The Blank Spaces in Social Media
January 25, 2010
For the last 14 months I have written a monthly column for Information World Review. I don’t recycle that information in this Web log. In fact, I try to steer clear of repeating information within and across my monthly columns and this Web log. I thought I would have a dearth of information with the writing demands these place upon me and the equally addled goslings.
I was wrong.
On February 1, 2010, we are going to create a second Web log with the very hot title of SSN. I won’t reveal what it is about. I can say that it will NOT discuss the social security numbering system. I am going to operate the information service as a test for several months. If we hit a comfortable stride, then we will shift from a public beta test to a full-scale operation.
Yes, we will accept advertising, advertorials, and other marketing tie ups. Some of the conventions of Beyond Search and the ArnoldIT.com services will be linked to the new Web log. No, we have not worked out the details, but one of the team is going to grab hold of this angle and manage this aspect of the new information service.
The broad topic area will fit between real time search (my Information World Review column), my Google write ups (the KMWorld column), and my area of expertise (large scale online search and systems). We will have the exact positioning hammered out by Wednesday of next week with the first content live online a few days later.
A Real Editor
The editor for this Monday through Friday Web log will be Jessica Bratcher, a former newspaper editor. She continues to instruct me in how “real” journalists work. I will never learn because I am a sales person with few skills and not much energy.
She has assembled a team of goslings to be who will follow the conventions of the Web log world with a heck of a lot more journalistic acumen than I bring to the write ups in this Web log.
The Content
The Web log will feature some new approaches to content germane to online information.
First, each week there will be a dialog about a particular online issue of interest to business professionals. The idea is to take a topic and look at it from different viewpoints. In Beyond Search, there is a single point of view, and we want to explore topics from different angles. The trope will be a semi-Socratic dialog involving my partners in this new, free online information service. Even though different people will be involved, you will recognize the dialog from its new icons:
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Notice that both icons represent squawking and noisy birds. The idea is to have an edge and present information a person involved in business will find somewhat useful.
Second, there will be lists. A traditional Web log forces certain content into a stack with the most recent information at the top and the older information buried at the bottom of the pile. The new Web log will put certain information—such as lists and reference information—on pages that are static. We think you will find it easier to locate some of the special content we are gathering for this new information service.
Third, there will be short items that point to important stories from other publications and bloggers. We want to become a place that you can visit to get specific information with a business orientation. In the subject space we are covering, there is a wealth of content, but that information is of little or no interest to a person who is trying to make a living.
Finally, we want to feature short write ups from individuals who are not part of the team. We will identify these as guest contributions. We want to alternate outside commentary with longer pieces from the individuals who will be working with me on this project.
The People
I want to highlight the individuals who are working with me on this project. Unlike the Beyond Search Web log which I conceived as my personal marketing vehicle, the new Web log is intended to have more balance and different voices.
I have mentioned Jessica Bratcher, the editor. She has worked with me for about three years, and she has the skills that I lack: discipline, focus on schedules, and clarity of thinking. I am addled but not sufficiently off base to lack the insight to recognize my weaknesses.
Jonathan Lack. Despite his location in Houston, he has worked with me on a wide range of projects since the late 1990s. He has been a pioneer in Internet banking and a number of other ventures. He has an MBA from Wharton and provides a business savvy sorely lacking in my tech centric view of the world. Jon speaks several languages, including Arabic.
Patricia Roberts. Pat has—believe it or not—been working with me since 1972. Yep, you read that right. She took my job when I left Halliburton to go to Booz, Allen, & Hamilton and we have once again teamed to work on this new Web log project. She was responsible for new products at a major newspaper and then handling licensing for a government agency. She’s an expert in online information used for marketing. Oh, Pat is a member of Mensa and resides in the Washington, DC area.
Craig Goldberg. Craig was a client but over the years he and I became friends. He holds and MBA and operates a successful investment business in Florida. He has outstanding sales skills and a solid understanding of online and marketing in today’s volatile economic climate.
Others involved in the project are the goslings who are engineers and responsible for the plumbing that we use to create content. The researcher for the special reports is Anthony Safina (also a member of Mensa). Don Anderson and Stuart Schram IV have darn good technical skills and can generally fix anything that I break when I fiddle around with code after a whirlwind trip to Europe and think I am really alert.
More information about this new, free information service will appear over the next few days. If it works, wonderful. If it doesn’t, the team will try again. Stay tuned.
Stephen E Arnold, January 25, 2010
This is a shameless teaser for a new information service from ArnoldIT.com. I think I can report this to the president of the US’s number two technology person.
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