What 2.0 means for brands

Nicely put, the community is at the centre! Brands just watch the space.

Don't speak digital...I'm an artist!

If all artists had to move away from the myth that an artist is a strange being, scared from anything that is logical, technical and/or digital they would realize that the social web is much more social and as a result, fits their free spirit much more than they think. Some projects are evidence of how free spirits have used digital to extend their love for art and warm emotions:

www.twistori.com

www.earstudio.com/projects/listeningpost.html

www.wefeelfine.org

and finally, as geekiest and artistic as can be:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/joann_kuchera_morin_tours_the_allosphere.html

Waiting for Vevo!

Speaking about the longtail in my previous post, seems the longtail will still be owned by the big networks. Google's YouTube has teamed up with Universal Music Group in a revenue-sharing agreement on an ad-funded music service which is said to be the 'Hulu' of music.

Read on adage: http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=135908

Digital Family Trees

If like me you are a fan of the digital world than you need this link: (http://adage.com/digitalfamilytrees09/) and this poster (http://adage.com/images/random/datacenter/2009/digitalfamilytrees09.pdf) to find your way through the leading digital entities and services. But then again, where would my/your dream digital start-up feature one day?

What the tribes say (part 1 of many)

At the beginning of this year, or even earlier than that, I had come across Tribes, the popular book by Seth Godin. I have not commited myself to get the book as yet because a long list of titles awaits my attention near my bedside table, my virtual desk and at the office. But with Tribes, comes The Tribes Casebook, which is a free ebook written by the tribe at Triibes.com. Before leaving this page to read more about Triibes.com, you may want to to know that this community is currently by invite only. If on the other hand you are smiling simply because you are one of the Triibes clan, then please be kind and send us at BLAB an invite. We're really delighted to know more!

Well in brief, the Tribes Casebook is a book written by a community which started off as part of the actual book project. The book is some 250 pages long and says a lot about small/big communities in society. I would like to commit to share some of them. This should help me to write and read regularly about different communities, which are key in the 2.0 world!

So the first tribe falls in the category of Tribes you don't want to belong to, one of which is 'The tribe of the Disabled'. Jon Morrow, the author of this section of the book, starts off by explaining how people may join this tribe, sometimes by accident, sometimes involuntary from birth. Jon states:

"Some people take it hard. They feel like they’ve been kidnapped from another tribe, the Tribe of Normal People. They feel like everything they were and everything they knew was taken away.

Eventually though, most of us realize that the Tribe of Normal People doesn’t actually exist. There’s no bond between the nondisabled. There are no leaders among them. There are no rules. It doesn’t exist."

And from a tribe which no one wants to belong to, many realize this tribe is about courage. "It takes courage to look at yourself and accept your imperfections. It takes courage to love yourself anyway. It takes courage to go beyond merely trying to survive your life and start trying to actually enjoy it."

This is the first tribe the Casebook speaks about, but i think it sets the parameters for most of the other tribes, what's common within and what's alien to the ones outside.

The above discussion is drawn from The Tribes Casebook. Get the Casebook here: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/10/free-tribes-ebo.html

For the lost facebook souls

Facebook has a new layout and many are lost. I think the homepage tour helps navigation so here it goes: http://www.facebook.com/sitetour/homepage_tour.php

Strangely, Facebook never seems to please its networks members in each redesign. Also, the redesign is not a gradual one which results in the need of a map/tour!

Vodafone launches first netbook in Malta

Vodafone has over the weekend launched the first netbook locally. For the record, a netbook is a laptop with in-built mobile broadband functionality. In simple terms, you may get the netbook, go on campus and start browsing without the need of an internet key, WiFi or wired connection.

The usual disclaimer follows: I work with Vodafone and so am bound to be slightly biased so have a look for yourself:

More info:
http://www.vodafone.com.mt/page/DellInspironMini9.html

Online enquiry:
http://www.vodafone.com.mt/jsp/vfm_online_enq/view.jsp