [PR 3]
- TagTooga.com - [PR 5- main site]
- TailRank - [PR 6]
- Textnotes.de - [PR 4]
- Technorati - [PR 8]
- Tutorialism - Bookmarking website for tutorials
- uLinkx - Social Video/Music Bookmarking
- unalog - open source book marking software - [PR 5]
- URLBlaze - url sharing tool. - [PR 3]
- URLex - bookmarking & RSS feeds - [PR 4]
- Wazima - [PR 5]
- Web Feeds - [PR 5]
- Wink - General social bookmarking + Search engine [PR 6]
- Wiklink - Tool for use to synchronize bookmarks with your browser.
- Wists - Shopping links, Visual bookmarks, wishlists and also photoblogs. [PR7]
- World Wide Wisdom - [PR 5]
- wURLdBook - [PR 5]
- Yahoo! My Web - General bookmarking + sepcialty feeds + Available in many languages [PR 7]
- Yoono - [PR 6]
- Youtube - [PR 6]
- Yummy! Social PDF Library - Bookmark and find PDFs and print them too! - [PR 5]
- Zaadz - [PR 6]
Dropshipping customized unique products on
eBay is easy with the following:
Ebay Money Making Package - I approve of this one :)
Checking in again this week:
Google's HOT Trends.
FOOD for thought...
"While, ultimately, marketing is the objective for companies’
involvement in social media, you don’t “market to” people via
social media. You engage them, involve them, inform them, help them."
- Quoted from Michael Driehorst.
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