Newstex snared a couple of high-profile blog brand names for its Blogs On Demand service. Full-text content deliverd by Newstex from the Gawker and Corante blog networks offers another syndication model for the two beyond their existing RSS feeds.

The company noted in a press release how it licenses and repurposes the content from those networks and makes it available elsewhere online:

Newstex automatically tags each blog post with company names, stock tickers, key people, and topical categories.

The company also said “each blog post delivered as part of Newstex Blogs On Demand will include Newstex’s proprietary PeopleTickering — a system that synthesizes metadata from numerous premium sources and quality blogs to create a unique database of people who make the news.”

Along with the Gawker and Corante announcement, Newstex also noted that LexisNexis customers would receive the full-text Blogs On Demand feed as well.

What impact does the delivery of blogger content to the legal and business users of LexisNexis mean for content syndication in general? Syndicate your thoughts on the topic at SyndicationPro.

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David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.

I don’t know what is up with the alleged deal at this point but I found something kind of interesting on a couple of Yahoo! personality blogs that made me start thinking if there was any legitimacy to those talks.

Yesterday, as I was reading fellow Corante Network contributor Matt McAlister’s blog (who, I may note, always has interesting insight to share), I noticed the following at the bottom of his post:

Now, normally, I wouldn’t think too much of that. But his other buttons each link to another Yahoo! property (“Bookmark” goes to del.icio.us and “Blog” goes to Yahoo! 360). More importantly is that I’ve not seen anyone actually add that sort of functionality to their blog yet. I did a quick search on the Digg site and via search engines and couldn’t find the code to do so (note that the button actually adds the URL into the Digg system versus just bringing you over to the Digg site).

Then, I went over to Jeremy Zawodny’s blog and low and behold, the same button existed.

Am I just reading into something here or is that code and the blog “Digg it” type button widely known? Trying to be a sleuth but I could just be a sloth in keeping up with the word on the street.

Ken Yarmosh is a consultant who helps organizations get the most out of their technology investments. He works with technology users and creators across various industries, focusing on technology education and strategy. With over 7 years IT experience, Ken has worked with small businesses, non-profits, federal agencies, and multi-million dollar companies.

His online efforts include acting as the Editor for the Corante Technology Hub and authoring the TECHNOSIGHT blog.

My position, as articulated at the Corante Web Hub and in my comments throughout the blogosphere is that the change merely extends similar policy to the Internet. In other words, as I wrote on a comment on La Shawn’s business blog, the law was simply “updated to reflect technical advances.” Once again, it appears people completely separate the physical from the virtual world – this type of activity is illegal offline and with other less virtual telecommunications devices.

I realize that there are some issues with the amendment (or at least, perceived issues – I’m no legal scholar). Namely, what qualifies “annoying”. More importantly though, is how will the government actually enforce this law? Technically speaking, they just don’t have the resources or infrastructure to do so.

But that is not the issue so many have here. Instead, it relates to what people believe is a removal of freedom – but does the law prohibit freedom of expression? Obviously not. As I wrote on Steve Rubel’s blog, “This legislation does not outlaw anonymous comments. Rather, anonymous comments “with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass any person.” In terms of this debate, I’ll stop here.

This particular issue gives me the ability to talk about identity in the online world. In Dick Hardt’s very intriguing Identity 2.0 talk at the Web 2.0 Conference, he makes the case for identity being about reputation. My reputation as a blogger extends beyond this blog. As you can see above, I comment often in the blogosphere – but how do people know that I am actually the one leaving the comments?

Even in a system where comments require user registration, there is no way to verify a blogger’s identity. That means identity fraud could easily occur. Someone could begin to defame my reputation or yours, by leaving comments with your name around the blogosphere.

Over the past two months, I’ve actually setup a makeshift means to do two things: 1) Help me keep track of my comments. 2) Help others to verify my comments. What I’ve done is simply tag my blogosphere comments in BlinkList with a mycomments tag. Today, I’ve put my most recent comment links, along with their abbreviated excerpts into my blog’s sidebar as well. It is my way of protecting myself and my digital reputation. If there is ever a question about a comment with my name, people can turn to mycomments page (of course, it’s missing everything prior to December).

This solution somewhat works because BlinkList requires me to sign-in, in order to add “blinks” to my list. My BlinkList user name is “kyarmosh” and now, since you know I write on this blog – I’ve verified my account for you.

For the government to enforce this updated legislation on the Internet, similar elements would need to be in place – a national sign-in with a means for digital identity verification. We are no where near that – if there is any reason to be mad about this amendment, it’s the fact that we don’t have the technology or infrastructure to support such an ambitious law.

Don’t be surprised in the future though (and I don’t know when), if people will have online ID’s issued by the government or local agencies. Thinking about the virtual world more in terms of the physical world is inevitable.

Ken Yarmosh is a consultant who helps organizations get the most out of their technology investments. He works with technology users and creators across various industries, focusing on technology education and strategy. With over 7 years IT experience, Ken has worked with small businesses, non-profits, federal agencies, and multi-million dollar companies.

His online efforts include acting as the Editor for the Corante Technology Hub and authoring the TECHNOSIGHT blog.

How Popular Has Podcasting Become?

No doubt podcasting is the hottest thing to hit the internet since, well, blogs! (And I did jump on the blogging bandwagon wholeheartedly!) Corante thinks so highly of the new media phenomenon they’re hosting an event in September called Podcast Hotel, and even holding it at the trendy Jupiter Hotel just to make the point. They refer to it as “the new radio , the new video – the DIY trend that is shaping the dynamic way we view the world.”

Mark Cuban, on the other hand, is pooh-poohing this new media invention as not so hot. He likens it to the surge of streaming media back in the 90s, of which he was an industry leader. Cuban asserts that, due to the ease of use, the numbers of podcasts will increase exponentially resulting in “a massive dilution in the audience size of the early entry podcasters. EVERYONE’s audience will fall as the marginal listeners find something they like better.”

He does suggest that repurposing content using podcasts is a good thing though, but warns against trying to build a business out of it.

So, who’s right here? I believe both Corante and Cuban make valid points. Podcasts are hot, but will eventually become, according to Cuban, “a normal part of the digital media landscape.”

We early adopters easily get excited about any new technology innovation. (That’s good though, because it’s us who introduce these innovations to the early majority.) What is being said of podcasts has also been said of blogs and RSS. Before too long, maybe even wikis will join that list as the NEXT next big thing. However, over the course of time each will find its place in the new media landscape.

I’m reminded of a line in the 80s movie Karate Kid, where the Yoda-like character Miyagi tells his prodigy, “Balance, Danielsan. Balance.” That’s a pretty good way to approach the new media – take a balanced view. Podcasts, RSS, and blogs all have their place, and each is powerful no doubt. Yet, where marketing is concerned, none of these are comprehensive enough on their own to do as effective a job as all of them working in concert. What’s more, the new media shouldn’t be adorned with Holy Grail-like stature to the extent that we give up on the tried-and-true, email marketing for example.

That’s one reason I’m going to “back to the future” and taking this business on a more comprehensive tack. While blogs are still the keystone of what Radiant Marketing Group has to offer in terms of marketing strategy, I’ve recently chosen to expand the scope of services I offer to include things like email and SEO. It’s a combination approach, taking what’s good from the “old” and aligning it alongside the “new.”

While I still get excited about new technologies and their possible benefit in the business space, I’ve learned to “take all things in moderation.” Use the best the web has to offer without becoming a crusader for one singular strategy or tool. Everything in its place and all things in their time. Just like old Miyagi said, “Balance, Danielsan. Balance.”

Links:
Skype
Hot Recorder

Paul Chaney is the owner of Radiant Marketing Group, a web design and marketing agency geared to meeting the needs of small business. He has been involved web design and marketing since 1997. Currently, he spends most of his time blogging about Internet marketing.

Give me the executive summary every time.

That changed this morning.

I’ve just read an abstract of an essay about the significance of social software by Danah Boyd and posted on Corante Many 2 Many:

In this paper, I will explore the contributions of social software. I will argue that there have been notable technological advancements, but that their significance stems from the rapid iteration of development in ongoing tango with massive user participation. In other words, the advances of social software are neither cleanly social nor technological, but a product of both.

If I were to zero in on what I see as the key point in Danah’s essay – my personal executive summary, if you will – it is this phrase in the abstract:

Social software represents a new generation of social technology development – a generation that is dependent on moving beyond the laboratory and into mass culture.

I’ve always had a little difficulty in fully grasping the phrase ‘social software’ in order to explain it in the context of business and organizational communication. The Wikipedia definition starts thus: “Social software applications allow people to interact in virtual reality, connecting or collaborating by use of a computer network.”

Not especially helpful, although the examples Wikipedia gives are very good, ie, instant messaging, internet relay chat, forums, blogs, social networks (eg, LinkedIn) and social bookmarks (eg, del.icio.us).

What’s been missing is a more understandable definition and putting that and the examples into a context that helps you better see their real impact in human social behaviours which adds to your thinking on what this means to organizations and organizational communication.

Danah’s essay takes such a definition and examples and, provocatively, puts them into far better context. For instance:

Given the emergence of blogging over the last few years and the large audiences of many involved in the community of social software, this term and its definitional efforts have spread widely, much to the dismay – if not outrage – of some. The primary argument is that social software is simply a hyped term used by the blogosphere in order to make a phenomenon out of something that always was; there are no technological advances in social software – it’s just another term that encompasses “groupware,” “computer-mediated communication,” “social computing” and “sociable media.” Embedded in this complaint is an argument that social software is simply a political move to separate the technologists from the researchers and elevate one set of practices over another.

[...] While the term social software may be contested, it is undeniable that this community has created a resurgence of interest in a particular set of sociable technologies inciting everyone from the media to entrepreneurs, venture capitalists to academics to pay attention. What is questionable, and often the source of dismissal from researchers, is whether or not the social software community has contributed any innovations or intellectual progress.

It’s a terrific, thought-provoking article and worth time reading (and giving Danah some feedback).

Wikipedia entry for ‘fusion cuisine‘

Comments…

Neville Hobson is the author of the popular NevilleHobson.com blog which focuses on business communication and technology.

Neville is currentlly the VP of New Marketing at Crayon. Visit Neville Hobson’s blog: NevilleHobson.com.

The Volvo/MSN Spaces Announcement

In addition it features the placement of small Volvo text links with graphics are on top of users’ personal Spaces. This is not Volvo’s first foray into blog advertising. The company already sponsors Weblogs Inc.’s Autoblog podcast.

This deal has major ramifications for the short-term future of blog advertising. There now appears to be three distinct groups of blog advertisers forming.

The first group are the mass marketers. This group craves safety, as the Wall Street Journal noted last month. They are skittish about advertising on blogs. As a result, they will gravitate towards teaming with the larger players when it comes to experimenting with the medium. This will include partnering with the platforms – such as MSN Spaces, Yahoo! 360, TypePad and Blogger – as well buying space on the “big three” blog networks, Gawker Media, Weblogs Inc. and Corante.

The second group of blog advertisers are the “mid-market” marketers. These advertisers will will likely feel comfortable purchasing ads on specialized networks like BlogAds.

Finally, the last category – perhaps the largest in number – are the smaller blog advertisers. The majority of these companies will either strike one-off deals with individual bloggers or use Google and Overture to advertise across blogs.

See the microsite Steve refers to.

Steve Rubel is a PR strategist with nearly 16 years of public relations, marketing, journalism and communications experience. He currently serves as a Senior Vice President with Edelman, the largest independent global PR firm.

He authors the Micro Persuasion weblog, which tracks how blogs and participatory journalism are changing the public relations practice.

acquired by the NY Times for $410 million at a multiple of over 10 times About’s 2004 revenues and a multiple of over 30 times EBITDA. Several analysts say there is a dearth of ad space inventory. But of course it’s more than that. When you own or deal with a wholesale property you can work a sponsorship deal.

Now consider blog inventory. Unless its part of Weblogs.inc or Corante, you can’t work that deal without significant transaction costs. Like Denton’s Sony deal for $25k/month. This points to the opportunity, not only for aggregate micro-pubs — but for a system where publishers aggregate themselves through commoditization. How to value this inventory is another thing, however.

Reader Comment:

From Jason Calacanis

“Well, anyone who is a hustler can get out there and sell… however, if you’re spending 1/3rd of your time on tech and 1/3rd on selling you’re only spending 1/3rd blogging.

When I modeled the blog publishing model 18 months ago, Brian and I realized there is no reason to do this if you can’t get to 400-700 blogs in three years. We’re at 75 blogs and will hit 200 this year…. that has been a huge amount of work, and I can’t imagine how long it will take to get to 400-700 like About.com!!! Maybe five to eight years!”

Ross Mayfield is CEO and co-founder of Socialtext, an emerging provider of Enterprise Social Software that dramatically increases group productivity and develops a group memory.

He also writes Ross Mayfield’s Weblog which focuses on markets, technology and musings.

… turned down the opportunity to run VW’s suicide bomber ad.

Increasingly I believe that the big blog networks – Corante, Nick Denton’s Gawker Media and Calacanis‘ company – will begin to distance themselves from other bloggers. They will operate more like mainstream media outlets with profits (yes, that’s right – profits) and reader/advertising franchises that they will do anything to protect.

This will also mean they will take fewer big risks – both with their editorial and their advertising – at least until the laws give them the same protections that the mainstream press have had for years.

Go to AutoBlog.

Reader Comments

Posted by Paul Mooney:

These “big blog networks” resemble “old media” more then they do blogs and they are starting to believe their own hype.

I think we are going to have a click-bot scandal around the time of the first blog IPO.
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Posted by Dave Thomas:

Steve,
Thanks for the mention. As the person that wrote the Autoblog post I don’t think there’s anything wrong with injecting a bit of ethics, decorum and taste into blogging. It had nothing to do with profits, we would’ve gained a larger audience by running an image and link to the clip, it had to do with keeping the voice of Autoblog intact. This was a questionable ad. Some are questioning even if it was an ad, hoax, stunt etc. We didn’t run it originally because of the insulting and tasteless content, but now I’m glad we didn’t run it also because of the unknown origins and intent.

Also as someone with a journalism background I think if you inject the ethics taught in J-school into blogging you may have a more ethical media in blogging then you do in large, mainstream corporate media that uses many, many more filters on what you see and hear.
Take care,
Dave

Steve Rubel is a PR strategist with nearly 16 years of public relations, marketing, journalism and communications experience. He currently serves as a Senior Vice President with Edelman, the largest independent global PR firm.

He authors the Micro Persuasion weblog, which tracks how blogs and participatory journalism are changing the public relations practice.

If you’re in the communication profession – in PR, marketing, advertising, employee communication, etc – and if you are considering starting a corporate blog, want to learn how to maximize your current blog, or learn more about the benefits of other tools like wikis and RSS newsfeeds, you should attend one of these events.

The organizers, Gullaume du Gardier and Elizabeth Albrycht, have announced some new developments:

1. A new member of the “Blogging and Journalism” panel is Jeremy Wright, the high-profile Canadian business blogger who was dooced this week. Jeremy joins Dan Forbush, founder and president of ProfNet; Tom Foremski, veteran tech journalist, ex-Financial Times US west coast correspondent and writer of the Silicon Valley Watcher blog; and Heath Row, editorial and community director at FastCompany.com, where his responsibilities also embrace managing the development of new web content and services including FC Now, the Fast Company team blog.
2. An additional panel on 27 January in partnership with Corante. Called “True Voice: The Power Laws and You,” the panel will be moderated by Stowe Boyd of Corante’s Get Real blog. He will be joined by Greg Reinacker, the Founder and CTO of NewsGator Technologies, and Fergus Burns, CEO of Nooked, among others. The panel will be videocast live.

See the event website and blog for full details of all the sessions.

More sponsors have come on board, some impressive names, including Six Apart, Ragan Communications, IAOC, PR Newswire, Tekrati and Nokia Lifeblog. See the full sponsor lists for the US and France events.

I’ll be in Napa for the US event as I’m leading the workshop on “Using Weblogs, Wikis and RSS to Enhance Employee Engagement.” (That’s the formal session title. Informally, think of “2005: The Year of the Corporate Blog“.) I’ll also be at the France event.

There’s still time to take advantage of the pricing discount for early registration – if you register by 18 January, you get a $100 discount. Register online and quote the discount code NCFV150.

Hope to see you there!

Neville Hobson is the author of the popular NevilleHobson.com blog which focuses on business communication and technology.

Neville is currentlly the VP of New Marketing at Crayon. Visit Neville Hobson’s blog: NevilleHobson.com.