Media Bullseye

More and more, mainstream media sources are relying on user-generated content for stories, particularly online sources. Dan York reports on a local news station in Vermont which has been very active on Twitter. Also: Citizen journalism and defining news, and signs you need to pay attention.

Maybe Twitter wont be around to see 2010, yet many major brands have moved in to communicate with consumers and the world via Twitter: H&R Block (Finance), 10 Downing Street (The UK equivalent of US "White House"), Zappos (Online Retailer) and countless others like BBC News to Yahoo's Marketing Team and Amazon.com to the New York LaGuardia airport. Is this wasted energy by the PR/Marketing offices of H&R Block or even US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's social media team?

The guys from the Shill Podcast joined me on the Media Bullseye Radio Roundtable this week to discuss some of the big stories in the social media scene. We had a terrific discussion on everything from Comcast surging onto the social media scene, representing unsavory clients, and how to protect your personal brand during online attacks.

Which social bookmarking site is best for your blog? Sometimes it might not always be the biggest or most popular, but the one that appeals the most to the audience you wish to target. Also: Is social media making us dumb? Balancing work and Twitter, a cool new Twitter tool and the social media glass ceiling.

Social media isn't a tangible product that you can pick up from the corner store, and wouldn't be nearly as effective if it were--so why are some folks attempting to market it that way? Also: Is PR responsible for the press release's irrelevance? And Twitter keeps its SXSW crown for another year.

We welcome another new addition to the Pod Jots lineup this week, as Sarah Wurrey dives into the Diva Marketing Talks podcast from Toby Bloomberg. Also featured are our usual rundown of the best of the PR and marketing podosphere for the week.

2007 saw and early 2008 has seen the birth of many new social media tools. Tools that actually have functionality and make our jobs easier. Mike Driehorst tackles the latest tools out there for social media professionals.

New in today's Jots: those Verizon commercials may be annoying, but Paull Young has used them as inspriation for some good advice for digital natives entering the work force. Also: more from Toronto, teaching blogging, and the Golden Rule.

Microsoft has developed a new method for tracking the success of online advertisements. The tech giant's newest tool, dubbed Engagement Mapping, is said to take a comprehensive approach to measuring consumer interaction with advertisements before a sale is ultimately made.

Anyone following social media trends is probably aware that the need to monitor this space closely is an essential element of any brand's reputation management efforts. dna13 has recently launched Release 7, software designed to ease monitoring efforts.