Bio: Advertiser. Writer. Social medier. Thinker. Pop philosopher. Foodie. Father.
Photo reblogged from The Crazy Train of Thought... with 11 notes
A picture is worth 1,000 words. Or in this case, four.
Make love, not war.
(Photo: Rich Lam for Getty Images. He can probably retire now.)
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Source: marseniuk
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Klout +K: A Double-Edged Sword for Brands and Users via Jason Hahn →
This write up on Klout’s +K seems pretty much spot on from my perspective. The only thing I’d add is a question: Is this partially a response to Empire Avenue?
Oh, and all the +K tweets are already getting a little annoying.
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I’m Head of the Class/I’m Popular
On Twitter, Eric Andersen Tom Foremski, Klout, PeerIndex, Empire Avenue, Et Al… Shortcuts Without Insights, where Tom proclaims:
Klout et al, have no clue, beyond counting Tweets, reTweets, and applying an algorithm to people’s online activities, about the context and the meaning of what they collect. They will provide you with a single number that refers to a person’s influence within a specific sector.
But that number tells you nothing about the context of that assessment: it tells you nothing about what the hot topics are; what the major issues are in those sectors; and nothing about the culture and how to behave in those communities.
I’m pretty critical of Klout. And it’s largely because of their use of this word, “influence.” And I’m pretty much in agreement with Tom’s criticism as spelled out here in regards to Klout. But I want to talk about Empire Avenue.
I pointed out to Eric after his tweet that Empire Avenue had abandoned talking about itself as a measure of influence. In fact, Empire Avenue CEO ‘Dups’ Wijayawardhana responded to Tom’s post with the same correction. And it’s true, there seems to be a popular - if incorrect - opinion that this is what Empire Avenue is attempting to calculate*.
Empire Avenue is much more than that though. It is an engagement hub, an aggregator, a social media stock-market and a game all rolled into one. There is no single number score anywhere on the site that will show someone’s influence score.
Empire Avenue breaks down activity and engagement scores across each social media platform you can connect to it. At the time of this writing, there are Facebook, Facebook Fan Pages, Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr, YouTube and the ability to connect up to 5 blogs. It also assigns a score to activity done on the Empire Avenue site itself. But that’s not all. Foursquare is coming soon and ‘Dups’ has made no secret about their bold plans to include every social media site.
Looking at those numbers, it’s easy to make a quick judgement on an individual’s activity level on each of those social media sites. Let’s look at two examples as of this writing:
- Photographer Thomas Hawk has a Flickr score of 88. His Twitter score is 52 and his Facebook score is 42.
- Acclaimed tech evangelist Guy Kawasaki has a Twitter score of 88. His Facebook score is 29. His Flickr score? 1.
On top of all that, Empire Avenue has built a stock market. Those who have joined can purchase shares in those who they believe will increase their overall social media ‘value.’ If a stock’s value dips, you can also sell those shares to reinvest in others.
Eric pointed out that one’s share price could be considered a measurement of influence, or “nothing more than a popularity contest.” And he’d be right. But if that’s a criticism against Empire Avenue, we need to be questioning a lot more than a social media platform.
*In part, I attribute this to Klout’s excellent branding of itself around the word influence. Popular thought now gravitates to thinking of any platform that assigns numbers to social media activity as a measurement of influence.
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Social Media Tip of the Day - Profile Pic Consistency via Stacy Zapar →
I’m putting this great tip from @StacyZapar to practice!
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Arts & Faith Top 100 Films Redux
Last year I highlighted the 2010 Arts & Faith Top 100 Films List. The list has been updated this year, and although I wasn’t really sure an update one year later was completely necessary, it has allowed for a much more well-rounded list in my opinion.
This year’s list includes films as diverse as the anime Paprika, the documentary Koyaanisqatsi, the science fiction masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey and the feel-good holiday classic, It’s A Wonderful Life. This year, film critic Steven D. Greydanus provides the introduction. And although Punch-Drunk Love didn’t make the cut this time around, you can still see my blurb on Chariots of Fire which ranked #37 this year.
Something new this year, the Arts & Faith community, led by the awesome folks at Image Journal have also provided it’s list of Top 25 Horror Films. Insightful thoughts on faith and works of horror are somewhat rare, so this list is a special treat. The Arts & Faith community plans on releasing additional Top 25 genre lists in the future.
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The 2010 Ten
The end of one year. The beginning of another. Just like spring is to cleaning, the changing of the year is to list making. Here’s my list. It’s not a list of movies or music or political quotes. It’s just my list of 10 things:
1. Word Lens
This iPhone app isn’t the most revolutionary one I’ve seen, but it is the only one I’ve ever paid for! I still haven’t managed to get it to work quite as well as it does in the demo video, but it’s an amazing little utility and I expect upgrades will be forthcoming!
Take one knowledgeable music industry insider, add top musician and band discographies and just the right amount of snark, then throw it on Twitter and you’ve got what Village Voice calls the “Music Critic of the Year.” Very funny and often surprisingly insightful. You can read some more of my thoughts on @Discographies here.
3. The Arts & Faith Top 100 Films
The Arts & Faith film message board has been in existence for a long time (at least in internet time) drawing together a unique blend of art critics, writers, artists and others interested in film and faith. But when Image Journal took over hosting and spearheaded the publishing of the 2010 list of the top 100 films, a true touchstone has been crafted to be explored by anyone interested in the intersection of film art and religious faith. Read more here.
While the corporate world continues to debate and adopt social media as a form of effective advertising, this campaign made us all laugh and enjoy the effort. Too bad Procter & Gamble didn’t actually follow through on the donation challenge made by Alyssa Milano though…
A completely unique social media startup, Empire Avenue combines social media influence with a stock based currency system. Part game, part social media platform, all fun! Read more here and join here.
6. The Arcade Fire, “The Wilderness Downtown”
Is it a music video? An interactive media experiment? Or an invasion of privacy? Maybe it’s a little bit of all of the above.
7. Louis C. K.
Paste Magazine named him “Comedian of the Year” and I have no reason to disagree. He brought the funny.
8. New Twitter
While Facebook spent the year facing criticism over privacy issues, founder Mark Zuckerberg being portrayed in a less-than-flattering light on film, and yet more criticism over revamped profiles, Twitter rolled out a new design which led Tech Crunch to proclaim: “…at first glance it does look pretty amazing.”
9. Inception
Five years ago I think I saw just about every major Hollywood release by year’s end. This year I’ve seen less than 10. Christopher Nolan (Memento, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight) directs Leonardo DiCaprio in a psychological sci-fi summer action flick. It remains at the top of my retroactive must-see list for 2010.
10. Janelle Monáe, The ArchAndroid
An Afropop concept album pulling inspiration from Fritz Lang’s Metropolis and featuring a cover of Of Montreal released of Sean (“Diddy”) Combs’ Bad Boy Records? “And I’m still tippin’ on it.”
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Responsibility in Advertising
As of this writing, it is still not entirely clear the motivations behind the tragic shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords yesterday, which killed six people including a nine-year-old girl and injured at least a dozen others. Much of the discussion speculating on the motivations has centered on the Tea Party and Sarah Palin’s “Sarah PAC,” specifically Palin’s use of gun scope crosshairs and use of phrases like “Don’t retreat, reload.”
It’s true that both the American right and left are guilty of using hyperbole in their debate and criticism of the opposing party. Every couple of months I run across republicans being called nazis or Obama being compared to Hitler. Much of this is calculatedly used by the media to generate headlines and drive revenue. And I completely believe Rebecca Mansour from Palin’s PAC when she states the images of the crosshairs weren’t intended to encourage actual violence.
A great deal of politician’s rhetoric is marketing themselves; advertising as it were. They want to sell votes, and they want to show fund supporters they have the audience and influence to be backed. But right now, a lot of politicians aren’t being responsible with their advertising.
I work for an advertising company, and part of our responsibility to our clients is to work within the federal Truth-in-Advertising Laws.These basically boil down to don’t be deceptive, do your homework, and be fair. When politicians, pundits and the media ratchet up the rhetoric to Godwin’s Law levels, they begin skirting a line bordering on being morally unfair.
Images and words can be powerful influencers. This is why advertising can be so effective. When businesses cross lines (think tobacco to consumers under 18, or gambling and alcohol to consumers under 21), they are held responsible. So too should those we look to for governance and news hold themselves accountable for the images and words they use to make their arguments.
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Link reblogged from Jeffrey Overstreet, Gradually Dazzled. with 5 notes
Jeffrey Overstreet, Gradually Dazzled.: What? A homeless man who might actually be worth something?! →
I don’t usually reblog, but this is pretty much spot on commentary to my line of thinking:
If you’re online this morning, you’ve probably seen the viral-video overnight sensation.
Apparently humankind has been paralyzed with astonishment because some homeless dude has a great voice.
America is shocked to learn that one of those guys asking for money on a street corner might actually…
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Source: jeffreyoverstreet
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From Wall Street to Empire Avenue
While Facebook ponders how it will respond to David Fincher’s new film, The Social Network, CEO Mark Zuckerberg pledges to donate $100 million to Newark Schools.
It’s hard not to view Zuckerberg’s contribution as a PR attempt to gain public approval in the light of the criticisms reportedly leveled against him in the film. For instance, the New York Times article linked above throws this out into the public debate:
Mr. Zuckerberg and his colleagues have been locked in a tense standoff with the filmmakers, who portray Facebook as … fueled by the unappeasable craving of almost everyone for “friends” — the Facebook term for those who connect on its online pages — that they will never really have.
Indeed, a University of Georgia study found that Facebook users with a large number of friends are more likely to show narcissistic characteristics than those with fewer friends. To be fair, Zuckerberg himself has a mere 879 friends (as reported by The New Yorker in a fascinating article well worth reading), a small amount compared to the current 5,000 friend limit. But let us take this idea of worth measured by social media connections seriously for a moment.
Enter Empire Avenue.
Co-founder and CEO of Empire Avenue, Duleepa Wijayawardhana (aka Dups), brings years of game-theory design to a new social media platform (he was a developer at BioWare Corp., the gaming company that brought us titles including Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights & Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic). Basically, Empire Avenue brings a gaming dynamic to social media as a platform and aggregator, measuring users “worth” from their interaction and connections on Facebook, Twitter and other online networking sites.
On Empire Avenue, instead of friending or following connections, you are given the opportunity to buy shares in them, much like a traditional stock market, based on their social media, or virtual, value.
To me, this seems like the logical next step in the evolution of social media - and a potential godsend to advertisers looking to measure social media ROI, ROE and better ways to target their markets. But the platform, like all meaningful social networks, also gives power back to the consumer. Each user is free to invest, sell and trade in those individuals or companies they want to support - again much like a traditional stock market.
While the site is still in it’s beta phase, I see a fascinating and potentially powerful platform in the works - one that is both focused on the user and also makes no bones about what it is: a market to leverage the connections you make online.
For those interested, here are a few early reviews of The Social Network:
It’s a great film not just about the founding of Facebook, not just about living in the modern digital age, but also about the very impetus for creativity.
The Village Voice (Eric Hynes):
…The Social Network succeeds, per journalism’s most basic directive, in showing not telling. And like great journalism, a great film can capture the reality of the present—and even make art out of it.
Hollywood Elsewhere (Jeffrey Wells):
You know you’re seeing something exceptional and amazing when all you can think about 20 minutes into it is “I have to see this again as soon as possible.”
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Past(e) Tense
Last week we said goodbye to one of the great music and arts magazines in recent history. Paste Magazine closed it’s doors.
Paste Magazine launched in 2002 and was no small influence on where I am today.
I discovered the magazine around it’s 3rd issue. It was everything I wanted to be - equally in touch with pop and indie culture, searching for meaning behind and below the surface. After reading that issue, I made a goal: one day I would be published in its pages.
Now, it appears as if that dream will go unfulfilled.
However, it got me working; I went back to school as a communications major. I started a video production company. I began writing album and film reviews for the Phantom Tollbooth (sad fact is, I’m not a great critic), I received my first byline with the Waynesboro Record Herald, and I applied for and became a manager at a local video rental store.
Fast-forward a few years after some trying personal times (aka twentysomethings), and I moved to Las Vegas continuing in retail management with Barnes & Noble - happily reading every issue of Paste as it hit the newsstand, which I managed - and continuing my dream of one day writing something for it’s pages.
Eventually, I found my way into advertising and public relations - a way to be behind the scenes, (occasionally) able to promote things I feel passionate about.
Throughout my journey, Paste was there informing me - a guide along the path. Many criticisms were leveled against the magazine, some highlighted in Rachael Maddux’s farewell at Salon. But to me, it was always clear that Paste cared deeply about exploring the intersection of art and life. And this is an intersection trafficked by all.
We stand around the water cooler at work discussing the latest episode of our favorite TV show, or film or album by our favorite band. We spend our evenings absorbing these works. We bore our families with their details. Paste understood that dynamic of modern life and provided a platform for discussion elevated above the gossip rag, but never in a condescending or snarky fashion (I’m looking at you Pitchfork).
Paste cared about what it did. That makes a huge difference. For that alone, it pains me to see it pass away into the mist. We always need those who care passionately about what they produce.
To that end, give a follow to some former Paste staff and contributors who will - I am sure - continue to contribute passionately in future endeavors: @rachaelmaddux, @RachelAnnaD, @nadoug, @jasonkill, @joshjackson.
A small consolation and silver lining: Paste will continue on online; the unprinted pages are probably good for the environment.
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