Scott Rosenberg on his new book, Say Everything

Posted by: Stephen Baker on July 02

Here's a short interview I did earlier this week with Scott Rosenberg, the co-founder of Salon.com and author of the new history of blogging, Say Everything.

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Do Twitter people spell better?

Posted by: Stephen Baker on July 02

Just got a press release from GooseGrade.com with results of a study that Twitter users, on average, actually spell better than the average schmo.

The study was conducted last week and consisted of one hundred random*, English-speaking participants who either identified themselves as users or non-users of the Twitter service. Each group was then asked to write 100 words about what they did that day.

He found out that while Twitter users maul the grammar, they seem to spell well--once they're operating outside the cramped confines of 140-characters. But why would they (or we, since I'm a Twitterer)continue to cut corners on grammar outside the Tweet box, but improve the spelling? Ideas?

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Wyclef bails on Ning

Posted by: Douglas MacMillan on July 01

Celebrities can be a boon to social networking sites, but they can also be a liability if they become unhappy with a site.

Ning, the service that lets you create your own social network, is growing quick and attracting some big names. Author Seth Godin used the platform to start a private forum for marketing experts. Rapper 50 Cent has attracted such a following on his network, Thisis50.com, that other hip hop artists have started advertising on the site to find new fans.

On Wednesday, Wyclef Jean announced to his Twitter followers that he was abandoning Clef Zone, the Ning network that he only recently created. His specific objection to Ning is unclear (we have a call out to Wyclef, who for some reason posted his phone number on Twitter the same day), but he says on Twitter that "i want my own server" and "I wanna be in full control of my vision." The performer also hints that he's concerned about the security of internal messaging on the site, saying (sic) "I DONT TRUST A SOCIAL NETWORK WERE THEY HAVE YOUR EMAILS."

Guess who responded? Ning CEO Gina Bianchini, who frequently gives her users personal attention -- particularly the A-listers. Wyclef's complaint and Gina's response are below. I'll update this post if I hear back from either party.

Update (2:15 PM Eastern): Looks like there's no hard feelings between Wyclef and Ning...

And Ning spokeswoman Morgan Seal provides this statement:

We love when people experiment with Ning. Based on the tweets you reference, it looks like Wyclef and his team decided they wanted to develop a social networking application on their own servers with their own developers. While Ning provides an easy way to create and customize your own social network and gives Network Creators full access to member data and control of their content, we fully respect and understand that Ning may not be right for everyone.

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Neuroscience moves into advertising

Posted by: Stephen Baker on July 01

Neuroscience will lead advertisers to hit us with the equivalent of 2x4s, preliminary studies from Simulmedia indicate.

The idea is that viewers' brains respond more strongly to clear and didactic promotions. In the post, we're shown two promos. One, a dull but straight-forward 30-second spot for Entertainment Tonight, tells us exactly what we can expect (Britney in a bathing suit). Our brains, statistically speaking, respond in unison to that. Contrast that with a much choreographed promo for Nip/Tuck, which (to my eyes) is much more captivating, but opaque. Brains respond to it in many ways. The conclusion from Simulmedia, Dave Morgan's TV ad tech startup, is that advertisers will prefer the predictable brain patterns produced by clear communication.

Does that mean that TV promos will be dumbed down? Perhaps. But conceivably, promos that are both clear and funny or visually compelling will prove to be even more effective. I can only hope that researchers will eventually track down the brain waves of the audience segment drawn to weird stuff.

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Joost fails at social online video

Posted by: Douglas MacMillan on June 30

Viewers of online video want appealing new content. That's why Hulu is hot and almost everything else is an experiment.

On Tuesday, Joost announced that it's closing its consumer video site to become a white label video platform. Initially created by Skype founders Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis as a desktop application, Joost relaunched as a flash-based Web site in late 2008 to compete directly with Hulu. Even though it called Viacom and CBS investors, Joost never gained a library of exclusive shows from those companies in the way that Fox and NBC shows have driven the success of Hulu.

Instead, Joost sold itself as a social venue for Web TV. It was among the first launch partners for Facebook Connect, letting visitors alert their friends on the social network to what they're watching. It encouraged users to "tag" videos and vote on whether they liked or disliked them. And it displayed a public news feed of what other Joost users are watching at any given time.

As Mike Volpi, who's stepping down from the role of chief executive, told me in January, all of these features were designed to make Web TV more like -- well, TV. "Part of the challenge of making video social on the Internet is not just hooking it up to a Twitter feed or a social graph, but making features that recreate the Golden Era of television, of watching a program on the couch," he said then.

Apparently, that experiment failed.

While Hulu has some social elements, like the ability to review clips, those features are secondary to the site's focus on compelling content. Great new shows, I would argue, are the main reason Hulu is able to ratchet up its number of visitors, attract new partners, and explore the possibility of new revenue streams.

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