Happy Birthday, Michele! :)

Spammers are at it again, invading our new social media like roaches, and Shel Holtz is calling them out. Learn about their latest little scam here.

Okay, so... since we're on the subject of social media, here's a question for you (courtesy of John Winsor): Is MySpace still leading the consumer-generated content revolution, or is it all just a fad?

John seems to favor the first proposition in "The Revolution Is Upon Us":

"I’ve gotten a few notes from people that have their doubts about the power of consumer generated content, saying that it television didn’t destroy radio or the internet has completely destroyed either. Yet, one only has to look as far as MySpace to recognize that the power of content generation has shifted into the hands of the end-user.

Saul Hansell’s overview of MySpace’s rise in the New York Times stated that the site is now ranked second in number of page views, with 28.8 billion last month, only behind Yahoo. Combine MySpace’s popularity with video sites, such as YouTube and CurrentTV, and you’ve got more going on than a small trend. The lines between consumer and producer have blurred.

Besides Rupert Murdoch and News Corp. many media companies are reacting to consumer generated content similar to what that Grant McCracken describes as their reaction to blogs (which is another powerful example of consumer generated content, in itself):

Stage 1. Benign neglect

Stage 2. Lordly disdain

Stage 3. Irritation plus Obfuscation

Stage 4. Panic! Attack! Panic Attack!

As the dynamic changes happening all around us continue to accelerate, traditional media companies and brands, in general, must take steps toward building a deeper relationship with these newly empowered producer/consumers. In this new era, it is the creative citizens of a community — the people and the companies — that will survive and thrive by co-creating honest, original and relevant media and products."

(Catch Grant's full post here. You'll probably want to bookmark it for later re-reads.)

Also read Neville Hobson's post on the effect of social media on growth here. His piece references a Swedish/US study that you'll want to look into. Here is a tasty morsel:

"[…] Sales training is no longer about watching, reading and listening, but about doing, simulating, socializing, sharing and collaborating. The maturation of a new wave of online applications and tools, such as blogs, podcasts, online gaming, and wireless and mobile technologies, is driving ever-greater levels of sales and service productivity."

"Gronstedt’s report illustrates how scenario-based online simulations, podcasts and blogs are catalysts for connecting a disparate sales team to stimulate greater engagement between the team members that’s geared to helping lift their performance levels:

"[…] The blog serves as a forum for free-flowing conversations. It’s an engine for sharing experiences from the front lines across the sales organization without inundating reps with e-mail. They can read the musings, rants, raves, insights and opinions of their peers and weigh in on conversations about pressing issues that will help them better do their jobs. Reps can also find the latest podcasts and download them from PlayDough [the new sales community blog]."

For a more pragmatic look at the future of social media, check out Danah Boyd's essay on the fall of Friendster, in which Danah asks if MySpace's demise might be next. Fascinating piece, and a great devil's advocate companion to John Winsor's.

Have a great Tuesday, everyone. :)