The Agitator

In deference to our U.S. readers, who are coping with the official end of summer after a long Labor Day weekend, I have an easy-to-digest post today. Here are some videos dealing with social networking. The first is actually serious, suggesting the importance of social nets to all forms of ...  Read more

I don’t know what set him off, but marketing maven Seth Godin recently posted an article titled Magic beans, TV and the web. Here’s the kernel: "On the web, there are countless marketers just standing around waiting for someone to hand them the magic beans. And that’s the ...  Read more

As reported here by MediaPost, Forrester Research, a leading marketing and media research outfit, has released an extensive study on U.S. usage of social media. At this point, four out of five U.S. online adults report using social media at least once per month. Half participate in sites like ...  Read more

Earlier this week we featured a somewhat grumpy "take" on Twitter from Ken Burnett of SOFII. Ken diplomatically pointed out to me that one Laurie Pringle, senior manager of philanthropy at ALS Canada, has commented on his original article, presenting a passionately contrary point of ...  Read more

Writer and occasional fundraising consultant Ken Burnett has been struggling lately with Twitter. In this blog post, reproduced below with permission, he vents his frustrations and offers a solution. I thought you might enjoy his tribulations. Or as Ken asks:     Is it time for ...  Read more

Or at least that’s what Jason Falls claimed on his blog, Social Media Explorer. Then he proceeded to pass along the advice he had offered in a webinar on behalf of National Safe Place. The organization is headquartered in Louisville and started as a program of the YMCA there in 1983. They ...  Read more

B.L. Ochman, for my money, is one of the better social media strategists around. In this post, she critiques two online contests, finding one a clear winner … the other a distinct loser. Or, as she puts it: One rocks, one sucks. Here’s an excerpt: "Two current contests involving ...  Read more

Here’s the latest report on online video use from Pew Internet Project. As the charts below indicate, 62% of U.S. online adults have watched online video. Amongst those with broadband access, that figure is 69%, with nearly one-in-four watching in any given day. Online video watching ...  Read more

We have an interesting discussion underway on The Agitator regarding the utility of social media today for nonprofit fundraising. "Go slow" seems to be the prevailing sentiment. I urge you to flick through this week’s posts and comments if you haven’t yet done so. But ...  Read more

Two days ago, I urged Agitator readers to check out this report on Engagement, which proffers evidence that the most financially successful commercial brands are also the most adroit users of online social media. And I suggested that this same relationship might hold for nonprofits. I love a good ...  Read more