Being that it is still an evolving issue, I thought I’d post it, for anybody that’s interested in how social media works to follow it as it moves throught its course. My interest is solely from an interactive social media point of view, but be warned it is very racially charged, violent and there is a lot of course language.

Sometime on 16 Feb a video of an interracial fight on a San Francisco Bus between an an older Caucasian guy and a younger African American guy was published on YouTube.

6 days later, the main videos have gotten over 2.5 million hits, and there are over 900 response videos, re-posts, and a bunch of tag on posts trying to capture the traffic and interest of this phenomenon.  Search YouTube for “AC Transit Bus Fight” to see the growing list of results.  The other social media are picking it up as well, with 34 pages on Facebook, for example.

It has a bunch of issues that strike right to the American psyche: violence, racism, senior citizens, veterans, political correctness and “land and order”.  All this bound up in YouTube, and the digital space, with lots of follow-on commentary from self appointed pundits.

It is a feast of social science as well as social media.  America speaks!

NOTE: there is strong language and violence in the following links.

Original AC Transit Bus Fight video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQJFv9SMSMQ

The aftermath, outside the bus:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5fnjFVPCek

Interview with the old guy (Epic Beard Man):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ni08RoIh5jo

Interview with the female video author:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbsX5j-8T3Y

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Destination web is beginning to lose traffic to the distributed phenomena known collectively now as the social web space, i.e. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, the blogsphere, etc.

The assumption is that people are getting their information via social contacts, web2.0 sites with user generated content and other indirect sources, other than the main web properties.

The problem with jumping to conclusions, is basically, jumping to conclusions.

What else could we infer from these stats?

- S0cial web is addictive, sapping the strength and curiosity from web users?

- Corporate websites were just fun as long as there was nothing better to do?

- Traffic shifts to where the action is, above and beyond the ‘need to know’ requirements of individuals farming specific information.

- You wouldn’t want to own stock in MySpace.

I don’t think the recommendation is to get rid of your landing pages.  You may get less traffic, but is it more qualified traffic?

I do think the recommendation is to get involved in Social Web.

American

www.digitalbuzzblog.com - loosing-to-the-social-web-visualized

Australian (thanks Mike!)

Australian brand sites losing to the Social Web - Datalicious Blog

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To blog or not to blog, that is the question.  Most the larger companies I have worked with have held the idea of a corporate blog at arms distance.  There’s a lot of concern about being targeted,  or having unpleasant issues brought onto their ‘turf’.

Its not an outright rejection, but a ‘we’ll keep an eye on the issue, maybe next year’ kind of thing.

Tell them about Sun, Dell, and a whole other raft of good news examples, but its still, ‘next year, maybe…’

The bigger they are, the slower they move.  Too many trying to cover their asses, too few trying to shake it!

Here’s an example of several trends and applications of corporate blogs to crank up the music and maybe get the dance floor rocking!
And, say hello to some leaders, brands that are engaging, building collateral and embracing the future.  Ones you can bet will persevere, good investments…

Corporate Blog Design: Trends And Examples

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Still on my Social Media topic:

A great presentation to put the size and viability of social media into perspective.

Think paradigm shift is search, customer relationship management, customer engagement and product development.

Statistics Show Social Media Is Bigger Than You Think

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Still on the social media topic, the title says it all!

Has google page rank and Alexa ratings next to them…

Social Bookmarking Sites – All Of Them

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Social Networking is the buzz, and twitter is flavour of the (month, year, ???).  Regardless of your opinion, it certainly is a happening place, and considering the success and evolution of instant messaging one to one, this instant messaging, one to many certainly should catch your attention.

Here’s a great post on corporate tools to twitter.

Corporate Twitter Toolbox: Twitter Tools for the Enterprise

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Social Interactive Marketing, beyond SEO, Beyond SEM.  All about extending the tentacles to pull traffic back to the head.

This is something that take work, constantly, and dovetails nicely with any optimisation effort.  The growth of opportunities makes for a growth in efforts to capture them.  Get used to it.  If you’d like some detailed help in putting together a plan, let me know.

The attached article gives you a nice overview, but for each and every enterprise, its a different basket of goods in detail.

Social Media Optimization: 16 Rules Revisited - Online Marketing Blog

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Following up on my earlier post about new music data formats with extra meta data, now there’s a rumor Apple is going to integrate Social Networking into iTune.

Rumor: Apple to Take on Social Networking App, iTunes Integration | Cult of Mac

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A new music file format is being developed that not only contains the music data, but additional meta data beyond the current name, artist, year, etc.  The files will also contain lyrics, photos and ‘other’ information.

It is the ‘other’ information, the opportunity and the capability that stimulates my imagination.  Value added content, interactive content, promotional content.  I sniff an opportuity here….

Apple, Record Labels Diverge Over Next-Generation Full-Album Music Format | Epicenter | Wired.com

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For the 5th year running, Razorfish, the interactive powerhouse agency of the megaverse has released its crystal ball gazing “Digital Outlook Report” for 2009. I’ve been following these for a couple of years and found them to be very insightful, and truly inspiring.  If you have anything to do with interactive strategy, either as a marketer or a manager, it really is a must read.

Some highlights:

1. Advertisers will turn to “measurability” and “differentiation”
in the recession.

2. Search will not be immune to the impact of the economy.

3. Social Influence Marketing™ will go mainstream. This is a biggie!

The increased potency of social networking: people are influencing each other — online, in small groups, through peer pressure, reciprocity or flattery — giving rise to a whole new form of marketing that we called Social Influence Marketing™ (SIM).

4. Online ad networks will contract; open ad exchanges will expand.

5. This year, mobile will get smarter.

6. Research and measurement will enter the digital age.

7. “Portable” and “beyond-the-browser” opportunities will create new touchpoints for brands and content owners.

8. Going digital will help TV modernize.

9. Business model innovation is increasingly popular.

10. move from scarcity of media to scarcity of attention. Note: Email Marketing.

11. Digital Moms are ultimate time poor multi-taskers.

You really should take the time to go through this 180 page report. Its packed with insight and inspiration.

Get the full report here

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