January seems like a fine month for some lexicography fun, with all the top-this-and-that-of-2009 lists sprouting out there. And yes there is such a thing as lexicography fun … if, say, you belong to the Word Nerd club at Springbox. (I don’t, but my friend does.)

Let’s start with some neologisms (new words) of 2009 from Merriam-Webster, where  I learned a delicious new word (locavore) and got a serious laugh (sock puppet). Really? Ah, as it turns out, “sock puppet” hadn’t previously failed to join the ranks of official words, it merely earned a secondary definition as a “deceptive online identity.” Not quite as charming as definition #1.  

So then I tried to figure out a few of the new definitions before I clicked on them. Here’s how it went.

Zip line: “Hey Milton why don’t you ‘zip line’ your TPS report down to auditing for me.” As in, get it there quick. Nope, it actually means zip line.

Memory foam: “Um, I had a late night Lumbergh … Forgot … TPS … report. [pointing at head] ‘Memory foam.’” As in, hangover brain. Nope, it actually means memory foam.

Okay, that was fun but fruitless. Moving on …

Merriam-Webster also has a Word of the Year 2009 list, which is based on searches and appears to be largely driven by politics, with the likes of such words as inaugurate, rogue and philanderer.

The Global Language Monitor has a few nifty lists: Top Words, Phrases and Names of 2009, with Twitter, King of Pop and Barack Obama as the chart toppers, respectively. Twitter was such the universal list-topping sweetheart of 2009, that its verb form “tweet” has landed on Lake Superior State University’s 35th annual List of Words Banished from the Queen's English (for misuse, overuse and general uselessness).

Yes, the year-end lists are infinite. But if you didn’t see the word, expression or definition that you hoped to see in one of these examples, submit it to Merriam-Webster’s open dictionary! Or for some real fun just browse the open dictionary.  While you’re at it, see if you can guess the definition of polates, aughties or sneeve.

This feels like an appropriate time to point out that neologism has two definitions.

1. a new word, usage, or expression

2. a meaningless word coined by a psychotic

It’s true.

Thanks to the rise of microblogging, URL shorteners have become a league of their own. Sites like Bit.ly, TinyURL and others have managed to turn mile-long URLs into short, concise (and customizable) nuggets of text. So what’s the latest news with the tr.ims and is.gds of the world?

Recently, the big players have announced tools of their own. Google now has goo.gl, however they plan to monitor its use in the Google toolbar and Feedburner before deciding to make it a standalone tool. This could tone down its use for now, since other shorteners are highly accessible.

Facebook also just jumped on the train with FB.me. Mobile updates for Facebook are already using it to save characters in your SMS field. With more people tweeting and posting media to Facebook from their smartphones, FB.me URLs are starting to draw more visibility on Twitter, and in general. This could make it a more popular alternative to the other contenders soon enough.

But what can shorteners do for brands? From a content standpoint, it’s a great way to keep your messaging consistent with your campaign. In the old days, common practice would be to attach a long URL to the end of your copy, but that was such a mess for your audience. Bit.ly makes it very easy to customize your new URL. By tacking on a keyword at the end, you can help prevent your messaging from getting lost in translation. And just like hashtags, shortened URLs can be easily tracked, too.

A few sites have even adopted custom shorteners for their domains. Awe.sm is a platform that has made it possible for publications like TechCrunch and many others. When you consider the wide variety of platforms you’re utilizing to share your content, it’s a very impactful approach.

There’s no reason leave your URLs as a cryptic 2 to 3 lines of text. Create your own and share it!

 

Major media conglomerates Conde Nast, Hearst, Meredith, News Corp. and Time Inc. recently announced that they are forming a coalition to produce a digital storefront to sell their content in digital form — and challenge eReaders such as Amazon’s Kindle. In a time when major newspapers are collapsing and magazine subscriptions are plummeting, who can blame them for washing their ink-stained hands and trying something new?

The plans for the digital storefront would enable publishers to bundle eReader content with print subscriptions. Eventually content such as paid blogs, books and newsletters would be available for purchase. Beyond the store, the consortium of media moguls hopes to create a common reading application, publishing platform for multiple devices, operating systems and screen sizes; a digital storefront; and advertising opportunities. In short, they’re proposing new standards for the distribution and consumption of digital content.

The venture, still in its infancy, is little more than an idea at the moment, but its future success depends largely on the value that we, the public, assign to the content and information we consume.

The Good Old Days

For years, the public was accustomed to paying for news, unfolding a newspaper to learn about the events of the day. Then the internet came along, and in an attempt to compete with free online news outlets, many (probably most) newspapers and magazines began to give their content away for free online. Rather than stick to their core expertise and provide something that free outlets couldn’t provide — dedicated, trained resources to do more in-depth, thoroughly researched, nuanced and targeted reporting — they tried to outpace the instantaneous updates of the internet.

The Road Ahead

I believe that people are still willing to pay for content they find valuable, but how exactly do we value information these days? In an age where there are endless media outlets, people are accustomed to getting information from a variety of sources: public radio, bloggers, online newspapers, following people on Twitter, etc. Many new media sources have supplanted traditional news outlets and are a trusted source of information. As digital technology levels access to diverse news sources, it will be interesting to see how the traditional heavy hitters play it out. Some have already found success.  

The Wall Street Journal uses a pay wall that keeps most of its general-interest content free and available to the general public, while charging a premium for its premium financial reporting. ESPN uses a similar pay wall tactic, the New York Times once did and is considering using it again and many magazine publishers offer premium online content to print subscribers.

It will be interesting to see how the mega media venture affects how the public consumes information and how publishers attract advertising dollars. Will an easy-to access storefront open opportunities for new points of view? We’ll have to wait to see what shakes out.

Ever find yourself lying in bed late at night, wide awake, scanning TweetDeck on your smartphone as you finish that last blog post? Or catch yourself wishing you could reach out and physically like something? Do you suffer from ADD and OCD tendencies? If you silently mouthed "yes" to any of the above, you too may have what it takes to become a social marketing specialist.

Plenty of marketers are drawn to social media these days (perhaps because 4 out of 5 Americans now use it), but skeptics still write it off as a flash in the pan. No matter how you look at the social web, one thing is clear: You have to fully immerse yourself in it if you want to tap its full potential. 

My team falls into the former category. We keep tabs on Dell's social sphere, and let me tell you: When your global platforms change without warning and you have to fix them in real time, keeping up becomes quite the challenge.

But troubleshooting is just a small part of what we do. We spend the lion's share of our time reading, evaluating and strategizing so we can take advantage of new opportunities to grow the brand's social presence. Sound easy? Become a fan of Mashable on Facebook and spend a day trying to read every article in its news feed. It's like that times a thousand, every day.

To keep our clients energized about the social web (and spare them the headache of sifting through it all), we created RPPL. Built around a real-time syndication platform called Posterous, RPPL is a branded social media presence that enables us to:

• Share. Innovative campaigns, private betas, ridiculous memes ...there's always something to talk about. We use RPPL to separate the wheat from the chaff. As soon as big news comes our way, we post it. Posterous then insta-publishes to Facebook, Twitter and Delicious, giving our followers plenty of ways to get the scoop. 
• Explore. The best way to understand social media is to get your feet wet. With RPPL, we can just create a presence when a new platform piques our interest and test it like mad. 
• Collaborate. RPPL is a vehicle for passing key learnings along to our followers. We hope they spark conversations and inspire new ideas. After all, a rising tide lifts all boats.

In the few short months since we launched RPPL, we've shared hundreds of posts and befriended hundreds of fans and followers. We couldn't be more thrilled about the response we've gotten so far, and we're just getting started. Keep your eyes on RPPL to get in on the next big splash.

Whether we’re talking simple star ratings or in-depth analyses, user reviews have become an ingrained part of the online experience. According to Nielsen Online (PDF), 81% of online shoppers use product reviews when making purchasing decisions, while 19% of shoppers post reviews themselves.

When the peer group becomes this large, however, savvy users begin to question if their needs are the same as the reviewer’s. While a high school quarterback and a 34-year-old father might have vastly different needs, they may both purchase the same 4-door sedan. Their reviews of the car could well be polar opposites (and with good reason); nevertheless, both reviews are equally valid. The average customer can become lost in a sea of conflicting reviews.

There are a few ways to keep user reviews useful, helpful and targeted:

Qualified Feedback. With over 1,400 positive customer reviews on Amazon, the Three Wolf Moon tee shirt is at the center of a massive meme that calls into question the validity of the site’s reviews. Qualified feedback has become increasingly popular as an alternative. In order to leave a review on Angie’s List, for example, you must be a paid subscriber. The site also certifies every review to prevent fake or fraudulent feedback; as a result, it has quickly become one of the internet’s most trusted sources.

Expert Reviews. An uptick in astroturfing has caused the trustworthiness of product reviews to falter, but expert reviewers can help online shoppers regain their confidence. Trusted experts provide shoppers with consistent levels of knowledge and experience while they read about the pros and cons of a product. Integrating customer reviews alongside expert reviews, as CNET does, gives consumers the best of both worlds, allowing them to hear what the experts and the general public has to say.

Experienced Users. By promoting their top users and best reviewers, companies can increase the reliability and consistency of the reviews, content and feedback they display. Motherboard (a collaboration between Dell and VBS.TV) promotes high-quality material and attention-grabbing comments by creating theme leaders. People who continually push the conversation and post interesting content receive the rank of theme leader, which is called out every time that user posts. The hierarchy within Motherboard’s community rewards its most active contributors, who in turn feel motivated to continue posting high-quality content.

User reviews will continue to grow in popularity. Online shoppers want confirmation that their future purchases are wise, and one of the best ways to get this kind of confirmation is through the experiences of like-minded peers.