What will you do with Google+?

It is interesting watching the media coverage and interest in Google+. The important goal here for Google is to try to break through the media saturated environment so that people can understand advantages of its new product.

Even though a recent news article says there are only 20 million users right now, it appears from the Google+ web site that it is "overcapacity" right now, so it makes sense it will not catch up to Facebook numbers any time soon. And, a half billion users may not be a goal anyway. A Forbes reporter is already writing an eulogy for Google+ and explains why.

If you are a communications strategist for a large company, then you have been spending time trying to understand and use this product. Where does it fit in with all the other channels you are recommending and building elaborate plans to use?

Read this NPR story to get some extra perspective on Google+ as you plan your strategy going forward.

Watching New York Times new digital model unfold

There is no doubt that the New York Times has taken on a mightly challenge in setting up its digital subscription plan. Are there enough of us who regularly read a lot of NYT pages that will take the plunge? Read about how some people are viewing the change on Adweek. Wired puts it well: "The New York Times unveiled its widely anticipated digital subscription plan Thursday, a big step by one of the most impactful newspapers in the world. In the months to come, the headlong dive by this resource-rich media giant should help answer the biggest question in digital news: Can newspapers convert digital readers they have conditioned for years to expect “free” into paying customers? In other words, if The New York Times can’t, who can?"

Planning content for a tablet

Hewlett-Packard announced its long-awaited new tablet device called the TouchPad today. There's no doubt that developing a web site today is not like it was a few years back.

We need to plan for how this information is displayed and how it is consumed in a new way. We got some practice with the iPhone and then the iPad, but the tablet is more ubiquitous now.

I will leave the details to the techies who help us brand messaging and content folks get the info out in the right format. But no doubt the mobilty factor is not just about phones.

For the consumer looking for information, anything goes now. To learn more about this tablet, visit the New York Times.

The Social Network movie: Conversations started

Update to my blog below: Bulldog Reporter covered the topic about Facebook brand today. Younger audiences found it the movie appealing and thus looks favorably toward the brand. Older audiences not quite so much.

From a public relations standpoint, I have been interested in how Facebook, Harvard, Mark Zuckerberg, Sean Parker, and others have been portrayed and how the brand is affected for Facebook.

I am interested in how our views of society are changing, what the new opportunities are, how young entrepeneurs get to the top in business, and more.

David Brooks, an op-ed editor for the New York Times, says ..."the “The Social Network” is bad sociology, it is very good psychology. The movie does a brilliant job dissecting the sorts of people who become stars in an information economy and a hypercompetitive, purified meritocracy. It deftly captures what many of them have and what they lack, what they long for and what they end up with."

From a brand standpoint for Harvard, I have not been paying attention closely enought to know what it will think about Brook's comments, "The old WASP Harvard is dead. As Nathan Heller writes in an intelligent blog post called “You Can’t Handle the Veritas,” (Sorkin also wrote “A Few Good Men”), most kids at Harvard today come from pressure-cooker suburban schools. The old clubs are “vestigial curios.” Computer geeks do not spend their days desperately trying to join the Protestant Establishment because people born in 1984 don’t know what it is."

No doubt there is much to react to in the movie "The Social Network" and look at a generation that thinks about life and approaches it from a much different orientation than the observers who are writing about the movie. Review.

Does an online newspaper really want to know readers' favs?

Check out the NYT article on newspapers using advanced technology to see what people are reading online. This is not new, but evidently the Times thought it was good to review this practice.

It says, "Editors at The Journal, like those at other large newspapers, follow the Web traffic metrics closely. The paper’s top editors begin their morning news meetings with a rundown of data points, including the most popular search terms on WSJ.com, which articles are generating the most traffic and what posts are generating buzz on Twitter. At The Washington Post, a television screen with an array of data — the number of unique visitors to washingtonpost.com, how many articles those visitors view and where on the Web those visitors came from — is on display for the entire newsroom."

My question is: What happens when you find out your readers are not interested in the serious matters you were covering - they would rather see what the local celeb is up to than see how the November elections are stacking up. The NYT has the luxury of readers interested in everything, so this helps a broad approach. However, a smaller newspaper, such as the AJC in Atlanta, will focus on what the readers are looking for - and it appears to be unusual local stories, the crime scene and celebs. This is why I need an online newspaper now, so I can read the NYT to get some important news of the day that affects the country - like top notch financial news. If I want celebs, I will go to Huff Post for that.

Use LinkedIn to find business, experts say

A column in The Augusta Chronicle gives a good, simple summary of the use of social media in business. I think author Jeffrey Gitomer's ideas about LinkedIn for business make sense, especially for the small business owner.

Gitomer says, "LinkedIn allows you to find people who possibly can do business with you, and, more importantly, it allows people to find you. Most of the salespeople who use LinkedIn are trying to find leads and/or beg for some kind of connection. This strategy is the least useful, but it's better than a cold call. LinkedIn has a wealth of CEOs and other C-level people in its network, and millions of entrepreneurs (yes, millions) who own their own business and can make a final decision. LinkedIn is the new cold call. Instead of calling a gatekeeper and fishing for information on one possible decision-maker, you can now advance search on LinkedIn and determine exactly whom you need to contact before you make the call. You can discover who is connected to your connections and find people by job descriptions and job titles." Read more by the author of The Sales Bible by visiting the Chronicle.

Check out ways to use LinkedIn from the horses mouth.

Keep in mind latest tech problems that may affect you

No doubt that as a consumer it is hard to stay aware of bugs and problems of technology you use and understand whether or not it is a problem to manage.

Wired's Epicenter blog used reporting from IDG News Service, PC World, Infoworld and Computerworld to piece together this interesting summary of 2010's tech problems that may affect or have affected you. It is titled "Biggest Tech Industry Apologies of 2010(So Far)".

For example read the following excerpts:

McAfee in April apologized for its anti-virus update that took down Windows XP computers around the world, although the company said the problem affected a small percentage of its customers.

The carrier in June apologized for a hack that exposed thousands of iPad customers’ e-mail addresses and vowed to work with law enforcement to prosecute those responsible.

Adobe in February issued a mea culpa for allowing a 16-month-old bug in its Flash Player to fester without a patch despite the fact that the plug-in itself was updated four times since the flaw was revealed.

Visit Wired for the full story and links to more information.