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David Berkowitz

Member since March 2002Contact David

Articles by David All articles by David

  • What I've Learned, 400 Editions Later in Social Media Insider on 08/28/2012

    On July 2, 2004, I penned a Search Insider column for MediaPost that quoted Dr. Seuss and Eminem, followed it up 18 days later with a biblical allegory about search engine optimization, and nearly every week since then, I contributed to an oeuvre here that ultimately numbered 400 editions. So as not to bury the lede, this is my final Insider edition - at least for now.

  • 10 Ways Facebook Has Changed Since 2004 in Social Media Insider on 08/21/2012

    Facebook has earned a few degrees since it launched as Thefacebook in 2004. A Facebook media kit from the spring of 2004 recently surfaced, and it offers a glimpse as to how much has changed since then. Here are 10 quotes from the media kit that illustrate what has changed with Facebook, media, and online advertising.

  • Six Chickenpants Of Separation in Social Media Insider on 08/14/2012

    One morning, I arrived at work to find an unexpected visitor waiting for me at my desk. Short and bald, he was shirtless and wearing the most extraordinary pair of pants. He goes by the name Agent 011, but his real name is Chester Chickenpants, and he may be your next social media role model.

  • Ten Comebacks I'd Like To See in Social Media Insider on 07/31/2012

    It could be the Olympics, or the fear of another early ending to the Mets' season, or Ben Folds reuniting with the other two guys as they ironically tour again as Ben Folds Five. Whatever the reason, I've got comeback fever. While I try to find the cure, I keep thinking about social media. Here are 10 social media comebacks that I'd love to see:

  • Is This The Murderer's Motive? in Social Media Insider on 07/24/2012

    I woke up yesterday morning to a report from NY1 that it could take months before we learn the motive of the Aurora, Colo. murderer. Then I arrived at the office, logged into Facebook, and saw that youthful face with the shock of flaming red hair all over my feed. Could that be his motive?

  • Getting Lost In Social Discovery in Social Media Insider on 07/17/2012

    "Social discovery" is one of the hotter buzzwords these days, referring to how people can tap friends' implicit and explicit recommendations to experience something new. At first, it sounds like more jargon, but when you experience it firsthand, you can get a sense of what it really means.

  • Is Experimentation Innovation? in Social Media Insider on 07/10/2012

    Are experimentation and innovation one and the same? The two words were initially used interchangeably during MediaPost's recent Brand Marketers Summit, until some panelists sorted it out. For many marketers, one isn't innovating until they're trying something new. Trying something new is the essence of experimentation. Innovating and experimenting feel like they have a lot in common. Yet experimenting doesn't just mean doing something new.

  • The Interest Graph Vs. The Knowledge Graph in Social Media Insider on 07/03/2012

    What's more valuable: your interests or what you want to know? The difference between the Interest Graph and the Knowledge Graph will shape the direction of two major technology companies in the years ahead, and this will in turn impact billions of dollars of marketing spending.

  • Flying Too Close To The Sun in Social Media Insider on 06/26/2012

    Remember Highlight? Sure, it's still around, and it's premature to write it off. Yet the new app that received the most buzz at South by Southwest (SXSW) this year just gained a new competitor: Facebook. There have been many instances recently of the rich getting richer, with the best functionality and features getting incorporated into the most dominant platforms. Facebook, Google, Apple, and Twitter are among those especially adept at making dreams come true while simultaneously unleashing nightmares. Here are four ways this has been happening lately:

  • 10 Things Facebook Can Do With Face.com  in Social Media Insider on 06/20/2012

    One of the fastest-growing Facebook groups this year must be for people whose companies have been acquired by the social network. Following Instagram, Facebook acquired loyalty app Tagtile, proximity network Glancee, photo sharing service Lightbox, social gifting app Karma, and, this week, facial recognition platform Face.com. The last one's a fascinating company with cutting-edge technology for marketers and publishers, as well as a new consumer-facing iPhone app, Klik, that can learn to recognize friends' faces based on their Facebook profiles.

Comments by David All comments by David

  • You Can't Convince Consumers We Aren't Hucksters by George Simpson (MediaDailyNews on 09/24/2015)

    It is transactional. Doug, totally with you there. I've pushed back against colleagues in the past who want to pretend we're trying to change the world. We're not.But we also can show a bit of respect for our target audience too. The "we create jobs, we build economic strength" argument can be used to mask really heinous activities, like selling cigarettes to kids with cartoon mascots, or selling arms worldwide to questionable parties. Most of us are not in that business. And that argument can't hold water for long. Where we've really screwed things up is that people hate the experience we created so much that they want to steal from the media companies they actually like, potentially destroying those very sources of info and entertainment. 

  • You Can't Convince Consumers We Aren't Hucksters by George Simpson (MediaDailyNews on 09/24/2015)

    George, thanks for using the post as a springboard. A couple thoughts to specific points:-"Head scratcher" - fair feedback. Really, I could have written a much shorter piece with that single takeaway, so there is some redundancy. -Beauty pageant analogy - I'd like to think Randy is in a very good position to create change. I can play my part as well, as can you and our fellow practioners. Much of it will be drops in a bucket, but so much of this 'media-marketing ecosystem' as mentioned by Randy has been shaped by conscious decisions, and if enough of us influence the next wave of decisions, perhaps there is something we can do.-Behaviors do change, even if perceptions change more slowly. With greater transparency today, and more channels to have open and public discussions about the challenges in our field and the ways to fix them, we can at least seek to bring together more people who want to put trust first rather than opportunism. I agree with the very deep hole and won't overstate the value of words rather than actions, but at times words do inspire actions. 

  • What I've Learned, 400 Editions Later by David Berkowitz (Social Media Insider on 08/28/2012)

    Thanks, all. It's been a fun run over the years and appreciate all your kind thoughts and remarks here.

  • 10 Lessons From 'The Hunger Games' by David Berkowitz (Social Media Insider on 04/24/2012)

    David, thanks for sharing that. I'm not surprised there are others like this, but I didn't read anything else on the subject myself. My only research was The Hunger Games wiki - thehungergames.wikia.com/.

  • What SXSW Attendees Need The Most by David Berkowitz (Social Media Insider on 03/13/2012)

    It's been a long final day at SXSW so I'll keep this concise, but thanks all for the comments, and I'll read them in detail shortly when I'm back.

  • 20 New Confessions Of A Foursquare Super Mayor by David Berkowitz (Social Media Insider on 06/21/2011)

    Why Paul, I hate to break it to you, but I'm taken.

  • Shattering The SXSW Petri Dish by David Berkowitz (Social Media Insider on 03/22/2011)

    Thanks so much Ted and Marjorie - it's great to hear others experienced similar effects, whether veterans or rookies there. Kern, it is funny to mention SXSW and not the music. I did catch a few great bands in passing, but the only real concert I caught wasn't indie at all - it was Big Boi, thanks to winning the ticket on Foursquare.

  • SXSW's Tower Of Babel by David Berkowitz (Social Media Insider on 03/16/2011)

    Thanks for your feedback everyone, and Steve, great seeing you too. Steven, personally I'll ditch Gowalla after the event, though I will look for other occasions to use Beluga and its peers. Hashable was impressive too, though I can't download everyone's contact info right now - grr.

  • Facebook's Sponsored Stories -- Or, Consumers As Ad Medium by Catharine P. Taylor (Social Media Insider on 01/27/2011)

    Great writeup.Two notes on my proposal:1) A huge % of Facebook users go on daily, so it wouldn't delay a Sponsored Story campaign any more than Facebook delays campaigns due to their own approval process. 2) I also proposed a blanket opt-in or opt-out. That would just require a single request to users.

  • Scenes From A Social Media Face-Off by David Berkowitz (Social Media Insider on 10/19/2010)

    Thanks so much for your take, Ellen Greg, I still stand by my take. I think there needs to be a real champion and point person on the client side, otherwise there's no one to fire up. That's at least the case with anything I've worked on. The client or their team often has a mix of the passion, commitment, knowledge, and curiosity (though not necessarily all of the above) to drive it forward. Granted, I know I'm dealing with a limited sample size of the clients I've dealt with.

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