Thanks for the mention Brian and I completely agree. Knowing the influencers empowers one to pinpoint efforts to gain maximum returns and through our individual engagements. Something which may not be apparent from the BrandsEye website is that you can also pull lists of top brand communicators based on about 15 fully customisable criteria i.e. people talking negatively and with a high credibility and linking to your website and coming from a particular site (i.e. Twitter) etc.
Tim @brandseye
Andy Beal
· 5 months ago
Thorough and insightful as always Brian! Thanks for including Trackur.com in your list of recommended tools!
brian
· 5 months ago
Thanks Andy!
kelly rusk
· 5 months ago
Great post and awesome list of resources! I also would add Social Mention -www.socialmention.com
Sort of like Collecta--searches blogs, microblogs, comments, video, audio, photos, and social news sites and works great. Even provides some analysis.
I'm not associated with Social Mention at all, just a big fan.
Kelly
Joe Hall
· 5 months ago
Hey there! Thanks so much for including WhosTalkin.com in your list of resources! We hope that we can continue to expand our platform to better serve you and your readers. Feel free to email me any time with thoughts or ideas on how we can improve. joe@whostalkin.com
Blake Cahill
· 5 months ago
Brian:
Appreciate you including Visible in your post. Here's a link for your readers on Forrester analysis of the major Listening Platform vendors in the space. http://bit.ly/Jjpsw
Best,
@bcahill @visible_tech
Connie Bensen
· 5 months ago
Hey Brian, Thanks for another amazingly comprehensive post! And I appreciate your including Techrigy SM2. We offer both the Freemium version as well as the professional one so that everyone has the opportunity to use a full tool.
btw your blog looks great! and I've so been enjoying your last book! It gets held up when I speak. Your support of community builders is MUCH appreciated!
Connie Chief Community Officer, Techrigy @cbensen
Marc Ostrick
· 5 months ago
interesting and thoughtful post... would like to see more video curation sites like http://eGuiders.com. Brian - keep up the great work!!!
Alecia O'Brien
· 5 months ago
Hi Brian, To add to your list - dna13. We monitor traditional AND social media within our platform. What's important not to forget is that listening to social media is important, but what's eq
Alecia O'Brien
· 5 months ago
Hi Brian, Another one to add to your [very comprehensive] list is PR software and media monitoring provider, dna13. We monitor social media alongside traditional media through multiple providers out there in this space (including some on your list). Fortunately, we can pick and chose who to integrate into our platform which gives PR/marcom folk the best of the content feeds out there (in one place). While listening to social media is clearly top priority today, it is important to be monitoring the virality of conversations that begin online, and watching how they affect and influence traditional media. Cheers, Alecia O'Brien @dna13
brian
· 5 months ago
Thanks Alecia, will add DNA13. Sorry!
leedman
· 5 months ago
Not completely relevant to the fullness of what social media can and will do for everyone, but still a good thoughtful read with many valid points.
brian
· 5 months ago
What's missing? This post is actually serving as the foundation for something much more important. :)
Wow. I am naturally wary of over-enobling the petty ditherings of the masses when it comes to societal impact, but your focus on the commerical implications of these changes makes for a compelling argument, and a good read.
You should check out Crimson Hexagon, BTW. Listening platform, kindof, but different from both the umpteen keyword counters out there. More pattern than dots. Turns out not everyone wants a "river of news," do they?
Anyway, fight the power, my brother...
brian
· 5 months ago
Thanks Mike! Fighting...
Nicholas Nishesh
· 5 months ago
Hello Brian - I have been following your work (and of others) when it comes social media and have been highly impressed. I have been researching social media and its implications/applications and would be very appreciative of your thoughts on a concept I am presently developing and will introduce as a white paper soon. The concept is called "Social Media Eloquence" (SME) which, ultimately, would be measured through a Social Media Eloquence Index (SMEI). Thanks for all the great insights and please let me know if you'd have any interest. - Nicholas Nishesh
Stephanie Valentine
· 5 months ago
You are right that social media is not scalable. I'm glad that you "listened" to that part of the conversation. Small business owners are lost, lost, lost when it comes to social media and many are opting to "sit this one out" until the medium becomes affordable in terms of time and money. You point to a lot of good resources and you make a good point that we need to take the time to listen through our new digital eyes and ears, but boy is that challenging to the small business owner operating with ultra-lean budgets and ultra-tight schedules. A tough one, but a good thought-provoking post.
"What An Influence" - Interesting SM thoughts - and a great resource - just what I#ve been looking for this morning. Thank you!
Best wishes from Hamburg
Will
ivan
· 5 months ago
Great list of resources to listen and engage. As has been said already, article a little too long. Could have made the points with a lot less writing which would probably have helped make it more engaging. But all in all a very useful post. Thanks.
brian
· 5 months ago
Ivan, remember, people approach these posts at varying levels of experience and understanding. To truly be a resource, you have to write in a way that appeals to everyone.
Martin Enriquez
· 5 months ago
Brian,
I landed on this post by a friend recommendation. I must say that just a few understand what PR 2.0 really means, that’s why I found your post so helpful and clarifying for most people. I will certainly recommend some of our clients and partners to read it and I’ll encourage them to join the conversation. Great Post! Thanks!
Martín Enriquez CEO SocialMetrix
Janet Hansen
· 5 months ago
Thank you for this revealing article! It explains much of what has been in my "way" over the past 10 years if not longer. I will use this as a templete to follow and learn from in the months and years ahead. We've known about the influencers, do the Cultural Creatives have much to do with this rather silent movement toward social media? Perhaps a naive question, but the CCs are a movement I've tried tapping into for clients for some time. They seem to be as invisable as this seemingly long process has taken to materialize for those who've been working toward this moment for two decades.
Really appreciate the time you've put into explaining this methodology....intense and influential! Janet Hansen Scout66.com
Jon S.
· 5 months ago
Great stuff Brian. Google Alerts is trash for monitoring though... I frequently find things that do not show their and I don't get the alerts during the time frames I set. Luckily for Google, everything is "Beta"
KLAATU7
· 5 months ago
Nice article Brian. Very deep and moving, until I started to wonder how I could draw a connection to power line distribution. How does it help me design better line protection monitors? Very interesting post none the less.
Mohit Garg (@MohitGarg_)
· 5 months ago
I like your conversational approach to sharing your message- the best bit was the structuring of tools to back up what you have to say. Here's a link that might interest you: http://randomjunkyramblings.blogspot.com/2009/0...
Matt McDougall
· 5 months ago
Great post.... Another Listening + Conversation Management tool: SinoBuzz
This is the most sophisticated Chinese online reputation management platform. Can be used for China and also supports English language markets. More details can be found at: http://www.sinotechgroup.com.cn/index.php?optio...
Ian Orekondy
· 5 months ago
Meetup.com is also a great place to find both online and offline influencers and those most engaged and looking to be influenced. Check out a cool search trick to help find your online evangelists by topic, geo and pent-up demand.... http://www.searchandsocialmedia.com/2009/02/how...
HawaiiRealty
· 5 months ago
Good article... Reminds me much of Cluetrain Manifesto ....
Joe
· 5 months ago
"The distance between perplexity and resolution is disclosed through research and appraisal."
Its 2009 and PR is shit full of bullshit.
brian
· 5 months ago
Nice Joe...the line still stands. I guess you could say that the distance between bullshit and wisdom is extended through through research, appraisal and experience.
James schramko
· 5 months ago
Awesome content and a treasure trove of resources!
Lelia Thomas
· 5 months ago
As much as I agree with the ideals of posts like these, I think one is choosing to be ignorant if he or she actually believes consumers have changed the world through social media, or that communication is really as open as this post suggests. We have certainly altered the world. There is no question of that. That is how a free market economy works (and most of us in OECD nations have at least some small form of that, though we all have a fair bit of Keynesian economics at work, too).
What we experience today is most certainly more democratized, personalized and customized; however, the most-visited news sites on the web, at least in English-speaking OECD nations, are owned by the same companies that have existed for decades, some even before the foundations of the Internet were laid in the 60s. If our information economy was truly democratized, I could mention citizen journalists and citizen journalist websites, indie musicans and artists, and people would know what or who I'm talking about. However, at age 22, most of the people even in my demographic are largely unaware of what exists outside of the main players and their products (for news or otherwise). This is clearly evident, as well, when one looks at the top-followed users on sites like Twitter.
The conversations we have on the web largely influence us and our feelings about each other, but the influence we have on powerful conglomerates, which undeniably and unfortunately dictate much of what even becomes law, is negligible. If it weren't, we would not have groups like the RIAA suing the pants off of people at the tune of $80,000 to $150,000 per illegally downloaded song, flying in the face of all just processes. No matter one's opinion about filesharing, most would agree that the results of these trials are not fair, and most have been vocal about that...and yet the law stays the same, because our voices, online, off, etc. are not as powerful as the lobbying men and women in Washington.
My point is that a lot of these services are indeed great, but I sometimes wonder how much they just placate us, leading many to believe that we have a lot more control than we really do. I would definitely say that of all the services that have come out to date, Twitter comes the closest to decentralizing and liberating everything. I love that. We have a long way to go, though. Companies may be listening, but most often it's only halfheartedly. Surely most of us, as consumers, are aware of this.
Good list, by the way.
lesleemitchell
· 5 months ago
Great article. Thanks for all the incredible resources.
JR Nuerge
· 5 months ago
What fabulous resources you have listed! Extremely helpful for continuing my education in social networking. JR Nuerge Eco-friendly+Eco-nomical=Eco-fabulous! http://www.jrnuerge.com
KimBuck
· 5 months ago
Rick Levine, Christopher Locke, Doc Searles and David Weinberger saw this coming in 1999 and ranted about it in "The ClueTrain Manifesto." Energizing read. Thanks for this GREAT post!!!
craig
· 5 months ago
If too many become attentive listeners - there IS no conversation.
wendy soucie
· 5 months ago
Scout labs for tracking
brian
· 5 months ago
Thanks Wendy! Will update.
Walter Adamson
· 5 months ago
What did you mean by this comment - the last phrase - I missed the point but it seems important to your argument?
- "...not derivative of the social web"?
"Tastemakers and trendsetters are the new influencers, but their roles in affecting consumer behavior are not derivative of the Social Web."
All Comments
Tim
@brandseye
Sort of like Collecta--searches blogs, microblogs, comments, video, audio, photos, and social news sites and works great. Even provides some analysis.
I'm not associated with Social Mention at all, just a big fan.
Kelly
Appreciate you including Visible in your post. Here's a link for your readers on Forrester analysis of the major Listening Platform vendors in the space. http://bit.ly/Jjpsw
Best,
@bcahill
@visible_tech
Thanks for another amazingly comprehensive post! And I appreciate your including Techrigy SM2. We offer both the Freemium version as well as the professional one so that everyone has the opportunity to use a full tool.
btw your blog looks great! and I've so been enjoying your last book! It gets held up when I speak. Your support of community builders is MUCH appreciated!
Connie
Chief Community Officer, Techrigy
@cbensen
To add to your list - dna13. We monitor traditional AND social media within our platform.
What's important not to forget is that listening to social media is important, but what's eq
Another one to add to your [very comprehensive] list is PR software and media monitoring provider, dna13.
We monitor social media alongside traditional media through multiple providers out there in this space (including some on your list). Fortunately, we can pick and chose who to integrate into our platform which gives PR/marcom folk the best of the content feeds out there (in one place). While listening to social media is clearly top priority today, it is important to be monitoring the virality of conversations that begin online, and watching how they affect and influence traditional media.
Cheers,
Alecia O'Brien
@dna13
( http://www.sentimentmetrics.com )
@leonchaddock
@smetrics
You should check out Crimson Hexagon, BTW. Listening platform, kindof, but different from both the umpteen keyword counters out there. More pattern than dots. Turns out not everyone wants a "river of news," do they?
Anyway, fight the power, my brother...
- Nicholas Nishesh
Stephanie Valentine
http://www.gosmallbizblog.com
Best wishes from Hamburg
Will
I landed on this post by a friend recommendation.
I must say that just a few understand what PR 2.0 really means, that’s why I found your post so helpful and clarifying for most people. I will certainly recommend some of our clients and partners to read it and I’ll encourage them to join the conversation.
Great Post! Thanks!
Martín Enriquez
CEO
SocialMetrix
Really appreciate the time you've put into explaining this methodology....intense and influential!
Janet Hansen
Scout66.com
http://randomjunkyramblings.blogspot.com/2009/0...
This is the most sophisticated Chinese online reputation management platform. Can be used for China and also supports English language markets. More details can be found at: http://www.sinotechgroup.com.cn/index.php?optio...
Its 2009 and PR is shit full of bullshit.
What we experience today is most certainly more democratized, personalized and customized; however, the most-visited news sites on the web, at least in English-speaking OECD nations, are owned by the same companies that have existed for decades, some even before the foundations of the Internet were laid in the 60s. If our information economy was truly democratized, I could mention citizen journalists and citizen journalist websites, indie musicans and artists, and people would know what or who I'm talking about. However, at age 22, most of the people even in my demographic are largely unaware of what exists outside of the main players and their products (for news or otherwise). This is clearly evident, as well, when one looks at the top-followed users on sites like Twitter.
The conversations we have on the web largely influence us and our feelings about each other, but the influence we have on powerful conglomerates, which undeniably and unfortunately dictate much of what even becomes law, is negligible. If it weren't, we would not have groups like the RIAA suing the pants off of people at the tune of $80,000 to $150,000 per illegally downloaded song, flying in the face of all just processes. No matter one's opinion about filesharing, most would agree that the results of these trials are not fair, and most have been vocal about that...and yet the law stays the same, because our voices, online, off, etc. are not as powerful as the lobbying men and women in Washington.
My point is that a lot of these services are indeed great, but I sometimes wonder how much they just placate us, leading many to believe that we have a lot more control than we really do. I would definitely say that of all the services that have come out to date, Twitter comes the closest to decentralizing and liberating everything. I love that. We have a long way to go, though. Companies may be listening, but most often it's only halfheartedly. Surely most of us, as consumers, are aware of this.
Good list, by the way.
JR Nuerge
Eco-friendly+Eco-nomical=Eco-fabulous!
http://www.jrnuerge.com
- "...not derivative of the social web"?
"Tastemakers and trendsetters are the new influencers, but their roles in affecting consumer behavior are not derivative of the Social Web."
Thanks, Walter @g2m