Six Pixels of Separation recently wrote The Naked Truth - and with it some very interesting stats about the readiness of us youngsters to get our gear off.  I’m a digital native, in the younger gen-y bracket, but I say: technology is no excuse for irresponsibility. Nor do I think this is (as the article went to put it) a (what we consider) privacy issue.  Still, interesting read never the less.

I’ll never stop anyone taking a nude photo of themselves or their partner — but don’t expect them to keep it to themselves — whether knowingly or unknowingly (human error has left many ‘private’ photos in full view of work colleagues).  Sure, your partner or lover might keep a promise but some (many?) technologies are as quick to keep those promises.

Nor are your friends next time they borrow your phone and find themselves in your gallery.

“One in five teen girls (22%), nearly as many teen boys (18%) and one-third (33%) of young adults say they have electronically sent, or posted online, nude or semi-nude photographic or video images of themselves.”

If we move beyond the images and videos, the numbers get just as raw and unnerving. Here’s what was reported today on Marketing Charts for the news item titled, One in Five Teens Sends Sexually Explicit Images:

“On the receiving end of the messages, 48% of teens and 64% of young adults (56% total) say they have gotten a sexually suggestive message from someone else. Among young teen girls (age 13-16), one-third have received such messages. …What teens and young adults are doing electronically seems to have an effect on what they do in real life, the survey found. Nearly one-quarter of teens (22%) say that technology makes them personally more forward and aggressive.”

..

The bigger question: is this going to make people recoil and seek a much higher level privacy, or are we going to continue down this path where all of our lives become open books in online social networks and the like?

Robert Scoble doesn’t mind being naked on Flickr.

Julian Cole. Author of Adspace Pioneers.  Friend and brother in arms — Julian is not only a great mind in the industry, but a top bloke.  We’ve regularly made videos together and a drink or two around Sydney since he moved up from Melbourne in 2008.

What Julian has taught me is the power of conversation, influence and passion.

Describe what you do:
Think, create and talk about interwebs

Best digital memory of 2008?:
Pimp My Kettle fiasco

What’s the best lesson the industry could learn?
Some common measurement metrics that we can all use.

What’s emerging for 2009?
Community Managers in Australia, look forward to seeing a whole lot more of them.

What will be big in 2013?
Jye Smith

The Complete List of Australian Marketing Interwebs Bloggers; Sorted by Region

Definitely some digital perspectives worth engaging with.

Described what you do
Firstly, I’m a blogger who likes to focus on new and social media marketing with one blog and viral marketing with another. Secondly, I’m a undergraduate student at Monash halfway through his Marketing degree. Thirdly, I like to dabble in a little bit of freelance consulting. And finally, I have been known to enjoy a beer or two.

Best digital memory of 2008
Tough question. Probably the amount of fun myself and a few other bloggers had with the Fantastic Noodles’ Pimp My Kettle campaign. A terrible, terrible campaign that had lots to discuss give me enough content for a couple of blog posts. The best part though, when trashing the campaign we linked to it and that’s the only reason the official website appeared on a Google search. Hilarious.

What’s the best lesson the industry could learn?
Stop wasting your fucking money on interrupting consumers who don’t give a shit about you, your brand or your product. Instead, spend one tenth that on monitoring and engaging in online conversations and communities. Social Media marketing isn’t just about broadcasting, essentially it’s a customer service tool too so consider that before cutting your budget in 2009.

What’s emerging for 2009?
Independent studio quality production. Not necessarily talking about UGC which has been growing over the past few years, but I think we’ll see more examples like the Dr Horrible web series case study. High quality production but done independently and then released through a free but highly profitable business model. As soon as people realise they can deviate from the standard business model and still be as, if not more, successful I believe we’ll see this take off in 2009. What Myspace Music did to the music industry, we’ll see the same thing happen to television, radio, film, books, magazines and all of the above.

What will be big in 2013?
Probably a new social network some 13 year old is producing in his garage as we speak. Or perhaps by then Google will have developed something that brings every single social network into one? Other than that it’s way too hard to predict where things will be in one year let alone five. However I do believe we’ll see a trend towards mass collaboration within communities and as a result the production of some truly remarkable content.

2008 brought me together with some of the very best minds in the business and it would be impossible to name them all.  So many great conversations, so many great ideas. So little time.  2008 was definitely a year I met some truly inspirational people in the digital media space.  They’ve challanged my thinking, inspired me to push the envelope and think differently.

• Julian “JuJu” Cole - introductions, continual conversations and great nights out
  
• Gavin Heaton - every coffee morning, and introducing me to a world of story telling
• Katie Chatfield - always inspiring: showing me what it means to stand up for what you believe i
• Scott Drummond - for the countless hours of conversations about life and work
• Brice Lechatellier - vision
• Katie & Simon Harris
  
• Zac Martin
• Tim Noonan
• Tim Longhurst
• Tom Voirol
• Beth Etling
• Stan Lee
• Steven Collins

Just announced: Vodafone and Last.fm today announced a partnerships that will see Vodafone customers to integrate with the social networking music site. This is a great.

So where do you get it?

The Last.fm application is first available to download from Last.fm at www.last.fm/vodafonescrobbler, to selected Nokia handsets including the N95, N96, N78 and 6210 (other handsets will be available too soon too).

This is a great move for Last.fm as I firmly believe that this will make the service not only more accessible but just as or if not more relevant that Apple’s Genius.  The key problem with Genius is the fact I can’t see, comment or interact in anyway with my friends and other people interested in the same music I am.

Personally: As my Last.fm profile becoming more and more complete, and as Sonixtrip prepare for our first EP release, and most importantly: as the mobile becomes the most personal and highly engaged device — this is the start of a very rich, always accessible and social interaction between web, mobile and the user.

Excited much?

VODAFONE BRINGS LAST.FM MUSIC EXPERIENCE TO MOBILE PHONES

Vodafone Customers around the world to “Scrobble” Music from Mobiles to Last.fm Profile and Access Artist Recommendations

Vodafone and Last.fm today announced a collaboration which, for the first time, will bring the Last.fm music experience to Vodafone customers.

From today, millions of Vodafone customers throughout Europe and India, Australia and New Zealand will be able to access Last.fm’s social networking music features via their mobiles. The new mobile application includes Last.fm’s scrobbling functionality that tracks what users listen to in real-time and builds them an online music profile based on their listening habits.

Last.fm is a music entertainment platform, with an active community of over 25 million users in more than 200 countries. Through its unique Scrobbler system, Last.fm builds a profile of each user’s music taste by tracking what they listen to in real-time via their computer and now from their mobile. Last.fm can then use this information to intelligently recommend new music to each user based on their music preferences.

Customers who are new to Last.fm can register from their mobile and check out what their friends are listening to. In addition, customers in Germany will be able to click through directly to the Vodafone Music Store to sample and buy any music recommended by Last.fm.

Javier Foncillas, Head of Branded Content at Vodafone Group, says: “Music continues to be a major passion for our customers and that’s why Vodafone consistently delivers a superior music experience in a number of different ways to ensure people get the music they want, how and when they want it. With Last.fm, Vodafone continues to pioneer social networking on mobiles, delivering a new, relevant and unique music experience, to millions of customers, across our high speed, reliable network.”

Martin Stiksel, Last.fm co-founder, says: “It’s really exciting to be launching our scrobbling mobile phone application with Vodafone. We’re working hard to ensure that the Last.fm experience is available everywhere, from your desktop through hardware to phones, and this is another big step towards that goal.”

The Last.fm application is first available to download from Last.fm at www.last.fm/vodafonescrobbler, to selected Nokia handsets including the N95, N96, N78 and 6210. All of the handsets are available from Vodafone stores, online and via indirect channels. Other handset models will follow soon.

Local language versions of the application will be available in some markets including Germany, Spain and the UK from launch. English versions will be available in all other Vodafone markets.

I predict I’ll need to continually add to this post as the time draws nearer.

But tell me what you think.

• Peter Kim: Social Media Predictions 2009 (a collection marvellous collection of insights)
  
• Mr. Granfield: 10 Marketing Predictions for 2009 (accurately hilarious)
• Pete Blackshaw: Consumers to Suffer from Social Media Indigestion in 2009
• Daniel Schawbel: 2009 is the Year of the Niche Gatekeepers
• Sarah Perez:  Social Media in 2009: Our Predictions and Desires

There are things you come across, you MUST share. Pass it along. More and a PDF available over at Being Peter Kim.

• “Although it is now cheaper to launch an initiative leveraging Web 2.0 technology - it requires qualified and passionate people to make them successful.” - David Armano
• “You may not always start the year as a leader, but you can certainly finish it that way.” - Rohit Bhargava
• “Intimacy touches emotion; emotion powers conversation.” - Pete Blackshaw
• “Doors are going to close all over the social web. Why? Because the money didn’t come the way people thought it would.” - Chris Brogan
• “The tipping point has not only *not* been reached, but could still tilt *away* from Social Media.” - Todd Defren
• “There’s a lot of fixing that needs to be done.” - Jason Falls
• “Dwindling budgets suddenly make low-cost social media look like the pretty girl at the ball.” - Ann Handley
• “We’re going to develop a set of better metrics to help guide, direct and validate ‘commitment’.” - Joseph Jaffe
• “The movement is rooted in a desire to have quality, not quantity, as people cocoon in the face of the economic crisis.” - Charlene Li
• “After a pre-qualifying wrestling match…” - Ben McConnell
• “These will be cumulative events and interactions that will build brand loyalty for the companies that pay attention to them.” - Scott Monty
• “The recession will force revenue results out of social technologies.” - Jeremiah Owyang
• “Companies that focus on earning love will thrive during hard times, and kick ass when good times return.” - Andy Sernovitz
• “Suddenly, being Facebook friends with your mom will seem less ridiculous than following 4,000 strangers on Twitter.” - Greg Verdino

A comprehensive and insightful view into the future by Ravi Prasad, Head of Strategy at Topia.  One of my favourite minds in the industry. Definitely somebody to follow.

Ravi has put together some great thoughts here, and you’ll notice the reoccurring theme of change.  This is at a fundamental, strategy, and the user level.  We have many lessons to learn, and many companies are still going to learn the hard way.

Best digital memory of 2008?

I have two:

1. Judging at the AIMIA Awards – I saw some really thoughtful work, even in traditionally dull categories. There are some really well considered individuals working in digital advertising, some smart clients and brands making well informed decisions.

2. I remember attending the AFR conference on the ‘agency of the future’ where a few dinosaurs unearthed themselves in the general discussions.

I was left with the impression that many major agencies, brands and media groups don’t yet ‘get it’ or are resistant to the evolution of the media space – this resistance was sometimes at very senior levels and within groups of powerful decision makers. For me, encountering this resistance raised some interesting questions, but I’ll come back to this at the end.

What’s the best lesson the industry could learn?
The biggest lesson to be learnt is that by 2013 advertising agencies, brands and marketers will have caught up to what consumers were doing in 2009.

Ok, it’s not exactly a lesson, but there is a lesson in it.

And sure, not all of us will be playing catch-up and some are already moving ahead of the curve, but by and large consumer behaviour (what we do and how we interact with technology, content and media) is well in advance of what advertising agencies, brands and marketers are doing – they’re trailing behind the consumer, sometimes by more than 18 months.

You can see the divide; with radical change in the media space landing on top of them, some agencies are playing a hasty game of ‘catch up’, while others are already consolidating positions as the agencies of ‘now’.

So the lesson is? Take a position on the evolution of the media-space or risk declining relevance to your clients or your consumers.

What’s emerging for 2009?

Googalisation

Google is still emerging. We all know Google is already pre-eminent, but there are lot of people who are not admitting ‘defeat’. We will see a lot of online business stop resisting and adopt positions that resolve better with Google’s dominance – it’s begun, I head Yahoo!7 executives’ talk about their redefined position as the ’starting point’ for the user, (there are others you can take) and I anticipate more tactical positioning exercises to come.

Advertising as content becomes ‘advertising as channel’. It’s happening now – advertising that is indistinguishable from content. This will change as our understanding of what that content can be evolves.

The next evolution will be what I call ‘advertising as channel’, whereby the channel itself will be the advertising.

It’s the inverse of McLuhan’s the ‘medium is the message’ as in 2009 the ‘message becomes the medium’. And it will be huge.

You can see it in its nascent form with sponsored communities such as KCA’s brilliant clubs (look at the Huggies ‘mothers-to-be club’ - kca.com.au) but this is only the beginning of what is possible.

This is directly related to a concept I call ‘brand as channel’ where brands deploy their own media ‘assets’ in ways not too dissimilar from ‘traditional’ media channels.

Social Media Optimisation (SMO)

In my work for agencies (specifically Topia) I advocate this to clients as part of their ‘mix’.

SMO is really about strategies to utilise the natural conversations and interactions within the social media ‘landscape’ to direct traffic or conversation around a brand.

It works, and we’ve been able to make it deliver a healthy ROI. I expect that by mid 2009 what I do now will be seen as somewhat ‘quaint and old fashioned’ as new, novel and more inventive strategies emerge -  we’ll also see SMO strategies as accepted practice pretty much everywhere.

In 2009, look for more platforms defined by target market demographics (and dispositions) and less by USPs or other brand propositions.

Social media, in general will evolve with speed and we’ll see a lot of new utility from existing platforms.

Second Generation Collaborative Platforms

We’ll see a lot of evolution in the area of collaboration. There is already a lot going on, but as portability increases and platforms evolve, we’ll see it much more and in more places.

Portability:

Portability - sharing and remixing data using open standards. There are heaps of examples and many different dimensions to this.

My current favourite is posterous.com

With posterous.com I can update my blog, my Facebook status, my flickr, my Twitter status (and a whole lot of other stuff) simply by sending an e-mail.

2009 is when portability becomes a central issue.

What else?

What else will be emerging? What’s emerging for 2009 will be big in 2013, so let’s jump forward a few years.

What will be big in 2013?

For this question I looked at 6 key drivers and extrapolated from the present:

1. Convergence of content
2. Convergence of channels
3. Availability of bandwidth
4. Price of bandwidth
5. Processing speed
6. The emergence of enabling technologies (technologies that enable services by enabling any or all of the above).

I also threw one special criteria into my process:

I looked for ‘platforms’ that are consistent with and sympathetic to human behaviour and interaction. (Basically, this means that for something to work, it also has to give people what they want, and make functionality and usability really simple.) Unless it’s a ‘natural’ fit, it won’t take off.

I know things have been converging for a while and it’s self evident that channels and platforms will continue to converge at an increasingly accelerated rate with the utility of these platforms growing as enabling technologies evolve.

However, it’s worth stating that a lot of what we see in 2013 will be new expressions of this convergence.

Cogent Search

Ok, I just made up that term, but here’s an example of what it could look like.
It’s emerging now, but by, by 2013, search will be fully customised to each individual user’s idiosyncrasies. Search will learn and learn even more about you.  Your search engine will be your own - your own cogent search engine (and ad server as part of the deal.  I think all of this is part of Google’s current vision.)

It will also be enabled in your Navman, so not only does it know about you, it also knows where you go.

This mash up, a Navman GPS, with your own cogent search engine goes everywhere you go, serving information and ads (and geotagging) along the way  - for example, if you like tropical fish, local aquariums will be indicated; if you like Lebanese sweets, local restaurants will be indicated (along with reviews and feeds from things like online communities and heaps more).

And it will all be on a little converged device that looks a whole lot like your iPhone.

Is plurk the new Facebook?

It probably won’t be, but something will.

Because of portability, the barriers to migrating, switching or using multiple platforms will be diminished. It means it’s going to be easier to move from platform to platform, which in turn means that the ‘next Facebook’ is going to happen fast – it will come out of nowhere. Whatever it is, the next Facebook will be characterised by a high degree of portability.

Your own TV network

By 2013, TV networks are in full blown crisis.

Video sharing platforms will now have a bigger share of audience than some networks.

Networks would have turned to a raft of different things to stop the haemorrhaging. All those cool things that the ABC Digital department are doing (think of what they did with programs like the Gruen Transfer to foster online interaction with the show) will be standard practice across most of the programming on most networks – including drama.

Mobile carriers and mobile devices now get nearly as much time as broadcast does, so you’ll see more novel and creative deals done with mobile carriers.

You’ll see a greater convergence between traditional print media and broadcast platforms.

We’ll see TV network services, starting with cable, offering full customised programming – essentially, you’ll have your own personalised network.

Nested technologies and platforms

At least I call them nested technologies and platforms and they are characterised by an interdependence of content, channel, and interface and revenue integration.

A good example is the iPhone. Apple gives you the hardware and the applications – and derives revenue from both.

Consider this: when you own an iPhone, your relationship is really with Apple and not with your network service provider.

When your relationship is with Apple and not the network provider, why would you be loyal to a network? They just become the provider of your bit-pipe. It’s a nightmare for mobile phone companies because it then becomes all about price - people want as much bandwidth and want it for a little as possible. For these guys it’s going to be a race to the bottom and 2013 is when they hit that bottom.

There are, however, a few strategies they can use to hedge their position, but as of now none are set to be emerging by 2009. If you’ve got stock in a network, sell it today.

Anyway, look for more nested technologies and platforms, there are a whole new class of business set to emerge around this model – also look out for a better way to describe them, there’s a buzz word looming.

I’ve got about 20 more predictions, but I’m going to stop at this point and pose a question: If the media space is changing, it will necessarily change business models.

Given resistance to change from senior brands, agencies and marketers, and the inevitable necessity that change has to happen, I think my final prediction is this: by 2013 there will be a massive change in leadership underway amongst senior brands, agencies and marketers. This will be driven by a crisis or relevancy. We will see, among other things, entirely new classes of marketing, strategic and creative businesses.

It’s always interesting to think about the context in which these searches were made. How many actually found what they were looking for? A lot of them seem like people who are simply to lazy to remember URLs — oh well.

Context provides story. Story provides insight.

Perhaps the top 10 lists should include a most asked questions?

The Top 10 Australian searches of 2008

Games

Sydney

YouTube

MySpace

Facebook

Google

eBay

My

Weather

Hotmail

The 20 fastest rising Australian searches of 2008

iPhone

Facebook

Google Maps

YouTube

wiki

ANZ

wow

Maps

Sarah Palin

Underbelly

beijing 2008

stephanie rice

Barack Obama

Cloverfield

Miley Cyrus

Firefox 3

The Dark Knight

Heath Ledger

Gossip Girl

Zero punctuation

Being in the business of industry associations brings its critics and advocates, but Paul has been brought on board to start driving things into 2009.  I’ve had some great conversations with Paul about the industry and the future and he’s very optimistic about the innovation and interactivity about advertising in the future.

Describe what you do:

Advocate the use of online advertising in marketer’s media strategies. Provide resources – research, standards, guidelines – for publishers, agencies and advertisers to increase their online advertising.

Best digital memory of 2008?

1. Being appointed CEO of IAB Australia.
2. 29% growth in our industry for Jan – Sep 2008 on the same period in 2007.
3. The results of the Nielsen Online Brand Impact Study for Kelloggs Sultana Bran.

What’s the best lesson the industry could learn?

The question is not “how many people saw my ad?”. The question is “how did my advertising work?”

What’s emerging for 2009?

Better online audience measurement; continued strong growth as advertisers and agencies turn to the medium for accountability, measurability and ROI; cross platform measurement; better awareness of and use of targeting online; clearer value proposition for video online; more FMCG, retail and Government advertising online; online advertising exceeds $2 billion, grows to over 16% of total media industry; faster and cheaper broadband for everyone!

What will be big in 2013?

Interactive advertising! Cross platform advertising. Highly targeted advertising, possibly one-to-one permission based marketing online, mobile devices; semantic search; touch screen and voice activation, England will win the soccer World Cup (in 2014)!!

Annik and Kahlee inspired me to do this.  We fail and we learn. We need to learn to fail fast. Stop touting all your successes and show me your failures. Show me what you learnt. We always have top 10 lists.

Show me the sixty-shitty lists.

Comment & Add yours.

1. DRM. Hah.
2. Privacy. Hah.
3. Summary RSS feeds
4. Digg: Like drinking from a fire hydrant. Full of dirty water.
5. NAB: Spamming Bloggers
6. Virgin: Just where did your account go?
7. Brightkite: Sigh, and you were so promising.
8. EVERY FUCKING TWITTER BOT
9. Second Life: Graphics, Download Time, Lifespan.
10. Vodafone: Customer login never works.
11. Vodafone: iPhone
12. Google Blogger: Comments crashing.
13. The reaction of Australian Women Online
14. Ning: Close but no cigar. UX or something is still awry
15. Facebook: you could have at least given us a choice or an email back if we bothered to email you about YOUR NEW DESIGN.
16. Facebook event management: still needs work. But scubscribe-able URL good.
17. LinkedIn: Took your time catching up. Still so much work to do. Yes, your iPhone app was good. Now fix your site and service.
18. Wii: MarioKart world play — no communication??
19. Telstra: Your enormous (10ft?) protype phone in the hall on level 4 to demonstrate UX — how much did that cost you?
20. Me.  So much to learn, so little time.

Crowd Sourced:

1. Wickedboy: you have……just kidding :) facebooks continual ads assuming that my sexuality is in question, thats let me down
2. Shannon: bandwidth
3. Iggy: what let me down in digital space is the ‘conservative roadblock’ attitude - doing the same thing and expecting a different result
4. BrandDNA: Search in Twitter. Buried way down below the fold. Would never have found it if someone hadn’t shown me.
5. Anon: Adobe - Flash is a pig, AIR is crap
   

Clearing out the RSS reader I always feel too guilty to hit the “Mark All As Read”.  Sharing the wealth is a wonderful thing — if you’re using Google Reader, add and share.

This one is from Social Media Today and also spotted on #FFFFFF.

1. Belonging Networks Corporate Social Networking
2. Social Web Basics
3. The 2009-2014 World Outlook for Advertising for Social Media Web Sites
4. Social Media and Customer Service
5. Center For Social Media - Youth As E-Citizens
6. How Blogs and Social Media are Changing Public Relations
7. Social media and the banking industry
8. Social Media: 40 Places to Find Web 2.0 for Your Web Site
9. Social Media Marketing Strategies Guide
10. Nielsen - Pharma & Social Media
11. The Need for Speed - Using Social Media to Speed Innovation
12. What is Social Media?
13. ComplexDiscovery - User Generated Content, Social Media, and Advertising
14. Social Media Guide Release
15. Social Media & Marketing - Online Networking & Advertising February 2008
16. ebook: The Art and Science of Social Media and Community Relations
17. What is Social Media? - Book 2
18. Social Media Maps
19. Social Media Manifesto by Brian Solis
20. New Media Case Studies 2008
21. The Impact of Social Media on Innovation - Josh Bernoff
22. The Secret Underground Guide to Social Media for Organisations
23. Customer Service: The Art of Listening and Engagement Through Social Media
24. The Social Web Analytics eBook 2008
25. The Essential Guide to Social Media

Often (but never often enough) we get a chance to discuss anything and everything and sometimes in that order.  Nick, too much to possibly account to what I owe you: but thank you.

Mentor, friend, brother. Mind, body and soul.

Privacy and what we consider privacy has changed.
Nick Tyler

There is a lot of commentary on this currently. Good and bad. The problem is that the internet changes the game. Globalisation of our identities. Access all of me anywhere at any time.

What I find fascinating is that there is business view that all responsibility for your identity is your responsibility. Read the small print. If it goes wrong it is your fault. We give you settings but you have to change it to protect yourself.

People are lazy. People are trusting and naïve. I include myself in this. It does not occur to us people would steal or abuse who we are. Like the banks that keep extending your credit. Take more, it is good for you. The same underlying concept is that people can make a free choice to do as they wish. All of our marketing makes no mention of risk. Except for that astrix. Oh evil astrix ;-)

Fundamental flaw is that there are a lot of people who will abuse that trust too. And human nature is evil, competitive and driven so without controls there comes an awful lot of risk. And when business is involved they don’t want anything that may possibly restrict any and every last dollar that can come to them

Make sense. Problem not. I guess it is an underlying theme I am trying to articulate. A perception of reality we cannot quite grasp. Or maybe because these niggling themes of control are fundamentally at odds to the freedom that the capitalistic world has given me. Because if I am right am I advocating controlled censorship for and on behalf individuals. Yet we all scream “I am not a number.”

Hmmmmmm maybe it is that we don’t teach people at a young age that they have choices and that the route to a decisions must involve an evaluation of those choices.

That the responsibility for the consequences of their actions is theirs. But without teaching how to work out the consequences of actions and that these consequences come from everything you do then even that original responsibility becomes compromised.

Shit I am jumping from one theory to the next

HA

To inspire and empower a generation.

I believe that the new generation is pushing a need for authenticity. No longer is there a supposed ‘who cares?’ attitude towards work, the environment or political issues – this is a generation held strong by belief, activism and question.

In a time where the information noise around the financial market, international safety, youth, drugs, sex, etc. rules — the new generation are seeking genuine leadership and progress on a scale not seen before.  We lean forward, and rarely sit back.

In times of old, when a warrior of a tribe would fight for a position of power, it was a demonstration of strength and skill.  When that warrior ascended through certain ranks or levels of authority, it was generally due to his superiors’ acknowledgment that the other troops will follow.

Leadership is achieved through the ability to inspire and empower. Who would you follow onto the battlefield?

Why should this change? I’ve noticed that in fast-growing companies, staff members are often thrust into managerial roles without fully understanding exactly what is going on, and sometimes their teams grow much larger within a short period.  This leaves them feeling overwhelmed — soon the team notices and the breakdown of communication begins.

There are people I’ve met who have truly inspired me, and to be mentored or to work under them would be a true privilege.  I may be at a different point in my career than others, but the conversation that these two words have brought with them is very intriguing.

So tell me — are the two inseparable?  And what are your thoughts?

• Kate Carruthers: @jyesmith the two are inseparable - good leadership with bad mgmt is useless; & bad leadership with good mgmt is also useless
• Katie Chatfield:@jyesmith did Obama lead to victory or did he manage? I think a leader empowers and a manager maintains.
• Katie Chatfield: @kcarruthers @jyesmith Jesus? Gandhi? A leader leads. Managers follow.
• Kate Carruthers: Yep agree that leadership binary, got it or not, but mgmt can be learned or delegated. But leadership is viral, if you demonstrate it then others demonstrate it too. Poor leadership is also viral & IMHO associated with poor mgt

• Anique Vered: @jyesmith a leader guides, inspires, delegates - a manager oversees, and yes, maintains

• Munky75: @jyesmith Concentric circles (for a start). Management being the inner circle and leadership the outer one.

Won’t somebody think of the children? This mantra is being used with great effect by the Australian government to increase its control over what Australians see, watch and do - all, ostensibly, in the name of protecting the nation’s youth. And a scheme that amounts to censorship is coming closer: the government has said that it wants to start live trials of ISP-level content filtering before Christmas.  More..

Real time visualization of Facebook actions, using jME. Created at one of our hackathons.

Who from your team is participating in the other conversations that are being held away from your sites? Or other blogs, forums and communities and actually identifying and or representing themselves as position in your company?

It’s unfair for business to expect people to value our conversations when they don’t value theirs.

Through this there are some really solid ways to build value and develop things you can’t buy: loyalty and respect.

Social media is giving your customers a space to voice their opinion.  It’s giving them an audience.  It’s impossible to ignore and I think what we’re seeing this year, and especially after the market crash, is that you can’t fake this anymore.  If you’re product or service isn’t up to scratch then people are going to be able to talk about it — to people who actually care.

So why are so many businesses hesitating? More to the point: why are businesses still ignoring these conversations? Why are they failing to participate?

The fear of the unknown. Lucky there are people hear to help — love the digirati.

Belinda at Classy Marketing has just released her Six Tips to Succeed in Social Media — I won’t ruin the surprise, but to summarise:

1. Listen.
2. Contribute.
3. Honesty.
4. Consistency.
5. Approachability.
6. Be human.

What I think is interesting is that this post probably came out of the identification that businesses weren’t doing this — either through their marketing and or PR operations, business practices or through their people. It seems we have to constantly remind companies that when they’re going online they need to adopt these attributes.