The online community was shocked this week when the micro-blogging platform, Twitter, was hacked by a group calling themselves the Iranian Cyber Army.  Early visitors after the attack saw a graphic of the Iranian flag super imposed with Arabic writing, along with a strangely polite message in English, before Twitter suspended all services.
This kind of total shut down of one of the most popular sites in existence is more than worrying.  While the hack may seem benign enough, it certainly leaves a lingering bad taste.  If the attach was indeed …

It’s a question that I get asked frequently during consultations with new clients:  “Do I need a blog?”   May answer for the majority of clients, was always “Yes.”   As a writer, I may be a little biased, but I also knew the power of a good blog for both attracting traffic and interacting with site visitors.   However, with so many new ways to accomplish those two goals online, I now pause for thought before making my recommendation.
So does this mean that the blog is dead?  No.  You only have to …

The scoop on Facebook Lite.

This great video (brought to you by Microsoft, believe it or not) is a great illustration of how old advertising canons and methods just aren’t attracting consumers in our Web 2.0 world. A cool, humourous reminder to rethink your marketing strategy and embrace the new media wave.
‘The Break Up’

It isn’t often (enough) that we see major Web 2.0 events happening outside of the US. This is one, however, that looks promising and well worth a visit if you are able to get to the London area.
http://www.amiando.com/fowalondon2009.html
If you are based north of the border, you won’t have long to wait for some exciting new media events as Angela Neal Media are planning a series of conferences, seminars and training sessions in Glasgow and Edinburgh. (Non Scots also welcome, of course.)
Watch this space for details!

We have become brainwashed by numbers in recent months. Everyone is desparate to have thousands of followers and fans. We have become obsessed with the quantity of online stalkers we can command, rather than the quality of sales leads that these mobs might translate into.

One of the leading stories on UK news this morning was regarding the notion of businesses banning Facebook from the workplace. Much as I am a strong advocate for social media sites, I am even stronger advocate for improving efficiency – something which the great FB cannot even manage for it’s own site, (do you see an easy-to-find link to a person’s pages and groups on their profile?) let alone inspire in it’s users.

One of the biggest complaints I hear from online clients these days is the cost of attracting traffic.  Even the most successful of these businesses are spending a fortune to get hundreds of visits to their site, but still have low conversion rates.
The problem is their mindset.  Most small business owners and online start ups equate traffic with success.  We are so brainwashed these days by the hype of quantity (Page rank, followers, hits) that we often overlook quality.  And we are losing customers because of it.
Let’s just say in …

I am one of those people who believes that vindictive behaviour is never ok, even in defense.  Some people admire that as grace; others deride it as being a doormat.  Alice Hoffman is in the latter camp.
As a writer you have to expect bad reviews.  You don’t have to like them; you can rant and rave about the reviewer to your friends and family about the injustice of it all; you can even, perhaps, write an angry post or tweet to your fans.
You can not, however, express your hatred of …

I am currently in the middle of putting together some education packages for teachers about the internet and social media, and how they relate to modern education, so this video is particularly interesting to me.
The video covers all of the positive aspects of harnessing Twitter to encourage classroom participation, so I won’t reiterate them all. Suffice to say that I think it is crucial that teacher embrace and utilize new technology, and take advantage of such popular platforms such as Twitter to engage and connect with their students, rather …