January 30th, 2009
by Laurent François
Social media in 2009: a 25-slide presentation to roughly and quickly explain the various economical and political issues for citizens and the role of new media.
I’ve used FlickR, Webilus and my various readings. Thank you social web!
Thanks Webilus, Thien – Bloxx Girl, Karine, Charles-C., Cyril (el digit Maestro)
and if you have any suggestion to improve this presentation, I’m ready to include any useful comment!
citizenship, digital influence, marketing, social media |
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January 30th, 2009
by Laurent François

“The declining usage for old media isn’t much of a surprise. But looking at the growth rates for different forms of new media, it’s apparent that some tools are catching on way faster than others, also not a surprise if you consider the topics we tend to focus on: social networking, blogging, and video. In all, the study re-enforces what you should be focusing on and prioritizing if you’re responsible for getting a company up-and-running in the world of new media.”
Read on Mashable this morning.
Few points caught me in this graph:
- Local “print” news are absolutely not decreasing: local is back, and people want to read contents they experience
- Company websites are on the rise: it’s probably because it is a source of influence (so to say, consumers look for information and legitimately think that if the company lies, it’ll be bashed)
- Advice and peer to peer recommendations are still increasing: certainly because people have less and less time to solve problems and so need quick access to information aka their relatives/friends/peers
If “old media” are on the way down, there’s an older medium to be considered: people themselves!
citizenship, digital influence, liquid modernity |
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January 29th, 2009
by Laurent François

Hung Nguyen wrote a post that makes me wonder about the brick&mortar needs we have, even if our relationships (economical, human…) are more and more “liquid”:
“A “flying lamp” which was released as Hanoi citizens were celebrating the Tet Holidays had essentially burnt the cable and thus caused a total blackout to all sites hosted by VDC.
@Baomoi concluded: A “flying lamb” could deface Chinhphu.vn, Dantri, Vietnamnet and 80% of the Internet in Vietnam. Super duper hacker.””
Interesting to see that online security is first (and probably foremost) a question of real management issues.
(true light is not yet into the cloud-computing… 😉 )
photo @Dia
liquid modernity |
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January 28th, 2009
by Laurent François
Read on PR Squared :
“In other words, maybe it is becoming a little bit less important that the PR pro develop a day-to-day relationship with the blogger, and more important that they establish a personal brand that suggests to the targeted blogger that “this is someone I can trust.”
So to say, a PR professional could improve his results with bloggers thanks to his own personal branding. He should not spend too much time in “real” meetings (like lunch, breakfasts…) because the outreached blogger can get his information online.
Well, there are some good things and some weird ones with that:
public relations, social media, why blogging |
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January 27th, 2009
by Laurent François

I was wondering if Mr President could beat God in search volume. Guess what: they all did at a moment, but in the long-term, God’s stronger.
It can probably confirm 2 things in extenso:
- “solid” notions like God are still important and represent on-going topics of attention, because it can be part of a cultural background (you can be pro or cons, it does not matter: God exists in your daily life)
- trends can beat solid notions sometimes through liquid conversations, but in order to keep them buzzing, there’s a need to transform them in real & daily concerns
What does it mean in terms of learnings for brands, causes or more generally for anyone trying to communicate and influence other people? Two first thoughts:
- if you decide to communicate and go for a marketing campaign that just aims to substitute a trend instead of a former trend, you’re probably not going to last
- if you go above and implement a strategy that is based on solid notions + trends, then you’re probably going to link a critical mass of people that will be ready to support you longer
Some examples, one for tourism in Cambodia and the other one about iPhone:
Creative Spark: “I’ve noticed this phenomenon of critical mass in in other places too. It’s not particular to tourism or Cambodia. Success (in this case a couple of tables filled early in the evening) attracts success. Perhaps we see it as a recommendation. Other people are enjoying it, so it must be good. Non success does the opposite. Noone’s there, so it must be bad. The curves aren’t balanced, the odds aren’t evenly stacked.“
Charles Ju: “The iPhone is the first mobile gaming platform with internet connectivity and the critical mass to make it worthwhile to invest time and effort into making long-lasting, high-value games, and that’s why we’re moving in this direction.“
So…Looking your best can take time, and if you achieve it, lasts very long

brands, liquid modernity, marketing |
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