I am the co-host of a weekly podcast called The Bella Buzz with  Desiree Scales, the CEO of Bella Web Design. We have great conversations about topics related to online marketing. I am posting the programs here for the Overflow audience. This is episode 90.

Some listeners of The Bella Buzz podcast might be old enough to remember how interesting it was that a 24/7 all-weather television network appeared on their cable television (1982 btw).  Many questioned whether it would be possible to sustain viewers and maintain an actual business with this format.  The answer became a resounding yes.

Today, the information The Weather Channel distributes has landed on numerous forms of media beyond the coaxial cable systems.  We are delighted to have Vice President of Brand Strategy, Derek Van Nostran, join us to discuss their efforts in using social media to drive their content.

Our timing for having Derek as a guest was quite appropriate as we just had a very early Nor’easter snow storm in New England termed #Snowtober all over Twitter.

The Weather Channel has been receiving some recognition, including a Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) Excalibur Award for their Weather Social project.  Weather Social incorporates the volume of activity and conversation taking place on Twitter, and appears on a segment of the broadcast.  It is literally possible to “view” the progress of a storm front by monitoring the activity of people on the social network.

It takes a lot of technology to parse the volume of data that appears, even when looking at just one single social network like Twitter.  The Weather Channel relied on Wiredset and Trendrr to help them excavate the relevant information among the noise.

Some companies have come to realize that they actually do have a valid social media strategy, many still have not, but for The Weather Channel the strategy clicked when they realized that by incorporating the local nature of weather with the local nature of social media, they could improve their ability to cover a story.  Thus, the birth of millions of “Social Meteorologists!”

The new iPad app is a tremendous upgrade from previous versions, as they came to understand that users wanted to be able to access the basic weather information first, and then drill down into the details in more time.  The full earth view is tremendous!

Thanks for your time Derek!  Looking forward to the continuing evolution of The Weather Channel, integrated in exciting ways into our every day lives.

______________________________________________________

Theme music for The Bella Buzz is Fallen by Digital Chemistry, available for download at the Podsafe Music Network.

You can subscribe to The Bella Buzz directly from iTunes by following this link, and we would be happy to receive listener feedback and ratings at The iTunes Store.

I am the co-host of a weekly podcast called The Bella Buzz with   Desiree Scales, the CEO of Bella Web Design. We have great conversations about topics related to online marketing. I am posting the programs here for the Overflow audience. This is episode 72.

This week on The Bella Buzz podcast, we begin our series of focusing on emerging technologies entering the marketplace and their application for small and medium sized businesses.  Desiree and Joe are pleased to speak with the Founder of Nutshell Mail, Mark Schmulen.

Before we get to our guest, Desiree catches us up on the session that she presented at RETechSouth called The Art of Engagement in 140 Characters or Less. This was a presentation about the art of writing to be engaging, confined to the space of a Twitter post.

Consistent with our efforts to introduce guests with interesting backgrounds and an understanding of the changing world of marketing communications, we had a great time talking with Mark.

His company was founded in 2008 with the intention of building a better way of keeping track of all of your social networking activity.  The free service allows you to schedule an email delivery with the important content from the social networks that you participate in, such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Foursquare, etc.. By having it delivered to your inbox on a consistent basis, you can eliminate the constant distraction of wondering if you missed something in your network.  The company was recently acquired by a sponsor of The Bella Buzz Podcast, Constant Contact and Mark is now the General Manager of Social Media.

One of the principles that Nutshell Mail was built on was “Getting Things Done” or the “GTD” space. Names such as David Allen and Tim Ferriss of The Four Hour Workweek were very influential for the founders when trying to develop a tool that would help manage the social media space. The email Inbox was the place where this could actually happen, “on your time and on your terms.”

A great side effect of using Nutshell Mail to manage the social media marketing efforts is a peace of mind.  Having the knowledge that something will not get missed in this listening station, you can go about your business while still being actively involved.

Constant Contact saw some synergy between the companies as a way to demonstrate that email and social go hand in hand.  They have been very innovative, (and there is more to come!) about providing some tools that will help small businesses find ways to communicate with their engaged customer base.  In both cases, Nutshell Mail and Constant Contact find a common point of connectivity with people through the email Inbox.  A company saying is “email lights the fire, while social media fans the flames!”

To stay in touch with Mark, you can find him on Twitter at the handle @mshmulen, or search for him on Facebook and LinkedIn.  We are also very proud to be have Constant Contact as a sponsor of The Bella Buzz podcast and look forward to new tools that the will be introducing to the over 430,000 small business customers that they serve.

To sign up for the service, you can visit either Nutshell Mail or Constant Contact.

______________________________________________________

Theme music for The Bella Buzz is Fallen by Digital Chemistry, available for download at the Podsafe Music Network.

You can subscribe to The Bella Buzz directly from ITunes by following this link, and we would be happy to receive listener feedback and ratings at The ITunes Store.

I am the co-host of a weekly podcast called The Bella Buzz with  Desiree Scales, the CEO of Bella Web Design. We have great conversations about topics related to online marketing. I am posting the programs here for the Overflow audience. This is episode 69.

We speak via Skype connection, rather than the limiting 140 characters of Twitter, with long time friend Becky McCray on episode number 64 of The Bella Buzz podcast. Becky was an early participant in the SB Buzz tweet chat that we discussed many episodes ago, and after we dispose of the tributes to the iPad2 coming out of Cupertino, we get into the social media wisdom that Becky applies to her many endeavors.

Becky is a content producer! In one form or another she has blogs set up that deal with Small Business, her liquor store, tourism, her personal musings, and many many more topics. She is fluent in social media and provides great insights to her clients, friends and neighbors on how to get the most out of their efforts in this evolving space.

Coming off the dialog about the new iPad2 and what it means to the development cycle, we have a great discussion about location based apps and the future of these apps in tourism and small town business. Becky believes that destinations must mobilize their constituents to prepare for visitors, by ensuring that there are quality tips, reviews and recommendations on these services. It is the inside information from local residents that visitors should find on services such as Yelp, Urban Spoon, Gowalla and Foursquare.

Becky is really interested in the future of apps that are connecting people based upon interests. We have seen the beginnings of this with the Get Glue app which is based around television shows, movies and books. She would like to extend this to activities in a way that the original Twitter asked the question “What are you Doing?”

Where most of these current versions of location based apps have a competition or game approach, what it really boils down to is the quality of the information that they contain.  It is not so much that someone has visited the same location the most times that sets them apart, it is what they contribute in the form of relevant information.

Becky uses an interesting term to identify the target market for the small municipality that is trying to attract visitors passing on the highway and patronizing the chain restaurant. She uses the term “Explorer” as the most likely person to venture from the tried and true, which comes from the Kansas Sampler Foundation. This foundation understands the need for adopting new technologies and tactics, in order to succeed in rural economic development.

This topic also gives us a chance to explore the release of Shop Alerts, an app that pushes coupons (and hopefully reviews) to opted-in customers willing to get presented offers based upon passing through a particular location.  Taken to a larger scale, this could be applied to a municipality enabling “geo-fencing” to reach out electronically.

Of course, all of this technology is reliant upon strong internet connectivity and opens an entire debate about our responsibility to ensure that all of the country, and the developing world, has access to high speed internet.  In order for equal opportunity to exist, we must diminish the digital divide.  In many rural parts of the country, reception and internet access are difficult to find.  Becky recommends that any business with wi-fi hotspots clearly mark their locations for out of town guests.

We wrap the episode with a quick discussion about time management and how Becky slices up her priorities in a Get Things Done approach.

You can connect with Becky on Twitter via her @BeckyMcCray account or through her online business card at BeckyMcCray.com.  A big Thank You shoutout to Becky from The Bella Buzz and we leave a standing invitation to join us again any time to continue the conversation!

NOTE: After the recording concluded we had a further conversation about Becky’s post titled Titillating is not the same as interesting.  As Becky mentioned during this conversation, “I bet you wish we were still recording right now” .. indeed.

From our perspective on The Bella Buzz, our digital footprint is long lasting.  We hope that our words will be heard for many years into the future and that we can be proud of our legacy.  By avoiding sensationalism and maintaining high standards we believe that we can demonstrate our integrity to respected people like Becky, and feel comfortable in our children discovering our works and ideas.

______________________________________________________

Theme music for The Bella Buzz is Fallen by Digital Chemistry, available for download at the Podsafe Music Network.

You can subscribe to The Bella Buzz directly from ITunes by following this link, and we would be happy to receive listener feedback and ratings at The ITunes Store.

I am the co-host of a weekly podcast called The Bella Buzz with the CEO of Bella Web Design, Desiree Scales. We have good conversations about topics related to online marketing. Thought I would also post the programs here for the Overflow audience. This is episode 58.

On the latest edition of The Bella Buzz podcast, we are excited to speak with Jamie Turner, who is the Chief Content Officer for the 60 Second Marketer.  He is also the author of a new book called How to Make Money with Social Media: An Insider’s Guide on Using New and Emerging Media to Grow Your Business.  The book is published by The Financial Times Press.

As a kickoff to Social Media month and specifically the events that will be taking place around Atlanta in November, Jamie agreed to appear on the podcast with Desiree and Joe to give us some of his insights into the world of social media marketing.  Jamie deals with some very big brands and guides them through this new media world.

To get a book about social media published, the co-authors had to anticipate where the market would be when the book came out.  There is a significant challenge for traditional publishing when the topic is dynamic and continuously evolving.

Jamie reminds us that we have to invest time and personnel costs in social media in order to move the ball forward. Although the tools might be free or inexpensive, the investment can be at least a full-time person devoted to managing the channels.

One of his favorite subjects with social media is Measurement.  He categorizes them in three ways Quantitative, Qualitative and ROI.

• Qualitative measurements are all of the data that comes from traffic analysis such as visits, actions, and conversions.
• Quantitative is an emotional analysis regarding the brand.  We touched on this developing subject an interview with Kim Schott.
• Finally, what is the ROI of the social media effort.

The pivotal formula that can be derived from this type of analysis is Customer Lifetime Value. How much value does a typical customer generate over their lifetime, and therefore, what is the acquisition cost that allows for generating profit?  Or flipped another way, how many customers do you need to acquire for social media spending to be worthwhile.

We thank Jamie for taking his time to appear on the podcast.  You can check out his insights at the 60 Second Marketer Blog and if you pick up a copy of his book, be sure to let him know you heard him on The Bella Buzz.

If you are in Atlanta, be sure to attend Desiree’s Social Media for Entrepreneurs 101 session on November 9, 2010.

__________________________________________________

Theme music for The Bella Buzz is Fallen by Digital Chemistry, available for download at the Podsafe Music Network.

You can subscribe to The Bella Buzz directly from ITunes by following this link, and we would be happy to receive listener feedback and ratings at The ITunes Store.

I am the co-host of a weekly podcast called The Bella Buzz with the CEO ofBella Web Design, Desiree Scales.  We have good conversations about topics related to online marketing.  Thought I would also post the programs here for the Overflow audience.  This is episode 53.

A good friend and colleague of The Bella Buzz drops by to discuss this past weekend’s successful fundraiser for children’s cancer in Chattanooga, in association with a foundation called St. Baldricks. Dawn Skowronnek joins us with the story of how she and her son Jack became involved with the charity.

As a new family in the area, living on Signal Mountain in Tennessee, Dawn used social media tools as a way to develop a strong network in the area.  She used Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to develop online relationships which helped her when it was time to generate interest in this event.  Volunteers and participants were all a part of these social networks, including a photographer named Rich Smith who she recognized in the grocery store one day, based on his avatar image.

The Facebook Fan page Jack Shaves for Kids Cancer was a major factor in communicating and connecting about this event.

This is the second year of this fundraiser, and it all began after Jack had completed some recommended reading called Drums, Girls, And Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick.  It is the story of a middle schooler, who’s brother is diagnosed with lukemia, and as a show of solidarity the big brother shaves his head. Jack was so moved by the story he decided that he wanted to shave his own head.  Dawn suggested that he take the opportunity to raise some money to help support cancer research.  The first year was a “virtual shave” that raised over $1200 and has led to this year’s bigger event topping out over $3000 and counting!

A nice moment for Jack this year was getting to speak via Skype with the author during his shave.  He has also received additional recognition, but for this 11 year old the reward is just having a chance to make a difference.

An additional social networking tool, used for reaching out for participants and donations, was this YouTube video.  Once again it demonstrates how it is important to take actions across a broad range of networks so that the message can reach its audience wherever they may be.

For those considering fund raising strategies, it never hurts to ask, which is how the Signal Mountain Cookie Lady became involved with a donation of 70 St. Baldricks logo’d cookies.
The best way to contribute to this cause is through Jack’s Facebook Page which provides a direct link to the St. Baldricks event page where donations can be placed via secure web payments.

UPDATE: After our taping, Dawn was contacted by the Chattanooga Market who is interested in hosting the event next year. This will now give the event city-wide exposure and will allow Dawn to include many more people in the coming year. Her friend posted the event on her Facebook page and the owner of the market read it and contacted Dawn. Another “win” in this huge social media story!

Theme music for The Bella Buzz is Fallen by Digital Chemistry, available for download at the Podsafe Music Network.

You can subscribe to The Bella Buzz directly from ITunes by following this link, and we would be happy to receive listener feedback and ratings at The ITunes Store.

I am the co-host of a weekly podcast called The Bella Buzz with the CEO of Bella Web Design, Desiree Scales.  We have good conversations about topics related to online marketing.  Thought I would also post the programs here for the Overflow audience.  This is episode 46.

Our guest on this week’s edition of the Bella Buzz podcast is Chad Elkins. You may remember Chad from the conversation we had about regarding the excellent social media efforts he is conducting on behalf of The Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta. We are happy to have Chad back on the podcast with us to discuss Foursquare Day in Atlanta.

We invited Chad back to The Bella Buzz to tell us all about the hottest networking app Foursquare, and the grassroots event that took place on April 16th called Foursquare Day.

Foursquare is a location based application, which takes advantage of the social gaming excitement that has been most prevalent on Facebook. However in this case, Foursquare provides opportunities for real life customer acquisition and retention strategies for business. By checking in (identifying yourself as being present) at various locations, users can earn badges, points and even a classification as “Mayor.” If it ended right there, it would be a fun game that did not have much relevancy. With a back end built for business, it provides opportunities for incentives to users for checking in, privileges for Mayors, and at even more sophisticated levels, deep analysis and actionable user data.

Foursquare users can see others who are in a location where they have checked in, or simply just the Tips (reviews) they have written about the place. Since this is a location based application, it may push specials and offers from nearby locales as well.

Chad was putting together a group of venues who would participate with offers during Foursquare Day in Atlanta and for many this was their first foray into the service, so this application is still in its very early adopter stage.

In celebration of the “global social media holiday”, there were swarm parties hosted around the world where Foursquare users would gather to celebrate the event.  The founders of Foursquare were gathered in New York City, while Atlanta guests attended an event at The Cheyenne Grille as seen in this coverage from MetroMix.

Rumors appeared recently that Yahoo was making a bid to purchase Foursquare, however these are the founders of the previous location based service DodgeBall that was purchased by Google but ultimately was discontinued.

There are some serious branding campaigns that are using the badge features of Foursquare including Starbucks, Bravo and The History Channel. Chad has a great story about using the History Channel tips on a pilgrimage to the famous magnolia tree from the home of the Atlanta Crackers, Ponce de Leon Ballpark.

For more information about Foursquare, you can watch their blog and for Atlanta based activities watch Chad’s site at Foursquare Atlanta.

Theme music for The Bella Buzz is Fallen by Digital Chemistry, available for download at the Podsafe Music Network.

You can subscribe to The Bella Buzz directly from ITunes by following this link, and we would be happy to receive listener feedback and ratings at The ITunes Store.

I have been co-hosting a weekly podcast called The Bella Buzz with the CEO of Bella Web Design, Desiree Scales.  We have good conversations about topics related to online marketing.  Thought I would also post the programs here for the Overflow audience.  This is episode 44.

Rebekah Lovell from Renown Promotions is our guest on this episode of The Bella Buzz podcast.  We discuss the field of public relations and how social media has changed the game for small and medium sized business.  Renown is a communications consulting company that specializes in community-minded marketing and PR for small business. From copy writing, to full campaigns, they are a source for original and creative approaches to communication challenges.

Change is a constant in this day and age, and nothing has been impacted more than PR. We begin by looking at the way a PR professional goes about practicing client communications.  Rebekah points to the fact that the old form of a press release is dead. The thought leader David Meerman Scott wrote the book The New Rules of Marketing and PR, and promotes the paradigm shift from a press release to a news release, and advocates that companies become publishers themselves. You no longer have to rely on the media as being the gatekeepers of information distribution.

In the past, a cultivated and proprietary media lists used to be one of the greatest assets that an PR agency could own, ensuring that a client’s story would be seen by the right media person covering that industry.  In today’s social world, there are tools available for everyone to access with details about contact information. Sarah Evans has developed the extraordinary resource called Media on Twitter.  Using this social form of communication eliminates the prior practices of mailing or faxing, however it has shortened the pitch time for presenting the story and gaining interest from a media contact.

A valuable insight that Rebekah shares with us is how to use Twitter Lists to see what the media is talking about each morning. She can direct client messaging and ensure real relevancy as a source on the latest topics.

The latest form of communication distribution comes from the web site pitchengine.com, which combines written and visual elements into what they term a social media release. Desiree points out that a key feature of this type of release is a “Share” button, allowing for easy re-broadcast of a message. An SMR will also provide good search engine optimization benefit delivery traffic to a web site.

The one thing that has not changed with the implementation of social tools is the clear and concise delivery of a story.  There is no time for fluff and filler to appear in a pitch, with the speed of the news cycle, and it is even more of a challenge to pitch within the confines of 140 characters.

When trying to decide whether to work with a PR professional, make sure to look into the ways in which that person is practicing the profession.  Someone who is simply spamming and broadcasting re-purposed press releases and calling it social media will not be successful in effectively representing you and your brand. There is a great shift in the balance of power where the smaller specialty agencies can be quick and nimble in applying new technologies as they prove successful, while a larger agency must be concerned with maintaining billings.  This allows for affordable, high quality work for clients who might not have been able to use a professional in the past.

In the end, good media relations is a mutually beneficial relationship where the client’s message can be presented to the right person at the most relevant time.  A PR person will know what the media member is writing, their niches, how they prefer the stories to be presented .. whatever is necessary to make sure that the reporter / blogger is successful as well.

BTW, we are celebrating our one year anniversary here on The Bella Buzz! We are so grateful to everyone who has inspired us, appeared with us on the show, left us encouraging feedback .. and most of all, to the listeners who graciously allow us to express ourselves each episode! Thank you for all of the great comments and message you send us about The Bella Buzz!

Theme music for The Bella Buzz is Fallen by Digital Chemistry, available for download at the Podsafe Music Network.

You can subscribe to The Bella Buzz directly from ITunes by following this link, and we would be happy to receive listener feedback and ratings at The ITunes Store.

I have been co-hosting a weekly podcast called The Bella Buzz with the CEO of Bella Web Design, Desiree Scales.  We have good conversations about topics related to online marketing.  Thought I would also post the programs here for the Overflow audience.  This is episode 41.

On this week’s episode Desiree speaks from the cockpit of The Bella Beetle, as we welcome Chad Elkins, the voice behind the social media strategy of the Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta. He first came to our attention through a writeup on the blog Not Easy To Forget from its author James Ball.

For those who are not familiar with this Atlanta landmark, Oakland Cemetery is one of the oldest cemeteries and one of the largest green spaces in the City of Atlanta, and it is on the National Register of Historic Places. Famous “residents” include Bobby Jones the golfer, Margaret Mitchell the author, Maynard Jackson the former Mayor of Atlanta, and Joseph Jacobs who was the proprietor of the soda fountain where Coca-Cola was first served in 1886.

Chad brings a great perspective to his use of social media in attracting new visitors to the cemetery, and believes that his use of a Twitter account has reached a different demographic than the traditional destination / attraction marketing that tourism venues typically enact.

The content that Chad likes to generate through his social media efforts include the same types of things that any business should consider distributing.  Don’t let the fact that he is interacting on behalf of a cemetery fool you!  He is looking to engage in conversations about events and answer customer service type questions, plus he can include some interesting history that makes his tweet stream an interesting read.  Chad believes that it helps to share information about other things that are happening around the City of Atlanta so that it incorporates Oakland Cemetery as part of the “eco-system” of venues.

Successes include driving measurable traffic to the web site at Oakland Cemetery.com, as well as seeing additional friends and fans attend their events such as the Run Like Hell 5K, Halloween Tours, and Sunday in the Park. All of their events had record attendance which can be attributed to these efforts.  It also pays off from a volunteer recruitment standpoint (and must also be applied to employee recruitment in more traditional business).

Chad suggests that the Atlanta Tourism community look into something like the new location based application Four Square. Another service of this same ilk is Gowalla.

The success that Chad has witnessed on behalf of the Oakland Cemetery demonstrates a couple of key points that we stress on the Bella Buzz podcast, it can be accomplished no matter what the business is. If a cemetery can find a voice in social media, anything can have a voice.  Also, Chad works on a volunteer basis so it is not an all consuming time commitment requirement.

We have often heard the question raised that it can be a complicated scenario when an employee who has taken on the social media responsibilities, in effect, has become the voice of the organization, leaves for other opportunities.  Have the gains made been lost? Does that employee end up carrying the followers with them to the next stop?  Chad beautifully answers this concern by stating that the “voice” of the organization should simply be a reflection of the internal culture within the organization.  The term that we have used, and Chad reinforces is transparency.  By being honest and transparent, and reflecting a community culture, there should be no loss in effectiveness when reassigning the social media duties and responsibilities.

Chad can also be found at the Twitter handle @Ratpack

Just as we are about to sign off, we end up talking about Listening tools such as the ones we discussed on last week’s episode.  One item we did not bring up last week was the search for commonly misspelled terms that you are monitoring.  Chad keeps an eye out for the misspelled Cematery and uses it as a chance to reach out to a potential visitor.

Theme music for The Bella Buzz is Fallen by Digital Chemistry, available for download at the Podsafe Music Network.

You can subscribe to The Bella Buzz directly from ITunes by following this link, and we would be happy to receive listener feedback and ratings at The ITunes Store.

I have been co-hosting a weekly podcast called The Bella Buzz with the CEO of Bella Web Design, Desiree Scales.  We have good conversations about topics related to online marketing.  Thought it would be a good time to start replicating the programs here for the Overflow audience.  This is episode 39.

It is a Super Bowl commercial postmortem on this week’s Bella Buzz podcast.  Desiree and Joe break down the effectiveness of the advertising dollars that the big brands spent during Super Bowl XLIV, or should we say lack of effectiveness.

Last year, the expectation was more and more of the big brands would find creative ways to incorporate social networks into their traditional campaigns.  The rating for social media usage by this year’s advertisers is once again a big #FAIL.

We know we tend to see things from within our bubble of online marketing and social media practitioners, but it’s time for the big brands (and more specifically the big brand agencies) to start leveraging the dollars they spend on broadcast advertising by driving customers to interact via social networks.  The opportunity exists right now to engage a customer, capture some of their key contact data and then continue to interact with that customer so that they become a true brand evangelist.  Why are they wasting this media buy!?!

On the podcast, we did dig into a couple of the ads directly to discuss our reactions to them and the first one we reviewed was the Google Ad:

We had both heard that a spot was a possibility, so we were on the lookout for it to appear on the broadcast.  It was a very well done spot which subtly displayed how search is completely embedded in our lives. Google just needs to be careful about how well they present information for web searchers.  They could be accused of “scraping” so much content from web site owners and content producers that the traffic no longer actually clicks to the original site.

Throughout the night’s broadcast there was a considerable amount of conversation taking place on Twitter using the hashtag #BrandBowl you can still see some activity there by following that link to the Search.Twitter service.  These large brands HAVE to be aware that there is a large, receptive audience ready to interact with them if the creative is done correctly.  That hashtag was different from the #SB44 which was mostly game specific conversations.  Brands should be able to manage the variety of conversations effectively by understanding the difference.

At the very least consider what we call the Offline Ask.  At every opportunity in front of a potential customer you must make the ask.  Ask them to become a part of your community whether it be to follow you on Twitter, join a Facebook Fan Page or submit an email address.

What specific actions should a business owner take when participating in the Live Web?  Get involved in the conversation around a particular event.  If you come with relevant, interesting, eloquent insights that make someone take notice and check out your profile .. which in turn, drives someone back to your business web site, you just might gain a customer.

How did the Super Bowl ads work for you? Were you expecting anything in the social media space that didn’t appear, or maybe you did see some things that we might have missed?  Let us know in the comments, we would love to know what you thought.

Theme music for The Bella Buzz is Fallen by Digital Chemistry, available for download at the Podsafe Music Network. 

You can subscribe to The Bella Buzz directly from ITunes by following this link, and we would be happy to receive listener feedback and ratings at The ITunes Store.

What would have happened during the events of 9/11 had today’s social networks been in use eight years ago today? That is the question that Cameron and Joe address in this week’s Overflow Podcast on the anniversary of the attacks.

During the podcast we recollect our actual whereabouts on that day, and what we were doing on the moment we first were made aware that the Trade Center had been hit.

We try to make complete speculation about how we would have witnessed the scene if there had been Twitter, Facebook and probably most importantly YouTube on that day.

In many cases we have said that social media has been better at capturing live events instead of traditional media, however in this case the second plane hitting the tower on live television could not have been any more powerful. Technology would have provided  more eye witness accounts at ground zero and we might have experienced the horror to an even greater degree as video became available.

It is possible though that GPS technology, Google Latitude, Brightkite or other location based technologies could have helped loved ones locate each other.

We also cannot forget the millions of people not directly impacted by were stranded in airports around the country, the personal stories that they experienced would also have been included in the social media distribution of meta data.

We have discovered a repository of 9/11 videos that is being powered by our friends at Magnify, and is part of the Camera Planet Archive.  At this web site is some of the video that might have been distributed almost in real time on that day of September 11, 2001.

This repository is a powerful effect for the future generations so that they can understand what our experiences were like as it happened.  It underlines the importance of a project like StoryCorps which provides a way to capture our personal histories.

Would these tools have helped in the healing process?  It probably would have .. we would have reached out to the friends that we have made online using the social networks.

We also have to consider the global social networks that we have grown as we would have been able to witness the events through the eyes of the world.

How do you think the technology would have changed the national experiences on that day in September 2001?

The opening and closing theme for the Overflow Podcast is called The Information Age, by Anthony Fiumano and you can find it at the Podsafe Music Network.

You can subscribe to The Overflow Podcast directly from ITunes by following this link, and we would be happy to receive listener feedback and ratings at The ITunes Store.