Disqus - Latest Comments for Dan Thornton

Re: Open Letter to James C. Mullen, CEO of Biogen

Dan Thornton — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:33:40 -0000

I'm obviously no legal expert, but it seems that health care and drug providers really don't even give the slightest care in the world about anyone except themselves...

I'll spread the word as much as I can, and hope that a solution is found in time....I always find it horrific that a possible lifesaving action can be denied for financial or other reasons, when there's no time to waste...

Re: Open Letter to James C. Mullen, CEO of Biogen

Dan Thornton — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:40:58 -0000

I've also sent your plea to the UK branch of Biogen, in case they have any more common sense.

Re: Open Letter to James C. Mullen, CEO of Biogen

Dan Thornton — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:43:12 -0000

Ah, could the refusal be down to articles, and claims of Tysabri causing brain damage and PML?

http://www.druginjuryblog.com/2008/08/05/two-mo...

Re: LinkedIn vs Xing

Dan Thornton — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:51:20 -0000

I agree totally. I'm a big LinkedIn fan, and I've found a lot of value from Questions and Answers. Xing hasn't resulted in anything except a few emails reminding me I should really log back in and upgrade.

Why I'd pay for something I can do via LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and my blog, I'm not quite sure!

Re: If you had to choose between Twitter and your blog what would you choose?

Dan Thornton — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 05:28:46 -0000

Different platforms for different purposes, but my blog is a complete creation of longform thoughts I've crafted, whereas Twitter is for conversations etc. I could replace some of the aspects of Twitter with another social network if I had to, but I couldn't replace my blog...

Re: Is the blogosphere doomed by unprofessional behavior?

Dan Thornton — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:00:10 -0000

Luckily with estimates of 84-120 odd million blogs around, there are plenty of others to take up the slack when one or two get bogged down in an argument.

As long as good quality blogs are able to be rewarded by recommendations, links back, and growing audiences, we'll be OK.

But then again, people like a good bitchfest between celebrities...

Re: Care in the community

Dan Thornton — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 18:23:16 -0000

While I chuckled and can understand the point being made by the anonymous executive, the comment about p46 and 'live' music obviously ignores the fact that recorded music can exist without live performances.

Re: Mixx metrics show growth, but Digg remains the leader

Dan Thornton — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:16:41 -0000

The Digg - Mixx comparison is a really interesting one - as I put in my post on it this morning, (http://thewayoftheweb.net/2008/10/more-on-digg-...), Mixx has seen a big proportional increase at the time Digg seems to have started banning power users and changing it's strategy - and some of those users have been vocal about their new support for Mixx.

There's still a huge audience gap between them, but it's interesting to see how much effect prominent users might have in promoting a service by using it.

Re: The Blogosphere is High School?

Dan Thornton — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 05:00:46 -0000

I'm afraid while I can understand how the public feud at the centre of this developed, I really don't get how responding with hissy fits actually helps the situation, whether that's from Mike getting into some snide digs, or Robert deciding not to attend an event.

Maybe they just both had a bad day, but the professional way to have responded for Mike would have been to simply lay out the facts and leave it there - and for Robert to make decisions about event attendance without bringing any blogging disagreements into the same post and muddying things.

The fact that Mike has now apparently been deleting comments that were negative about Techcrunch, and has closed the comments form makes me seriously wonder whether it's a blog/news source I want to spend time with any more...

Re: louisgray.com: The Hubris of the Twitterati and Twitterati Wannabes

Dan Thornton — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:33:52 -0000

From what I witnessed, the opposite was true - there was concern over losing follows, mainly because they had been carefully picked. And far less concerns over losing followers, because the loss could be spam followers.

Re: Personal Branding Tips - Guylights

Dan Thornton — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 06:11:37 -0000

Standing out is generally good, although nature has decided to give me grey highlights, rather than forcing me to pay for guylights...

Re: Why Twitter Must Die

Dan Thornton — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 03:42:22 -0000

Twitter won't be killed, any more than anyone set out to kill Friendster, for example.

What may happen is that significant amounts of users will transfer to Friendfeed or Identi.ca, and that will lead to a growing number following their groups of friends, just as people left Friendster, or Myspace, and may one day leave Facebook.

Whether or not that happens simply depends on whether a significant mass moves or not, and that's the only thing that will make any type of difference.

Re: Further the cause of social media via sharing | Broadcasting Brain

Dan Thornton — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:17:07 -0000

See! I'm glad I tagged you now! If everyone spent some time outside of Social Media, and went and talked to real people, we've not only spread the word of the benefits and pitfalls, but have a good idea of why things might be accepted by people or not - the same applies to most specialisms.

Consider yourself an honorary Badger..;)

Re: Reports of Citizen Journalism’s demise are premature

Dan Thornton — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 18:38:12 -0000

I was just about to write something very similar on my own blog!

I was actually just checking the Terms and Conditions of posting on CNN, bearing in mind the two legal options seem to be to moderate everything, or go for plausible deniability and never look at anything until someone brings it to your attention.

This isn't a failure of 'citizen journalism'. There are thousands of individuals posting on hundreds of sites in a variety of ways, both good and bad.

It's a failure of anyone who reposted or reprinted the story without attempting to check the facts first, and the failure of one company to implement any type of controls on the content their users post - and then to be slow to monitor/respond.

Plenty of dead tree publications have ended up in court for mistakes and fiction. And yet they're still clinging to what's left of the market.

At the end of the day it doesn't really matter what anyone says about blogging and citizen journalism - what will matter is where audiences and advertising ends up.

Re: Has new media left strategy in the dust?

Dan Thornton — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 20:08:08 -0000

One problem is that an effective community strategy can have major implications for other parts of the business, who may be reluctant to change, or perhaps move more slowly.

Re: Wikinomics » Blog Archive » iReport, you report, we all report on iReport(.com)

Dan Thornton — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 05:51:13 -0000

Put me down for moderation at 60 seconds.

It will be really interesting to see whether self-vetting, or self-promotion ends up becoming the motivating force behind iReport.

The only thing that I can see an a personal downside is that I prefer to see User Generated Content equal and alongside traditional journalism, to give me the best of both worlds, rather than forcing me to choose one or the other.

Re: Second Life a cooling technology?

Dan Thornton — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 04:37:07 -0000

Part of the reason for the relative numbers could be that Facebook etc are possibly to access via work PCs, university PCs etc. I know companies who are claiming around 30% of their web traffic is via Facebook for example.

Second Life requires a better PC, bigger commitment, and outside of a few corporations, is very hard to justify during work hours. Particularly in non tech-evangelist companies who are still learning about social networks.

I don't think there's too much value in a Facebook - Second Life comparison. What I do think would be really interesting is comparing the time and cost implications of hosting SL meetings as opposed to real life, especially in countries like the UK where public transport etc are so expensive.

Re: Getting out of email jail

Dan Thornton — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 10:25:32 -0000

Getting out of email jail? My first step would be:

Empower employees and community members to be able to respond more quickly and solve more problems without resorting to emailing an anonymous inbox somewhere and waiting weeks for a response.

In my daily routine I use email, instant messaging, twitter, telephone and face-to-face conversations depending on what is most appropriate, and it works incredibly well.

And a change will come, as I've recently seen research showing the use of social networks etc is actually eating into the use of email by teenagers.

An email tax is unworkable, and takes away from the reason people have embraced email/social communication etc. It's quick, easy and free at a time when the rising cost of living makes everything prohibitively expensive. The only problem is reminding people that although email is quick, easy and free, it's not a suitable solution for everything.

Re: Wikinomics » Blog Archive » Blogger.com vs. CNN.com, and other fun with Alexa

Dan Thornton — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 12:25:13 -0000

Bearing in mind the well-publicised limitations of using Alexa as a sole metric for comparison, I think the second and third graphs due illustrate some important points.

I'm not sure that comparing a blogging platform vs one media outlet in the 1st graph, CNN vs Blogger is entirely fair. What would be great would be to put a specific number of media sites up against the blogs in that genre etc

Re: Wikinomics » Blog Archive » Blogger.com vs. CNN.com, and other fun with Alexa

Dan Thornton — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 11:11:38 -0000

Don: Cheers, and the only caveat is that I have no idea how you'd select the number of examples to make it 'fair'!

I do totally agree with the message behind the graph. Not only have I found myself following news on Twitter and analysis on blogs, but I also work for a magazine publisher, so I'm aware of both sides.

I think the next period will be interesting for most major media companies, as realisation and changes always take a bit of time in large companies

Re: Wikinomics » Blog Archive » Do you know where your children are? (Online)

Dan Thornton — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 04:53:35 -0000

Why does it always come down to the internet replacing books, rather than the two co-existing?

How else can you explain the copy of Wikinomics on my bookshelf, alongside The Long Tail, Join The Coversation, Unleash the Ideavirus etc?

The main problems that are being highlighted regarding children online and using videogames are mainly because parents, educational institutions and other organisations are too scared to actually participate and understand the online world to find the best solutions.

And maybe some of that is down to us proclaiming the end of print, books, TV etc

Re: Wikinomics » Blog Archive » The GTA IV Hood, a google powered wiki mashup

Dan Thornton — Tue, 13 May 2008 08:16:07 -0000

A cool evolution of the traditional tips, cheats and map sections in magazines and then websites.

Gamefaqs is a popular site based around user cheats, tips and guides, but the IGN effort does look a lot slickier and easier to use with the in-game map.

I honestly think that GTA will morph more and more into a virtual world (as with the new online multiplayer modes), and be the push that puts most 'normal' people into a Second Life type environment.

Re: Wikinomics » Blog Archive » Jeff tweets “it’s not you, it’s me”

Dan Thornton — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 17:36:13 -0000

I'd like to see some research on how often profiles are completely removed or discarded, as having the facility to quickly break friendships, or delete information is different from actually doing it.

I agree that online relationships do lack the physical cues of offline relationships, but given that people only tend to have the same number of real 'best' friends on and offline (Around 15 I believe, I'll try and find the source), most of the quick drops and adds are likely to be acquintances, and less meaningful

Re: Wikinomics » Blog Archive » How Web 2.0, Facebook, and the Net Generation will change corporate security

Dan Thornton — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:08:06 -0000

It's changing, but the fact I wrote a very similar post in Jan 2007: http://thewayoftheweb.net/2007/01/it-could-lead... shows how long it's taking...

The best trick is to find the humans lurking in IT and bribe/befriend/beg them.

Re: Revisiting MyFootBallClub and the Wisdom of Crowds

Dan Thornton — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:12:25 -0000

Is this not just the 90:9:1 rule? 1 person will vote every week on team selection. ( people might get involved less. And 90 are content to watch from the sidelines?

Plus I don't know exactly how the team selection process works, but 30,000 people can't be at the training ground every day, so they decide to let the 'power user' make the ultimate choices. Just the same as Wikipedia admins or forum moderators volunteer to take on a greater role, while the rest of us sit back and interact/consume what's there?

Re: Revisiting MyFootBallClub and the Wisdom of Crowds

Dan Thornton — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:14:49 -0000

Just thought of another point.

I'd expect more people to vote on the uniform because it carries less requirements for expertise = lower barrier to entry.

Just the same as more people will enter a competition for a lower value prize, even if everything else is equal, because they assume there's more chance of winning.

Re: Wikinomics » Blog Archive » My space: It’s 4 x 6 with bars

Dan Thornton — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 05:00:04 -0000

I'm amazed that any judge or court has accepted a photo or video on Facebook or Myspace as a judgement on remorse.

For starters, it's a public-facing arena, so people might be portraying themselves differently to their peers. And how can an out of context image taken at a public gathering be seen as a sign of how remorseful someone actually is?

I'm very against drink driving, but I'm not sure how the evidence is justified in this case, unless it's supported by witnesses or psychological reports.

Re: Social Media for the Anti-Social

Dan Thornton — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 11:44:22 -0000

The main gap for me is between seeing a new platform and appreciating the technology - and figuring out how to best implement it for mainstream users.

Most people don't chat about RSS, but they download a BBC News Ticker, powered by RSS.

And in the same way, most people won't be heavy Twitter users, but there are ways to use the service to help users.

Re: Can I See Your Blog Pass?

Dan Thornton — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 13:12:20 -0000

This ties in nicely with the debate on Mark Cuban's blog about allowing/banning bloggers whether they work for a mainstream media organisation, or they're an individual blogging in their bedroom...It started here: http://www.blogmaverick.com/2008/03/10/bloggers...

As a journalist I can see where you're coming from. But at the same time, the best validation of any blogger is whether their content is any good or not. You could judge that by their readership, or their time spent blogging, or you could judge it by their about page, or 5 latest posts.

Someone without any professional grounding could still be very insightful, if they spend every hour studying the media. That's more than most journalists actually do!

Many traditional journalists may, or may not have academic journalist qualifications, or professional qualifications. A press card simply shows you belong to an organisation, or you're employed as a journalist. And there are plenty of people who have faked or added to freelance contracts etc.

The only time I ever used my press pass/business card was in a situation where I had to gain immediate access/prove my identity quickly.

Re: Can I See Your Blog Pass?

Dan Thornton — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 06:31:46 -0000

Why?

Is a blog on the WSJ guaranteed more traffic than that of an individual, for example?

Or is someone employed by the WSJ guaranteed to have more knowledge on a subject? More contacts? More links back from other blogs?

I wouldn't argue that every single blog is created equal, but I also wouldn't believe that every blog backed by a media company is guaranteed to be more worthy than every blog created by a private individual.

And where do you draw the line for professional media bloggers vs private? A professional magazine can have as little as 10,000 readers...

Re: Can I See Your Blog Pass?

Dan Thornton — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 09:18:15 -0000

And along came this mildly amusing example:
http://daringfireball.net/2008/03/kahney_jackass

Re: Do Social Media Power Users Matter at All?

Dan Thornton — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 07:33:10 -0000

I think most of the arguments for and against will be the same as the ones that came up after Duncan Watts work on viral marketing questioned the role of influencers:

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/122/is-the-...

Influencers aren't essential to spreading an idea, but they do spread it somewhat further and faster than if they aren't included. And even if influencers aren't instrumental in the final call to action, they have a place in raising awareness, just as traditional media still has.

It's an 'and' approach, of varying increments, to the eventual end of an action...

Re: I am a Blogger.

Dan Thornton — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 17:01:30 -0000

Definitely a blogger.

I've had professional roles including journalist, web producer, and community marketing manager - and I've enjoyed all of them.

But blogging is something that came out of my interests outside of work, and is something that is under my total control.

Re: What’s the Future of Social Media?

Dan Thornton — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 13:45:19 -0000

It depends how you define content, as my colleague Dave Cushman wrote about after we chatted...http://fasterfuture.blogspot.com/2008/06/community-defined-you-cant-take-part.html

Not everyone will go to the effort of writing a blog post, but by creating a profile on Facebook or Myspace, or uploading a message via Twitter, you've taken part. And plenty of people are looking at tools like Twitter for integration in practical solutions to daily problems, rather than a social network/message service in itself.

Re: Should Students be Banned from Social Networks at School?

Dan Thornton — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:27:36 -0000

Social networks are simply a tool and should be seen as such.

Chatting and hanging out should be limited to breaks - but tools like Facebook, micro-social networks or wikis could be used for project work, or school events, and even letting pupils from different classes/years come together to work on schoolwork.

While they might come into contact with more harassment via social networks, I've yet to see anyone dispute the claim that most child abuse comes from someone the child already knows in real life - and bearing in mind social networks etc are becoming more and more prevalent in daily life, it makes sense to educate children early about the best way to use them (both for safety and productivity), rather than trying to pretend they don't exist.

Re: Virgin Media Ceo: Net Neutrality Is “bollocks,” Promises To Breach Agreement With Customers

Dan Thornton — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:56:40 -0000

Perfect timing, as I was just asking myself why I currently pay more for my broadband connection, to get decent customer service etc, and whether it was actually worth the investment....

Seems the answer is yes. I think this statement could be a potential Ratners moment for Virgin Internet, at a time when even I was thinking about saving a little cash...

Re: Virgin Media Ceo: Net Neutrality Is “bollocks,” Promises To Breach Agreement With Customers

Dan Thornton — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 09:04:08 -0000

Ah, Berkett worked for a bank. And in a previous role combined improvements to customer service with setting up offshore call centres.

Suddenly it all makes sense:
http://pressoffice.virginmedia.com/phoenix.zhtm...

Re: Liveblogging From Vegas

Dan Thornton — Mon, 19 May 2008 04:37:43 -0000

I'm guessing you might have pre-publish moderation on comments, but if not and the previous attempt was binned due to length etc.

It's an official feature: (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/212251) to quickly insert sample text in a localized language.

Re: Too Much Choice?

Dan Thornton — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 07:31:48 -0000

My rule is simple.

Too much choice - is cured by allowing users to filter things.

Job done.

Re: Preparing For Parenthood

Dan Thornton — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 17:20:56 -0000

I can vouch for the authenticity of the tests, particularly 3. It appears that our child has never read the baby books which suggest he should be sleeping through the night after two months. I've tried reading them to him, but it just ignores them.

I'll try explaining with diagrams next.

He's also capable of the octopus impersonation, although I tend to find it's not the arms which are the problem. It's the fact that his body appears to be that of a 9 week old, but his head must be that of a three year-old looking at the clothing...Why they don't make clothing you slip on the legs and do up at the top I don't know.

I'd also suggest taking guitars, video consoles etc and putting them all up in the loft for about ten years.

Test 15 - Entertainment.

1. Insert DVD and press play.
2. Wait at menu screen to fetch drinks, snacks, and remove baby bottles, cloths, toys and vomit from sofa.
3. Sit down.
4. Watch for 5 minutes.
5. Stop. Listen intently to baby monitor.
6. Watch for 10 minutes.
7. Stop. Listen to baby monitor again. Cross fingers.
8. Watch for 10 minutes.
9. Stop and listen to baby monitor. Decide to take a quick peek upstairs. In the moses basket/cot should be a car alarm set to the most sensitive setting possible. As soon as you hit a creaking floorboard, or poke your head around the bedroom door the alarm should go off.
10. Spend the next 30 minutes trying to pour 200ml of milk into the car alarm until it stops making a sound.
11. Shake the car alarm until it makes a couple more loud noises, then find the 4-6kg wet bag from the first test.
12. Watch 30 minutes more the film, whilst carrying wet bag around the living room, and trying to hum nursery rhymes loud enough to comfort the bag, but not distract your partner from the film.
13. Put wet bag and car alarm back in moses basket, return to sofa, and realise your drink is now cold/flat/warm (whichever is undesirable), your ice cream has melted, your popcorn is soggy, and you have no idea what film you were watching, let alone what's happened so far.
14. Watch the rest of the film.
15. By the time the credit roll, you should forget everything you've watched, including the name of the film, and main actors and characters, then proceed to Test 3.
16. The next day, put all your DVDs and DVD player in the loft, and only ever watch childrend's TV, the shopping channel, or BBC News 24.

Re: Preparing For Parenthood

Dan Thornton — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 17:23:36 -0000

One edit....you should gently bounce the car alarm/wet bag, rather than shake. Try stroking it until the milk dribbles out over your shoulder, down your neck, and down your back onto the sofa.

It should be left for at 30 minutes before wiping.

Re: Brickmakers Jazz Festival, Windlesham Sept08

Dan Thornton — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:06:36 -0000

Cool pics, although I think the raised guitar and pointing is a bit more 'rawk' than jazz, to be honest....

Like the natural wood, battered and abused look...(the guitar, not you....). Is that a Fender Start neck on a Yamaha Pacifica body (or similar)

Re: Change Is The Enemy Of The Competant

Dan Thornton — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 14:10:12 -0000

Don't forget the PPA Award for Interactive Magazine of the Year amongst other awards...:)

Re: About being disruptive

Dan Thornton — Mon, 19 May 2008 07:41:21 -0000

Totally agree, and why I sometimes struggle to create presentations.
Really, I just want to run through my experience, successes and failures fairly quickly, and move onto conversing with the other people in the room about what they really want to know/talk about.

Although it does depend somewhat on the purpose of the event. MeasurementCamp, for example, had some gentle steering of the sessions, in order to lead to a definite outcome - which is definitely needed for that type of event.

Re: Social Media Best Practices

Dan Thornton — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 15:23:51 -0000

Good call on being protective. Both against spammers, and those in your company etc who could be tempted to exploit relationships for short term gain...

Wish I'd though of that one...nice response!

<abbr>Dan Thorntons last blog post..Why I don’t have much sympathy for traditional media…</abbr>

Re: Solve one problem to justify social media marketing to any boss

Dan Thornton — Fri, 16 May 2008 13:02:05 -0000

LoL.

Cheers for the comment. I was looking for a way of explaining that in the 'old days' you could do a huge promo campaign, and measure hits, or referrals, and that's it.

Whereas now it's about the quality of the promo, how many people then repost it, how many people remix it, how many people comment on it etc.

Re: When everyone is virtual, it will be in Grand Theft Auto - not Second Life

Dan Thornton — Fri, 16 May 2008 13:03:37 -0000

It's ease of use, and in this case, a very popular and recognisable brand name, which is readily accepted by consumers.

As Behrad, and my own purchase have shown, we're happy to buy GTA based on previous games, and instantly we can enjoy it. That's not the case with Second Life.

Re: UK-based Search Strategy Manager job vacancy

Dan Thornton — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 05:41:54 -0000

Thanks for the compliment and hopefully I won't let you down!

Re: Successful websites need a tailored proposition

Dan Thornton — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 05:49:18 -0000

Well, exceptions prove the rule!

Although knowing some of your areas of expertise, I suspect even as a compendium, things stood out to make it different from much of what is popularly available...

It'd be interesting to see what articles prompted the biggest traffic and response within the compendium, as well...but that's what I like about social media - as soon as anything starts to look like a good general rule, the fact is that human internet users are always unpredictable to some extent.

Re: The cost of social media

Dan Thornton — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 05:54:55 -0000

Really interesting comments.

From a business perspective, it's important to keep all these costs in mind. Even if the CEO doesn't get social media and communities online - they always get costs!

And I like the diary idea...will try and think how I can do it effectively.

I think it's interesting to see how Gen X and Y differ, but with the knowledge there will be pensioners who are social addicts, and Gen Y members who hate Facebook! But I'm always amazed and interested when I hear/see evidence of exactly how far younger people can split their attention at any one time - particularly when people used to be amazed I could be on a website, on IM and listening to music at the same time just a few years ago!

Re: Pick and vote for the top Web 2.0 Rockstars

Dan Thornton — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 12:10:16 -0000

Great suggestions. Can't believe I forgot Cory....and I'm a NiN fan who's written about their downloads...

Tops. Will include them in the list asap....

Re: You can’t control communities - but you should inspire them

Dan Thornton — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 09:48:20 -0000

Blimey....three comments from three cool people on one post?

It's why I always feel a slight unease about being a 'Community Marketing Manager'....I'd probably rather have 'Community Enabler...'

Re: The Snarkiness of social media

Dan Thornton — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 10:46:16 -0000

I take your point, and probably should have made it clearer.

There are plenty of individuals in every generation who love to rebel. And there are plenty in every generation who love to conform.

However, in most large corporations, there are MDs and CEOs who have spent 20 years working their way up in structured, traditional business environments, and to them, the Age of Dialogue is something new, challenging, possibly something to ignore or disregard, more than it's something to be involved in at present.

Re: The Snarkiness of social media

Dan Thornton — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:01:35 -0000

True.

I think there are two things at play. One is the legacy of traditional media, for example, with young reporters frequently dismissing digital in favour of print...because of the perceived value of print over digital.

The other is that younger generations (in general stereotype way) seem to be using dialogue as a natural tool for social lives etc, but then leave it at the door of traditional business, either through fear, or reluctance to integrate their outside life with their career.

But that doesn't stop them using it to deal with other businesses, when they're the consumer...

Will have to re-edit my post to include the clarity from you and Eaon.

Re: I’m not a number - or a user - or a visitor

Dan Thornton — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:31:28 -0000

I agree that members is an aim, although I think a lot of users would participate more, and grow into members, if they weren't presented with a registration barrier early on - for instance, sites which stop you from reading an article unless you've registered.

And yes, a lot of times you're aiming for leads - but in some markets, a lead on average makes a purchase every 3 years, or perhaps every 6 months - so other revenue is important, which comes from traditional display advertising at the moment, but also from new ideas about how to create value out of interaction...

If you're making a product, then leads work very well. If you're providing a service, such as a portal, it becomes a lot harder, because you're not relying on a good product to make the sale - you're relying on all the stuff around it.

Re: Help to complete the list of Web 2.0 Rock Stars

Dan Thornton — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:09:26 -0000

Hmmm, I'm sure Kevin Rose was on the list at some point - not sure how he got dropped off, but will ensure he's back first thing tomorrow, along with the great suggestions re FriendFeed, Tamar Weinberg, Amanda Gravel and Chrissie Brodigan....

Re: Help to complete the list of Web 2.0 Rock Stars

Dan Thornton — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 05:23:50 -0000

OK...adding Wayne Sutton and Kurt Hanson...

And we definitely want the guy who said Web 2.0 is the name of the next crash....Personally I think that should probably give you a headstart!

Re: Help to complete the list of Web 2.0 Rock Stars

Dan Thornton — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 04:41:45 -0000

Point taken...I'll claim it was an erroneous typo and fix it asap!

Re: Tolstoy vs Twitter?

Dan Thornton — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:46:47 -0000

Funnily enough, I've chatted with him on Twitter a few times, and was going to add that post!

Re: Twitter shakes the ground under major news websites: How they have to adapt

Dan Thornton — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 07:13:32 -0000

Great comments! Cheers...

@Rich I can understand the risk of spam, but during the Twitticentre of the earthquake, would a spam message have spent more than a minute or two on the LA Times? I agree that there may need to be some form of filter, but we've got to be experimenting to work out the right way to do it...

Re: Twitter shakes the ground under major news websites: How they have to adapt

Dan Thornton — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 04:18:48 -0000

I agree that different people have different requirements and tastes in how they get their information, but at the moment, the organisations are limiting themselves, and their audience.

The people who are still happy to wait for the morning paper will need a more informed analysis of what has happened, or they'll continue to hear things from their friend who is using the internet/facebook/twitter.

I remember having a great chat with a research company as they outlined how a group of 6 new mothers interacted, and how the only one of them with broadband access was the focal point for questions and answers, because she had all the relevant information and was seen as the gatekeeper to all the knowledge...the others had TV and newspapers, but it didn't serve the same function.

It's about aggregation and then presenting that aggregation in the most appropriate way - for web users that may be incoming RSS feeds for 30 sources - for print readers it could be in a 1000 word article on page 2.

The difference is that by the time the paper comes out, most people will have heard about the news from the internet or from their friends.

Re: Is Digg’s day done?

Dan Thornton — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 12:12:00 -0000

Cheers for the comments... In this case, it isn't the url's of the websites we run which has been blocked - that would be far, far more serious as it would affect any of our users submitting content.

It's only the IP address of the user accounts which has been blocked, which stops any employees of our company based in certain offices from logging in - which is frustrating to say the least, as we'd like our employees to be able to use and understand how to use websites like Digg correctly, rather than spamming or gaming them - ironically the reason just given to me for the block is account creation fraud, yet our accounts were registered at various times over at least a 2 year period - it may be that because I've been encouraging people to take a look at Digg, the sudden action of 8 accounts all being used around the same time lit up a flag somewhere...

The biggest irony is that Digg won't go into details at the moment due to 'user privacy', yet anything from the company IP address isn't private anyway as it's on the company firewall, company computers etc!

Re: Should you stop linking to Wikipedia? (Black Hole SEO)

Dan Thornton — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:54:20 -0000

Cheers for the comment Ari,

I take your point that the situation is created by Google's mysterious algorithm, but at the same time I don't think anyone can ignore the fact that Google controls so much of the search traffic that it's a key factor in the popularity of a site.

I'm a huge advocate for word of mouth and personal recommendations, hence why I value Twitter so much, for example. But Wikipedia has only instituted no follow links since they became available, as has the New York Times and Business Week.

That's not Google mysteriously changing something - it's taking a conscious decision to follow a policy after nofollow was introduced. And as I said above, I'm sympathetic to Wikipedia doing it as a reference source more than I am to commercial media doing it - Wikipedia might benefit from an increased page rank, but it's for a non-profit cause which aims at helping everyone.

Re: Should you stop linking to Wikipedia? (Black Hole SEO)

Dan Thornton — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 17:01:57 -0000

But there are other sources for information - both reference and firsthand.

And like I say, it's the commercial organisations using these practices which I find more concerning.

Re: Re: Citizen journalism and the fake Steve Jobs heart attack

Dan Thornton — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 13:18:36 -0000

Thanks for the comment. Perhaps the answer is to crowdsource the responsibility for citizen journalists to only upload verified stories by building in reputation mechanisms, and reward structures?

Re: Record companies really are screwed…

Dan Thornton — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 04:54:07 -0000

Hi Michael,
Thanks for the comment, but I respectfully disagree. How much money does it take to publish a blog, an MP3 or a video on Youtube, and to spread the word via Facebook, Stumbleupon, Digg or other methods?

What about new methods of funding like slicethepie.com etc, which allow groups of people to invest into bands to fund recordings.

There's the example of the Arctic Monkeys, but what about something on a slightly smaller scale, say The Twitter Song?
(http://www.ihatemornings.com/twittersong/).

Over 200,000 views on Youtube, interviews on national radio, and even selling T-shirt merchandise, without a record company in sight.

Even Doug Morris knows that more plays don't always equal more sales - and that a hit record only needs a few people to hear it and start to spread it to become a major success.

Sorry if that turned into a bit of a list rant, but I really appreciate the comment and discussion - I definitely don't have all the knowledge on the subject - I'd be really keen to nail down specific examples of what a record company brings, and why it can't be replicated...

Re: More fuel for the record company bonfire…

Dan Thornton — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 09:24:21 -0000

So saying that the music audience over the age of 20 is more familiar with music in physical formats than those under 20 is ageist?

Or the fact they are more likely to have financial commitments, careers, houses etc?

I'm not saying people over 20 or 30 can't be downloading music illegally, or won't know how - I'm just saying that they're not going to be as tied in, in general, to digital formats, and more likely to revert to physical formats. Plus they have more assets to be sued for.

They're also, in general, going to have less disposable income for entertainment, particularly in the current financial crisis. I spend far less on music etc than I did before - not due to piracy, but because my money goes on mortgages, heating, petrol etc.

Re: Record companies really are screwed…

Dan Thornton — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 09:28:18 -0000

I don't think we should ignore the majors, just because they're an easy target...

But I take your point about indie networks, Myspace etc...will do some thinking and writing shortly...if you've got more examples and challenges, keep 'em coming...I don't know if I'm right, but I've yet to be proved totally wrong!

Re: Has Microsoft made a major marketing mistake?

Dan Thornton — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:02:23 -0000

Thanks for the all the comments, long and short, agreeing and disagreeing.

I probably could expand my thoughts a little more to give some more background!

I've been gaming for 26 years now, starting with a ZX Spectrum, and including every console from Sega, Nintendo (Up to the Wii), Sony (Up to PS3), MS, etc. So I hopefully don't have the 'fanboy' loyalty to a system that would make me insult alternatives regardless.

I do see some of the intentions and benefits of the update to the 360 dashboard, and I'm glad that MS are taking the time and effort to continue to develop it, rather than waiting till the next gen of consoles.

But what I'm discussing is really from a marketing point of view - every successful brand has a 'belief' with it, from the company, and from the consumer. In consoles, Sony was a great example with the original Playstation, coming into a new market and becoming the coolest option available, regardless of functional spec.

Meanwhile Sega had a cool image with the Megadrive and Sonic etc, but got confused with the MegaCD, 32X etc, and never really recovered (The Saturn and Dreamcast were fine machines but commercial failures).

To use a comparison with PC gaming, it's akin to building the Alienware brand up for a few years, then producing a low spec, low cost Alienware netbook because Asus had some success. Regardless of the actual functionality, Alienware would look like it's copying someone for the sake of it.

I agree you get out of a console what you put in, in terms of games etc, but products are also about beliefs and the feeling you get from them - hence why you pick one newspaper over another, or a website over another, without examining exactly what stories are in each in detail.

I bought into the belief and branding of the 360 at launch until now - the existence of games like Viva Pinata were accessible to children, but for me it was a machine for adults to enjoy online gaming.

Now it doesn't feel like a place where adults can hang out and play games whilst drinking beer and chatting. Now it feels like a place for children and early teens to compare the clothes of their avatar, whilst they tell the 'grandads' to get out of their network...

It's the equivalent of buying Forza Motorsport, playing it for months, and then finding out that overnight someone swapped it for Juiced!

Re: I’m not looking for the wisdom of crowds…

Dan Thornton — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:35:03 -0000

Cheers for the interesting comments.

@Rob - I definitely agree that resources like Wikipedia etc, and those topics outside my network definitely provide a resource, although do find my first instinct is to ask my network via Twitter etc, and then use Wikipedia.

@laurent - I think many people have encountered the echo chamber since the earliest newsgroups and forums! Social Media Monitoring/Buzz Monitoring tools are slightly different, as they aggregate individual posts, comments and thoughts etc. And generally they provide a more quantitative result, with the facility to more easily see the vocal qualitative results, rather than aggregating the thoughts of people around the blogosphere, for example, into a most popular improvement to your website, for example.

There's definitely a role for crowdsourcing, but it's choosing the most appropriate tool for the task, rather than assuming that plugging in a random crowd will solve everything!

Re: Interesting take on digital employment prospects…

Dan Thornton — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:41:49 -0000

Thanks to Giles for adding some of the context I lost in reposting!

And it's cool to see the other comments. I think Nicola's point is important, but I'd suspect that in Collective's case, the plan would be to only hire people in the top right quadrant anyway, as with quite a lot of digital agencies. As Greg said, a lot is about attitude and ensuring you have people who care about their work.

There's the oft-quoted example of people seemingly wedded to their laptop 24/7 - and they're doing it because they love their job and what they do (He says, commenting at 9.40pm!). And they'd rather be doing interesting creative things 24/7, than a 9-5.30pm that they want to escape as soon as possible.

I definitely think we're reaching the point where people that claim no interest in the digital opportunities or existing side of their business are in an increasingly risky position.

Re: How NOT to do social media - The Motorola Mishap

Dan Thornton — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 05:27:49 -0000

Magpie? I think they've got it right that the most profitable part of Twitter is around the content stream - but not sure whether it will be accepted by the majority of users...look forward to some more indepth thoughts on www.140char.com soon!

Re: Mixing comedy with advertising?

Dan Thornton — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 04:52:01 -0000

I don't think Angus would have been able to take parts of the building with him... Not without someone noticing, anyway!

Re: The Christmas wishlist

Dan Thornton — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 10:24:36 -0000

@Ben - Cheers...you know I've followed your blog etc for a while, so I know your work well.. Will definitely be in touch..

@Jonathan Cheers...I had a feeling you'd have some strong wishes...and certainly ones that I think will be shared by a lot of people...I think some of them will take fundamental changes in human nature...and changes to advertising and music will be far slower than anyone would wish for...but I think we'll get there...one day!

Re: Ford’s quick response to online communities which acted in haste

Dan Thornton — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 07:49:13 -0000

Hi, it's the Freshy 2 theme from here: http://www.jide.fr/francais/

Re: Has Microsoft made a major marketing mistake?

Dan Thornton — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 07:50:23 -0000

The 360 was unusual because when it launched, the original Xbox wasn't the leader with the focus on online gaming, yet the 360 persevered and managed to capitalise on the growing trend for multiplayer gaming, combined with the increase of broadband availability around the world

Re: Stop grouping and griping - start thinking and doing

Dan Thornton — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 19:44:15 -0000

I totally agree that it's not about different technologies - it's totally about the focus and drive.

That's partly why I don't think microblogging will ever replace the function of long form blogging - it's much harder to explain the reasoning, focus and clarity around a thought to more than one person and without 20 messages!

I think for me, I was just amazed at myself for feeling bad about not contributing enough to some key communities - and realising how many I'd signed up for over the past year or two and never attempted to engage with - and how many times I've seen other people doing the same thing.

People can start 100 groups to try and achieve something and none of them will get anywhere without the required enthusiasm and effort...

Re: Essential tools for working from the family home

Dan Thornton — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 06:06:42 -0000

@Euan lol...depends on what you're looking for in a pair of headphones! You can buy better ones for noise cancellation etc, but for a relatively budget pair I've found the Sony's pretty good, and they survive being stuffed in my backpack every day for work. I've also used them for at least an hour a day, 5 days a week for probably 18 months, and they haven't fallen apart yet!

Re: Why I wish I was my son…

Dan Thornton — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 06:12:31 -0000

Hi Scott - thanks for the comment. I definitely don't think age stops us using and loving technology - just that for most people it gets harder to find time to play around with it as much as they'd like because they end up having to do so many other things!

Personally, I just hope I have all my faculties when I retire to be able to spend all my time playing with whatever new technology has arrived!

Re: Adding some identity and my SocialMedian shirt.

Dan Thornton — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 19:03:06 -0000

The sad thing is that at the time I started using the avatar, the Stig thing never even occurred to me.

I think it's being used to motorcycle forums where a lot of people use pictures of themselves on bikes, wearing crash helmets...

Re: Google may harm your computer - Malware warning error

Dan Thornton — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 12:04:44 -0000

Cheers for the comments - it certainly seems to have been about 20 minutes of Malware meltdown before recovering.

Re: Cool - I’m a top 40 UK marketing blogger!

Dan Thornton — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 08:25:02 -0000

How strange - something weird must be happening, because I've just written about being at #27 on a new post, and yet you've both suddenly appeared on the old one I linked to?

Re: Why I hate the use of ‘personal brands’

Dan Thornton — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 07:56:12 -0000

Great to have so many interesting comments and debate happening...

I totally agree with Simon, Andrew, Wayne and Louise that elements of what we see businesses doing to marketing themselves, manage reputations, spread awareness etc are all things that can equally apply to individuals - especially in an age where individuals are using online tools to be able to become businesses in their own right in growing numbers.

I think Andrew is right about having it as a perspective, rather than a formal process and something that you shout about - for instance, I've always used the same logo/avatar across all social networking sites despite the fact that hiding behind a crash helmet is a pain when meeting people in real life for the first time - but having started to use it, I was conscious that I should use the same image because people would associate it with me wherever they saw it.

In the same manner, I always try to make sure I'm polite and civil, even when I strongly disagree, because that's what I try to be like offline, and because it's the best way to end up with meaningful interaction rather than a flame war - by the same token, I'd like to have a reputation as someone who is capable of intelligent debate and being helpful where ever possible.

But all of this comes from aspiring to be a position where people might hear about good work I've done, or recommend me, without needing to dress it up in terms like Me.Inc or Personal Branding.

There is an area of celebrity where branding/marketing type crossover definitely happens, and that's with the real superstars who have a value in attaching their name to a product (e.g. Michael Jordan, Air Jordans, the Jordan motorcycle racing team etc).

But even then, I'd probably separate brand 'Jordan', from Michael Jordan. Whether others do the same or not, I don't know.

Probably the trickiest example, rather than Scoble or Louis, would be Gary Vaynerchuk and Winelibrary TV etc. But I'd suspect he'd talk about 'Owning IT!', rather than 'personal branding'...

Re: Why Mark Zuckerberg is right to dismiss Facebook users

Dan Thornton — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 07:43:22 -0000

Hi,
Many thanks for the comments, and it's highlighted that I might need to clarify my thoughts a bit further!

I'm not saying that you should totally ignore vocal users, or consider it wise to make Facebook less usable to generate buzz and controversy. If I thought that was what Mark Zuckerberg was doing, I'd definitely be more vocal in speaking out against it.

What I'm proposing is that it can be a mistake to allow every input from users to define the business strategy and direction of the company - for example, the recent Facebook changes might have made the site initially less usable/more confusing for the average person, but if the eventual aim is to increase brands using Facebook advertising and to allow better data collection, then it might be the right move for Facebook as a business.

Essentially it's a word of caution against jumping on the social media bandwagon and advocating that you take every opinion into account - if you're doing something radically different, a lot of people will speak out as an instinctive reaction before even giving it a try. How many films have been attacked for various reasons by people who haven't even seen or read much about them, for example, or been watered down by focus audiences? I think it was South Park which initially made a focus group of female viewers start crying when they watched it, but by going ahead it became enormously successful.

To get value from listening, monitoring and involving people, it takes a certain amount of awareness and knowledge to set things up in the right way - for instance, the use of ideagoras by the likes of P&G etc is a very specific way of using the wisdom of many individuals outside of the company to be involved in value creation. You need to have a clear idea of what and how you'll respond, and why. For instance, implementing @ replies in Twitter was a hugely important user-driven innovation, and yet the Twitter team haven't responded to the requests to implement groups as yet, and I'd guess that's due to a business reason, rather than hiding away!

Re: Why Mark Zuckerberg is right to dismiss Facebook users

Dan Thornton — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 07:46:02 -0000

Incidentally, without seeing the original memo, we're all operating on hearsay, but if I was trying to make the same point as Mark Zuckerberg, I'd have stated it as "The most disruptive companies choose to ignore users when it makes sense as a business" but it's not quite as snappy.

Re: Why it’s dangerous to compare print figures to website stats

Dan Thornton — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 07:29:06 -0000

Cheers Dave, and totally agree that's another point to include!

Re: Why it’s dangerous to compare print figures to website stats

Dan Thornton — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 09:17:40 -0000

@Doug,

I totally agree (see the section of the post talking about the elephant in the room) - it's not a case of newspapers splitting readerships between print and online - it's a case of that readership scattering to the digital (Computer and mobile) four winds to find whatever is the most appropriate way for them to keep up with life as individuals...

One of my favourite examples is the somewhat niche use of Greasmonkey as a plugin for Firefox to do all kinds of things to websites that the site owner is unlikely to ever know about (My post on it is called 'evidence of end user control')

Part of my current role is attempting to coordinate all the relevant channels and platforms from a marketing perspective...which is a fun challenge!

Re: Ubuntu makes Linux brilliantly simple

Dan Thornton — Tue, 05 May 2009 15:35:15 -0000

Wow! Thanks for a fantastic response, and you've definitely raised some great points.
I totally agree that the biggest barrier with Ubuntu is in installing new applications as most don't allow you to install without compiling, which is going to stop many people.
However, I do think that perhaps there are two things in Ubuntu's favour.
One is that as a technical professional, you're likely to need to install far more applications than many users. And there's probably quite a large group of people running Windows etc at the moment who will never actually install a new application, as they just want to browse the web, write the occasional CV or letter, and that's about it. And with OpenOffice and Firefox installed, they're effectively sorted.
The other aspect is the increasing amount of applications which run 'in the cloud' or are installed as Firefox plugins, for example, which remove much of the need for desktop installs. If Firefox usage continues to rise, and more people become familiar with the ability to install functionality quickly and easily into their browser, this could be a major plus point for Linux/Ubuntu for those who aren't interested in taking everything apart for every application they might want to install!
Personally, I'm probably not proficient enough with installing applications and playing around with Ubuntu yet, but in my case, it's something I wanted to try and learn....

Re: More on business strategy in a networked world

Dan Thornton — Sun, 10 May 2009 14:26:37 -0000

Cheers for the comment, and really interesting points - I'm always amazed in the few conversations I've had about why banks need to change.

The answer for me is the fact I've gone to moneysavingexpert for financial advice on numerous occasions, rather than dealing with a lengthy wait on hold in a phone queue, a queue in branch, and then sitting down with someone who spends their time trying to upsell me to something I don't want before managing to screw up my details for the thing I actually need.

Those organisations that operate as middlemen simply have to figure out what value they can provide, and fast, or they'll be gone and no-one will miss them.

Re: Setting Our Sights A Bit Higher

Dan Thornton — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 15:16:10 -0000

I agree.

Although social media is still pretty rare amongst most companies, most of the ways to use it are fairly obvious after five minutes of playing with it. Be human, honest, transparent and invest time and effort.

But what's really needed is the life-changing stuff. The stuff that helps people live a better life, or changes the national economy - that's going to be more effective at changing individuals and companies than another half-hearted Facebook fan page!

Re: 2008/02/18/wikileaks/

Dan Thornton — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 02:11:09 -0000

I'm torn on this. On one hand, I think it's very valuable to have a place which collects and makes available important leaked information.

On the other hand, newspapers can, and do, already provide this function.

Wikileaks relies on the examination of users to ensure validity, which is pretty shakey from a legal standpoint. Newspapers etc rely on fact checking by staff to ensure that they are safe from challenge if an article gets published.

I think both have a function, and that Wikileaks may bring things to light which may, or may not, have ever reached a suitable newspaper. I've only discovered it fairly recently, so it would have been nice to spend a little more time seeing what it came up with, and how that material was cross-examined.

Re: 2008/07/03/youtube-viacom-users/

Dan Thornton — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 09:30:36 -0000

My response was to contact Viacom, and inform them that from this point onwards I will attempt to boycott all of their products (of which their are many), and to check if any upcoming films I was going to go and see are owned by Viacom... I won't download them illegally, won't discuss them, and as far as I'm concerned, they won't exist.

I am, however, far more likely to go through the hassle of masking my IP address when using any entertainment service.

And encourage people to focus on boycotting Viacom, rather than spending time worrying about Twitter reliability, or how many social networks they belong to...

Re: 2008/12/28/best-blog-post-of-2008/

Dan Thornton — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 07:00:22 -0000

Personally, my favourite was a comparison of the online strategies of Coke/Pepsi
http://thewayoftheweb.net/2008/11/coke-and-peps...

But the most popular post was actually asking if Microsoft was throwing away
the success of the Xbox 360's marketing with a change in direction:
http://thewayoftheweb.net/2008/11/has-microsoft...

Re: Why is the UK not getting social media?

Dan Thornton — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:58:48 -0000

I think Chris has a valid point about the time resource, and importance of Google/Search within the UK (Although I'll never admit it to his face!). But I think it is, and will change.

One important factor is the availability of broadband. Back in 1998 I went to the U.S. for a year, discovered broadband, and essentially ignored a university course to play with websites, forums and chat rooms.

When I came back to the UK, I was faced with AOL dial-up, and my interest faded pretty quick.

It takes a long time for change in a big company in general, akin to trying to U-turn in the QE2. Companies which are now engaging, like Dell for example, started the changes 3 years ago. 3 years ago, I would have gone to Google with any query or question. 3 years ago, I didn't have a Facebook profile, a Twitter account, a job in social media.

I also think there is still a bit more entrepreneurial spirit in the U.S (at least until the current financial crisis), which means that a lot of younger entrepreneurs and business people have quickly risen to a position of influence with broadband as a natural tool of everyday life. And you now see how the effects of that are spreading in companies like Zappos, making mail order shoes cool and social.

And finally, I think some of it could be geographic - the U.S has a very large, diverse and disparate population which consumes media in a different way, and which has proportionally larger corresponding groups of 'early adopters' etc. The example of how blog networks etc have had success when they are U.S. or global, but UK networks have struggled by comparison probably supports this.

Re: What Does Facebook Actually DO for Me

Dan Thornton — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 09:23:18 -0000

You could break it down to the simplest forms of communication. Your phone has messaging, your address book has your contacts in etc.

It's your last point that makes the difference. Facebook has enough of my contacts on it to make it worth being involved.

Re: What I Want a Social Media Expert to Know

Dan Thornton — Tue, 06 May 2008 20:30:51 -0000

Great post, and really interesting. I think the only thing I'd add is that an expert should be able to point to examples of business success, and be able to balance the expectations of quantity from old business with the quality expectations of social media. And be able to convey the value of that, and get results from teams which aren't predisposed to social media.

Re: On Managing A Community

Dan Thornton — Wed, 14 May 2008 12:28:59 -0000

Great, and very interesting post. I'm intrigued why the message has to be explicitly non-marketing (I'm Community Marketing Manager for 10 brands!), but I can guess why...

I would say that a position exactly as detailed would be easier to set up in a smaller, or newer company. In a more traditional set-up, there still needs to be some balance between quality engagement, and at some point, driving significant numbers to what can be fairly established and substantial websites. Some of this is covered in your description, but the problem that normally occurs is in making an explicit link between community engagement, and an end result in attendance/readership/commerce etc.

It's certainly a problem which is fairly prominent in the Measurementcamp gathering I've been lucky enough to end up involved with (http://blog.willmcinnes.co.uk/blog/2008/04/meas...).

With regards to structure, I work for a large and very established publishing company, so if the community resource is increased, it's likely to either mean working with community specialists located within brand teams, or creating a horizontal team of specialists working across a maximum of a couple of brands each - but that's a way off yet!

Re: Note to Social Media Types- Build Your Interfaces

Dan Thornton — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:33:55 -0000

I totally agree, and it's something I have suggested, evangelised, and promoted for a while. Tricky to do when you have an established company, with established technology etc, rather than starting from scratch though!

Modular tech also fits in with the inevitable adoption of widgets and particular desktop widgets. Ivan Pope gives a good account of why widgets will mean the end for websites and urls etc...

Re: Strip Malls for Personal Brands

Dan Thornton — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:24:28 -0000

As Ann said above, the time travel, Walmart line is genius!

And I totally see where the analogy is coming from, and I definitely agree to some extent, and with the comment that the main problem it creates is building an infrastructure to support 20 branches of my main store on every major social network, without using an automated service to spam them all and hit some of my contacts 4 or 5 times (one for each service on which I've connected with them)

Re: Blogging is Not a Numbers Game- Or Is It

Dan Thornton — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 09:27:35 -0000

Congrats - not only are rising numbers an encouragement that people are appreciating what you do, but some stat tracking is also good to see which articles etc appeal to people, and which ones might not be good enough in quality or appeal.

And by that, I don't mean you necessarily have to write to appeal to the lowest common denominator, but it can provide a prompt to see if there's a reason people aren't enjoying it or commenting on it - maybe there's not enough quality linking or resources included, or perhaps the end question isn't open enough etc.

It's easy to get seduced into constantly watching stats, but unless it's just for fun, or for a defined reason, it can be a bit dangerous....particularly when stats like Technorati can vary wildly at times!

Funnily enough, I've finally started getting a list together on my blog of all the free and paid-for stats and monitoring tools.

Re: The Matter of Scale

Dan Thornton — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 05:26:33 -0000

I did a bit of writing about this on my own blog, and I agree with some of the comments above.

I think there are two ways it scales:

1. You expand your team.

or

2. People learn to accept that someone attempting to connect with lots of people won't be able to respond to every message, from every person, individually. I think social media is shown by the fact that if I post something of interest, or occasionally, just a random comment, someone like yourself, or Hugh McLeod, or Chris Anderson etc will respond if possible.
I don't expect to get a response from you if I'm bombarding you with messages about the sandwich I ate this morning.

You can share your stuff with the world, but a smaller percentage of people will actively comment and respond - so it's all about finding the best ways to reach as many of those people as possible, with the reasonable expectation of the amount of time and effort anyone can reasonably put in!

Re: The biggest problem for Facebook’s app platform

Dan Thornton — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 18:28:10 -0000

Some of the apps may be quite useful, but there's so much that is either useless, or doesn't work. It'll take time to sort the good from the worthless.

And the next person to give me a zombie bite or invite me to a food fight will be in serious trouble...

Re: Facebook Hotel?

Dan Thornton — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 07:18:14 -0000

What happens if everything and everyone people think or know they need, is actually in the walled garden?

The majority of people I observe using Facebook are non-tech Europeans who simply see it as a cool way to keep in touch, and a majority of them didn't engage with Facebook, Virb or even Instant Messaging.

They don't have a need for multiple sites for different purposes, or to aggregate a number of RSS feeds.

In an entirely open world, people will build social and physical barriers to entry to separate themselves, just as they did in early towns and spaces.

Re: What I was using to hit Facebook — unreleased Plaxo Pulse

Dan Thornton — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 08:44:12 -0000

I'm not a user or fan of Plaxo, as I've always been hit by lots of unnecessary update information by contacts of mine who do use it...

But if the application collected name, email address and birthday, is that really valuable personal information you don't want to give out? Then take it off your Facebook profile!

It would take most people about 30 seconds to find my name and email address on countless websites, including my business, and my blog. And despite the fact I tend to keep my birthday private, I'm fairly sure that it would be available on some sites I've forgotten.

If I've done that, then it's publicly available and out there, whether it's to five friends, or five thousand. It's down to you to decide what information your friends might scrape, or copy and paste into Outlook, and what you might wish to remain private.

After all, how do ya think Spam email works, for crying out loud?

If you think this is scary, I take it you haven't heard of Spokeo?
http://thewayoftheweb.blogspot.com/2007/12/spok...
Monitor all your friends, across lots of networks, without them knowing...

Re: While blogging in crisis job #1 is listening

Dan Thornton — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 06:17:06 -0000

I always try to link to as many sides of a debate as I can, and I really enjoy when people come and challenge my perceptions - if anything, it helps me either make my own opinion more comprehensive, or proves me wrong - either way, I get a better picture of what I'm trying to write about or discuss.

My Google shared items are:
http://www.google.com/reader/shared/00013493085...
And hopefully I'll get round to putting them in a feed widget at some point on my blog...

The only challenge is that blogging is not my primary occupation or role, so the time I get to spend sharing such items on Friendfeed, for example, is pretty limited - but as more technology comes along to make it easier to share across platforms, I'm always happy to do it...

Re: While blogging in crisis job #1 is listening

Dan Thornton — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 06:20:43 -0000

Incidentally, is there a way to reduce the duplication that occurs when you subscribe to Google Reader shared items via RSS?

I've only got about 10 people subscribed, but along with the 200+ website subscriptions, it means the same story can occur 10+ times - useful for analysis, but not for scanning through the feed for important information.

Re: 200+ Internet Marketing Gurus on Twitter

Dan Thornton — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 09:53:13 -0000

Not sure I'd claim guru status but I work in social media/community marketing every day...

http://www.twitter.com/badgergravling

Re: Twitter, Your “Get Out of Jail Free” Card

Dan Thornton — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 10:15:42 -0000

Great story, and a fortunate outcome for the individual in question...

Not sure I'd always rely on social media as the sole mechanism for self preservation, but if you can reach the right people quickly and effectively it makes perfect sense.

It reminds me of projects like the Amnesty Uncensored blog widget from a couple of years ago that displayed random snippets from censored works which led to imprisonment - because enough people displaying it made the imprisonment completely pointless...

Dan Thornton's last blog post..Don't assume social media solutions are the only answer

Re: Poll: Your top reason for attending marketing conferences?

Dan Thornton — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 12:19:59 -0000

When it comes to technology, I tend to find a better response by sitting down with a laptop and a new application and seeing what it does, and how I can break it - then blogging/Tweeting about it and comparing other opinions.

The main reason for attending any conference for me is to meet people face-to-face if it hasn't been possible in the past. Which makes any that charge for attendance comparatively expensive compared to just nipping down the pub.

Re: Online Marketing, Internet Marketing or Web Marketing?

Dan Thornton — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 11:06:00 -0000

I stick away from 'online' 'web' 'internet' etc, as it limits you to a technology defined silo.

I specialise in Community Marketing (As opposed to Social Media Marketing or WOM Marketing!!!) which is appropriate because it's about the methods employed, rather than the technology used. Hence why I work across offline, online, and mobile media.

Re: What is Your Social Media Marketing Strategy?

Dan Thornton — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 14:37:44 -0000

Social Media Marketing, or, in my case, Community Marketing, is definitely being included in Strategic Marketing at Bauer, and is also being readily embraced by 90% of the marketing, editorial, and even advertising teams I work with as Community Marketing Manager.

Internal resource constraints will always be an issue until the available metrics and measures of ROI are readily accepted throughout an organisation, but I think it's very important for internal involvement at all levels - even if the implementation and certainly the advice and guidance come from external sources.

Re: @ Midem: U2 Manager Backs Sticking P2P Culpability On ISPs

Dan Thornton — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 11:26:37 -0000

If ISPs are forced to police every user of their service, surely that will lead to increased costs for everyone to cover the implementation of new practices, and action to kick-off illegal file sharers (and sort out those incorrectly penalised, as is bound to happen).

Isn't it time that the entertainment industry finally looks at ways to encourage payment via new business models, instead of penalising all and sundry, and blaming everyone else for their current problems?

There are plenty of reasons for having broadband, including online games, surfing the web, streaming legal music and TV etc. And to tar everyone under the age of 20 as an illegal file sharer shows the attitude which has turned me away from the entertainment industry.

And I'm writing this as a 30-year-old with a huge CD and vinyl collection, who would probably have never heard PJ Harvey, one of McGuiness' other acts, unless someone had illegally made a C90 cassette tape for me years ago. And the reason C90 tapes didn't replace album sales is because albums offered better quality, were longer lasting etc. Now to combat piracy, the music industry needs to look at how it can offer more to make purchases worthwhile...

There are plenty of people exploring legitimate music services, ranging from last.fm to slicethepie, which allows users to invest in new bands. If the music industry is really interested in surviving, then this is where it should be looking.

Noone tell him that people have apparently started swapping MP3 players to share music, or he'll be after Apple as well.