DISQUS

Max,

I'm sorry for your loss. I know you would much prefer not to have this story to tell.

But I'm impressed with Facebook's response. This sounds like a good policy, and their note to you strikes me as thoughtful and appropriate. Is this the same company that trips over their own feet on privacy issues? Because I think they got this one right.

Nathan

Twitter is commonly included by the social media analysis companies (43 of 62 in my August 2008 survey). It's interesting, though, to see the cross-pollination of social media analysis and web analytics. The combination has potential.

Wow, I haven't heard that one before. Thanks, Mike! (And there's a lot more coming this year...)

There are still differences. You can trade off price and features, where the differences in data collection and analytics really show up. Beyond that, application features really set some apart: charting, report generation, user-customizable search, workgroup management and workflow, integration with other systems... It's not a commodity yet.

The next step is to add a little processing to the feeds (filtering for keywords or popularity, eliminating duplicates). If you want to get fancy, it's not hard to put the result on a web page, such as the one Marshall Kirkpatrick described:

http://marshallk.com/how-to-build-an-rss-and-bl...

Maybe the Microsoft upgrade tax isn't so bad, after all. At least I know where my data is.

Slow day at the office today? ;-)

Nathan Gilliatt's last blog post..links for 2008-07-31

Is this the opposite of a Yogi Berra quote? It's so hard to find, everyone goes there?

There's a lot of variety between the free tools and the high-end options you've listed under The Pro Stuff. In the course of collecting information on about 60 vendors, I've found commercial tools starting under $10/month, though of course capabilities go up with price. Some of the commercial suppliers also offer free versions, which I recently listed:

http://net-savvy.com/executive/tools/monitoring...

Popcorn here! Get your hot popcorn here!

Real men play pong with paddles.

Sure it is. It's just not 4.000 yet.

Along with all of the other details, I would remember that Ford is a global enterprise, and that the discussions are happening around the world in multiple languages. "Listening" is a complex problem for a company like Ford, with multiple brands addressing multiple market segments in virtually every geographic market.

As for early adopters, even they are unlikely to claim that everyone in the organization “gets it.” IBM is also looking for a social media evangelist to help their marketing groups get up to speed.

While monitoring your name, remember to monitor common misspellings, too. I couldn't begin to tell you how many times the second T in my last name is left off, and a search on the correct spelling would miss those.

There is the small matter of live programming. People want to watch sports, some news events, and the Oscars (or so I'm told) as they happen. Streaming all of that isn't easy, and existing broadcast technologies work well.

Also, watching a purchased disc multiple times doesn't incur multiple fees. As the parent of a young child, you will soon experience the joy of seeing the same show over and over, and streaming the favorite (again) isn't how you'll want to do it.

Looks like it's too late already, but it's still 34% off. Not all bad. :-)

I'm in.

"Skip this step" is your friend.

http://www.twitter.com/gilliatt

Robert, it's ironic to see you writing about "speaking... to corporations." I don't believe you have *ever* spoken to a corporation. Corporations are legal fictions. They're inert--they don't understand anything. They do, however, employ people, some of whom "get it" and many who don't.

If memory serves, you became known by putting a human face on a rather large corporation.

So, a group of people from large corporations are going to get together and work on common issues as a community. What's the problem with that?

Next time. That's the first day of the WOMMA Summit.

Thanks for the plug, Jim! Sorry you're not going to make it this time, though.

I just love that a Forrester report reminds you of buying your Forester. ;-)

Skype is also spreading the word. It has a nice little reminder function.

The irony is that KBCO is a Clear Channel station.