The social media market used to be fun to watch. A palpable excitement pervaded it, as rapid growth turned the likes of Facebook, Twitter and many others into household names. Enormous venture capital deals were cut – not that the recipients need the money. It looks like many were taking periodic cash-outs instead of having to wait for the big day.
http://twitter.com/#!/TechCrunch/status/614261751554049
I’ve been using Twitter’s Blackbird Pie utility almost from the day it was released. Unfortunately, there aren’t many places where I can use it. It works on Gadling, Luxist and HuffPo, but not Business Insider. Until recently, it didn’t work on WordPress … but that just changed!
WordPress is actually making it incredibly easy to use Blackbird Pie (far easier than the original utility, which was pretty easy anyway.
So, what’s the implication of this … aside from my having a new social media tool to play with? Well, I have a lot more latitude in embedding tweets in my posts. So, I can start presenting Twitter users in their own words. This is particularly useful for me with people who don’t think before they tweet.
Okay, you’re not going to find out here. Instead, head over to the guest post I wrote on Scene by Laurie, exploring how travel bloggers can fall victim to niche audiences that generate plenty of social media chatter but never really click through. If you are over-reliant on Twitter or Facebook for traffic, this is the downside to which you’re exposed. And yes, I do anchor it with a real world travel example.
Travel Blog Analysis: Does Social Media Drive Real Traffic? >>
And, here’s the source story from the case study …
Five Reasons Flight Attendants Should Shut up and Push the Cart >>
As the date of a press trip approaches, itineraries are flying around, details are being finalized and media kits are assembled and distributed. Amid all of this, I’ve noticed over two and a half years of travel writing, there is no social media “kit” provided at the beginning of a trip … and it wouldn’t be hard to do. Look at the top of any itinerary: you see property and agency contact information. How hard would it be to include a Twitter account, too?
Hey, travel PR folks: in addition to thinking about the coverage you hope to secure in a magazine or on a blog after the trip has run its course, think about the incremental gains you could realize during the trip itself – especially for a group trip.
When you’re planning your next press trip, consider the following social media essentials:
Peter Kafka’s latest article over on AllThingsD (a must-read for me) caught my attention quickly. He found that the amount of investment cash flowing into “pure play” Twitter startups fell to $10.4 million for the June 2009-to-May 2010 period … from $21.6 million the previous year. The 52 percent year-over-year decline probably feels like a shock to the system, but it looks like there are some clear drivers for this change.
Kafka cites the natural ebb and flow of venture capital deals, as well as Twitter’s rush to fill gaps in its services. The latter, to me, is a no-brainer, as I remember trying to keep up with it. During last spring’s Chirp conference, Twitter announced a number of new measures that rounded out its product set. Of course, it came at the expense – whether Twitter wanted to admit it or not – of the many companies that had arisen as a result of the market opportunities created by Twitter’s gaps.
Guess what I’ll be wearing tomorrow?!
I won this t-shirt in a contest, as you may know if you remember my blog post from June 1, 2010 (and why wouldn’t you?). I’m not sure how I won, but I did:
FTC Disclosure: I won the t-shirt in a Twitter contest sponsored by HootSuite. Seriously, guys, it’s not a big deal.
So, Twitter survived the World Cup. It wasn’t easy, given the record-setting action on the microblogging platform, and there was some downtime mixed in along the way (much to the frustration of those of us who use Twitter to earn a living). It’s a bit easier to have some sympathy for the company when you see the trends in usage, displayed in the infographic the company put together.
via TechCrunch
Do you love yourself? A lot? Hey, anyone who’s blogging, microblogging or doing any other sort of “see me!” stuff on the web, is at least a little guilty of this (draw your own conclusions about me, then multiply by three). Twitter‘s now making it easier to feed this lust for self-exploration in the social media space.
via TechCrunch
Calling all social media-philes! If you’re in Manhattan tomorrow, stop by Two E, the bar at The Pierre (on the southeast corner of Central Park) to celebrate Social Media Day. Just stopping by will score you $18 carafes, with five flavors available to you. If you put your social media panache to work, you could get a little more.
Here’s the deal:
And, I have some other tips. Be sure to:
The event runs from 6:30 PM to 9 PM at 2 E. 61st St (between 5th Ave and Madison). I’ll be there.
We all hate the marketing users who corrupt our pristine social media worlds, right? Yeah, well you rely on these scumbags (among whom I count myself). Without the marketers, pitching relentlessly through social media, it would be awfully tough for these environments to survive. And, let’s face it: would you actually pay for Twitter?
To get my full perspective on this, check out the guest post I just wrote for SocialTimes.
Enter the Mind of a Migrant Blogger 