I’ve been lucky enough to have a minute to breathe and let my creative juices be inspired yet again. Thank goodness for this handy dandy thing we call twitter. There’s loads of places to be inspired (real world and otherwise), but the one-stop shop for hearing disparate, interesting voices twitter is still incredibly useful.

If you’re not a “twittter person” there’s something called Follow Friday where you tell your followers to follow others (putting that down in words now seems trite and silly). This is inspired by a post by ed boches on his blog that helped illuminate the “why we follow” which gets a little lost in the 140 characters. What they have in common is a fascination with the world, an ability to think in ways that boggle my mind and truly cool peeps that you’d totally want to have a pint with.

So happy Friday and a genuine “thank-you” to all of you (reading and the “FF”s)

#FF

@bbhlabs: tremendously insightful, they are simply the forefront of progressive strategic thought. Something to aspire to be-their great contributors (@malbonnington and @melex are awesome) make all of us think harder. http://bbh-labs.com/

@edwardboches: while he is the master of all things social creativity/communications/the changing advertising world–there are a lot of awesome posts that reflect his broader curiosity of the world and culture. And he is an awesome conversationalist–what a blog *really* should be about. http://edwardboches.com/

@budcaddell: wonderfully cerebral, one of the strongest strategic thought leaders we have. His blog inspires awesome conversations around topics that all of us strategy folk wrestle with. http://whatconsumesme.com/

@brainpicker: freshest, creative inspired tidbits. Amazing finds and thoughtful commentary. If you don’t read her blog, you’re missing something wonderful. http://www.brainpickings.org/

@uberblond: a truly delightful creative strategist. she’s got some amazing projects on the go that are really inspiring creativity: from the wilhelmine project http://thewilhelmineproject.com/ to her new project six items or less (I’m not brave enough to partake in that one…but it fascinates me!) http://sixitemsorless.wordpress.com/

@cshirky: he doesn’t tweet often, but when he does I listen. And his book is out of this world.

@schwartzie14 adverts breaking? He’s got ‘em all on his blog metal potential. Bookmark and see what’s golden (or titanium colored) at Cannes. Reminds me that this is business can still be about being an art form… http://metalpotential.posterous.com/

@stellawongo the the first to break awesomely fresh, creatively driven tech goodies. She’s wickedly smart and finds some awesome things from around the world. Plus she likes baked goods almost as much as I do, which is a total bonus.

@malbonster he’s incredibly wise in the world of strategy/ emerging tech/social communications and creativity. And he’s freaking hilarious.

@tim_leake always has fun stuff, a positive attitude and a great sense of humor. And yesterday I discovered the toothpick sculpture of SF through him. If that isn’t enough reason, I don’t know what is.

@garethk a true strategy rockstar. If you work in advertising and you haven’t seen his presentation from BDW on the evolving brief, take the time to watch it. It will help bring you into the new world and shape your thinking.

(Image via: Polyvore Tumblr)

Social media for so long has been “defined” by the MySpaces and Facebooks (or bebos, linkedins or I daresay friendsters) of the world. Defined largely as places to share life commentary (AKA stalking exes), post photos of fun life moments, and tell people when you are eating a hamburger, many people (and brands) believe it to be fleeting–really just a place to indulge narcissists and complainers. But the gazillion “successes” of social media for brands have made people start to think twice. See: the wiki that changed all wiki’s-Peter Kim’s master list of over 500 social media examples. http://wiki.beingpeterkim.com/

I’m not here to sell social media. I’m sold. You should be too by now. What I would love to do is start to think about HOW it changes the conversation (urgh. bad marketing speak. my apologies).  WHY do we use facebook/myspace.  WHY twitter? Some hypotheses to indulge my developmental psychology side for a moment.

1. We are narcissts. We are curious creatures. And there’s nothing wrong with that. We are finally allowed to be ourselves, without feeling guilty for simply fulfilling a human need to understand and share with fellow humans.

2. The world is fast. Durrh. Of course it is. But I don’t think anyone, even 5 years ago thought it would ever get THIS fast. Updates are flashing in seconds–news travels at exponential speeds. The hand-written letter (albeit a lost art in my eyes), the newsletter or even the email has taken a back seat to status updates. Communication had to adapt to the speed of technology. And from it social media was born.

3. We are getting smarter. The thirst for knowledge is back with a vengence. Call it the glorification of the nerd, but technology is finally sexy. The sexier it is, the less apologetic we have to be about being smart. This is not a space for the faint of heart–social media is for the gutsy, brainy individuals. It’s not about plastering your life story to read (face it, it’s probably not that exciting), but it’s about being willing to JOIN a conversation. And not feeling shy or apologetic. Consumers, haters, lovers and PEOPLE unite–we’re ALL listening now.

Twitter is changing the way we get the news. Good or bad, the real-time updating is quickly replacing the “breaking news” on CNN. There are so many factors that contribute to this ease of information sharing–the very nature of twitter, the lack of restrictions, the 140 character bite size of information doesn’t require hours of pontification and long winded explanations, and on and on. And anyone can do it. Heck, if I felt so compelled I too could start a trending story. Which is how the crazy stories start as well-like on the day Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett passed the story of Jeff Goldblum also passing came up…it’s simply a derivative of the madness. We as viewers/listners just need to become more astoot and discerning when it comes to taking in information.

But does this mean that you or I will be the next MSNBC? Not so fast.

Slowly news organizations are getting smart to this and starting to take notice. In a recent example, Minneapolis/St. Paul TV station WCCO tweeted about Brett Favre coming out of retirement (the non-sports girl scratches her head) before their article went up to reduce the risk of being scooped.

In an interesting piece on Mashable ( http://mashable.com/2009/08/18/mainstream-news-twitter/ ) outlined three core reasons to “give in” to the ways of Twitter.

To avoid being scooped.

Because there is value in awareness.

To reach new audiences.

In reality, news organizations have to take part in the conversation. And sooner the better. Or else this gal may scoop your story.

@thaz7

(Image via: toothpastefordinner.com)

So what is social shopping?  It is a location based application that integrates twitter and lets users share photos and reviews of amazing deals and finds where ‘ere you are.

Will this change how we shop completely? Highly unlikely. However, it is a great indication of where things are going. We say it every day, the consumer is in control. Yet, as marketers we still treat them as secondary citizens, only allowing them to interact with our brands on “our terms”.  The difference is now consumers have a REAL voice. It’s not just about the squeaky wheels. It’s about everyone having a voice. Equal opportunity marketing friends. Embrace it. It’s here.

Interesting information from Razorfish’s latest study, Fluent on the in the importance of social media and the significance of simple peer recommendation. Recommendation offline is still the #1 influence on purchase behavior and intent. #2 is television and #3 is online expert recommendation. Social mediums and online followed close behind. With traditional media not making it to the top ten. This is an interesting point to mull over at your next meeting…

Image courtesy of Razorfish: http://fluent.razorfish.com/publication/?m=6540&l=1

Jelli radio, is a completely user-controlled online radio station. In a time where Clear Channel owns much of the airwaves, this is a fresh and thouroughly interesting concept. There’s only one playlist, and it’s ruled by the votes of the masses, not just personal choices. “Jelli shows you the songs on its playlist, then lets you vote whether each song rocks or sucks. Songs move up and down on the playlist based on their overall vote count” (CNET) Enjoy your new job as DJ.

The next part of this “user generated” world, is that you start to lose control. Which is what makes this a scary place for most marketers and brand strategists. The unpredictability of it is frightening. Unless you chose to approach it completely head first. Leave it to Alex Bogusky of CP+B to do just that. Their new agency site is an information portal of ALL things CP+B. Good, bad, and otherwise. Scathing comments from people who hate their work. Awards they win. New work. It’s all there for EVERYONE to see. A ballsy move to say the least from a company that truly has something to say. And aren’t afraid to hear what other people are saying either. (the site is still in development, but check Alex on twitter for latest and greatest on it: http://twitter.com/bogusky)

And it’s not what you’re thinking. No, it has nothing to do with re-usable grocery bags or hybrid cars (even though I’m in love with the new Prius. That’s a different post). In a show of solidarity in the “tweetsphere” tweeters are around the world encouraged to “go green”, give your avatar on Twitter a greensish hue through Helpiran.org.  Why is going green so important? Glad you asked.

There are so many people who hate the idea of twitter and believe it’s the next fad–”who cares about if you just ate a hamburger?” But wait a minute–it’s changing the world. In the days of the Cold War, Tienanmen Square and thousands of other times in history when we wish we could just have a glimpse of what was going on on the other side. And now we can. In 140 characters.The idea of real-time is finally a reality.This generation “gets” it. Communication is now about free-flowing ideas and instantaneous information. Anything less is simply unacceptable.

Technology is changing the course of history. Political factions and technology haters can fight it all they like. Like it or not, the world is a very different place because of “social media”. In fact, using that term feels so incredibly dated and irrelevant I hate to even use it. It trivializes it to something that will come and go. Newsflash: it’s not about Myspace, Facebook, creating widgets, apps, or whatever else. If it was that simple, things like the CNN backlash would never have happened:

“When CNN failed to give the Iranian election the attention it deserved, Twitter users bashed the network with the #CNNFail hashtag, which trended on Twitter for an entire day. CNN subsequently revised its coverage, making the Iranian political situation one of its most prominent stories (while failing completely to acknowledge that they’d failed to do so in the first place).” (www.twittown.com)

The world is changing kids. Hold on. We’ve only begun.

If you would like to show your support of our the Iranians please click here and “go green” with me and thousands of others: http://helpiranelection.com/

You along with the millions on Twitter love it. Why are we so fascinated by what P.Diddy is eating for lunch, or what car your long-lost-cousin-twice-removed finally purchased. The voyeuristic part of you that just NEEDS to know about what other people are doing who you don’t actually care enough about to talk to?

How much is too much? We’ve all heard the nightmare stories of people getting fired over tweeting the “wrong thing at the wrong time”, or the slightly stalker-esque qualities that Twitter may bring out of the most well meaning of us, and we all know the “over-tweet” (buddy, I don’t care that you just ate a cheeseburger). But is there actually EVER going to be too much? Maybe this is just how we are ALL going to be thinking and interacting in the future. And to be completely honest, it isn’t that scary. We all live our lives real-time, and now that technology can allow us to BE more real-time 24/7, what’s wrong with taking advantage of it?

But you BETTER be saying something interesting. People don’t care about the mundane. And don’t restate or re-tweet. But if someone re-tweets you, you might just make this list: http://www.retweetist.com/ . THEN you know you’ve made it in this new world.

Exhausting isn’t it?

Oh yeah. Please follow me on twitter. Thaz7. Don’t tweet me. I’ll tweet you.