Why FAIL is viral

FAIL!

A little while ago I wrote about the ingredients of a successful viral. The FAIL blog is a perfect example.

Tom wrote this on 28.04.08 – 4 comments
It's filed in the Interesting, Social media box

Justifying and planning a corporate blog

Great article on mycustomer.com today (well I would say that because I’m quoted in it!) for any folks in big companies who are putting together a business case for corporate blogging. Check it out.

Tom wrote this on 25.04.08 – what do you think?
It's filed in the Blogging, Social media box

Building Micro Web Applications using WordPress Pages

WordPress is a state-of-the-art publishing platform, and is one of the updisputed darlings of the Open Source and Web 2.0 world, it’s fair to say we’re all avid users of the platform here at NM towers.

With a little creativity and imagination, it’s relatively simple to build some additional functionality around the core content of your website, using WordPress as the application framework. It’s perhaps a little unconventional to do this, if I were faced with building a Web application from scratch, WordPress wouldn’t be the first choice to spring to mind, however there may be good reasons for choosing WordPress, despite the stiff competition. If the heart and soul of your website requires a solid publishing platform, but you want to tack on a few bells and whistles, then I would say WordPress is a viable option.

WordPress introduced the concept of Pages way back in version 1.5, to allow for the creation and management of static content pages outside the normal blog chronology. This shifted WordPress away from a blogging platform, opening up new possibilities for using it as a CMS.

WordPress Pages are deceptively powerful little things, each page can be handled by a different template, and so is a potential window into a micro Web application. Having the ability to attach arbitrary bits of data to a page through Custom Fields strengthens this position.
Read more…

Steve wrote this on – 7 comments
It's filed in the Blogging, Development, Web technology box

Monetising niche social networks

Will, Anna and I are at the Mad.co.uk Social Networking & Media for Business conference today in drizzly London Victoria. I get extremely fidgety if I am made to sit and watch presentations so I’ve ducked out for a bit to write this. Hope Will doesn’t take offence as I think he’s speaking right now. I’m sure he’s entertaining everyone :)

Tom wrote this on 24.04.08 – 5 comments
It's filed in the Events & conferences, Social networks, Strategy box

It’s not about viewer numbers

Twitter has been awash with buzz about at article on the front page of Friday’s Guardian about how Downing Street is using Twitter as a communication channel.

Tom wrote this on 20.04.08 – 4 comments
It's filed in the Social media, Strategy box

The rules for corporations getting onto Twitter

I think this post about US airline Jet Blue using Twitter perfectly demonstrates how corporations need to tread very carefully when they begin to engage with customers using the microblogging service. They didn’t make any huge gaffs, but this got me thinking about what the rules should be for corporations thinking about using Twitter. Here’s what I came up with:

Tom wrote this on 17.04.08 – 2 comments
It's filed in the Social media box

The fear of user generated content

I think this just about sums up the fear some organisations have about UGC:

[Found via ffffound]

Tom wrote this on – 4 comments
It's filed in the Funny, User generated content box

Social Innovation Camp – exploring the social potential of the web

Following on from Lou’s earlier post about Social Innovation Camp, I was intrigued by their proposition of ‘an experiment in using social technology for social change. I submitted an idea, which didn’t quite cut the mustard but did lead to my being invited along to help out. So on the weekend of 5th & 6th April I trotted off to join in on an event bringing together great ideas, a multitude of skill sets and an all pervading enthusiasm to prove that the web can be used as a force for good in the world.

Jenni wrote this on 16.04.08 – 2 comments
It's filed in the Business, Interesting, Internet, NixonMcInnes, Social media, Web technology box

The Laggard’s guide to OpenID

If you’ve been aware of OpenID for a while but hadn’t got round to setting yourself up with one, or perhaps hadn’t even heard of it, here’s a two-minute quick guide for non-techies.

Tom wrote this on 15.04.08 – 2 comments
It's filed in the Internet, Web technology box