New Look the band, not the high street shop, are Brooklyn based musicians who have just commissioned directing duo Tim & Joe to create the video for their latest single Nap on the bow.

The directors have used the Xbox Kinect to record the bands movement which gives an incredible 3D effect.  The introduction of the Kinect to the market has meant that this high-tech equipment is available to the masses making it possible for hackers to break the system and reap the benefits of such technology for creative purposes. Read More »

I was recently asked about the effects of social media and public outrage. Specifically, the question was around Jeremy Clarkson and his ‘oh so controversial’ comments on the BEEB last week. You know, the comments that were definitely nothing to do with shifting copies of a Christmas DVD.

Anyway, let’s paint the picture of how the average outrage works in social media. Read More »

Yesterday, it was being reported that Facebook was buying also ran location-based social sharing service Gowalla.

It has now emerged that the one time rival to Foursquare will be closed by Facebook once the deal is done. Read More »

As we’re entering the final week, we are keeping an even keener eye on all things X Factor and social media.

The semi final results show was hit by Bieber fever yesterday as Canadian superstar performed.  Whether he sang live or mimed is still the subject of tweebate, but regardless of that he caused a bit of a social media stir.  As was to be expected. Read More »

Super infographic here looking at how content goes viral, what makes it tick and what you need to know to get it right. It begins with Metcalfe’s law, which calculates the value of a network.

It walks through to the anatomy of viral content, types of viral content, reasons we share and viral content design. Read More »

We’ve all seen examples of how huge companies with huge digital budgets are winning customers through social media, here’s a few examples of some “lesser-knowns” finding success online in their own way.

The infographic, put together for Scott Monty, head of social media for Ford (one of the huge companies mentioned above) brings to light some interesting one-off and ongoing social media campaigns from the likes of Dell, Unisys, KLM, ABC and Morton’s. Read More »

Twitter has published its #YearInReview that highlights the leading topics and hashtags of the year.

The top two hashtags demonstrate as clearly as anything the diversity and breadth of what takes place on Twitter. The top one was #egypt followed by Charlie Sheen’s #tigerblood. Is he still winning? Read More »

Trying to explain Social Media is a bit like trying to describe what an elephant to someone who has never seen one.  It encompasses technologies, humanities (psychology and sociology in particular), but is also critical to marketing and business strategies.  If you are new to the industry, it can feel overwhelming and hard to distinguish signal from noise.

I am by no means an expert in the field.  I started my career as an academic researching into the role of trust in Wikipedia’s success, then spent a few years in Yahoo! which provided me with a fantastic, global perspective on managing and designing for communities of scale.  Currently at IPC Media we have over 50 brands for us to experiment and learn from.   I’ve found that hands-on experience is still the best way to learn.  Here I’m sharing with you my top tips that I wish I knew before I started my career: Read More »

I’m always amazed at the liberal view people have regarding social media moderation. The consensus around the globe seems to be that you can say what you like on social platforms and that a brand should just suck it up and leave it sitting there as some sort of homage to freedom of speech.

Now, I’m all for intelligent criticism. I truly am. If you’ve had a horrible holiday experience and you’re not getting anywhere through normal channels, why not take to a company’s Facebook page to vent your spleen. However, that’s based on the assumption that all criticism is intelligent and well thought out. I can tell you first hand it’s not. Often the comments left on brand pages are poorly spelt, pay little attention to grammar and barely have a point other than to cause a bit of a stir.

Read More »

Three Facebook users die every minute. That’s 1.78m deceased Facebook accounts in 2011 alone. What happens to your Facebook account after you die? Is Facebook slowly turning into a digital graveyard?

It’s a strange question, and one that, perhaps, only raises more questions, not in the least: Who cares? I’m dead.

Read More »