Mike Butcher

I hate blog posts saying sorry for not updating here for a while, but…. sorry for not updating here for a while. I have been busy trying to crank up TechCrunch UK since the re-launch and doing some glamourous-sounding (but hard-working I might add) trips to events abroad, including Web 2 Expo Berlin and Les Web 3 in Paris.

And on that note, the fruits of my efforts appear to be paying off. TechCrunch UK is now among the top 20 blogs in Europe:

And I was also recently granted an interview with the [geek world] famous Robert Scoble, reproduced below.

I just need to blog this while it’s still in my head. I’m sure others have come to the same conclusion in a more erudite manner, and posted longer pieces. But I’m starting to wonder if the “User Generated Content” revolution, which was supposed to be taking over the world somewhere around about now, may not hit the heights it was predicted to. Why? Because social networking could well take over from where content creation left off. Ok, that is a massive generalisation. Of course that won’t happen for all demographics all of the time. But think about it. Even the biggest bloggers of the last 2 years – Robert Scoble, Loic Le Meur etc – are now producing almost as much content and getting possibly more interaction inside social networks than they did out on the wild-web or blogosphere. Of course, I’m referring in large part to the enormous pull of Facebook right now. But I’m also thinking that it’s specifically proprietary social networks, such as Facebook or Twitter, which are not open platforms in the way blogs were, that will have this effect. We all have a limited amount of time. If the former Live Journal member or Blogspot Blogger switches to Facebook, then they are going to spend a lot of the time which they used to create content now socially networking (writing on walls, checking mini-feeds, staling people’s statuses etc). I’ll try and add more to this later…

UPDATE: I added more in my comment below.

Remember back in ’07 when you put your whole life online? One day a man opened too many tabs in Firefox spent too long on Facebook and took the Internet down… Life was never the same again. People were forced to print out their blog and hand out pages on the street. Nigeria’s spam economy collapsed… (thanks to Valleywag)

Come for brunch with blogger and journalist Mike Butcher, this Wednesday in Soho…

EVENT: Brunch Bites 1.0 (BETA)

Date: Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Time: 10:30am – 12:00pm

Location:

The Breakfast Club, Soho

33 D’Arblay Street

London

Also on Upcoming

Map

Venue:

http://www.thebreakfastclubsoho.com/

Email: editor@bitesmedia.com

Description:

Into digital media, marketing, music, mobile and Web 2.0? Got a startup?

Come for brunch with blogger and journalist Mike Butcher, mbites.com and Bites Media, and publisher of:

tbites.com

MediaBites.com

MobBites.com

MusicBites.com

A new ‘mini network of blogs’.

I’ll also be doing some video and audio interviews there.

This event is the first from Bites Media

Julian Bond at Voidstar has a great post on routing all your and your friend’s Status updates from Facebook to Twitter using Mario Menti’s excellent TwitterFeed service. Now, here’s my question. Is this not completely insane? Keeping up with Twitter feeds is hard enough. Adding Facebook status updates would hasten my “Twitter Bankruptcy”. At least with Twitter most people tend to keep in the back of their head that at least some of their key followers get Tweets sent direct to their mobiles via SMS. That means Twitter posts – which are also limited to 140 characters – tend to be much more concise than Facebook status updates, which can be even more throwaway that Tweets, if that doesn’t sound like an impossibility…

To illustrate, here’s is an example of my friends’ facebook status updates this morning:

XXXX XXXX is swapping one kind of chaos for another.

one minute ago

XXXX XXXX is pleased that there is finally some sunshine!

7 minutes ago

XXXX XXXX is back once more like the renegade master.

11 minutes ago

XXXX XXXX is in the other only caff on the A4.

30 minutes ago

XXXX XXXX is hoping the weather at 5am this morning holdup for the rest of the week for the folks back home.

44 minutes ago

XXXX XXXX is prodding Drupal with a sensitive implement.

49 minutes ago

XXXX XXXX is in the office.

50 minutes ago

XXXX XXXX is pleased to see that Mike Reid’s death is getting billed above Ingmar Bergman’s on BBC Online. That will probably change. Right? Runaround!

56 minutes ago

XXXX XXXX is back in the office.

57 minutes ago

XXXX XXXX is in the office.

about an hour ago

What I call ‘conversational status’ is a great way of just shooting the breeze, but the added element of mobile changes the character of the conversation to be pithier and often far more relevant to location.

Which reminds me of how one Twitter friend of mine recently said he was ‘pruning his Twitter friends’ down to just those in London. His Twitter conversation wouldn’t make any sense otherwise…

It seems to me that something like Wordcamp should be done in the UK. The techies have their BarCamp. Why not something around content? And it doesn’t have to be just about WordPress skills…. (I use Drupal for instance).

Perhaps someone could provide a venue? People can showcase their skills/services. And I can learn how to be a better blogger!

I dare say there are a few other people we could bring together to make something happen…

Email me on mike at mbites dot com if you are interested.

How not to approach a blogger (this was sent to me on email). I have not disclosed the names involved so that – maybe – this person doesn’t lose their job, as my guess is that this is just naivety on their part:

Hi Mike,

My name is XXXXXXX and I work for XXXXXXX XXXXXXX – an agency that specialises in digital communication.

I’ve been looking at your blog and I think it is great.

We’re currently working with XXXXX XXXXX International to promote the new XXXXXXX film XXXXXXXXXXX due to be released in the UK on the Xth of October 2007 and we are working with online opinion formers to release valuable content and information about this film.

We consider you to be an online opinion former and we would like to invite you to take part in this campaign.

The content, to be released in four different communications, will only be made available to a selected group of sites – yours will be one of them.

We would also like to invite you to the press screening in London on date and venue to be confirmed (likely end of July/beginning of August), or, if it is not convenient for you to travel to London, we will give tickets for you and your family/friends to view the film.

If you value the information and content we send you for XXXXXXXX, you may want further information from us regarding other film titles. If so, we will happily include your site in future campaigns. We will contact you again when our client releases other titles we think you might be interested in. You will only receive valuable and interesting content and invitations to events and screenings.

Please email me back at XXXXXXXXXXXX to let me know if you’re interested in taking part in this campaign and receiving some unique and privileged content.

Many thanks

XXXXXX XXXXXXX

Communications Manager

Now I’m sure this person is as bemused as the next PR person about how to approach bloggers. My guess is their boss said “Get some Blog buzz” and the poor person is working through some list they found (possibly a recent edition of PR Week magazine).

But they have clearly not even read this blog, as I never blog about movies. This is the second such overture I’ve had recently and I think they are increasing.

You’re a PR or marketing company worried about social media and blogs? Hey, why not start posing as if you are a customer, extolling the benefits of your clients product! Better still, set up a fake blog and do it there!

Wrong!

Trevor Jeffords, Associate of law firm Eversheds, writes in their latest e80 newsletter:

“Under new laws in the UK, businesses will soon be prevented from “falsely representing oneself as a consumer”, meaning that companies will no longer be able to post fake entries on blogs or message boards that imply they are made by customers. In light of the current Web 2.0 trend towards social networking sites that rely heavily on sharing of information and peer-reviews, consumer review websites (such as TripAdvisor) have increased the risk of abuse of this kind.

Such practices have previously been outlawed in the UK by the ASA in adjudications such as that involving talkSPORT radio in 2006 where a representative of the company placed a fake blog entry on a number of football club related sites. However the new law will mean that companies who continue to post fake statements risk facing both civil proceedings and criminal prosecution. The law will be enforced by the Office of Fair Trading and the Trading Standards Office who will have the power to apply for enforcement orders, orders for the disclosure of information and injunctions as well as being able to bring criminal prosecutions against an offending company.

The new law is part of the EU Directive on Unfair Business-to-Consumer Commercial Practices (2005/29/EC) aimed at obliging businesses not to mislead consumers. The exact date that this law will come into force is uncertain. The Directive states that member countries should apply measures enforcing its provisions by 12 December 2007, but the DTI has advised that Regulations implementing this Directive will come into force in the UK by April 2008. Companies should note that the Directive seems to create a strict liability because it will not be necessary to prove that there has been any actual loss or damage, that the company was negligent or that the company intended to commit an unfair commercial practice.

In the light of this new legislation, companies should ensure that they do not use fake blogs, message boards or other word-of-mouth campaigns as a marketing tool. It is important that they also inform employees not to post such statements because they could potentially be interpreted as having been made on behalf of the company.”

This is thin stuff. “There is increasing buzz around buzz.” Oh, come on. You guys need to realise that online identity in the form of a MySpace or Facebook profile is as much content as anything someone might ‘upload’. Furthermore, microblogging a la Twitter is the tip of the ice-burg. When ‘uploaders’ include those who are happy to blog in just 140 characters (many more than the blessed 8% I daresay), that’s when you will see what social media is really capable of. I expect better from Agency.com.

Justin Kirby over at dmc.co.uk has created a new site around how the theory and methodology of “Connected Marketing” is evolving and also being put into practice. He’s published a series of new podcast interviews for the site including ones on “Open Innovation, Trends and Engagement” marketing. Check it out.