Food blogs, amirite?  Those magical web portals that lure you in with their tempting photos and delicious titles, and then trap you amongst their pages for hours on end.  Don’t pretend you don’t love them. If you can honestly say you don’t, you must only be looking at the worst ones, like Oat Bran Daily and Fun With Kale! (Turns out, 365 Days of Kale does exist, if you’re into that sort of thing.)  The problem here is that it is impossible to remain hung up on one bad blog when there are so many good ones begging too be looked at.  Far too many, actually.

The typical wasted hours spent food blog-hopping go a little something like this:

I would love to bake today.

It’s Fall, maybe I should make something with pumpkin.

I think I have a can of that in the pantry.

Google: “pumpkin recipes.”

Oh good, only 38,300,000 results.

Oh.  Wow.  Those brownies look so good!

What?!? 41 Yummy Pumpkin Recipes from The Gourmet Glutton? Don’t mind if I do! ….

Next thing I know I’m looking at fresh pumpkin stew recipes with some particular type of canned tomatoes and that omnipresent kale.

I don’t have the ingredients for that, or the desire to cook a stew.

Oh well.  Looks good.

Bookmark that.

Email to self.

Somehow ensure that I can never find it again among all my other bookmarks of other things I don’t actually want to make.*

I end up spending all my potential cooking time just looking at pictures, variations, and related recipes.  By the time I realize I still haven’t decided on a single recipe, five hours have gone by, I’ve finished the entire box of Oreos, and I’m too tired from clicking and reading to cook anything but a frozen pizza.  Thanks for nothing, food blogs.

Even sites like Pinterest that offer recipes amidst everything else she-bloggers love (weddings, babies, fashion, quotes, bikes turned into sinks, etc.) don’t help.  I see you, pins of “easy” workout routines.  But I also see YOU, baked Alaska.  Teach me how to create that in my kitchen, and I’ll totally go run a marathon later, right? If I can ever get off the computer.  What happened to the days where you could sit down with Ladies Home Journal (my mom was really hip with it and kept good reading material like that on the coffee table at all times) and tear out the page with that delicious-sounding pumpkin bundt cake–the only one in the whole magazine–and stick it in a cookbook, making a real life bookmark instead of a virtual one? Even if you didn’t make the recipes right away, you could still discover them later, in one place, and decide if you wanted to make them or not.  I wish there was a way to do that on my computer or my phone.  Is there an app for that? A recipes-I-want-to-try aggregator?  Can I virtually tear out the recipe page on my tablet? Is the recipe Amy Cooksalot adapted from that Ladies Home Journal recipe really going to be that much better than what I already have?

I do admire you, food bloggers.  You mystical beings who seem to have their busy lives under control or else have been blessed with making a life out of simply cooking.  And I appreciate that you want me to have the recipe for those to-die-for kale cookies, but it’s hard for me to (a) see your recipe, (b) trust that it is both simple and delicious, and (c) take it to the kitchen without doing a little investigating first.  It’s easier for me to trust printed magazines.  You know the editors selected this recipe because it’s the best around.  Not just anyone can publish a recipe in a magazine, so I feel that it’s easier to trust them than Amy Cooksalot, just some lady who posted a recipe on a blog somewhere.  I can’t count how many recipes I make regularly from old editions of Everyday Food. I can almost always find the recipes I remember ogling.  And I don’t have to even know that 37,299,999 other pumpkin recipes exist.

The internet is supposed to be a place that makes everything easy and accessible.  It also allows anyone to share their voice.  But with all these voices, things get a little too cluttered and distracting for it to be easy.  Is it so wrong to want to abandon the information superhighway in favor of the old-fashioned bundle of paper delivered to my door? Yet, hard as I try, those food blogs will never fail to lure me in for hours, until I feel like Amy Cooksalot and I are best friends and she’s cooking just for me.  Only I never end up being able to eat any of her food.  It’s a love/hate relationship.  And I can’t tell if I really want to end it.

*Full disclosure: I definitely emailed myself those 41 pumpkin recipes. Odds that I will make any of them?  Zero.

Related posts:

1. REFLECTEUR – Issue 80
2. An open letter to moms who are social (in the digital sense).
3. Digital World Cup

It’s a quest that has been afoot since the web got 2.0’d and, in my opinion, can be split into 3 waves. Fan sites and MySpace helped change the game of music online in the first wave of social music sites. Suddenly there was a chance to comment on your favorite music with fellow fans, reach artists more directly and possibly even help shape who makes it big. Internet radio was just coming on the scene and you could easily hear programmers with much broader tastes than the evil overlords at Clear Channel Corp Inc. Radio looked like it was in trouble.

Then came a second wave of music sites organized around the crucial premise that you are what you play. Sites like Last.fm and Blip made recommendations based on what you played but, perhaps more importantly, streamed that list of what you were playing to other people. It was a chance to show off a bit. (See what I did right there? I went Junior Mervin’s “Police and Thieves” into The Clash’s “Police and Thieves” into DC Hardcore punk band Police & Thieves). This should have been compelling but, in reality, wasn’t. The playlist itself isn’t the exciting part. All of them missed that essential magic of sharing what you love most about music. Not just track names and band knowledge but the ACTUAL moment of awakening when you hear something new and brilliant and you’re with the person who is playing it (either physically or virtually but certainly in real time). “Right there. Did you hear that little horn riff? Amazing!”

That is what Turntable does – marries that High Fidelity insight with an experience similar to the Xbox Live lobby – you can see where your friends are, what game they’re playing and just hop in and join the fun yourself. Now, music is totally democratized. Even Pandora seems autocratic in comparison. Don’t like what’s being played? Jump to another room. There are a good number of packed rooms but also a seemingly endless list of rooms with 10-20 people in them. There it’s relatively easy to step up and take your turn as DJ. Or better yet: start your own room. You get your turn at the turntables and then you get to hear what others have to play. There are avatars so you can see your friends visually represented.  There are Awesome and Lame buttons to show appreciation and give immediate feedback. A whole sea of bobbing heads means you’ve chosen a killer track (or maybe it means you’ve sold out and gone mainstream depending on the room).

The IM tool in the lower right of Turntable takes on real meaning because you aren’t just talking about music – you’re playing it at the same time. Anything you want. It reminds me of my buddies and me reuniting on the road to Coachella every year, taking turns plugging our iPods into the car stereo to DJ a set as we catch up. This idea of real-time music-fueled conversation can grow an incredible number of ways. Diplo has already shown up in a room to debut new tracks. Mashable and other companies have hosted mixers in their own room. There has been at least one live Turntable club dance party. You can easily imagine the ability to buy and download entire playlists coming soon. If radio was in trouble before, it’s surely dead for good now.

Pandora just announced two days ago that they will be adding social network functionality to their service. It seems to be their frantic attempt to create the sort of instant community that has flourished on Turntable and justify that enormous IPO valuation. But it won’t work. Because people want to build their own experience in social and Turntable shows us that, when music is involved, that means taking over the airwaves too.

Related posts:

1. the 100 best music tracks of 2008
2. Marketing’s Future in Fantasy
3. Campaign of the Future

Twitter and pro sports have had a tumultuous love affair.  On one hand, leagues have benefitted from players and fans connecting directly.  On the other hand, Larry Johnson.

At one point in 2009, it looked like Twitter and professional sports would never get along.  Teams and media properties were heavily regulating content of tweets or banning it altogether.

Thankfully, we’re to a point now where enough people in decision-making positions understand how Twitter works.  Teams are able to give players social media training.  They have gone from blanket banning to friendly warning if a player gets a little liberal with their tweets.  The change has been great for fans as we can get news and insider views like no other generation of sports fan before us.

Tonight will hopefully be the next step in the evolution of how we view sports.

Major League Baseball has empowered players at tonight’s Home Run Derby to tweet their brains out during the event (but just this event).  They will aggregate the content on MLB.com as well as other social channels or you can follow your favorite player who will be tweeting.

While the idea of players tweeting could never work during games (due to media commitments and you shouldn’t tweet during your homerun trot, amongst other things), it raises a question: Why not have someone doing this for every team for every game?

Players can’t do it, but a team employee can.  Someone integrated with the team, on the bench, in the dugout, on the sideline with enough savvy to know what to tweet and what not to tweet that he/she overhears or sees.  And honestly, if a player is injured or not playing that night, what reason is there not to let them tweet?

Twitter offers an opportunity that television and radio can’t replicate by allowing a series of Twitter handles that can each have a unique voice.  A TV broadcast has to appeal to as many people as possible.  Therefore, oftentimes you won’t get real in-depth analysis and only hear what teams are willing to tell a sideline reporter.

With Twitter, a team could create accounts that provide that instant analysis that TV executives think would alienate the casual fan (side note: I disagree with this philosophy.  Your audience will be as smart as you empower them to be).  They could explain why a pitcher is laying off his cutter that particular day. Or why the two tight end set is killing a defense.  Or why a team that tends to rely on the three pointer is suddenly driving to the hoop.

It seems like a natural progression of where analysis and sports coverage is heading. Sportswriters and fans are starting to provide analysis during games.  Better for teams to get in front of the trend and potentially create a property they can monetize along with their broadcast streams.

Watching the games is why we follow the athletes or executives.  It’s like the opening credits to a movie.  Following them tells us who or what we expect to see.  But without the film (or game), then we just looked at a bunch of words.  Yet the crux of their business, the games, is the one place that is going untouched.  Here’s hoping that soon after tonight’s Tater Contest, that stops being the case.

Related posts:

1. Twitter Commandments
2. WHAT WE LEARNED FROM TWEET RACING
3. Bank of America on Twitter = WIN!

After participating in a weekly experiment with Sarah Chiappetta for @denuology, I was able to uncover a few simple tweaks that anyone can implement to their own Twitter page. I describe them in this month’s ClickZ community management article, covering “makeover” tips such as experimenting with new venues for creative expression, writing less characters for more quality, and involving more brands and influencers in conversation.

Read more at ClickZ, and catch up on previous community management topics:

• 5 Things to Listen for in Your Community
• When Is It Time To Join The Conversation?
• What Does Your Twitter Ratio Say About You?
• From Facebook to Twitter: Save Your Community From Redundancy
• Trolls Are Inevitable; Here’s How to Deal With Them
• Building a Community Management Team

Design by Sarah Chiappetta.

Related posts:

1. Community Management: Troll 101
2. Being Human: Community Management Demystified
3. Twitter Commandments

We live in a world where parents name their children after social actions, where social media can ignite a revolution, and where consumers have the ability to alter brand decisions. With such great influence and power, social media creates limitless opportunities for both consumers and brands. Too often for brands, however, the end game for their efforts is simply earning a certain number of likes, followers or views instead of the larger consumer connection.

Human connections range in the types and length of value they provide. Some connections can be short-lived while others are more sustained, and the level of impact can vary across both (think of the difference between someone handing you a flyer for a free cup of coffee vs. the barista who makes your coffee for you every morning). However, all meaningful connections, whether they occur in person or via social media, are grounded in value. So before brands start a new social program, revamp their Facebook page or extend a current campaign to the social space, they need to take a step back and examine their overall purpose and the value they can create.

We believe there are four types of value that provide the basis for effective social media efforts:

Habit
With full schedules and a variety of interests, consumers are continually looking for new ways to better experience their day-to-day pursuits. Brands can facilitate routine actions, from improving daily runs in a uniquely social way to personalizing music listening experiences, while becoming an integral part of consumers’ everyday habits.

Need
Due to its immediacy and customization, social media has increasingly become a go-to source for questions and problems. By participating in this conversation and enabling a relevant practical dialogue on topics ranging from electronics to healthcare, brands can provide consumers with the on-demand satisfaction they require while positioning the brand as a valued source of information.

Passion
Social media has become a platform for consumers to more deeply experience the activities and causes they love. Brands are able to foster this passion, whether it is among a focused, savvy target or a more general audience, by creating a collaborative environment that provides ongoing inspiration and aligns the brand with these powerful experiences.

Intrigue
Intrigue is a key driver within the social realm as consumers search for opportunities to be captivated by something truly novel. Initiating an impactful, product-centric interaction allows brands to provide unexpected value and fun while highlighting their product in a memorable way.

Brands that develop social experiences grounded in one of these types of value have a guiding compass to more effectively react and adapt to the evolving consumer behaviors that define the space. Ultimately this allows brands to create more meaningful consumer connections that go far beyond just the Like button.

Created with Anisha Ahluwalia and Dan Buczaczer

Related posts:

1. Social Media Marketing (My Shoes Made Me Write This)
2. Continuous Content: How Social Media Can Get Creative
3. Denuo @ Social Media Week NYC