Tuesday, February 10, 2009

SocialTimes.com

SocialTimes.com

Commenters Create Flash Community in Response to Tragedy

Posted: 09 Feb 2009 05:11 PM PST

Fans of the Cramp’s Lux Interior found solace last week on the blog that broke the news of his passing, posting hundreds of emotional comments in an outpouring of grief and admiration. The Daily Swarm’s RIP Lux Interior blog post attracted tens of thousands of visits as the word spread among Lux’s global fan base. Commenters gave the post a life of its own, and in doing so created the first social media destination for fans of The Cramps.

Daily Swarm’s Breaking News Comments Create Community

“In a time of need, community will spring up around a blog post if another community place is not established” says David Price, Editor and Founder of the Daily Swarm. People attracted to the Daily Swarm by the breaking news found an outlet for expression through commenting. The Cramps did not have a web site with social media features or a social network profile page for fans to turn to. Suddenly, their strong voice found an outlet that turned into a flash community around the post – many as first time visitors to the site - with hundreds of commenters filling the page with long heartfelt comments.

“#344 Jim says:

My 17 year old son texted me these exact words: “Lux Interior died yesterday.” I just could not believe it. Saw them once in Dallas at the Gypsy Ballroom around 2005 or 2006. Still have the ticket stub. One of the best shows I have ever seen. Please God no. My thoughts and prayers go out to Ivy who must be devastated. Heart disease took him at 62 years of age. He must have been sick for awhile. How truly awful and depressing. Cramps music will live forever.”

Lux’s mourners creating a flash community shows how meaningful social media can be to in times of need. We have been covering the rising influence of commenters . The Lux Interior “flash community” on the Daily Swarm shows how commenters can create a new social media entities online that eclipse the post that originates them, using social media features to create a unique online destination.

All Facebook experienced a commenter pseudo-revolt last week in response to Nick O’Neil’s “Say Goodbye to Twitter” post, prompting Nick to post a FB Tweet blueprint for how Facebook’s new status API can be used to build a “Twitter Killer”.

R.I.P. Lux Interior of the Cramps

October 21st 1945 to February 4th 2009

Lux Interior is the essence of this post.

Please take a moment to read on of his lyrics…

“Hey, I’m on my way…on a journey out of this world”

…and experience on of his performances.

JS-Kit and AOL Expands Ratings, Chat Widgets

Posted: 09 Feb 2009 04:14 PM PST

After landing a partnership with AOL/Userplane last year, JS-Kit has positioned itself for even wider distribution and potential for ongoing partnerships and branding. The deal between JS-Kit and AOL has officially come to fruition this week, with AOL/Userplane now distributing the JS-Kit 5 Star Ratings widget, greatly expanding JS-Kit’s reach to another several hundred thousand partner sites. To sweeten the deal, JS-Kit 5 Star Ratings widgets have also become the de facto standard with Userplane/AOL, HaloScan, and WorldNow.

The 5 Star Rating widget seems trivial but most publishers out there know that ratings can be powerful measures for rating and recommending content within a site or an entire network. Given JS-Kit’s own network approach, recommendations based on a number of publishers’ ratings helps other publishers in turn.

On the flip side, JS-Kit will also be distributing the Userplane MiniChat widget to all of its partner sites as well. Combined, the reach for these two widget offerings extends to nearly 1 million registered publishers, but what does that mean?

JS-Kit and Userplane have made a deal to distribute each other’s products and offer them to their respective publishers through a now-expanded suite of features. Both JS-Kit and Userplane rely heavily on the distribution of their widgets for the delivery of content, organic growth for publisher and end user content, as well as advertising.

And with this particular partnership, JS-Kit is looking to offer a budget-friendly option specifically to publishers seeking an enterprise objective. In order to do that, JS-Kit had to focus its own efforts on finding a meaningful way in which to offer a robust feature set on its own. The solution was to partner with AOL, a company that’s likely to stick around for a little while longer than other startups with chat widgets similar to Userplane’s.

Get Ready for TECH Cocktail DC 4

Posted: 09 Feb 2009 08:28 AM PST

It’s almost time for TECH Cocktail DC 4. Coming up later this month, the 4th TECH Cocktail in DC will be held on Thursday, February 26, from 6:00 - 8:30 pm. The location for TECH Cocktail DC is at LeftBank wired bistro lounge in the Adams Morgan neighborhood.

This is a new location for the TECH Cocktail DC event, but it’s got a laid back vibe to match the casual and welcoming theme that TECH Cocktail is known for. The event is free to attend, as usual, but you’ll still need to RSVP. Get there early enough to grab a drink before it gets too crowded.

The TECH Cocktail series has grown a great deal in the past couple of years, starting in Chicago and making its way across a number of cities, including DC. Hosted by Eric Olson and Frank Gruber, the TECH Cocktail events have proven to be a great way to meet others on the tech scene and get the word out about your company. If you’re interested in sponsoring the event or learning more about TECH Cocktail DC, click here for more details.

No comments: