Mashable; ‘The Social Media Guide’, the monstrous mash-up blog that opened up the world of Social Media at the helm of Scottish born Pete Cashmore. The site quickly became the leading new media website in the world due to it being the most comprehensive and active Social Media News site of recent years.

As it has expanded in size, recruiting more and more writers from different journalistic backgrounds, it has made a transition into wider areas of Digital Technology where the competition is greater and the audience is larger.

Formally known as ‘The Social Media Guide’… Now that the slogan is no longer present on the site, what kind of site are Mashable now?

Cashmore can see the opportunity with the amount of press and traffic his site receives daily. Therefore, maybe it should be leaping into reporting on all things digital/technical.
But could this transition be more of an innovative move by Cashmore; knowing that Social Media is losing the ‘what is social media’ factor that made his baby ever so popular in the first place?

Facebook recently achieved a landmark milestone in digital history, by reaching 500 million users. Funny, considering it was only a year ago that we were still trying to prove that Social Media wasn’t a fad.

Mashable’s new 2010 re-design has dropped the tagline ‘The Social Media Guide’ and opened up it’s news wings to expand into all areas of digital technology.
It had been reporting on most new technology news since launch but had always put a social media spin on it.
Only recently, has it decided to devote a large portion of it’s articles to technology without the social fluff.

With all businesses, as you expand into other areas, you face more and more competition. Where you may dominate your specific niche (in this case Social Media); if you decide to focus on multiple areas, such as Web Technology, Mobile and Business for example, you will find yourself not only taking away the USP of your site, but also confusing your core market (which in this case im not too sure what that is for Mashable).

I tweeted about this exact topic recently and the response i received was interesting. A few replies highlighted that while the engagement on Mashable is low in comparison with their ’share factor’, the point was raised that most people would rather share an article and discuss with their own network than comment directly within the article itself.

I guess that makes sense, and no-one can argue with their analytics, as it’s plain to see that Mashable receive some pretty dominating numbers.

However, as the place to visit for all new media information, wouldn’t you expect at least 0.01% of their 3 million daily page views to translate into more than their average of 16 comments per post?

Each of Mashable’s articles receive the best part of 1000 Twitter Retweets and the Facebook share’s are somewhat lower. For every 1000+ shares, we see an average of 16 comments, which to me indicates, that while we love to recycle content and share knowledge with our networks (for whatever ego boosting illusion of intelligence we want to create), as ‘Social Medium’s’, we chose to not pay much attention to the source.

I’d love to investigate into this further and really challenge the concept of sharing articles and how does it really coincide with the definitive definitions of Social Media (if there is a definitive) or at least acknowledge that sharing doesn’t always go hand in hand with ‘engagement and interaction’.

If the King Kong site of Social Media is happy to knock out relentless articles daily and keep it’s followers sharing the content, but not directly engaging; in my opinion (and that’s all this is) Mashable is losing a severe amount of brand equity, as the amount of time their average reader actually spends on the site would be minimal.

Mashable is a force, that is obvious. It’s writers know their stuff and while some of their articles are completely pointless the majority are informative and relevant.

But ask yourself this; when you visit Mashable what do you expect to find?

I can’t speak for anyone else, but do we really want to visit Mashable and see the same iPhone article that can be found on Tech Crunch, Engadget or Gizmodo?

Do we want to find Money and Finance information that we could see more comprehensively on Money Saving Expert? Do we want to watch the latest movie trailers in their Entertainment section?

Mashable is the site that made Social Media easy for people to understand and keep track of as it grew and grew.

Personally, while it’s great to be ‘that one site’ that tries to report on EVERYTHING going on in new media, at the same time, there is a huge area of confusion for the consumer.

Pete Cashmore explains in his interviews that Mashable started as a ‘mash-up’ of content on the Internet. Yet it’s tagline was Social Media and it became famous for being the Social Media Guide, not for being a source of all things digital.

I doubt Mashable will care whether it’s network interact on their website or share the content without thinking. As a business they are successful and no doubt their traffic brings ridiculous revenue; but it’s only a matter of time before the masses realise Mashable’s content isn’t as revolutionary as it used to be and people will get bored of retweeting the same recycled content.

Note: If you are one of the thousands of people that Retweet Mashable’s article’s but don’t have an opinion.
Please stop. The whole world of Twitter is following Mashable and we all see their feed.
At least be creative and voice an opinion for sharing.Similar Posts:

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I was having a conversation recently with a friend about his business model. We were throwing ideas back and forth and then he asked about interaction and engagement with his market. (The most famous words in a Social Media Guru’s dictionary).

Engagement and Interaction… Engagement and Interaction… Engagement and Interaction! It’s all i keep hearing from Mashable content recyclers.

“Social Media is Engagement and Interaction and by utilising Web 2.0 in accordance to your audience you can build a reputable network and substantial ROI.”

The old boring word known as ‘Communication’ is dead. Revitalizing buzz words such as Engagement and Interaction are leading the way and a whole universe of confused brands and businesses are throwing money at rogue ‘Digital Marketers’ to explain to them what these words actually mean.

Want to know what it all really means? Here’s a simple tip that i won’t charge you a ridiculous day rate for:

It means you have to LISTEN to your audience when they speak, REPLY when comments are posted and RESEARCH available tools that are relevant to your campaigns.

I understand that not everybody is savvy with the online media world, so if you still want to pay me to teach you the fundamentals of new age words that you don’t understand; then drop me an email and i’ll be more than happy to assist. Ca-ching!
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For more comics and illustrations, head over to http://theoatmeal.com

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It’s the year 2010 and isn’t technology wonderful? We only have to see an influx of trends about the latest iPhone news leak and it sparks off more of a debate than the war in Afghanistan.

The image below paints a nice colourful picture of the evolution of 21st Century Technology.

Click to enlarge

As intelligent specimens we are blessed with the ability to do pretty much anything, bar fire red beams out of our eyes or fly.

We can have whatever we desire; if we use our heads to find a way of getting it, and we can be whatever we want to be; again if we use our heads.

Yet i find as time progresses, as technology enhances and as everything appears to become easier; people are generally making life more and more complicated for themselves.

This begs the questions ‘Are We Spoiled By Technology?’

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What with Social Media, Mobile Technology and the wonders of Internet Search; how hard is it really to make that network, build a brand and climb to the next level?

Now, there is no need for me to reminisce on the days when people actually made of an effort than just 140 characters to communicate, but there was a time before Twitter, Facebook, Blackberry Messenger and Email that we still managed to get things done and enjoy life.

Don’t start assuming i’ve gone from being 25 to 65 overnight, cos that orange bus pass holder is a few years away yet. But what is beginning to bug me, is the way technology has become the forefront of everyone’s lives; to the extreme, that we are living our lives in a digital world and actually neglecting the essence of reality around us.

Here’s an example: Last week i actually said, “Im coming off Twitter for a bit, cos im beginning to feel like a stalker.” So i did… i left Twitter for a whole day; only to get a Blackberry ping AND a text message from two people asking ‘why i didn’t reply to their Twitter messages.’ So it appears everyone wants to be stalked.

“Ok ok chill… i’ll log on and i’ll reply.” and that was that.
*Exits digital rehab and heads back to the crack world.*

Even more exaggerated is the fact, that we actually get annoyed if our technology may either slow, stall or stop working. Now, think about that for a second…

• Do you rely on technology so much that it affects your emotions?
• Have you ever broken a gadget of some kind because it didn’t do something you wanted or better yet…
• Do you have dents around your house from where you have chucked the gadget at the wall?

Were these avenues of communication invented so that we can broaden our networks, expand on our connections and generally get things done easier?

… or were they actually created to keep us contained?

Yes i am writing this post in a very contradictory fashion using the same technology that i question; but ask yourself…

• Are you using technology to keep up with the trends or is it essential to your business?
• Are you using technology for your benefit or someone else’s?

Here’s one for all you Social Media Celebrities…

• Do you find yourself acting as a completely different persona in front of a screen to how you would act in person?

Now pause to think about those questions carefully before you disregard them.

Technology can be just like a drug… Give someone a little taster and if they like it, they will want a little more.
Give them a lot more and they get addicted, they forget how they lived without it and begin to lose control.

I find myself admitting myself into the digital rehab now and again, turning off my Blackberry, temporary deleting my Facebook and taking a step back from Twitter. Why you may ask?

Because productivity is based on being focused and it’s very difficult to be focused if you are juggling between gadgets, websites, networks and applications.

While you may feel like you are out there being very productive, chatting to people across the globe using your incredibly ambitious 140 characters to compile the most interesting passage of your day; the irony of it all is that you probably do so whilst sitting in your pants in your bedroom.

Pause!

• When was the last time you pulled our a notepad and brainstormed productive ideas whilst you have those spare minutes?

• When was the last time you read a book, maybe something like Rich Dad, Poor Dad? (That’s what i am currently reading).

Take a day off technology and refresh your brain… you deserve it!

“Everything is amazing and nobody is happy”
Uploaded by Meowbay. – Click for more funny videos.

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Not my usual post, but rather than bookmark this i wanted to archive it here. I love slideshare; have watched many intuitive slide shows from that spot. This one probably tops them all.

As the slide states; everyone seems to spend forever on the brief and the pitch without even an understanding of what the actual consumer wants. Spend more time talking to your market and less time talking for them. That is all.

I’ll be back shortly with a post that relates nicely to this.

Reference:

http://www.slideshare.net/garethk/the-brief-in-the-post-digital-ageSimilar Posts:

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Well hello there people; i have been craving slight withdrawal symptoms for a while as the last Twitter based post i wrote got such great feedback yet since then i have been rather busy with work and projects.

But, never fear im back now; with an informal app-off (face-off for apps) between Blackberrys two leading (or only) Twitter clients.

Originally when i first downloaded Ubertwitter i thought; “what a crap name to be sitting on my home screen. Why can’t Twitter for Blackberry (BB Twitter) make an official application?” Well their ears must have been burning because a good nine months later they released Twitter for Blackberry. WIN!

After using Ubertwitter consistently since i purchased a Blackberry, i decided to welcome the new app with open arms; because who doesn’t like an ‘official’ application in their palm. It’s like a rosy rainbow with all the nice colours and fonts right?

The application works and feels like the similar Facebook for BlackBerry app; not necessarily a good thing, as working with it takes too much effort. Most BlackBerry Twitter applications require patience, but Twitter for BlackBerry is the worst. Much of the time, the screen remains blank while the data loads.

Where there are a few positives; there are too many negatives. Ubertwitter introduced the predictive user function which allows you to find a follower by typing a few characters from their name, yet BB Twitter did not incorporate this.

BB Twitter also has a ridiculously slow refresh time; without even a message saying ‘go make some dinner or take your dog for a walk cos we are gonna be a while refreshing.’ How inconsiderate.

I mean lets face it, we use Twitter for simplicity. Yet this application is everything but simple. It should be quick, snappy and vibrant; giving the user the ‘on the go’ experience rather than the ‘i can’t go anywhere with this brick now’ feeling.

Personally i’ve reverted back to Ubertwitter and found already my handset is running a lot faster.

As for the future of the official Twitter application on my handset; who knows, maybe i’ll give it another download when the bugs are fixed. If they don’t step up to the plate on the second coming the application will be dead and buried like Steven Seagal’s acting career.

http://webworkerdaily.com/2010/02/24/twitter-for-blackberry-review/

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/trending-tech/the-official-twitter-for-blackberry-app-vs-ubertwitter/article1529962/Similar Posts:

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Via The OatmealSimilar Posts:

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It’s not rocket science that Twitter was hugely influential to the success of Tinie Tempah’s Pass Out heading to the top of the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in March 2010.

But why is Twitter so important to the marketing campaign of an artist?

Are the artists that are not utilising Twitter to it’s full capacity missing out?

Are they jeopardizing their career also?

I read a blog post recently written by DJ Semtex. He touched on some key points that Musicians and Artists should follow if they are serious about a career in this industry and the post picked up some interesting comments from both sides of the spectrum.

I then decided to investigate into 10 Reasons Why Musicians and Artists Must use Twitter.

We have all heard cliche terms like “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know” right?
Well i say “it’s not what you know and who you know, it’s what you do with what you know and who you know.”

With Twitter you actually have the opportunity to understand how a person’s mind thinks, by the way they construct their short messages. You can witness their daily activities and you have the ability to network with them if you can work out what makes them tick. It’s all about knowing how to Influence the Influencer…

As Andrew Davis of The Worst Kept Secret states, “They say a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Well, the way to a DJ’s turntable is through his ego.”

What’s the point of being in this industry if you’re not going to interact with your fan base?

Your fans are your market and will make or break your career. So many artists make basic fundamental errors by failing to engage with their market and thus are disconnected. If you make the effort to be at one with your fans, they will embrace you like you are the most popular person at school.

Since the rise of Social Media over the last few years, the platform for you to go from zero to hero with the expense of minimal finances has been getting bigger and bigger. But it appears, the more resources available, the more complicated people make life for themselves.

Twitter keeps it simple; hashtag # your regular tweets to associate trends and focus on utilising your core followers to retweet for you. Heard about the 80/20 rule?
No. Click here.

140 Characters to write isn’t a lot of effort and with modern technology, we have Twitter and every other networking capability in the palm of our hands.
So use it your advantage. Once you have your target market on your side, the rest is history.

The days of watching the news, listening to radio and reading newspapers for daily updates are long behind us. Twitter is now the forefront of daily gossip and headlines; by following the people who are always up to date on their gossip and by paying attention to the trending topics you will always be on top of your game.

Yes it’s no hidden mystery that Google records all of your tweets. Scary? Slightly.

We know the Internet is one huge archive of your life that will NEVER get deleted. Anything you say on Twitter can be found in Google so be careful if you don’t want your life story brought to you in ten years.

Unfortunately when you use sites like Bit.Ly or Tiny URL for your links; Google can’t find them.

Yeah Twitter is a Social Networking site mainly used for networking and communication; but as a traffic source it can supply a large proportion of the links to any website.

By using tracking sites like Google Analytics linked directly to your home page or self-hosted blog, you can clearly monitor where your traffic is coming from and what keywords work and don’t. Use this to your advantage and tweet hot content, blog posts, videos, links and your homepage regularly.

The Internet is the gateway to personal branding, giving you the ability to qualify yourself to your market as whatever you want them to view you as. Check out this post i wrote with tips on ‘building a personal brand using social media.’

Start by capturing your perfect Twitter Handle (name). If you can’t find your perfect name try this site Tweexchange where you can buy names that are currently taken.

Then work out how to brand your Twitter Page for your followers. Both Twitpaper and Twitterimage can help with that.

Make your bio clear, precise and link to your BEST website, NOT your Facebook page. (Rookie error!)

How can you expect a Record Label or Company to take you and your music seriously, if you don’t?

Check out a post Mashable wrote on Twitter branding for further reference.

Both fundamentals 8 and 9 are about using the very strong Twitter Search Engine http://search.twitter.com. If you don’t use this, get using it. The advanced search options allow you to search for keywords and phrases, all in real time!

Meaning when you post a link, question or topic, you can monitor exactly who is responding and what they are saying. Try it out and type a few words that you want to search for. It is a VERY POWERFUL TOOL!

Remember those days when you would wish you could know what everyone thinks about you?

Well the Twitter Search Engine option gives you that sixth sense. Take the time to search for keywords about you, your brand and your market. Knowledge is power!

Like Google, where asking the right question will give you the right answer, Twitter works very similar, but you have to ask the questions your fan-base want to hear. Give them the option to have the engagement for further conversation and play to their mindset.

You want to get them talking so use your head. If you ask the right questions and give comprehensive answers you will very quickly become a popular trend for interaction.

Also catch me on Twitter.com/iAmLuca and if you like the content you read on my site, you can subscribe via RSS Feed or via Email.

As always this is my personal blog and is meant for light entertainment reading and not be quoted or used in professional practice. See my disclaimer if you have any issues.

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“If you for a second, don’t believe in what you are doing, whether it is your personal brand, or the product you represent, you need to get out now.” Gary Vaynerchuk

I have been meaning to write a post on Personal Branding for a while now. I spent 40 mins watching this video twice and making notes on Gary’s speech, before deciding that i cannot explain Personal Branding with more passion and energy than Gary does.

So below i have taken the 10 most significant parts from the video and constructed them into this post about Personal Branding.

First and for most, I really want to thank everyone for reading this. I mean, this is outrageously humbling. Every single person who is reading this, since your here, there’s no doubt in my mind that you’re going to kill it.

1. Have Patience and Passion

Lets starts with passion, there’s way too many people right now that are doing stuff they hate. There is no reason in 2010 to do rubbish you hate. None. Promise me you won’t, because you can lose just as much money being happy as hell.

Have patience; success does not happen over night, but it also won’t happen unless you ‘get off the bench and into the game.’

2. Listen To Your Community

Listen to your users absolutely; but caring and understanding your users is a lot more effective. People listen but they don’t do anything!!! Do something, answer those emails, give a shit about your community, care about your user base… That’s what you need to do.

You need to care about everything and it starts with yourself. Look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself,

“What do I want to do every day for the rest of my life?” Do that. I promise that you can monetize that.

3. What’s Your Legacy?

Legacy is greater than currency. Has everybody completely grasped that your grand children are going to watch and see everything you’ve even done? I think about that every single day. I want my grand kids to be proud of me.

4. Hustling and Building Business

Do you know what I hustle about? I hustle about meeting every single person on earth and building a relationship to create another exciting opportunity.

Hustle is the most important word, ever… and that’s what you need to do. You need to work hard.
We’re building business here, this isn’t about parties and wasting your life away watching relentless episodes of daytime television and Eastenders.

Getting a load of users or Social Media statistics is not a business model. Make some cash along the way!

5. Believe In What You Do

If you’re pumping out good stuff, people will follow. But if for a second, a half a second, that you don’t believe in what you’re doing; whether it’s your personal brand or the product you represent; you need to get out now. Please!

6. Understand The Game Is Changing

We only get to play this game one time. One life.

The way everything is changing is unbelievable. Everybody is consuming content everywhere. The people that controlled it; Newspapers, Television and Radio are no longer in control!
That is a huge factor that people have not totally wrapped their head around. You need to build brand equity.

It’s about brand equity in yourself, because you never know what could happen.

7. Networking and Being Transparent

I love people, so networking is a huge advantage for me. Get out there and network. People are the people that are going to help you. The only way to succeed now is to be completely transparent… Completely.

Everything is exposed. Everything you do. So your legacy is your ultimate life. It’s all you’ve got. And you can build so much on that. When you have brand equity, anything can happen.

8. Using Social Media Tools

What’s very imperative to me right now is using the tools. Too many people are trying to figure out which tools to use. Shall I use Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, YouTube, which tools shall i use?

All of them… Your user base, and the people that care about you; you need to connect with them anyway you can, everywhere you can, as often as you can. That interaction is essential. Communication is essential!

9. What We Do Is Real

Look at Reality TV, that’s about as real as shit! That stuff is not real. But we still like it because it’s somewhat real. This other stuff is very real. The place where we play is very real. And it is a massive, massive opportunity.

I hope people wrap there head around that, because we are going through a gold rush of branding. In the old days to become a brand you needed a lot of mainstream media attention. But now, if you get talked about enough in social media; blogs, networks, videos, you can get there.

You can build your brand. Your companies brand.

But it all starts with that first moment when you look in the mirror and you ask yourself, what do I want to do?

10. Time To Do Damage

If you want this, if you’re miserable, if you don’t like it or you want to do something else and you have a passion somewhere else. Work nine to five. Spend a couple hours with your friends and family and then spend seven to two in the morning putting your game into action!
Who says you have to work to someone else’s schedule anyway?

But that’s it. It’s not going to happen any other way. You’re not going to make stickers and stand on the street selling your ideas, cos really nobody cares about you until you make yourself heard. Get off the bench and into the game!!!

“We only get to play this game one time… one life.”

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This is a very nice blog right? I think so, but i’d be lying if i said it made any money.

While i love working on some exciting projects, freelancing and helping out others with advice and support so that they can connect the dots to achieve their dreams; i am searching for an opportunity that can provide a steady income and put me on that path for a prosperous career.

To date i have signed up to 15+ recruitment sites/agencies, sent out over 50 applications, with specifically designed covering letters and CV’s… but, i have had no success as yet.

So here is the question… Do you know anyone that can help me find a job?

Over the last few years i have been involved in the Music/Entertainment Industry utilizing Digital Marketing and Social Media to create leads, expand on networks and generate return on investment for both my own ventures and my clients.

I am looking to expand on this by joining an Entertainment/Music/Digital Company or Agency that is specializes in or is interested in using Digital strategy to accomplish targets and goals.

With experience of working with large brands, such as Orange, Sony Ericsson, Channel 4, Myspace, O2, Luminar and Comic Relief. I have managed Entertainment Events to a consumer market of over 100,000 people, generating company profits in excess of £250,000 and distributed online content and material to millions of people worldwide using strategic Social Media, SEO and Email Marketing techniques.

You can click on my Testimonials Page to see what some of these clients have said.

My strengths are in understanding strategy and using whatever tools i have at my disposal to get the job done. I am a deep thinker and i plan everything i do within business so that i am always prepared for any turn of events.
The last few years i have developed strategies and tactics in and around Social Media; while i do not claim to be a ‘guru or expert’, i have the knowledge and experience to make and save any company money by expanding on the tools of the Internet.

I am passionate about ‘connecting people’. I know it sounds cliche, but i believe that one of the most important things in life, is to use what skills you have to help others. That is why i created this blog and it is why i assist so many creative people with direction and advise so that they can also connect the dots to find their success.

The motivation for what i do comes from a life within Music having spent the last ten years in the Music Industry at both education and professional level. Music is a Universal Language and one way or another it connects everybody… Just the same way Social Media does, that is why they go hand in hand.

I am a very enthusiastic person and can bring energy and passion to any job. I believe that a happy team creates a happy work environment and thus creates success in the workplace and ultimately a happy client.
I am willing to start at a low level position to grow through the ranks, learning the specifics of what the company/organization is built on.

I believe that due to my flexibility, strong work ethic and commitment, I can be a smart investment within the appropriate company or project. All you need to do is pick up the phone and ring me, pass my contacts onto someone you think may be interested or drop me an email/comment and i can assure you, you wont regret it.

Email: info@iamluca.co.uk
Phone: +44 (0) 7849 975 561
BB Pin: 20EE91E1
Twitter: @iAmLuca

For more information, i have a CV available upon request that will elaborate in depth on each of the points raised above.

I can also be available for an interview at any time. Thanks for reading and i hope to hear from someone soon!

LucaSimilar Posts:

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