According to Google Trends, the hottest search term right now is “vice presidential debate time”
Guess which of our candidates is bidding on this term?
Neither (shocking)
I would bid on this term, create an ad that favors Biden, and send searchers to an Obama/biden webpage that shows the debate times. On that page I would give channel info for CNN or MSNBC only. if I was in McCain’s camp, i would do give Fox news info.
At the start of each commercial break for the hit show Fringe, viewers see a note across the top of their screen saying that the show will return in 90 seconds. It is, to my knowledge, the only show that does this.
I wonder if this has had any effect on commercial viewing habits. When i see that note, I think that 90 seconds isnt so bad and that it wouldnt be the worst thing to watch the commercials. Truth be told, I only think this and then fast forward. The point is, i cant remember the last time i even considered watching commercials (super bowl does not count).
Hulu does this for its online repeats and it to be very effective.
Current.com has partnered with Twitter to show live debate related tweets on the current tv channel (channel 103 in NYC). I love the idea of interactive television and using twitter as a means of communication. People hate on twitter a lot, something i just dont understand.
This really works for any live event. American Idol, for instance. Imagine Simon or Randy saying that, based on tweets received, the audience at home didnt like the performance.
This was emailed to me today. I thought it was funny.
A Real Story
First-year students at Texas A&M’s Vet school were attending their first Anatomy class, with a real dead pig. They all gathered around the surgery table with the body covered with a White sheet. The professor started the class by telling them, ‘In Veterinary Medicine it is necessary to have two important qualities as a Doctor: The first is that you not be disgusted by anything involving The animal body’. For an example, the Professor pulled back the sheet, Stuck his finger in the butt of the dead pig, withdrew it and stuck his Finger in his mouth. ‘Go ahead and do the same thing,’ he told his Students. The students freaked out, hesitated for several minutes. But eventually took turns sticking a finger in the butt of the dead pig And sucking on it. When everyone finished, the Professor looked at them and said, ‘The Second most important quality is observation. I stuck in my middle Finger and sucked on my index finger. Now learn to pay attention.. Life’s Tough, but it’s even tougher if you’re stupid.
It bothers me when I go to a webpage and cant figure out what the product/site/concept/idea is within 1 minute of previewing the site. Thousands of sites a day are constantly fighting for my attention and, if I give a site my attention, I expect that they know how to capitalize on it. If they dont, a lot of time & money on site development was just wasted because tomorrow a whole new slew of sites will start fighting for my attention.
Today’s example is Fire Eagle, a new location based service from yahoo. Maybe I’m not that smart, but I really couldnt figure out within a minute what the site does and why it is valuable to me. Being the tech geek that I am, I spent more time than I should have trying to figure out what the site is about by clicking to their blog and reading the help section. The blog had a video explaining the idea that was painful to watch. The help section was ok. Finally I just said fuck it and I signed up for the site. I put in my location, went to the applications list and saw that there isnt one application that I use regularly in the list. So I hid my location and basically wrote off using the service for the immediate future.
How many people will really give a confusing service that much attention? I can only guess that its the extreme minority. My advice is to ask friends/families/mentors to tell you if they understand within a minute what your site does. Do this before you launch your site. The time/effort will be well worth it.
Kanye’s mastery of social media is inspiring. The quote below comes directly from Kanye’s blog.
“Oh and sidebar I don’t know if everyone has realized this yet but I don’t do interviews if there’s anything I wanna say I’ll say right here on my own blog.”
