Filed under: Abraham Harrison, Advertisements, Advertising, Affinity Groups, Affinity Sites, Birds of a Feather, Blog Strategy, Brand Advocacy, Brand Promotion, Branding, Branding Online, Buzz Marketing, Consumer Generated Media, Conversation, Conversation Marketing, Digital Marketing, Facebook, Facebook Apps, Guerilla Marketing, Hearts and Minds, Influencer Identification, Influencers, Influential Brand Advocates, Influentials, Managing Conversation, Marketing, Marketing Blogs, Marketing Conversation, Marketing Industry, Marketing Strategy, Markets are Conversations, MySpace, New Marketing, New Media, New Media Marketing, New Media Strategy, Online Advertising, Online Applications, Online Brand Promotion, Online Branding, Online Communities, Online Community Outreach, Online Conversation, Online Engagement, Online Entertainment, Online Evangelism, Online Influence, Online Marketing, Online Media, Online Messaging, Online Outreach, Online Participation, Online Strategy, Popular Culture, Promotional Blog, Social Meda, Social Networking, Social Networks, Sponsored Blog, Sponsored Blogging, Viral Media, Viral Propagation, Virtual Communities, Web 2.0, Web Advertising, Web Strategy, Widgets and Gadgets, Word-of-Mouth, Word-of-Mouth Marketing

The November 8th edition of The Economist has an article that asks us “Will Facebook, MySpace and other social networking sites transform advertising?”

In truth, the article is poorly written. It asks the wrong question, it’s lazily researched, and it provides little actual theory or empirical evidence to justify the premise they are trying to suppose. Perhaps the reason for this is that The Economist is a general news publication – one that I respect – and that the article was intended for a mainstream readership that’s likely mostly interested in reading about general trends and not deeper analysis. But nevertheless…

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No Comments » Posted on November 11th, 2007 by Jonathan Trenn

Filed under: Birds of a Feather, Metaverse, Online Communities, Online Virtual Communities, Second Life, Virtual Communities, Virtual Reality

I have already written that Online Communities are Real Communities of Real People. I also believe that the love we develop for people in our second life is as true as the love we feel for the people in our first.

“Nearly 40% of men and 53% of women who play online games said their virtual friends were equal to or better than their real-life friends, according to a survey of 30,000 gamers conducted by Nick Yee, a recent Ph.D. graduate from Stanford University. More than a quarter of gamers said the emotional highlight of the past week occurred in a computer world, according to the survey, which was published in 2006 by Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press’s journal Presence.” Via the Wall Street Journal

To be honest, we’re all searching for birds of a feather and it is surely easier to find people “like me” online in a pool of tens-of-millions rather than your town. We also want love, respect, appreciation, and adoration instead of simply acting out of obligation. We’re sick and tired of living shotgun lives. If a life offers real love and real respect, can it really be only virtual?

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2 Comments » Posted on August 13th, 2007 by Abraham Harrison


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