Mitch Joel's Blog: Six Pixels of Separation, page 335

Don't Break The Internet

Are you as confused about SOPA and PIPA as I am in relation to the marketing world?

There is an overabundance of information, discourse and content about SOPA, PIPA and what this means to our world. Do you need to cut through the clutter and get a simple and clear description of, exactly, what the challenges are? This 13-minute TED presentation by Clay Shirky (author of Here Comes Everybody and Cognitive Surplus) is absolutely amazing.

A consumption only Internet? If this doesn't make you care about the future of technology, I don't know what will.

If this still isn't clear, maybe Jon Stewart can help you understand it (nerds!!!)...

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clay shirky

cognitive surplus

here comes everybody

internet

jon stewart

marketing

pipa

sopa

technology

ted

Don't Break The Internet

Are you as confused about SOPA and PIPA as I am in relation to the marketing world?

There is an overabundance of information, discourse and content about SOPA, PIPA and what this means to our world. Do you need to cut through the clutter and get a simple and clear description of, exactly, what the challenges are? This 13-minute TED presentation by Clay Shirky (author of Here Comes Everybody and Cognitive Surplus) is absolutely amazing.

A consumption only Internet? If this doesn't make you care about the future of technology, I don't know what will.

If this still isn't clear, maybe Jon Stewart can help you understand it (nerds!!!)...

Tags:

clay shirky

cognitive surplus

here comes everybody

internet

jon stewart

marketing

pipa

sopa

technology

ted

The Size Of The Boat. The Motion Of The Ocean.

Does size matter? Get your mind out of the gutter.

As one of my main roles at Twist Image, I act as the frontline (along with a great team of people) of assessing new business opportunities. While some agencies may have their opportunity filter down to a science, I'd happily contend that our process has little bit more art sprinkled into it. With that comes a reality: we have two offices, about one hundred plus people and as one of the four owners of this business, the responsibility to keep the lights on and those families fed looms large on my mind. Does this mean that we take work for the money? Yes. This is a business and a large function of it is about making money and it is (sometimes) easy to fall into the trap of doing something because the money is good, but the money is not what the work is about.

The work is about the work.

There is no major innovation here, but I believe that people who are doing the work that they were meant to do not only get paid the money that they deserve to be paid, but that the clients (or the benefactors of the work) are happy to pay these fees because they are getting value out of it. Is it a perfect world? No. There are hiccups along the way. In most cases, the reason has to do with alignment. It could alignment around values, ideas, direction and more. We're all sentient beings and we're looking to work with those who are - ultimately - like-minded and committed to the brand... and the best work possible.

Are you a titan?

On the flight home from the National Retail Federation's Big Show (where I gave a keynote address for the Shop.org First Look Track), I was watching the CNBC Titans special on Leo Burnett (if you have not had the opportunity to see this documentary on the legendary ad man, I highly recommend it). The story of Burnett's ascent in the advertising world is one for the books. How he managed to build his empire from a small Chicago hotel suite to a multi-billion dollar global advertising engine will take your breath away. As an agency owner, I was more attracted to the moments when the agency stumbled. Was Leo Burnett better as a smaller shop, medium-sized agency or a global entity?

There are pluses and minuses.

Growth for growth's sake is never a good thing. Sudden growth because of a major new client acquisition can be challenging to scale as well. There are countless potholes on the road to growth and a simple pebble on the side of the road can be as distracting as the transition from a residential road on to the freeway. That being said, I think it's going to be increasingly difficult for the very small shops to grab the bigger brands (and keep them). Now, before you go jumping all over the comments and telling me that your small boutique firm works with some of the largest brands in the world, let me be clear that I am talking about full-service (or fairly close to it). I have no doubt that some of the smaller, boutique specialty shops who work in a very specific niche can do great, global work.

The size of the boat.

It's a two way street. Brands have to know their limitations and their expectations. When a small start-up tries to engage with a middle-to-large sized agency, it probably won't be a great fit. Box within your weight class. Find a shop that is (somewhat) similar in size that can be both nimble and rugged. Bigger brands who engage with the smaller, boutique shops usually get great results, but as the business grows and the brand requires more attention, it can be extremely challenging for the agency to keep the client happy (both in terms of work and brining on the right people quick enough).

So, what's the lesson?

Size matters because size is a function and part of finding the right fit. Should brands take chances on the new, smaller agencies? Of course they should (and brands did that when Leo Burnett wasn't the Leo Burnett we all know and respect), but as the world gets more complex and more fragmented (in terms of media and marketing options), we're going to see things change. Traditional agencies are already bulking up on their digital capabilities and the digital marketing agencies that have scaled will probably be pulling some of the more traditional folks over to their side to bulk up as well. My guess is that brands are going to be looking for both creative innovation and the scale to get the work done.

What's your guess?

Tags:

ad man

advertising

advertising agency

big show

boutique agency

brand

business development

cnbc titans

digital marketing

documentary

entrepreneur

innovation

leo burnett

mad men

marketing agency

media fragmentation

national retail federation

nrf

shop org

startup

twist image

The Size Of The Boat. The Motion Of The Ocean.

Does size matter? Get your mind out of the gutter.

As one of my main roles at Twist Image, I act as the frontline (along with a great team of people) of assessing new business opportunities. While some agencies may have their opportunity filter down to a science, I'd happily contend that our process has little bit more art sprinkled into it. With that comes a reality: we have two offices, about one hundred plus people and as one of the four owners of this business, the responsibility to keep the lights on and those families fed looms large on my mind. Does this mean that we take work for the money? Yes. This is a business and a large function of it is about making money and it is (sometimes) easy to fall into the trap of doing something because the money is good, but the money is not what the work is about.

The work is about the work.

There is no major innovation here, but I believe that people who are doing the work that they were meant to do not only get paid the money that they deserve to be paid, but that the clients (or the benefactors of the work) are happy to pay these fees because they are getting value out of it. Is it a perfect world? No. There are hiccups along the way. In most cases, the reason has to do with alignment. It could alignment around values, ideas, direction and more. We're all sentient beings and we're looking to work with those who are - ultimately - like-minded and committed to the brand... and the best work possible.

Are you a titan?

On the flight home from the National Retail Federation's Big Show (where I gave a keynote address for the Shop.org First Look Track), I was watching the CNBC Titans special on Leo Burnett (if you have not had the opportunity to see this documentary on the legendary ad man, I highly recommend it). The story of Burnett's ascent in the advertising world is one for the books. How he managed to build his empire from a small Chicago hotel suite to a multi-billion dollar global advertising engine will take your breath away. As an agency owner, I was more attracted to the moments when the agency stumbled. Was Leo Burnett better as a smaller shop, medium-sized agency or a global entity?

There are pluses and minuses.

Growth for growth's sake is never a good thing. Sudden growth because of a major new client acquisition can be challenging to scale as well. There are countless potholes on the road to growth and a simple pebble on the side of the road can be as distracting as the transition from a residential road on to the freeway. That being said, I think it's going to be increasingly difficult for the very small shops to grab the bigger brands (and keep them). Now, before you go jumping all over the comments and telling me that your small boutique firm works with some of the largest brands in the world, let me be clear that I am talking about full-service (or fairly close to it). I have no doubt that some of the smaller, boutique specialty shops who work in a very specific niche can do great, global work.

The size of the boat.

It's a two way street. Brands have to know their limitations and their expectations. When a small start-up tries to engage with a middle-to-large sized agency, it probably won't be a great fit. Box within your weight class. Find a shop that is (somewhat) similar in size that can be both nimble and rugged. Bigger brands who engage with the smaller, boutique shops usually get great results, but as the business grows and the brand requires more attention, it can be extremely challenging for the agency to keep the client happy (both in terms of work and brining on the right people quick enough).

So, what's the lesson?

Size matters because size is a function and part of finding the right fit. Should brands take chances on the new, smaller agencies? Of course they should (and brands did that when Leo Burnett wasn't the Leo Burnett we all know and respect), but as the world gets more complex and more fragmented (in terms of media and marketing options), we're going to see things change. Traditional agencies are already bulking up on their digital capabilities and the digital marketing agencies that have scaled will probably be pulling some of the more traditional folks over to their side to bulk up as well. My guess is that brands are going to be looking for both creative innovation and the scale to get the work done.

What's your guess?

Tags:

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advertising

advertising agency

big show

boutique agency

brand

business development

cnbc titans

digital marketing

documentary

entrepreneur

innovation

leo burnett

mad men

marketing agency

media fragmentation

national retail federation

nrf

shop org

startup

twist image

Is Google+ About To Make Facebook Frown?

It's time to pay attention to Google+.

Back in July, I Blogged about Google's foray into online social networking, Google+ (more here: Co-dependency In The Age of Facebook). At the time, the majority of the discourse surrounding Google+ was about whether or not it would be able to compete in a Facebook world. Back in July, Facebook had 750 million registered users and just last week it was announced that it is on course to hit one billion users by August of this year. While it still seems like nothing can stop the Facebook juggernaut when it comes to connecting all of us in a more social way, there's no denying that Google+ is making some interesting moves and inroads.

It's the kind of motion that should make businesses stand up and pay attention (serious attention).

There were two major events in the past little while that make Google+ an interesting opportunity for businesses. First off, their growth has been much more impressive than most people realize. On December 27th, 2011 Business Insider posted the news item, Google+ Is Adding More Than 600,000 New Users Each Day, and here's the analysis: "Google+ would have nearly 300 million users by the end of 2012 if it continues to at least grow at 625,000 new users each day. The site now has more than 62 million users, but that growth is accelerating... that could mean Google+ could have more than 400 million users by the end of 2012 if the growth keeps speeding up."

The mistake.

The mistake would be to simply stack that dataset up against Facebook (or Twitter or LinkedIn) to see how it compares in terms of growth, but that's really for the tech nerds to analyze. The bigger business question is this: with nearly 65 million people currently in there, can you really afford to completely ignore it? Well, the somewhat ironic fact is that the second major event may not give you much of a choice. Just last week, Google's search engine did some tweaking to their personalized search by introducing something it calls, "Search plus Your World" (you can watch a YouTube demo of it below). The idea behind Search plus Your World is both simple and elegant. Now, instead of doing a search and getting back results that have either been gamed by the companies that figured out how to best search engine optimize their website to get ranked higher, Google is now pulling information from users' Google accounts (like Google+, Picasa and potentially others in the future) giving users the ability to toggle between search results that are much more personal (and personalized) and searching the Web as Google has always done.

This takes Googling yourself to a whole other level, doesn't it?

Imagine doing a search for "great cafes in Montreal" and now being able to actually see recommendations from your social network and maybe even more real-time information like who is hanging out where... right at that very moment. This new social integration means a whole lot for businesses. While it may still be possible to optimize your way to the top of Google's search results, the social layer is where all credibility and interest resides for the consumer. Let's say that you are the Montreal café that earned the prestigious first position in the natural search results from Google, but everyone in that searcher's social graph is hanging out in another café (or making other recommendations), where do you think that leaves your business?

Google+ for business.

Chris Brogan (author of Social Media 101 and co-author of The New York Times' best-selling business book, Trust Agents, with Julien Smith) just released his latest book, Google+ For Business - How Google's Social Network Change Everything (Que), and while the title of the book may sound like a little too much hype too early, Brogan is spot on because Google can do one thing that both Facebook and Twitter can't do: make search results that much more personal (and most would argue, better). Pushing that idea further, comparing Google+ to Facebook and Twitter is probably a silly notion as Google debuts Search plus Your World, simply because Google has the power (and ability) to make Google+ (and everything being shared within it) the underlying social platform within all of its many applications (Android, Gmail, Google Docs, Picasa, Google Maps, Google News, YouTube, etc...). And - make no mistake about it - both Facebook and Twitter are not fans of having their information indexed on Google (especially Facebook, and word on the street is that Twitter may not renew their agreement with Google).

What does this mean for businesses?

At this point, it's important to simply inform yourself about these dramatic changes so that you're both in know and somewhat literate on the topic. It's also critical to ensure that both your Google Profile (Google+ Business Page) is both up-to-date and completed as comprehensively as possible. It's also not a bad idea to secure your own, personal, page on Google+ and spend some time getting acquainted with the functionality. All of this will make it easier for people to - at the very least - find you and your business (remember to add photos and fill out the "About" section as well - Google is always about optimization).

Want to go further?

Beyond that, it would also be wise to start sharing things in Google+ (Blog posts, interesting links, ideas, conversations, etc...). These are early days, and as things get busier within Google and the integration of Google+, the smarter businesses will experience "the early bird effect" (the one who gets the worm!). This means that those who create and engage with others will be eligible and have a higher likelihood of appearing in these ever-changing and evolving search results. Now, we're just left wondering if this means we have to add another online social network to our already confusing and busy Digital Marketing efforts. The answer (for now) is: yes. Because, if Google has its way (and it's hard to not see Google+ being integrated into anything and everything Google), it could very well change how the Web works for the majority of users.

That could be enough to give Facebook a sour puss. What do you think?

The above post is my twice-monthly column for the Montreal Gazette and Vancouver Sun newspapers called, New Business - Six Pixels of Separation . I cross-post it here with all the links and tags for your reading pleasure, but you can check out the original versions online here:

Montreal Gazette - Is Google+ about to make Facebook frown?

Vancouver Sun - not yet published.

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linkedin

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natural search result

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online social networking

personalized search

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Marketing Has No Future Without Better Education

Episode #288 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to.

Is there any value in getting a degree in Marketing in this day and age? How well are the universities doing at providing an up-to-date curriculum to ensure that students graduating from Marketing are workplace ready? How has the digitization and New Media changed the way we educate our students about Marketing? Pushing this further, how are Marketers doing from the perspective of Marketing professors? Kenneth Wong is one of the leading marketing educators in the world. He holds the title of Associate Professor and Distinguished Professor of Marketing at Queen's School of Business and sits on the board of directors (with me) at the Canadian Marketing Association. Along with publishing his work in books and magazines, he's also a world-renowned speaker on Marketing, and if you've never seen his rant about "the margin sucking maggots," it is worth the price of admission alone. Enjoy the conversation...

You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via iTunes): Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast #288.

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advertising

bite size edits

blog

blogging

blue sky factory

book oven

canadian marketing association

cast of dads

cc chapman

chris brogan

christopher s penn

cma

digital dads

digital marketing

facebook

facebook group

hugh mcguire

in over your head

itunes

julien smith

ken wong

kenneth wong

librivox

managing the gray

marketing

marketing education

marketing over coffee

media hacks

new marketing labs

online social network

podcast

podcasting

pressbooks

queens school of business

six pixels of separation

social media 101

social media marketing

strategy

trust agents

Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #82

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (BitCurrent, Year One Labs, GigaOM, Human 2.0, the author of Complete Web Monitoring and Managing Bandwidth: Deploying QOS in Enterprise Networks), Hugh McGuire (The Book Oven, LibriVox, iambik, PressBooks, Media Hacks) and I decided that every week or so the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person "must see".

Check out these six links that we're recommending to one another:

Space shuttle rocket booster test - Speed - BBC . "Space shuttle rockets burn hydrogen and oxygen, two parts to one. In that respect, they're really pretty clean, giving off only water vapor. But they're also really messy, particularly when it comes to noise pollution. Top Gear 's Jeremy Clarkson visits Louisiana, where NASA tests its launch systems. Wow." (Alistair for Hugh).

William Gibson: Opening Lines - Nowness . "'Javnaker slipped from the quantum universe-splitter that wasn't actually a time machine' would not be good for the reader.' In this Nowness piece, cyberpunk giant, William Gibson , tells us how he struggled to write his first lines. As he points out, 'We have to learn to write fiction, but we have already, to varying degrees, had to learn to read it.'" (Alistair for Mitch).

What is it like to have an understanding of very advanced mathematics? - Quora . "A high-level mathematician answers the question: 'what is it like to have your brain?' Lots of interesting analogies to any kind of real expertise (programming, startups), particularly how an accumulation of knowledge and experience leads us to intuitive hunches about things, that, once the work is done, prove to be correct." (Hugh for Alistair).

Facts On Farts - Heptune . "I suffer from occasional bouts of insomnia, and usually turn to my iPhone when I can't sleep. Somehow or other (such a mystery, sometimes) I landed on this page, and couldn't stop reading. It was written by Brenna Lorenz (a geology prof) in 1998, and is the sort of thing we find so rarely now on the Web: an idiosyncratic, and informative essay about a topic close to the heart of one individual (complete with flashing gif!). NOTE: the difference between my links for Alistair and Mitch this week say nothing about my opinion of their relative intelligences." (Hugh for Mitch). 

Is Internet access a human right? - The Guardian . "I Blogged about the notion that Internet access should be a human right back in August of 2010 (more on that here: The Internet As Your Birthright ) and the topic got heated again this week when Vint Cert (one of Internet's inventors and current Chief Internet Evangelist at Google ) published an op-ed piece in The New York Times titled, Internet Access Is Not a Human Right . What's most interesting is that - once again - we're struggling with definitions of words and phrases (like "human right") because we live in a very different world from the world where these words were first introduced. If the Internet does become the primary way that information gets disseminated, how do we - as a society - not make it a basic human right?" (Mitch for Alistair).

The House That Ogilvy Built - Strategy + Business . "Being the Marketing nerd that I am, I devoured the book, The King of Madison Avenue - David Ogilvy and the Making of Modern Advertising, by Kenneth Roman back in 2009 when it was first published. I wish I could tell you how this article (which is an edited excerpt from that book) made it across my desk this week, but in re-reading it, I was - once again - inspired to do more, be more and think more. We tend to be looking around for the next big whiz-bang gadget and often forget that the path to business greatness could well be things like culture, integrity and charm... especially in a world like ours. And yes, those are the perfect words to describe what exactly, a marketing agency is actually selling." (Mitch for Hugh).

Now it's your turn: in the comment section below pick one thing that you saw this week that inspired you and share it.

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advertising

alistair croll

bbc

bitcurrent

brenna lorenz

complete web monitoring

david ogilvy

gigaom

google

heptune

hugh mcguire

human 20

iambik

internet access

iphone

jeremy clarkson

kenneth roman

librivox

link

link exchange

linkbait

managing bandwidth

mathematics

media hacks

nasa

nowness

pressbooks

quora

story

strategy and business

the book over

the guardian

the king of madison avenue

the new york times

top gear

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william gibson

year one labs

youtube

The Power Of Being Vulnerable

When you're vulnerable people connect more to whatever it is that you're doing.

If we're going to talk about the work that we do as a form of art (as I believe it is - much in the same way, that Seth Godin talks about in his business book, Linchpin), we have to be able to ask ourselves (in a very deep and serious way): what makes art resonate? What makes it work? What gets people (or our fellow workers) interested in the art we're working on? We can talk about the value of talent (more on that here: The Deception Of Malcolm Gladwell, Seth Godin and Gary Vaynerchuk) and we can talk about our passions, dedication to the cause, consistency at producing results and everything else, but we have to be able to dig a little deeper.

The heart and soul of great art is the ability for the artist to be vulnerable.

Be it performing a song for the first time or walking into a massive business meeting with a big idea, the only way that great ideas take form is when the person (or people) who are creating it are willing to be vulnerable. Think about it this way: the majority of website content that we see, basically sucks. OK, maybe that's being harsh, some of it is ok to passable, but most of it is void of all spirit and heart. It is jargon-filled buzzwords that percolate from the page because it has been sanitized through iterations and different people. Through these revisions, the heart and soul are either lost (or were never there to begin with because the company wants to use big, masculine and powerful words).

Who would buy anything from a company that was vulnerable?

This is the problem with words and definitions. If you look at the definition of the word, "vulnerable," it's probably not the way you want your business to be described. You'll see everything from, "capable of or susceptible to being wounded or hurt" to "open to moral attack, criticism, temptation." But here's where it gets interesting: the more vulnerable you are when it comes to your art (and it could be a Blog post, a business proposal or poetry), the more people tend to look at it (and feel it) differently. I prefer to define vulnerable as someone who is doing something with an open and honest heart - and the expression of that bears to light in the output. It's when you can feel the heart and soul of the person who created something. In being this way, yes these creators are susceptible to being wounded, and yes they are open to moral attacks, but in the same instance, they are showing their truth.

It's very human. It's very humane.

If all we're going to do is say that Social Media has changed business to think about real interactions between real human beings, but lather that up with standard, corporate lingo and the usual business pap and banter, what is the point? It would be foolish of me to recommend that a brand be vulnerable. It would be wise of me to recommend that the people who represent the brand, take a step back and think about what it might feel like when the consumer is vulnerable, or what it might be like to communicate like a human (and let's face it, if we're human, we are vulnerable... all of us).

It's not personal. It's very personal.

Does this mean that for businesses to successful, all of the people who make it up must be vulnerable and divulge all of their deepest, most personal fears and worries? No. It does mean that those who are willing to be more vulnerable will not only get more attention, but they will also be the ones who find the right type of people to connect with (better customers). Writing with emotion - from a true place of vulnerability - is hard because nobody wants to be made the fool (and that is the perception of what the risk is). But, let's take a step back and really think about this: would we have any of the great art, technology, brands or ideas that we have if the people who created them weren't truly and deeply vulnerable. Be honest: do you think any mainstream newspaper or magazine would print a Blog post like this as an article? When people ask me if Blogging is hard, my answer is simple: "it's only hard if you're not willing to be vulnerable."

Before you head off into your weekend, ask yourself if you (or your business) could use a little bit more of your own vulnerability injected into it?

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artist

blog

blogging

business

consumer

content

gary vaynerchuk

human

linchpin

magazine

malcolm gladwell

newspaper

passion

publishing

seth godin

social media

talent

vulnerable

How To Do Everything Wrong In A Presentation

Watch this video...

Brutal (and funny)... I know.

I was unaware of the book, Habitudes For Communicators, so Dr. Tim Elmore gets high marks for not only cutting through the clutter, but for creating something so funny (because it's true). What's scary is that this video (in all of its humor) is a basic round-up of about ninety-percent of the presentations I attend (I'm sure your experience is similar). The tools are here for us to get better. If you want to make a difference in your world (and the world of your co-workers), please pass this video around, watch it... and then go out and read the following books (in this order):

Give Your Speech, Change The World by Nick Morgan.

Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds.

Resonate by Nancy Duarte.

Three books and you can not only deliver amazing presentations, but you can spare the rest of us.

(hat-tip: Mick)

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dr tim elmore

garr reynolds

give your speech change the world

habitudes for communicators

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nick morgan

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presentation zen

public speaking

resonate

The Value Of Blog Comments

In the beginning God created the Blogs and the RSS. And it was good.

Last week, Mathew Ingram over at GigaOm published a Blog post titled, Yes, blog comments are still worth the effort. It seems like there's a movement for more and more Blogs to not bother having the comments enabled. It's nothing new. The story goes back to the early days of Blogging (now, over a decade old) where the discourse tightens over the idea that anyone and everyone should be able to contribute to content, and that the true value of Blogging content - in the first place - is how the Blogger engages and responds in the comment section. The macro theory here is that Blogging is a part of Social Media which inherently means that the spirit of community needs to be present.

Blog comments are becoming increasingly valuable.

We need to take a step back to remember how far we have come in order to get an indication of the future (and what it could mean to the overall value of Blog comments). We have to remember that Blogging (and the power of RSS) came along before it was easy (or even possible) to do the amazing things that we're doing with images, audio and video. We also didn't have much in the way of bookmarking engines or online social networks to share the content we were interested in with our peers. Remember, when online video first became more commonplace and things that went "viral" were (basically) videos being attached to an email? Back then, there was not only value in having comments on a Blog (because someone took the time to write their perspective) but there wasn't much else anyone could do - with the exception of starting their own Blog and doing a trackback.

But things have changed... dramatically. 

Forget the popularity of platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and more. Focus on this: if someone reads and appreciates a Blog post, they now have many more options to share what they think about it...

They can tweet a link of it out to their network on Twitter.

They can favorite the Blogger's tweet about the post.

They can share the link on Facebook.

They can comment on the link that they shared on Facebook.

They can link to the Blog post on LinkedIn and also comment on it there.

They can do all of that (and more) on Google+.

They can just create their own post, on their own space about it and not even link back to it.

They can share it as a bookmark (with comments) on Delicious or Google Bookmarks.

They can push it out through StumbleUpon, Reddit or Digg.

They can respond by video on YouTube or Vimeo.

...and a whole lot more.

The conversation is anywhere and everywhere.

What does of all this mean? The true value of a Blog comment rockets through the roof. Knowing that people can share, comment or create in their own space (with their own friends) means that the value (or dare I call it a gift) of a comment on the Blogger's environment is not only the highest of praise, but it could well be one of the highest forms of engagement. When was the last time you visited a Blog for the first time? We often look to see the activity in the comments as a form of social proof, don't we? If there are comments and some back and forth, it means that it must be valuable (whether that's true or not is another question). When brands look at Blogs as a marketing opportunity, this is one of the leading key indicators that they are looking for next to traffic. They want to know that something is going on.

Pushing it forward.

It's going to be hard to generate comments and community going forward as more disruptions and tools to share (look at Tumblr, etc...) come online and take hold. And, let's face it, it's much easier to +1 something with a "this is great, you should read it!" comment attached to it, than it is to formulate and write up an interesting perspective to bolt on to the original Blog post. It's also a lot more complex to comment on a Blog from a smartphone (at least it is for the moment). The other major opportunity is for a true community to take hold in the comments. I often lament that I have to be the one to respond to comments on this Blog. Why can't you (or someone else) respond to the people commenting? Wouldn't that make the discourse much more interesting and diverse? Is it really a community if the only engagement is linear between the Blogger and the person leaving a comment (and, once the Blogger responds to a comment, the original commentator never returns to continue with the engagement). Some Blogs have achieved this, unfortunately a lot of the back and forth banter can be juvenile and winds up polluting the bigger idea behind the content. It's still early days, but don't kid yourself, Blog comments (much like a retweet) is still one of the best metrics to gauge and measure true engagement, and that's only going to rise in value as more disruptions and other options become present.

What's your take on the death of Blog comments?

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