Reflections & analysis about innovation, technology, startups, investing, healthcare, and more .... with a focus on Minnesota, Land of 10,000 Lakes. Blogging continuously since 2005.

Tag: Technobabble 2.0

Can Twittering Add Value?

Apparently so, based on two recent studies.  In the first, I’m once again honored to be included in a ranking by the Technobabble 2.0 blog, which is written by Jonny Bentwood, an analyst relations guru at Edelman PR in the UK. His latest ranking is called the Top Analyst Twitters (Micro-Bloggers)Topanalysttwitterslogo
Earlier this year, my blog was chosen (for the second time) as one of his Top 100 Analyst Blogs, and now it’s great to be recognized in this newest ranking — at #18. As Bentwood said in his latest post, "It is not a massive shock that the people who have scored highest are the same as those who use blogging to great affect."

Technobabble’s methodology for its Twitter ranking was based on four data points, which were then weighted. Topanalysttwitterslist_2
The data points were 1) number of followers; 2) number of updates, which is what posts are called on Twitter; 3) conversation, or how many people have engaged in conversation with each analyst; and 4) "Technobabble points,"  the only personal, subjective measure in the algorithm, said Bentwood, with those scoring the highest in this category "having frequent, relevant, and high-quality content — asking questions, posting links or commenting on discussions." The following weightings were then used to come up with each analyst’s score: Followers=30%, Updates=15%, Conversations=30%, and Technobabble Points=25%.

In an earlier study, a few weeks ago, Louis Gray asked What’s Your Twitter Noise Ratio?  He said this in his blog post, explaining how he came to do his study: "I feel there are different categories of Twitter users, from those who
have a listening audience, measured by a high ‘followers’ to ‘updates’
ratio, those who are engaging, seen with near equal ‘followers’ and ‘updates’, and those who are more noisy, with a lot more ‘updates’ than
actual ‘followers’."

He explained how he did his analysis: "Taking a look at 48 Twitter users I either
follow or engage with, I found the average number of ‘tweets’ per ‘follower’ was almost exactly 1, measuring at 1.02. But the ratio of
updates to followers varied widely, from the sleepy 0.06 to the firehose-like 9.75."  I left a comment on Louis’ post, noting I was very glad to see, upon calculating my tweets-to-follower ratio, that it was 4.84, ranking me quite high in his "Converationalists" category.

In another article just published today, How Valuable Are You on Twitter?, Daniel Terdiman of CNet examines the topic from some other angles, including Twitter coverage of the China earthquake, and citing the opinions of other some leading observers and Twitterers in regard to measuring the value of this new micro-blogging medium.

What do you think?  How do you use Twitter?  Is it valuable to you?  In what ways?

Look Who Made the ‘Top 100 Analyst Blogs’ Again

Aw, shucks — I owe it to all of you out there, my valued, loyal readers….sigh, sniff.  Seriously, I don’t do this for glory, and Lord knows not for dollars. But it’s fun getting recognized like this, and it’s at least my second time, so I guess I should blog about it. Top100analystblogs
This rating system was devised by Jonny Bentwood, a really smart analyst relations exec with Edelman PR in the UK. [He must be smart if he keeps including me, right?] And I seriously do believe that Edelman is the leading PR firm in the world, because they keep showing that they "get" new media better than any other firm out there in my view.

I got a kick out of seeing my friend Jeremiah Owyang, out in the Bay Area, get the #1 ranking.  His Web Strategy blog has always been great, and this is the first Top 100 ranking since he became a senior analyst at Forrester, focusing in social media. They were very lucky to snag Jeremiah, and his blog is now naturally seeing rapid new growth in readership and influence. He’s also one of my favorite "follows" on Twitter.  The man is a social media maniac! And, yes, that is a good thing… 🙂 His research and analysis just keep getting better and better.

Jonny Bentwood (I love the way he spells Jonny) compiles his Top 100 Analyst Blogs ranking from an analyst blog directory published by Tekrati, run by Barbara French out in NorCal.  That directory starts here (with the "A" listings), and is quite comprehensive. [My two blogs are listed under "G" for the name of my company.] Barbara has an accomplished background in analyst relations, and has built an impressive business over the years, with one heck of a great web presence. She blogs regularly, too — of course.

Having been a freelance analyst and writer for some time, and having done analyst relations for at least one of the startups where I’ve headed marketing, I have a great affinity towards this profession — actually, for both sides of the fence. And blogging, I believe, has been a real boon to it, especially benefiting the customers, the users, of the research and analysis. And I know Barbara agrees with me on that.

I just want to say thanks again to my readers, seriously. It makes all the effort worthwhile just to get the emails that float in, out of the blue, from time to time, thanking me for my blog. (Just got one yesterday, from a smart young guy in San Diego who’s a fellow surfer and Surfrider Foundation supporter and heads a cool, new online travel business called Travature.)  I always welcome your thoughts about my blog, whether in the comments or by emailing me at graeme (at) thickins (dot) com. I really do appreciate hearing from you.  Cheers!

 

So, What Have I Been Up to Lately?

Glad you asked. Would you believe I launched another blog? That’s right, I’m a glutton for punishment. It’s actually a blog for my business.  (So, I guess that means this one becomes my personal blog)  The new blog is the first online wrinkle for a new practice of my consulting firm (GT&A Strategic Marketing), which I call NewMediaWise — so that’s where you’ll find it.
Its purpose is to explore the new world of marketing that’s being enabled by social media tools and technologies. Nmwscreenshot
Design of the site is by Geise Design. Randy and I have worked together much in the past, including when we did interim gigs together for the launch of BestBuy.com back in 2000. Randy’s a real master at web site design and development, and is particularly adept at ExpressionEngine™, an amazing platform behind many great sites (such as PaidContent.org and iLounge). I’m looking forward to getting the rest of the site built out.  Meantime, I’ll be blogging there about all things new media and marketing related. Here at Tech~Surf~Blog, I’ll continue to write about all kinds of other topics, including my coverage of tech conferences…and, of course, a little surfing from time to time.  If you’re interested in new media and marketing, I hope you’ll get a chance to check out the new blog and become a reader there as well.

What else have I been up to?  Well, I was quoted twice in the media in the past week or so — first in a business article in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, and then in an article on "The Business of Blogs" in the December 2007 issue of Twin Cities Business magazine (but that site doesn’t yet feature the current issue at the time of this posting).  So, its been a busy November so far.  Happy Thanksgiving to you all, and now bring on December!

UPDATE (the day after Thanksgiving): Oh, I almost forgot another thing: Tech~Surf~Blog was named one of "Top 100 Analyst Blogs" by Techobabble 2.0 (a blog written by an Edelman PR exec in the UK) . Can ya beat that?