Notes from a Small Online Island

Look down the left.

Under the fans

Click play

Enjoy

What is WOM?

WOM is the single most influential factor determining whether people are spending time, money and attention on your brand. That’s a fact. It happens in social media, across platforms such as blogs, social networks, microblogs and media sharing sites, and it happens offline, across platforms such as pubs, parks, queues for the bus and your nan’s front room.

It’s people talking. There’s no mystery.

So you want to be a writer!

Once upon a time, writers were solitary creatures, agonizing in isolation over every word, waiting for the day when their books would get noticed by an agent and wind up on the shelves of bookstores around the world.

No longer! In the brave new world of all things digital, there’s more than one way to skin a cat - and more than one way to write and get published. WEbook is a community of writers who come together to write, give and get tough, honest feedback, and maybe make a few friends along the way. WEbook is transforming the landscape-one writer at a time.

At WEbook, you’ll find the tools you need to help you make your writing dreams come true - no matter what those dreams are. Want to go the traditional route, find an agent, and make it to the big time? WEbook can set you on your way. Want to forge your own path through self-publishing? Let WEbook help you draw up a roadmap. Want to have a good time, become a better writer, and maybe achieve a little internet fame along the way? WEbook has totally got you covered.

What has to be the final nail in the “Street Art” coffin was driven in last weekend by none other than MR. BRAINWASH (aka: “The Christian Audigier of Street Art”) when he opened his massive, self-produced “Icons” show in a rented space (which, ironically, was once a real art gallery, pre-recession) in the heart of Chelsea. As the subject of Brit Street Art king Banksy’s recent docu-parody film, “Exit Through The Gift Shop,” MBW has been the focus of much hype and speculation as his presence finally seeps into the fairly muddy stream of mainstream consciousness.

You don’t have to like competition in order to understand that it exists. Your fair share isn’t going to be yours unless you give the public a reason to pick you.

On the surface, Cartoon Network’s smash hit Clone Wars is a breezy little space adventure. Obi-Wan, Anakin, Padme, and the rest of the prequel pack (yes, even Jar-Jar) zip around the galaxy, taking out hordes of bumbling robots and crossing lightsabers with a series of snarling bad guys.

However, when you consider the series in the context of Episodes II and III, everything changes. The Clone Wars suddenly seems darker than the inside of a Sarlacc. In fact, it seems almost cruel to market it to eight-year-olds.

Ten years after the publication of No Logo, Naomi Klein switches her attention from the mall to Barack Obama and discovers that corporate culture has taken over the US government

new artists make music and listeners decide what’s good

You Ready?

By Jeff Jarvis via The Guardian“This will be the year when it becomes apparent that the future of news is entrepreneurial, not institutional.”

Via The Guardian

Irreverent, bawdy and unafraid of morris-dancing Sikhs: the new Englishness has no interest in the BNP’s rancid nationalism

Think your blog can be the next bestseller? Here are some tips for aspiring writers from editor Iris Blisi:

Those who think they’re unlucky should change their outlook and discover how to generate good fortune, says Richard Wiseman

We believe that good storytelling strengthens social movements, so every year we want to select stories from Resist to turn into films.

We asked people to upload their stories of resistance and spoke with many activists, writers and political thinkers.

Using what we learnt, we’ve chosen to make our first film with the actor Gael Garcia Bernal

We’ve spent the last few months focusing on the Wall that is being built along the entire USA border with Mexico. It is one of the greatest symbols of the divisions between rich and poor, and inspires a major investigation into the systemic causes of poverty and migration.

We’ve followed the death of one migrant and are currently seeking funding to expand the film to expose a global network of new Walls and the divisive impact they will have on all of our futures.

They visit art galleries, listen to conferences, cover art and design events, take a lot of pictures, interview creative people, and we document these findings in order to share them with you.

If use social media to market yourself/ your company/ your brand, there are certain things you cannot let slide when it comes to almost every one of your campaigns — here are five straightforward things to add to your to-do list: