Fresh Chat

There was some controversy last week about a YouTuber who had allegedly accepted something from a company and then posted a video without declaring any kind of vested interest.   It’s all detailed on www.mumbrella.com.au and is an important part of the ongoing discussion about what is ethical or unethical in the worlds of paid vs earned […]

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Here are just a few snippets from all that’s happened in the world of digital and social media in the past month.

Sydney agency criticised in the blogosphere for launching a fake viral video to promote a men’s clothing line launch
Tourism Queensland launched a great ‘Best job in the world’ competition but garnered criticism for a […]

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Today the blog known as My Future Bank, run by representatives of Australia’s National Australia Bank’s online self-service offering, UBank, was shut down.  A search for the site which was previously at www.myfuturebank.org now returns a 404 error.
The decision ends a week of serious criticism and commentary by Australia’s social media connoscenti, spearheaded by Cheryl Gledhill from Molt:n who took […]

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Gartner recently identified 27 emerging technologies in their 2008 Hype Cycle. The Hype Cycle focuses on strategic technology and innovative function within IT.
Microblogging, social computing platforms and cloud computing have entered the hype cycle for the first time, and will be widely adopted by consumers before entering mainstream use for business.
Technologies entering the peak of […]

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comScore recently released a study showing that the popularity of social networking sites worldwide continues to grow at an extraordinary rate.
Facebook is now the most popular (132m users) and fastest growing (153% year on year growth) social network.
Let’s put this into perspective:

Hi5 experienced 100% year on year growth, but has less than half the number […]

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There’s been so much talk about hacks vs flacks in the online arena of late.  Many in Sydney sparked by the Future of Media summit or Twitter #FOM.  
The robust debate continues in many blogs. 
Some postulate either/or scenarios, suggesting that one type of expert is most vital.  Either you are a legitimate journalist (or not), a social media expert (or not), a […]

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As TGIF is proclaimed around the world, here’s a fabulous Friday afternoon time-waster.
This is an advertisment for a ‘Facebook Secretary’ from Uptake’s  job boards.
I couldn’t stop giggling when I read it, mostly because its just hilarious, but also because I’m perfect for this job. Luckily for Network PR it would be too much of an […]

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Playing online games with friends - and socialising with them in the process - is absolutely nothing new to the gaming community which has been doing it for the past decade and longer, but that hasn’t stopped games developers and publishers promoting the playstyle as indicative of the social networking wave.
Personally, I’m ignoring the hype […]

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Far be it for me to suggest that Rupert Murdoch has thrown a tanty over Facebook toppling his own MySpace as the leading social networking site, but comments from the media supremo that Facebook is simply the “flavour of the month” and little more than a “directory” seem to reflect more sour grapes than reality. […]

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An old boss of mine - a senior and visionary advertising type - said that the average consumer is bombarded by 3,000 messages a day.  The point was that to stand out from the clutter you need to do or say something special, or different or in an unexpected way.
Fast forward ten years,  today we spoke with […]

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