Return of .....the mac ?? (not really)
It's been quite a while since my last substantive post....a year to be inexact. Since then, much has changed. Not only in my personal life (which I will not mention), but also the world of new media and web 2.0. A year of news is too much to review in one blog post, so I'll pickup with a few recent developments.
1) Facebook has become the largest mobile social networking site by increasing its unique mobile users by more than 600% in 2009,
2) Twitter has finally found a path to monetization, and THANKFULLY its not through tacky out of place popups. Instead, Twitter has created an advertising platform which will generate "promoted tweets" allowing "innovative advertising partners" (Best Buy, Bravo, Red Bull, Sony Pictures...etc) to have their tweets called out in certain search results. While Twitter claims it's interested in promoted tweets being "useful to users".....I highly doubt they will. While I have never been a fan of internet ads, I understand that Twitter like all companies has bills to pay and needs money to pay them. According to Twitter the following rules apply to promoted tweets, 1) ads that do not resonate with users will be removed from search results, 2) only one promoted tweet can be displayed per search result, 3) purchased tweets will be clearly marked "promoted",
3) The National Security Staff (NSS) in collaboration with (DHS) and the White House OSTP has released the first draft of its e-commerce security plan titled "Trusted Identities in Cyberspace" which it intends to have signed by the president and finalized later this year. The strategy outlines ways in which everyday web browsers (you and I) can surf and conduct sensitive transactions on the web securely. The Strategy calls for an Identity Ecosystem where "individuals and organizations can complete online transactions with confidence". As you would imagine, big brother theories about the initiative are already making the rounds on the internet and in conspiracy circles. Although the strategy has not received mainstream news coverage, if implemented it is sure to have a PROFOUND effect on the way we conduct our business on the web.
More has happened in the 2.0 world which I have completely ignored but......its my first blog entry in a year, give me a break.
