by Catharine P. Taylor on Oct 10, 3:49 PM
My name is Cathy Taylor, and I was all wrong about Snapchat. It's one of the hardest confessions, I've ever had to make, but let me be honest: earlier this year, feeling overconfident, I predicted what would happen in 2014 concerning a number of social platforms. Of Snapchat, I wrote: " ... it's hard to see this turning into an advertising platform -- in 2014, or any other year -- both because its content almost always goes away, and because when it doesn't, it's not a good thing." Since that time -- sob -- as if to defy the mighty …
by Catharine P. Taylor on Oct 3, 2:25 PM
The Social Media Insider was feeling a bit quippy the other day when she moderated a panel at OMMA Premium Display. The topic was on whether paid social had actually morphed into online display, so she took that opportunity to try and kill off Ello, only a week after anyone - except for a bunch of people in Burlington, VT - had ever heard of it.
by Catharine P. Taylor on Sep 26, 2:07 PM
Here we have an industry falling over itself to reach younger demographics -- an overemphasis that is itself ridiculous -- and yet, companies continue to spend billions of dollars on media that the youth of the world just aren't watching: namely, commercial TV. And all you need do to wonder if that's a wise allocation of media dollars is to get your nose out of your laptop and see what's going on in your own home.
by Catharine P. Taylor on Sep 19, 2:33 PM
There are plenty of things I've never understood about CMOs -- like why they'd take a job that seldom lasts that long -- but chief among those things I just don't get is their often-willful ignorance about how people are actually using media.
by Catharine P. Taylor on Sep 12, 3:08 PM
Sorry, folks. It needs to be said yet again, even though the Social Media Insider last told you this less than a month ago. I repeat: do NOT try to market your way into discussion about a tragedy. Stop the trage-tweeting!
by Catharine P. Taylor on Sep 5, 3:58 PM
Oh, no! The truth about Twitter's future plans seems to be slowly leaking out, and all signs - or several really important ones, anyway - are pointing toward a Twitter feed filtered, by ... an, an ... algorithm! Shiver the thought!
by Catharine P. Taylor on Aug 25, 3:15 PM
I'm reporting from the Social Media Insider Summit at the Resort at Squaw Creek in Lake Tahoe. Currently I'm looking at an unobstructed view of Squaw Valley, set against a clear, mostly cloud-free, sky. But maybe the view from last year's Tahoe summit -- smoky, courtesy of massive wildfires several hours away -- would have been more fitting, considering what I'm about to say about consumers and social media.
by Catharine P. Taylor on Aug 18, 11:21 AM
This past week was a hard one to stay off social media, and once again, the Social Media Insider certainly did not rise to the challenge of doing something else with her life. Reason one, of course, was the death of Robin Williams, which led to an online outpouring the likes of which we've never seen. Number two -- if a somewhat distant number two -- was the plethora of Ice Bucket Challenge videos, which have an almost inexplicable allure. Somehow, the sight of neighbors and public figures dousing themselves with ice water doesn't get old.
by Catharine P. Taylor on Aug 8, 2:41 PM
Boy, it's been a hard year for the Facebook "like" -- because, well, no one likes it anymore. First came the news that a simple "like" was useless -- to advertisers anyway -- because it has long ago stopped meaning that consumers who "like" advertiser pages will actually see the content that is then stuffed into their News Feed. And then, this week came this news: Facebook is now disallowing most incentivized "liking," of the "'Like'-our-page-if-you-want-to-enter-the-sweepstakes" variety.
by Catharine P. Taylor on Jul 31, 4:45 PM
Apparently -- unlike sharks-gone-terrestrial -- it's not time to kill off Twitter, just yet. The social network this week saw its stock jump 30% after reporting its second quarter earnings, which showed that the platform increased revenue by 124%, to $312 million, and monthly active users by 24%, to 271 million. Further -- and perhaps most importantly -- CEO Dick Costolo came up with a nifty new way to account for Twitter's popularity. It turns out that if you've ever seen a tweet, you're part of Twitter's extended reach. (Using that methodology, I think my mom is on Facebook.)