Filed under: Jaiku, Online Participation, Pownce, Reputation Management, Reputation Rehabilitation, Social Graphs, Social Networking, Social Networks, Social News, Social Unrest, Social Utilities, Twitter, Twittergram

Yesterday morning I woke to find that former Pakistani president Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto had been assassinated. Found out on Twitter. Now Twitter didn’t break the story, nor did Twitter give extensive coverage by itself.

But Twitter as a utility showed how it is becoming has become an extremely vital vehicle of the spreading of information. People were sharing news articles, providing links, giving others access to the latest information.

If the internet is a tangled web of computer networks, then Twitter is a tangled web of human relationships and conversations. By the time I write an post this blog entry, news of an event could have reached thousands of people.

Businesses must realize that in the world of Twitter, Pownce, Jaiku, and others rumors, customer complaints, etc. can spread like wildfire. People can read, send, link, point to, blog about, forward, comment on YOU within a matter of a half an hour.

This goes back to the concept of reputation management. It’s a whole new ballgame and I bet most PR firms and departments haven’t a clue. It will take a few disasters for it too sink in.

2 Comments » Posted on December 28th, 2007 by Jonathan Trenn

Filed under: Abraham Harrison, Abraham Harrison LLC, Activating Bloggers, Black Hat Marketing, Black Hat PR, Black Hat SEO, Blog Counter-Messaging, Blog Ranking, Blog Search, Blog Search Engines, Blog Strategy, Blogger Effect, Blogger Engagement, Blogger Influence, Blogger Outreach, Blogger Relations, Blogger Support, Brand Ambassador, Brand Intelligence, Brand Protection, Brand Reputation, Citizen Journalism, Competitive Intelligence, Controversial Marketing, Corporate Blogging, Corporate Intelligence, Crisis Management, Defensive SEO, Google PageRank, Google Search, Hearts and Minds, Industry Reputation, Influencers, Influencial Bloggers, Influential Brand Advocates, Influentials, Integrity, Internet Culture, Internet Strategy, Journalism, Managing Conversation, Marketing Language, Media Consultancy, Messaging Online, New Media Strategy, New PR, Newspapers, Old Marketing, Old Media, Old PR, Online Brand Protection, Online Brand Reputation, Online Identity Management, Online Influence, Online Intelligence, Online Media, Online Messaging, Online Outreach, Online PR, Online Participation, Online Public Relations, Online Reputation, Online Reputation Management, Online Strategy, PR Blogging, PR Blogs, PR Hubris, PR Industry, PageRank, Pitching Bloggers, Political Strategy, Pop Culture, Popular Culture, Proactive Support, Propaganda, Propaganda Warfare, Protective SEO, Public Affairs, Public Affairs Blogging, Public Policy Blogs, Public Relations, Public Relations Bloggers, Public Relations Blogs, Public Relations Industry, Real Life, Reputation Management, Reputation Rehabilitation, SEM, SEM and SEO, SEO, SEO and SEM, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Reputation Management, Search Engine Strategy, Search Engines, Search Reputation Management, Self Promotion, Semantic Web, Shameless Self-Promotion, Social Meda, Social News, Social Unrest, Strategic Consulting, Traditional Journalism, Traditional PR, Transparency, Web 2.0, Web Strategy, Word-of-Mouth, YouTube, YouTube Marketing

With the issue of reputation management in the news, I’ve been thinking a lot about the recent discovery that many of the Mattel toys made in China were painted with lead-based paints. This had followed several other unrelated incidents that had previously caused embarrassment to either Mattel or to China.

A company such as Mattel needs to have a proactive online strategy that could meet the negativity head on, to help suppress those damaging rumors that could hurt the company both immediately and permanently. A company needs to understand what is being said about them in online forums, on blogs, and, if necessary, it needs to help blunt and diminish the negativity headed their way.

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No Comments » Posted on October 4th, 2007 by Jonathan Trenn

Filed under: Flash Mobs, Howard Rheingold, Smart Mobs, Social Unrest

God Bless Howard Rheingold. I am proud to personally know a true futurist, over and over again. Back in 2002, Howard wrote Smart Mobs, a book that predicts what is going on online in response to the unrest in Burma. In this case, this is called a Flash Mob. Via Guardian Unlimited & US News and World Report & US News and World Report (again).
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No Comments » Posted on September 29th, 2007 by Abraham Harrison


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