YouTube Insights is one of the most significant upgrades to the video sharing site. Now every video you upload can be tracked not just by total views, but when the views occur and where in the world they come from.

This is great especially for the marketing/PR community where measurement is key to campaigns.

Questions that can now be answered include:

• Was your video viewed by your target audience?
• How impactful was it?
• When was the peak of the hype?
• At what point did it slow down?
• Is the long tail in effect in your video?

Above is an example of a video I uploaded in 2006. I didn't realise until now that the spike was only at the beginning.

Here's a great article from Steve Rubel on the demise of internet/social media jobs of which I agree wholeheartedly.

According to Steve,

The web has finally become the dominant marketing and media platform and where everyone is largely focusing their resources. It's "the new normal." To me, this means that there will be less of a need for digital specialists across many industries. Some of these jobs won't exist in their current form within a couple of years. They will be integrated into broader roles. Everyone will be expected to know how to navigate the online landscape if they want to have a thriving career.

The parts in bold refer to folks like myself and Mr Rubel. I'm glad I'm not the only one who realises this trend. When I began this job at Hill & Knowlton back in 2006, I told the team and the boss that my goal is to be redundant. Normally that's a bad word to use with careers, but its the only way forward.

When I become redundant means all my colleagues will be on par, if not better, than me in dealing with and navigating the social media and it becomes a normality just as media relations with a newspaper editor is today. We have to remember that this is not a technology job where superior technical skill can get you further, we're just early adopters and trend setters.

But it thrills me to know it won't last because that means I get to move on and try new things and watch a new generation of practitioners confidently discuss the traits of the social media landscape with clients that appreciate the real-world insights. Looking around the office there possibly isn't a consultant under 30 who isn't already on social networks, IM, or blogging; and more seriously to the business we're receiving RFPs that specifically request for social media components.

Is the social media normalising even in Southeast Asia? I definitely believe so.

How did we go from implanting chips in to the brain in 2006 to a headset for mind-controlled games in 2008?!

Just when I thought the game-changing (pun intended) Wii was a killer app, here comes brain power. This is impressive technology but it looks like the Wii workout will soon join the old stationary bike in the storeroom.

This technology from Emotiv is quite revolutionary and for US$300, its not beyond the common man. But there's competition in this space with Sega and NeuroSky and OCZ fighting for mind share (more puns!)

Check out the OCZ Actuator in action in this video:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKd_AJUUT7Q&hl=en]

All this looks quite privative at the moment and the reactions that can be afforded from the devices seem like generic 2D motion and mouse clicks. Will we ever get to type without hands or "talk" without voice?

If permission marketing is an achievement, then getting the audience to spend time playing a marketing game is utopia! The screen shot above is from a new adventure/puzzle game by the Singapore Health Promotion Board (HPB) called Mount Power which is part of their teen outreach on neeteen, a portal for the youth. They must have figured that kids play games, so let's teach them about a healthy lifestyle through an interactive game. The results of this move is yet to be seen.

Games for marketing and education (some people call it advergaming) are a great idea and we will continue to see a lot more of these especially in Asia where the gaming culture is a lot more vibrant. I also believe that we will soon see such games played on the mobile phones and other internet mobile devices.

Another great example from 2007 is the got milk? campaign who created Get the Glass! a very professional adventure game aimed at kids. (Thanks for the link Nov!)

In our viral marketing efforts, we often bang on the people's altruism and willingness to share, but marketing games are teaching us that people's competitive streaks work just as well.

Almost two years ago when I joined the PR world I began hearing a lot of enthusiasm around the social media and specifically bloggers and blogs. Today a lot has been done around blogger relations and here are some of the methods that have worked in Singapore.

Product Reviews
This is the basic give/lend a product to a blogger who's savvy enough to try it out and bam! you've got coverage. Try to think out of the box for this one like with tech products, don't just hand it to a tech blogger who would review it as if he was part of the CNet crew, but hand it to a blogger who would use it in his/her lifestyle. Make a fashion/cultural statement with the review.

Example: I.Z Reloaded with the LG Shine

Parties & Events
This works great for the self-lovin' bloggers. Bring them to a place that's cool enough for them to share the experience and you've got instant coverage. The best part is coverage could flow a couple of screens with the multimedia also shared on Flickr and YouTube unlike traditional journalists who can only promise you a two-page spread at best because he "has to" cover the event.

Example: Nuffnang 1st Anniversary Party

UGC Competitions
This works best with a loyal fan base. If you've got a new product to launch and want customers to upgrade or influence their friends, then UGC competitions are a great way to go. There are some examples elsewhere in the world where things go wrong and the public abuse the UGC platform to harm the brand, but I guess we have to learn to accept a bit of this to get the rest of the good stuff.

Example: Sony Cyber-shot T2 Flickr Microsite

Product experiences
Close to product reviews, but not exactly. Sometimes its best to not even discuss the product in the content, but just let the blogger experience it and show it off for you.

Example: Estee & Nadia getting kinky with Samsung

I also found this blogger Relations eBook by Brian Solis, haven't read it, but might have some gems in there.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mLtheejM30]

Great video by Greenpeace on the effects consumer electronic products have on our environment and our people. Interestingly, Sony is ranking at the top with green laptops and mobile phones.

Thanks for the video link Greenie!

Michael first mentioned to me a plan to build a web version of the famed Mac comic creator Comic Life during the after party at Nexus 2007.

Today, Comiqs is in beta, has appeared on TechCrunch, and is off to a great start. I couldn't help but give it a little play myself.

I'm not daring enough to post/embed my creation here, but here are a couple of points I picked up about the Web 2.0 comic creator:

The Good:

Great editor layout. Items to pick on the left, layout in the middle, and options on the right. So simple a 5-year-old could be the next Stan Lee.

Love the Cartoonish filter!

Great Web 2.0 embedding and sharing.

The Bad (a.k.a the wish list)

The editor could use a bit more functions like image zoom within when placed in the comic boxes.

Images appear low-res. Probably for the sake of storage and bandwidth just like YouTube.

Nothing in the properties box? I think that's coming up soon.

From the comics that have been created on the site, I realise that there's a potential extension of the how-to "industry" here. Many of the posts are around how to get things done and explained very well in comics. Maybe I'll try my next how-to as a comic.

Here's a quick video demo for those interested in finding out more.

Comiqs competes against: StripGenerator, PikiStrips and Toondoo.

This evening I had the privilege of going for a "flight" on The Singapore Flyer courtesy of my client 3Com. I have been been to many tourist hot "high" spots including the Eiffel Tower, Taipei 101, and Petronas Towers' sky bridge, and I'd admit that this was unique. Not in an exciting way, probably because the sights of Singapore are not new to me, but different because of the way it shows it to you.

As the capsule rises, it gives you the anticipation of reaching a peak where the a possible best view would be. Although the crescendo didn't last long, the ride down revealed a different sight as you watch everyone shift from one end of the capsule to the other.

I believe tourists would love the Flyer as much as I loved the towers of their cities, but this would probably be my first and last time on the giant wheel, unless of course there's another official reason for me to take the ride again.

It really isn't the must-do attraction in Singapore, but I'd encourage anyone who's planning on visiting to give it a go. As we say here in Singapore, "must at least try once."

Last Sunday evening something possessed me to take a break from blogging on this blog to try collecting my thoughts and finds exclusively on my Tumblelog.

How did I find it?

In short: It was exciting, liberating, and great fun. But its lack of structure makes it a hard platform to maintain a readership.

Here are a few takeaways from the experience:

• Tumblelogs are better than social bookmarking and micro-blogging (Twitter) when it comes to collecting finds because it presents you the content right away.
  
• Tumblelogs don't require as much thought into creating a post which is great for "spur of the moment" opinions.
• Tumblelogs fail to tell a complete story, only serves to share information.
• Readers react less to tumblelog posts which means fewer comments.
• Tumblelogs are less conversational.
• Blogs could do with more "instant posting" features.
  

Conclusion: I'll stick to this blog, but I'll try to blog like a tumblelog whenever it makes sense.