Courtesy of mercer machine
In the age of social media, one particular trend seem to stand out more so than others. And that is our penchant for perversity.
Just look at the leading blog posts and stories in technorati, digg, ping.sg and other blog aggregators. What hits you first and foremost? Most of the leading ones are either about controversy, coitus or corruption. If you have a feel good story, chances are that your efforts will be relegated to the backwaters of the blogosphere.
Melvin, Preetam, Ian and I shared our views yesterday afternoon on a panel speaking session on business blogging recently by the Institute of Public Relations Singapore (IPRS). After some time away from social media gatherings, it was quite refreshing to share my thoughts and experiences in corporate blogging once again. The lunch talk was held at Geek Terminal, which seem to be the de facto venue for all things 2.0-ish.
The session got off pretty well and I enjoyed the animated exchanges between the panellists and the floor. Some of the key lessons which I shared were as follows:
Are blogs destined for the grave? (courtesy of Greg Ortega)
Are blogs heading the way of the Dodo? Or would they be here for the long haul?
Here is an extension of Steve Rubel’s thoughts on whether our obsession with newer and more summarised all-in-one platforms may lead to the demise of the beloved blog. As usual, he gave a no-holds-barred analysis of the situation coupled with his usual whimsical touch.
Blogging singer Genie sharing what tickles her fancy at Blogout
Just came back from Blogout which was a big social media bash at Geek Terminal attended by (who else) 2.0 geeks and celeb bloggers galore! The night was certainly interesting, with a veritable who’s who in the blogging scene making their appearances including Tomorrow.sg’s founder James Seng, STOMP’s editor Jennifer Lewis, Ping.sg’s creator Uzyn, Moblog’s originator Yoke Chin, Global Voices’ Preetam Rai, Kevin Lim of Theory Is The Reason and lots more members of the blogerati.
I certainly had fun moderating the panel discussion which talked about “A New Voice”, though it did go a little chaotic at times. My conclusion was that the crowd seemed to have more fun chatting with each other! Well, I guess that’s the spirit of the whole 2.0 movement, where EVERYBODY participates in the conversation. It’s “All Star Anything Goes” (for those old enough to remember that celebrity slugfest).
A special treat for the evening was having upcoming blogging singer Genie treating us to a music video of hers, hottest mummy contestant eastcoastlife sharing what makes her so special, and also hearing from celebrity STOMP blogger Joe Augustin. Nice to also know that we have upcoming technopreneurs in Singapore making their mark in the web 2.0 universe. Finally, it was great to meet Veron, DK and Dr Leslie Tay of I Eat I Shoot I Post fame, all big-time bloggers in their own right.
Special kudos go to Estee for the fabulous organising and professional emceeing of this event, as well as other digital movers like Ming Yeow, Su Yuen, Swathi, Chern Jie and all the other hardworking folks at The Digital Movement who made this possible.
Apparently, I was (faint) according to the cool folks at the Digital Movement. They apparently liked my 5 parter on Nexus 2007 so much that they have given me a free T-shirt for Best Coverage Award. Wow!
Thanks for the cool accolade folks. I really appreciate it and I think that you guys are doing a swell job too. Keep it up! The future is bright for Singapore 2.0!
The third session at Nexus 2007, “The Future of the Web”, was led by a fascinating presentation by Andreas Weigend, former Chief Scientist of Amazon.com. He spoke about Chris Anderson’s Long Tail (Wired magazine, Oct 2004) as well as the following futures:
Future of the individual – From e-business to me-business, and from eco-system to ego-system.