Brands in social media don’t need to be too friendly. But they better damn sell me.

Image by cromacom via Flickr So much of what is discussed in social media revolves around engagement in terms of interacting with the brand as one would a friend. What we forget is there have been offline models for decades, and even centuries, of how business relationships should work -…

New Media Atlanta and the BackNoise controversy

My first experience with BackNoise ever was three weeks ago at the New Media Atlanta conference. BackNoise is a website that allows people watching an event to provide a running commentary of what is happening. They can do it anonymously or, if they choose, comment using their name. What this…