Social Media Weekend

Gannett Buys Social Media Firm Adweek, NY - 20 hours ago NEW YORK Expanding its digital business, Gannett has acquired Ripple6, a provider ofsocial media services. Ripple6 will become a wholly owned subsidiary, ... Gannett buys social media company Bizjournals.com Gannett acquires social media provider Ripple6 WELT ONLINE Gannett Acquires Social Media Firm Ripple6 Digital Media Wire CNNMoney.com - BtoB Magazine

Social media club to present hands-on, ‘Social Media 101’ event Bizjournals.com, NC - 16 hours ago Until now, Social Media Club Louisville has been of, by and for cutting-edge Internet types. But on Tuesday, Nov. 18, members will reach out to the ... Business gets on board with social media sites Milwaukee Business Journal

Pluck Helps Customers Declare Victory in Social Media Coverage ... MarketWatch - Nov 14, 2008 AUSTIN, Texas, Nov 14, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Pluck(R) Corporation, a subsidiary of Demand Media and the leading provider of social media capabilities to ...

Meebo Enables Real-Time Social Interaction for Hearst Magazines ... MarketWatch - Nov 13, 2008 "This partnership with Hearst Magazines Digital Media is unique in that it seamlessly links traditional media and social media with cutting-edge community ...

Siebert Upgrades, and Social Media Expands Barron's - 3 hours ago By Theresa W. Carey SIEBERTNET, AN ONLINE BROKERAGE THAT typically finishes near the top of Barron's annual review, rolled out updates on Nov. ...SIEB

Social media will not kill PR, but it does expose industry weakness ZDNet - 17 hours ago However, after attending a Horn Group panel on Wednesday on the topic of “Is Social MediaKilling PR?”, I’ma little afraid for the future of the PR industry ...

CEOs take on Social Media BusinessWeek - 15 hours ago Many CEOs use social media sites like Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Twitter personally, but few use them to communicate with stakeholders. ...

Scate Seeks Strategic Investors for Web 2.0 Social Media Product Line MarketWatch - Nov 13, 2008 Scate Ignite 4 and its companion social media site IgniteCAST.com compete in the red hot web 2.0 social media market. Scate Ignite is currently used by ... Key Challenges and Issues Facing the Enterprise Web 2.0:Building ... MarketWatch all 26 news articles »

Discover Magazine

Social Media for the Military InternetNews.com - Nov 13, 2008 The launch of TroopTube comes nearly a year and a half after the Defense Department blocked access to YouTube and other popular social-media sites, ... Military Members, Families Can Share Video On TroopTube InformationWeek Pentagon unveils TroopTube as ‘approved’ YouTube replacement The Tech Herald

Wikis: The black sheep of social media Computerworld, MA - 20 hours ago I'm listening in to Nora Ganim Barnes University of Massachusetts Dartmouth talk about a survey of Inc. 500 and social media. The survey results, shown at ...

CEOs take on Social Media

Posted by: Nanette Byrnes on November 14

Many CEOs use social media sites like Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Twitter personally, but few use them to communicate with stakeholders. And while 29% say social media can be a very or extremely effective way for companies to communicate, just as many find it ineffective. These are some of the findings of a September survey of 200 chief executives by public relations firm Burson-Marsteller and PRWeek.

So while CEOs are on these sites a lot (43% of the CEOs said they are on them often, including 19% who visit daily) it’s not for business. Only 18% say they use them to communicate with customers and other stakeholders.

Why not?
48% say they lack relevance to the target stakeholder groups
37% voice concern about loosing control of their message
28% worry about return on the investment
and 
23% blame a lack of knowledge and capability within the company

Another reason may be that they’re not convinced of the payoff. While 62% see social media as having an impact on a company’s reputation, only 48% say it can change sales.

They seem much more convinced of the power of Word of Mouth and viral campaigns. 60% say those have more influence today than they did three years ago. Also rising in influence: trade media, blogs covering their industry, and traditional media including the Wall Street Journal (44% say its sway has grown) and BusinessWeek (24%). 67% of those surveyed will increase their spending on digital marketing in 2009.

Facebook’s the site most often used for public relations, but 71% of CEOs said their company web site is the best way to communicate with consumers during a crisis.

Burson-Marsteller thinks CEOs should be more social. In the press release on the findings, Mark J. Penn President & CEO says “CEOs should understand that many of their stakeholders are active users of social media and that it can be an extremely effective means for communicating a message. I would argue that companies that are not engaging in social media are taking a bigger risk than the companies that are.”

He’s on Facebook. 

Gannett Buys Social Media Firm

Nov 14, 2008

NEW YORK Expanding its digital business, Gannett has acquired Ripple6, a provider of social media services. Ripple6 will become a wholly owned subsidiary, providing its social media technology and analytics to Gannett as well as to marketers and Web publishers. As part of the transaction, the 10 percent stake of Ripple6 owned by Chris Saridakis, svp and chief digital officer of Gannett, was bought out by Gannett. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Ripple6 powers a number of...More

Gannett Buys Ripple6 

By E&P Staff 
Published: November 13, 2008 2:26 PM ET 

NEW YORK Gannett announced today it has acquired Ripple6, a social media provider that currently powers Gannett's MomsLikeMe sites. The New York-based company will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Gannett.

"From the moment we began working with Ripple6, we realized we had found a company that is richly innovative and can change the way social media is offered and monetized online," Craig Dubow, Gannett's chairman, president and CEO, said in a statement. "Ripple6 will join our other enterprises in fueling the rapid growth of our digital business, which seeks to apply innovative technology and content solutions to the needs of our customers."

Ripple6 provides sites the ability to enable social marketing, generate consumer insights, and measure word of mouth. Other clients include Procter & Gamble, Meredith Corp., and General Mills.

"We've had a highly productive two-year relationship with Ripple6 to create new communities for our brands, and we look forward to continuing it in their new structure," Pat Gentile, head of P&G Productions, said in a statement. 

Gannett disclosed that bought out the 10% share of Ripple6 owned by Chris Saridakis, Gannett's senior vice president and chief digital officer. Saridakis was not part of the sale negotiations.