Citizen-Generated Media (CGM)

Yet More Lists

PC Magazine has compiled a list of the top one hundred websites that it terms “undiscovered.”  I must be in the right circles, as I regularly consult over one-third of this list.  Still, it’s a good multi-subject assemblage.  Project Censored compiles lists of stories that the mainstream media either ignored or gave short shrift, “The News That Didn’t Make The News.”

You Can't Be Careful Enough

They say that bad television inspires bad behavior, and here’s proof.

Here’s more: A certain Nosy Parker in Seattle posts an ad on Craig’s List suggesting that “she” loves to be dominated, and waits for 24 hours and collects all the slathering male responses, then posts them on a website for all to see.  Some of these men posted from their work addresses, while others sent photos of their private parts, while still using their real names. Over 170 responses were received in one 24-hour period. This “false bait” scenario was made famous by NBC’s Dateline, a show that garnered top ratings for establishing and secretly filming pedophile traps around America.

Expect repercussions in the Pacific Northwest as this unwanted publicity ascends through the Internet hierarchy.  At the same time, another Internet sensation was unmasked as naked self-promotion.  “Lonelygirl15” created a firestorm, probably among the same population that fell for R. F. Jason’s Craig’s List stunt.  As reported by the Los Angeles Times, it was that big bad talent agency Creative Artists that was behind the buzz.  More details and links in the New York Times article by Virginia Heffernan.  Soon, these hoaxes and annoying privacy invasions should be sufficient to deter all but the dimmest of thrill-seeking web surfers. By the way, Craig’s List seems to be enjoying land office growth, and according to Online Media Daily, now receives almost 14 million hits a month.

Citizen-Generated Media on the March

Forrester Research recently released a new report: Social Computing: How Networks Erode Institutional Power, And What To Do About It.  While it costs $299, POMO Blogmeister Terry Heaton thinks it’s worth the price, as it provides a roadmap to a murky technological future, where power is likely to shift from traditional institutions to virtual communities.  For my thoughts on similar subjects, take a look at The Blog Ahead, previewed on this site.

Blogging Goes Mainstream!

New York is a small limited circulation magazine sold mostly to locals who value the restaurant tips and entertainment reviews.  What makes it stand out from similar magazines in Houston or Denver is the waterfront it covers – the down-and-dirty trenches and foxholes of Manhattan, where new trends come to breed.  The cover article on this week’s New York is entitled “The Blog Establishment; The Emerging Hierarchy of the New Media” by Clive Thompson, and it explains how blogging, like every other human endeavor, has created a hierarchy and an aristocracy.  This article and Dave Sifry’s State of the Blogosphere constitute a good introduction to this ever-changing media target.

Dave Sifry’s Technorati Charts State of the Blog Union

By periodically re-visiting his State of the Blogosphere report and by continually revising it, Dave Sifry has begun a series of portraits in blogospherical time, that will comprise, when all added together, a history of the rapid growth and helter skelter expansion of this most personal of the new Internet modalities.  We are now at 28 million weblogs and counting. About ten per cent of them add new posts weekly. How far can this grow before it hits its natural glass ceiling?  What to do about “splogs,” the inevitable moniker for spam blogs?  Why have tags taken over as the primary blog naming convention?  How are blogs affecting the mainstream media? Why is the Magic Middle more important to the fate of blogging than the Long Tail?  Sifry’s metrics are going to go a long ways toward defining the lightning in a bottle that the blogosphere has become.

Web 2.0 Basharama

I thought I might beat a dead horse a bit more in reviewing some excellent comments made by Fred Wilson. I touched upon some of these ideas back in an October post, but Fred’s descriptor of Web 2.0 as an oxymoron is quite a compelling read as a follow on and I am writing a more thorough article along these lines as well.  Look for more on this topic in the coming weeks.

Web 2.0 Panel response posted by Tony Baer on NYSIA.org

Tony Baer of onStrategies writes a pretty interesting assessment of the Web 2.0 Panel discussion at NYSIA on January 23^rd. You can view it here.

Come to think of it, I did ask a question about what effect Web 2.0 “models” might have on Enterprise investment.  Thanks to Tony for reminding me they did not address.

Web 2.0 Panel, New York Software Industry Association - NYC

OK, I did not sit on this NYSIA panel but I did ask a wrap up question at the end (did it get answered? – jury still out as I think they tried).  I did get 2 of 4 panelists to admit that all this Web 2.0 stuff was marketing hype including Bob Wyman, founder of PubSub.com and Fred Wilson, of Union Square Ventures.  The guys from Del.icio.us (Josh Schachter) and Dodgeball.com (Dennis Crowley) were just bought by Yahoo and Google respectively, so I understand their reluctance to totally crash the bandwagon – although they did buy into the idea of the web as far more of a progression than a specific movement tied to a moniker.

I did get a kick out of Josh, lauding the interactivity of his Citi Online banking application having nearly as high a degree of anything he has used in the “Web 2.0” arena.  I guess if I sold my company to Yahoo, I’d be playing around with my balance again, again, again… (I know it was not that much money, but still it was some)

Overall, Howard Greenstein of NYU did get to my question, and therefore receives extra credit as a great moderator in my book. He’s even giving it a look through for me that is much appreciated. Other interesting contacts were David Teten, co-author of The Virtual Handshake, along with Scott Allen.

Rocketboom Reaches Milestone in downloads – 50,000

Among the early and current success stories in the realm of video blogging are the folks over at Rocketboom, a daily three minute news diatribe fully of silly, occasionally clever, sarcasm. They recently cracked the 50,000 downloads per day threshold in about a years time and if their growth rates maintain, they could command market rate cable advertising rates. Niche video production will be a significant window of content that will drive further length and meaning to the long tail effect.

Congrats to Amanda and everyone!