Jan/100
MetaCurators Scour the Web So You Don’t Have To
Where do you go to find the most interesting internet news? Are you a traditionalist who just reads the New York Times? Or - like a new generation of media consumers, do you rely on the host of internet personalities with thousands of Twitter followers to find the best of the web?
Nick Bilton wrote today about the best of the web metacurators for the Nytimes.com Bits blog - people like Atul Arora and Maria Popova who spend hours every day culling and aggregating interesting links for their friends, family, and thousands of semi-anonymous readers across the web.
Maria Popova aggregates some of the most interesting and thought-provoking links on her Twitter account (aptly titled BrainPicker). She describes her process of content discovery as "controlled serendipity." What did I learn from checking out her Twitter? Some pretty awesome stuff:
From the blog Giladon-line, a visualization of the spread of a Twitter hashtag, #CheeringForTheYankeesIsLike. Check out the two videos, and see how Twitter really is one big network of funny people. RT @abcdude #CheeringForTheYankeesIsLike pulling for Regina George in “Mean Girls.”
The Inhabitat blog breaks the news that the Olympic Stadium being built in London for the 2012 Olympics will be made out of recycled guns and knives! What will those crazy environmentally-friendly architects think of next?
And finally, the site Universe Today links to an audio recording of Saturn's rings picked up by the Cassini spacecraft - proving yet again that outerspace is pretty creepy.
Bilton writes that metacurators like Maria Popova are a part of the new philosophy of sharing content: "Great content going viral isn’t new. But the sharing mentality is no longer confined to the occasional gems. It’s for everything we consume online, large or small."
Who are the influential metacurators in your life? Whose Twitter is particularly interesting, or whose blog has the best content? Let us know in the comments!
Oct/090
Would You Drink Twitter Wine?
Twitter has teamed up with the California-based winery Crushpad to form what they call the Fledgling Initiative. According to the organization's website, “the Fledgling Initiative embodies two things that are at the core of Twitter's mission: providing access to information and highlighting the power of open communication to bring about positive change.” You can take part in @fledgling’s mission by following their wine-making tweets and pre-purchasing their Twitter-branded bottles of Pinot Noir and Chardonnary. $5 from each bottle will be donated to Room to Read, a non-profit children’s 
literacy and education organization that brings books and libraries to the world’s most impoverished regions. What a great way to drink for an honorable cause!
Oct/090
Tweet your Wordpress posts through Publicize
Are you a Wordpress user? If so don’t forget to take advantage of the built-in promotion tools WP offers bloggers to help increase traffic and reign in repeat visitors.
Last week Mashable highlighted Ping-O-Matic’s new feature Publicize which allows you to instantly post your entries to your Twitter feed. Unlike TwitterFeed another popular plug-in which periodically checks your blog for new updates and posts to Twitter, Publicize is instantaneous and allows for instant feeds.
Increasingly blogs have peppered their looks with “Tweet This,” “Stumble Upon” widgets to attract traffic and hopefully more fans to their content. Of course you can always opt of the service but with many competing voices on the web it seems to be a quick and easy way to reach a wider audience.
Oct/090
Monetizing Your Tweets
In light of the Federal Trade Commission's new guidelines regarding social media marketing, here is a comprehensive list of three organizations that are helping users monetize their Twitter pages while staying ethical:
1. Twittad is a "social media affinity network" for Twitter advertising. It offers Twitter 
users anywhere from $2 to $2,000 to post paid endorsements to their accounts. Twittad requires users to disclose the ads by posting a Twittad badge to their profile and including a link to 'spon.in' in their post to indicate that there is a 'sponsorship in update.'
2. Ad.ly automatically sends one tweet to your feed every other day for a week. (Users must explicitly approve these tweets first.) At the end of each Ad.ly tweet, (Ad by http://Ad.ly) appears to let readers know that it is an advertisement. Ad.ly's impressive list of registered publishers includes celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Greg Grunberg, and Nicole Richie.
3. IZEA's SponsoredTweets is another platform that is connecting advertisers with Tweeters. Users set the price they want companies to pay them and then wait for ad offers. SponsoredTweets promises 100% disclosure and belives in "safe, ethical sponsored tweets" through their disclosure engine (below).
All of these ad services are meeting the basic requirements of the FTC's new guidelines. However, their standards of disclosure vary, which may end up confusing the average Twitter user. We wonder whether 140 characters is enough room to accurately notify readers of the message's paid sponsorship. And will filling your Twitter feed with ads turn off followers? What do you think?
Sep/090
NYT to Conquer Twitter?
The New York Times is working on an interesting Twitter project. The newspaper is building an application that can pull relevant tweets on a specific topic to make search more efficient for Twitter users. The Moment, a popular Times fashion blog, has already been using the tool and may have over 1.2 million Twitter followers as a result.
At yesterday’s OMMA conference, the Times’ Senior VP of Digital Operations Martin Nisenholtz said that the news organization has an opportunity to take on an important intermediate role on Twitter. Nisenholtz believes that there is “a lot of power in organizing and curating this world” and believes that developing a Twitter aggregator that understands context would help foster this idea.
Nisenholtz also noted the role of social media in boosting the site traffic on NYTimes.com. Twitter adds approximately 15,000 Times followers each week and Facebook is expanding the newspaper’s demographics.
Sep/090
Connecting with Your Readers
In August, we listed some helpful online tips for small newspapers, including creating a Twitter tree of accounts, tweeting a live headline feed, posting online events, and blogging. With more and more online news publications signing up for our technology, we've decided to introduce another basic way to connect readers to your organization: user-generated blogs.
Using user-generated content can help enhance the relationship between you and your readers. Implementing social tools that your readers are already using is a great way to involve your audience and enable them to share information through photos, videos, and written posts. For example, CNN's iReport allows users to submit articles, videos, and photos that are unedited or screened before they are posted. "At CNN we live for news," states the About section on iReport. "We love talking about it. And we know that there's a whole lot more to it than what you see on TV or read on your favorite Website. So we've launched an independent world where you, the iReport.com community, tell the stories we're not used to seeing. And the most compelling, important, and urgent ones may get seen on CNN."
The best part is, user-generated photos can be added to your Image Space Media Image Manager so you'll end up with more images on your website. Not only will you build a stronger sense of community, but you could potentially increase the earnings for your site!
Aug/090
Online Tips for Small Newspapers
Chicago Tribune Twitter Tree
With the list of disappearing newspapers growing longer, it has become clear that the digital age has forever transformed the newspaper business. Industry leaders such as the New York Times and Chicago Tribune have embraced the new media wave, but many smaller newspapers have lagged behind. Here are Image Space’s quick tips for survival:
- Connect with your audience on Twitter. Create a tree of accounts that covers specific news sections, such as Business, Entertainment, and Sports. The Chicago Tribune does a great job at this.
- Tweet a live headline feed from your Twitter account linking back to your homepage. This simple action will increase traffic (and consequently ad revenue).
- Create online events to attract readers, like a live streaming video of a breaking news story or downloadable mp3s.
- Don’t underestimate the power of blogging. This gives readers further incentive to visit your site, increasing traffic and ad clicks.
While the move to online may seem intimidating, keep in mind that the convenience and low costs of the Web allow newspapers to focus more on the quality of their content. And, as always, our in-picture advertising technology is a great solution for small newspapers and other publications that want to generate untapped revenue on their website. With its simple implementation and easy-to-use Image Manager, why not give it a try? Beta registration now available publicly.
Jul/092
What’s Happening Around the Web
Image Space Media likes to stay updated with the latest headlines around the web and we want to keep you in the loop, too! Here's some interesting buzz that caught our attention this week.
Get Savvy with Twitter 101
Has Twitter finally solved its user retention problem?
Last Thursday, the social networking website launched Twitter 101 for Business, a beginners’ guide to tweeting that includes ideas, tips, lingo, and case studies for businesses that want to make the most of their Twitter account. “From local stores to big brands, and from brick-and-mortar to internet-based or service sector, people are finding great value in the connections they make with businesses on Twitter,” the guide explains. Check out Twitter 101.
The Low-Down on Google’s Chrome OS
In our last update on ‘What’s Happening Around the Web,’ we highlighted Microsoft COO Kevin Turner’s excitement when Apple asked him to take down Microsoft’s new ‘Laptop Hunter’ ads. This week, Turner may cease to do cartwheels after Google announced the launch of its new Chrome OS, which will be available for consumers in the second half of next year.
Chrome OS promises to be an open source, lightweight desktop operating system that will compete directly with OS X, Windows, and Linux. According to the Official Google Blog, “speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS.” Considering that Windows contributes about $11 billion of annual operating income for Microsoft (about half of its total), we would be pretty scared if we were Microsoft. Meanwhile, Microsoft continues to attack Google’s most lucrative business, search, with its recent launch of Bing.
We wonder what battle will be next in the war between Google and Microsoft.
Tech Buzz
It’s sweltering outside in NYC. Luckily, Image Space Media has found the perfect accessory for a hot summer day! This fan plugs into your USB, enabling computer geeks to cool off with their laptops. Now all you need is a cold soda from your USB fridge. Enjoy!
Jul/090
Social Networking by Age
A recent Anderson Analytics study suggests that Twitter is now more popular than LinkedIn. The study also found that more than 50% of American consumers using social media belong to more than one networking site and that these users are four times more vocal about goods and services than those who do not belong to the social net. This new data helps uncover where advertisers can best connect through social networks. According to Anderson, consumers ages 15-24 can be found on Myspace, 18-34 on Facebook, 15-34 on Twitter, and 18-44 on LinkedIn. To find out more about this study and who is on which social nets, check out Media Post’s article here.
Jul/090
Twittergate: What We Can Learn From The Twitter Hacking
Earlier this week, a hacker broke into a Twitter administrator’s personal e-mail account and stole some of Twitter’s private financial documents and notes. The hacker sent 310 documents to TechCrunch, a popular technology blog, which then published a financial forecast for Twitter. Mike Arrington, TechCrunch’s founder and co-editor, stated that he plans to post the documents. This decision caused outrage among many readers across the Web.
Not only does the Twitter hacking raise questions about the security of storing personal and business information on the Internet, it also shows the importance of following good personal security habits, such as choosing strong and unique passwords. The Official Google Blog gives some helpful online safety tips that we should all be practicing:
• Avoid common elements (words or phrases from the dictionary) when choosing your password. Especially avoid words that are easy to guess like ‘password,’ the name of the site you’re logging into, birthdays, and addresses.
• Make your password as unique as possible. Add in numbers or non-alphanumerical characters and mix in upper-case letters. You can use similar-looking substitutions for parts of the password, such as “$” for “s” and “0” for “o.”
• Create different passwords for different sites so if one password is compromised, the others will remain secure.
• Do not share your passwords with anyone and if you suspect someone might have discovered one of your passwords, change it immediately.
To read more about choosing a good password and security question, check out Does Your Password Pass the Test? on Google’s blog here.