The web of intent is coming.

Want to confuse someone? Start talking about the importance of localized databases and the aggregate collection of data from a wide variety of users.

Huh?

We are shifting into our new reality; a reality built from our own contextual input, from both a virtual and analog perspective.

The world is now a Wikipedia entry.

The red light is always on. Smile.

Social media has taken conversation and made it a part of the public dialogue. We've created a public forum for discussion that is accessible to all people at any time.

The behavioral shift over the past five years has been nothing short of revolutionary. We now feel comfortable sharing the most intimate of details about ourselves with the populace at large.

This openness by default has led to the development and improvement of data collection. We've started to reach a critical mass of information; a mass with which we can actually do something...

Should drug makers be required to disclose up-front all the potential harmful side effects of new medications within a single, 140-character Tweet? And what about guidance on how to set up a Facebook fan page of some new HIV drug?

It’s amazing to think that regulators in the U.S. and Europe still haven’t figured out how Big Pharma can use social media to engage with potential patients, not to mention the friends and families of those afflicted with serious medical conditions. All too often, niche online medical forums are the first place people turn to learn more about new treatments when confronted with a confounding new malady. And still, regulators are forcing drug makers to remain on the periphery...

Yahoo today announced that they are acquiring Citizen Sports, a company that creates fantasy sports leagues for Facebook, iPhone, Android and other devices.  The acquisition is meant to enhance Yahoo’s position in social games and fantasy sports, and “strengthen Yahoo!’s social strategy of enriching, aggregating and distributing social content from across the entire Web, and offering a highly customizable social experience.”

Citizen Sports various applications allow people to play in fantasy leagues, fill out brackets, check out live scores...

You know the drill. Just about every buddy cop movie shows the two characters performing the good cop bad cop routine. Parents have even been known to use this same strategy when seeking a confession from their children when they suspect foul play.

With good cop bad cop, one person approaches the suspect with empathy; they play nice. The other, however, pushes all the buttons, comes across as angry — possibly even a loose cannon capable of abuse, or at least capable of enacting very harsh penalties upon the suspect.

Good cop bad cop is a strategy — it outlines HOW these two people will approach a third and gives us a good sense of how to measure the desired impact in an overall and incremental way.

I was recently interviewed by the Wall Street Journal and was asked what the three most important things are for small businesses as they pertain to Social CRM (this applies to large businesses as well).  My response focused on listening, acting, and integrating the customer into the business.

Today, Offerpal released the results of a survey that targeted social gamers’ monetization activities.  Specifically, the report found that 29.7% of social gamers do not have the ability or means to pay for virtual currencies with cash, and 53.3% of consumers are willing to engage in alternative payments, like offers, to earn virtual currency. The report also found some other interesting statistics related to monetization behavior.

Seeing as this is an Offerpal study, the results aim to demonstrate that alternative payment methods will attract many social gamers who don’t have means to pay for their virtual currency with cash.  However, this is in line with other numbers we’ve heard from the social gaming industry, such as Zynga’s claim that 33% of their overall revenue comes from social games.  The survey identified “alternative payments” as filling out a survey, watching a video, shopping at online retailers or signing up for a subscription.  The standard payment options are credit cards, Paypal, bank transfers and mobile billing.

Another interesting result was that 34.9% of gamers say they are “very unlikely” to part with their money in order to ...