Blogs Without the Blah

Why I’m out of Foursquare, and Why Some Apps Succeed

And so another personal venture into the new is complete. Following in the footsteps of services such as Second Life and Pointcast, I have now decided that Foursquare is no longer for me. It has gone down a personal “hype cycle” in my life–going from interesting to integral to ignoble in just a few months. Where once I was checking in with glee and sharing my whereabouts with new collections of friends, now I’m moving on with life and onto Facebook Places. My personal journey is one that others have also reported, and I think a look into why Foursquare worked for a while, and how others continue to be a part of my life, shows a path to meaningful platforms.

16 Social Media Precedent Setters

New Mobile Ad Formats: Working Hard vs. Hardly Working

Like a lot of people in the digital marketing industry, I’ve spent a lot of time looking ahead into new advertising formats to help my team and clients understand where the future might take us. Mobile is one specific area that has taken a lot of my attention lately. Starting with the iPhone, we have seen how a well-designed device, fast (3G) connection, and app development/download platform have done for mobile users what broadband did for Internet access. Consumers are used to upgrading their mobile devices rapidly, and the draw of smartphones is expanding rapidly. Nielsen recently projected that U.S. smartphone penetration will surpass 50% in 2011.

Dose of Digital Heading to SXSW…Maybe

Every year, digital marketing geeks (like me) descend upon Austin, Texas for a conference called South by Southwest, a.k.a. SXSW. What started as a music and then film festival, the conference’s biggest draw is now the “Interactive” category. That’s where you’ll find all the latest digital innovations that everyone is talking about. Typically, there hasn’t been a whole lot at SXSW focused on healthcare. But SXSW 2011 will feature a one-day health track for the first time.