All about the numbers?

Just read here that mySpace-related searches account for 8% of all Google searches and 5% of total internet search traffic!!

"Little wonder, then, why a search and advertising powerhouse like Google wants a piece of the action given that MySpace generates more than 8.5% of all Google's traffic and 5% of all general Internet searches, according to Hitwise. The billion-dollar question nagging at News Corp. executives is how to enter an alliance with the likes of Google and not lose control."

Is this why Marketers are currently in a frenzy to enter these arenas? To get a piece of the action by reaching vast amounts of visitors? Is it the sheer numbers that are drawing everyone's attention to social media, podcasting, and consumer generated content?

I think it is only a tiny piece of the puzzle. There has to be more to the attention these media are receiving than just, "they have come, now you build it". (the opposite of "if you build it they will come").

Speaking of "if you build it they will come" -- isn't that way of thinking one of the main contributors to the dot-com bubble burst??

They had the "who" and the "what" down fairly well. No one ever addressed the "why" and thus failed in the end to become viable businesses.

Those are just some thoughts on that way of thinking, which IMHO is deeply flawed.

Mainstream "traditional" media picking up on new trends in media

Not suprisingly, the mainstream media has been giving a great deal of attention to new social media trends. SecondLife, the online virtual world that , has recently been featured in high profile articles in magazines and newspapers around the country. The latest coverage comes from the Boston Globe's article on SL

The use of SL as a new marketing tool has been the subject of most of the articles that I have seen. When CC Chapman's blog post "Not Getting It (which I highly recommend) pointed out this post knocking SL it got me thinking-- Is all of this SecondLife hype and coverage a big PR scheme for companies and institutions to cash in on??

My opinion is no. SL and other future iterations of the same idea will change the way companies, and institutions do business. That is the reason for the PR rush. Like any new trend, it will have it's doubters and be labelled by some as "just a fad".

I bet the Recording Industry was hoping that downloading music was "just a fad" for "computer nerds only" when Napster came out. Seems like they miscalculated...

First Post - Welcome Everyone

Greetings everyone! This blog is aimed at addressing the ongoing media revolution, in paticular its implications on the higher education sector. My name is Dan and I work in a higher ed institution as the main person responsible for digital marketing. Folks in my age group have narrowly missed out on some of the new media trends that those a couple of years younger have helped to create. In my current position, I can't afford to be left behind these trends, and neither can you if you are involved in the web and Marketing at an institution of Higher Education!!

For example, I watch my younger sister spend countless hours using social media on the internet (myspace, facebook, AIM etc). This is an intricate part of her life, and the life of most Millenials (those aged roughly 13-24). It is now my job, and the aim of this blog to figure out what this all means, and how it can be used to advance my institution.

These new media trends, according to many, promise to change many fundamentals of our world as we know it. I'll be discussing some of these radical changes and their potential (hence the use of the term "Revolution" in the blog title) in the upcoming months.