del.icio.us tags 03.10.07

Catching up on good stuff since the beginning of the month . . .

Politics

Gisele Toueg at EchoDitto points out the need to really get into the mind of those you want to visit your site -- including those who are crap spellers -- when you are developing your list of search terms. Did you hear that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton?

Barack Obama is kicking some serious YouTube a** over on YouChoose '08. Or is the Obama-lovin' media that's racking up all those views? If only we could differentiate who's watching what.

Think Progress is maintaining an ongoing tally of what the presidential candidates are doing online via NetTrends '08. Let them know if they're missing anything.

Michael Petrelis, "veteran gay and AIDS human rights advocate," blogs at The Petrelis Files. I found him via Andrew Sullivan due to their shared criticism for the Human Rights Campaign.

Digital Advocacy

The problem with advocacy groups using maps to demonstrate support for a cause is that it always looks entirely unimpressive. NRDC (Natural Resource Defense Council) has launched Beat the Heat to generate support for anti-global warming efforts, but we all really need to get better at finding a way to mobilize our supporters to take action and have an impact because this isn't as far as we can go.

Joshua is documenting political activism in Second Life and through his blog, A Better World in Second Life. Comes via Nedra at Spare Change.

Tools

Placeblogger is a great tool for hunting down local blogs. Considering the fact that I think most social media search tools suck, this is an enormous compliment.

Customer's Voice

Genevieve McCaw started Jet Blue Hostage after being delayed on a Jet Blue flight for 11 hours back on Valentine's Day. According to Steve Rubel at Micropersuasion, McCaw's blog got her some attention from the company, which led to a meeting with CEO David Neeleman. Rubel thinks it was a smart move and I'm in full agreement. We have been advising on the role of social media in crisis/issue management and I've been a huge cheerleader for getting the client out there to participate in the conversation and, if necessary, apologize. Not only has the relationship between the customer and the company changed, but the strength of search in defining brands has made sharing the client's side of the story imperative.

Research

According to Jupiter Research (via Media Post), people who make $100,000 or more spend 17 hours per week online, in contrast to the national average of 14 hours. They're spending more time than the average bear on conducting business (banking, stock purchases, etc.) and on doing work-related research. Interesting take away?

"If you're marketing to affluents, it should be about search advertising and giving people resources so they can find information online rather than banner ads and pop-up ads."

It's all about search, babies.