Social media has become the proverbial soap-box for causes, issues and many things that need a voice. Social media campaigns spear-headed by individuals often lose momentum because they fail to mobilise people.The power of platforms like Facebook, Twitter and blogs lie in the fact that they empower individuals to publish, influence and make a cause known. But that's the ideal world. The reality is that the impact most individuals can make on a regular basis is limited, fragmented and not ...

If you’ve been in Johannesburg recently, you’ll know about the new high-speed, high-tech rail link, called the Gautrain. For now, it speeds at 160km/h between the airport and Sandton, a key business district. But what’s interesting about it is that they launched it before it was done.Many organisations launch digital products and services before completion too. It’s the “launch and learn” approach -- get something out there and see what customers say. Gautrain did it (mostly) right, by providing ...

While Apple may have snubbed the massive Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, vendors of accessories for its hot devices turned out in force. Dozens of manufacturers of covers, stands, headsets, speakers and other items for the iPad, iPod and iPhone crammed an "iLounge" on the Las Vegas Convention Centre floor dedicated solely to Apple accessories.Scott Sternick, owner of a sports bars in New York's Hell's Kitchen, was selling perhaps the simplest product in the entire show -- a strap ...

The past decade has seen huge changes in the media industry but for many companies, this past year was when they sat up and started taking notice of what was being said about them in the digital space.It presents a huge opportunity for Public Relation (PR) practioners to show their mettle, but is also a very dangerous space to be offering advice and playing in if you don’t know how it works.Managing client reputations onlineThe growing online community ...

Backing up its intention to expand globally, Chinese search engine giant Baidu has launched an English-language blog on the country's online culture, a company spokesman said on Tuesday.Baidu Beat intends to introduce and explain to foreign users the hot topics and trends on China's internet, which is now used by more than 450-million people."It's really out of a desire to give people who are interested in China but who don't necessarily read Chinese or don't read fluently in Chinese an ...

The high valuation of Facebook on secondary share markets might be out of line with its revenues but it does show one thing: A large investor appetite for investing in leading Silicon Valley companies.The fact that the investors are making large bets without having access to the underlying financial information is similar to the wild days of the dotcom boom, when companies were able to IPO on the basis of very little proven financial information. Investors were happy to pay ...

It’s been more than two months since South Africans spotted their first “icebergs” dotted around different parts of the country.The stunt turned out to be a viral video campaign on YouTube, orchestrated by fruit juice company Liqui-Fruit and its digital marketing agency Liquorice. The campaign sent shockwaves throughout the online community, particularly Cape Town where several videos were uploaded and shared as beach-goers spotted what would have quite possibly been the first "iceberg" on local shores."We thought an 'iceberg' ...

Patients terrified by the whirring sound of the dentist's drill could benefit from a new gadget that cancels it out, according to researchers at King's College in London.The group said they had come up with a device which not only filters out the sound but allows people to listen to their own music too.The gadget contains a microphone and a chip which analyses the incoming sound wave and then produces an inverted wave to cancel out the unwanted noise.Patients hook ...

South Korean director, Park Chan-Wook, claims to have shoot the first ever cinema quality film using only an iPhone."Night Fishing" is said to have the same picture resolution as conventional movies took only 80 people, 150 million won ($133,000) and 10 days to make.Park Chan-Wook said he at first approached the project, a 30-minute film about a surreal encounter between a fisherman and a female shaman (medium), for fun."New technology always offers wonders and useful features. Testing them is part ...

YouTube today announced the 101 musicians who have been selected to form YouTube Symphony Orchestra 2011 at Sydney Opera House. The announcement was made after a global audition held online at YouTube.com/Symphony.The winning musicians will be flown to Sydney for a week of rehearsals and concerts from March 14-20, 2011, with a final performance on March 20 that will be live-streamed around the world.The 97 members of YouTube Symphony Orchestra 2011 come from more than 30 countries, ...