Archive for May, 2007

social media – the key growth area

Jon Reed | 1:16 pm 25 May 07 Comments Off

One in five marketers now spend more than half their marketing budget online. And the key growth area for the next 12 months is social media.

how to read an e-book in the bath

Jon Reed | 5:41 pm 23 May 07 Comments Off

Well, really. Ever since the Margaret Atwood event last month, reported here under the future of the book, there has been an ongoing debate about a rather odd acid-test for e-readers: yes, but can you read it in the bath? The logical conclusion of this depressingly missing-the-point question has finally been reached, with a [...]

what are you doing right now?

Jon Reed | 4:35 pm 20 May 07 Comments Off

How about now? Now? Now? That’s annoying, isn’t it? But one of the more recent social networking sites asks that question over and over again. It’s called Twitter. Described by its creators as ‘micro-blogging’ – dismissed by some as ‘blogging for the lazy’ – it’s simply thousands of people answering the simple question: ‘what are [...]

are you connected?

Jon Reed | 3:32 pm 19 May 07 Comments Off

With Prince William joining Facebook this week, social networking sites have hit the news in the UK again. Here’s a handy overview of Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Twitter and Second Life, written by their users, from this week’s Guardian newspaper:
With websites such as Facebook and MySpace constantly being talked about in the media, it must be [...]

Second Life – a place for reading

Jon Reed | 2:57 pm 18 May 07 Comments 1

Last week it was Macmillan topping the charts on YouTube. This week it’s Random House getting into Second Life. It’s good to see traditional publishers engaging with social media in this way. According to this week’s Bookseller, Random House held the first of their monthly virtual book group meetings in Second Life on Tuesday, with [...]

the future of reading

Jon Reed | 10:18 pm 16 May 07 Comments Off

Much debate over on Richard Charkin’s blog this week about Andrew Marr’s piece in Friday’s Guardian entitled Curling up with a good ebook. Do join the discussion if you wish.
Even Andrew Marr, an admitted book-as-object fetishist who describes his enthusiasm as ‘just this side of pervy’, was convinced by e-readers. I’m afraid I’m not – [...]

how to top the charts on YouTube

Jon Reed | 10:05 pm 10 May 07 Comments Off

Macmillan have been at the social media again. I feel compelled to give another shout-out to them, because, yesterday, they hit the number one spot on YouTube – no mean feat. Pan Macmillan’s Quirkology: The Curious Science of Everyday Lives has its own channel on YouTube. Albeit with only three videos, but that’s all it [...]

the social media revolution

Jon Reed | 10:56 pm 09 May 07 Comments Off

The Digg Revolt notwithstanding, there is a more general Internet revolution going on. It’s part of the web 2.0 thing you keep hearing about. The Internet has become social.
Last week, at Internet World, Stephen Taylor gave a keynote presentation on The Social Media Phenomenon. Stephen is Regional Vice President, Audience Group, Yahoo! Europe, and used [...]

why the future of search is social

Jon Reed | 7:45 am 08 May 07 Comments Off

Do you remember when, at the start of the Internet, there was no Google? There were no search engines as we currently understand them. Yahoo! started as a simple directory of known websites. Who could even put a figure on how many websites there are today? Then along came AltaVista, Google, and other automated search [...]

Digg’s digital Boston tea party

Jon Reed | 12:59 am 03 May 07 Comments Off

So, did you find 10 ways to get started with web 2.0? Did you look at my holiday snaps on Flickr? I had a great time in the South of France last year. More about Flickr, and social media in general soon. But for now: did you also look at Digg?
I ask because something a [...]