Most of us in digital media have weathered all kinds of storms. We’ve witnessed the rise and fall and rebirth of convergence; suffered and survived the dot-com bust; raised capital in good times and bad; and generated revenues when people told us it couldn’t be done -- with everything from microtransactions to mobile messaging. Even with the current economy, we have a wealth of experience to draw from and a lot to be optimistic about. While retail experienced a modest Christmas, Facebook made about $35M from virtual gifts alone in 2008. Business models that are free to customers -- and both traditional and ...

Today, the term “social media” is used interchangeably with “Web 2.0” to describe digital tools and online destinations where individuals can share and connect with others – from social networks like Facebook, social bookmarking tools like Delicious, photo sharing sites like Flickr, and online video sites like YouTube. Not too many years ago, the term was used to describe campaigns aimed at positive personal or social change and was also called “socially conscious media”. One excellent example is the Global Media Aids Initiative. No ...

YouTube. Google. Facebook. All of these channels are seriously underexploited by many entertainment companies, given that there are a number of simple things that content creators can do right now to capitalize on each. With YouTube it is important that producers don’t just upload content and wait for hits. YouTube provides a number of strategies and tactics to drive traffic to your content; it is baffling that most producers don’t follow these guidelines. Google ads generate real dollars with targeted advertising; it is amazing how many high traffic sites don’t host Google ads and leave these dollars on the table. In fact, ...

Is there money to be made in Facebook? According to Adonomics, the answer is yes, particularly for developers that tap into the fan bases of entertainment properties. Adonomics is an online source of Facebook analytics, enabling visitors to track the growth, activity, and valuation of companies that develop applications for Facebook - as well as valuation of individual applications. In its latest blog entry, Building the Social Suite of Category Killer Apps for Facebook, Adonomics identified the top ten trends in Facebook application ...