Holtz Communications + Technology

Whenever I raise the issue of leader blogs on intranets, the same issue inevitably arises, as it did during a workshop I conducted a week or so ago on social intranets and again at an intranet conference in New York earlier this week. It goes like this:

My CEO/president/senior executive is blogging on the intranet but employees aren’t leaving any comments. He/she…

We first spoke with Dell’s chief blogger, Lionel Menchaca, in an FIR interview on January 12, 2007, not too long after Dell’s first blog was launched. We spoke with Lionel again to find out how the blog and the company’s overall social media approach has evolved in the intervening 4-1/2 years. The interview was conducted using a Google+ Hangout. An audio version is…

Identifying who are influential voices online is fast becoming an art if not a science. More technology tools and services are coming to market that help communicators identify people with high influencer rankings - typically, the types of people who create original ideas that are amplified by others, and those who engage most meaningfully with their followers.

In this FIR Interview,

In the world of social media, nothing can ever be merely affected. It has to be killed. Slaughtered. Eviscerated. Massacred.

Google+ is the latest alleged killer. Search the phrase “will Google+ kill” and you’ll find nearly 30,000 results speculating whether Google will kill Facebook, Twitter, search engine optimization, email, Flickr, the list goes on.

Some of the rationale for these predictions are head-shakingly stupid. Quora…

Can you use somebody else’s social content to your own advantage without appearing opportunistic or self-serving?

Children’s Hospital Boston’s pediatric blog makes it clear that you can.

You’re probably aware by now of the YouTube video of twin babies babbling back and forth at each other as if their words comprised a real conversation. The video has garnered more than 18 million views. Ellen DeGeneris showed…

I recently read a post taking issue with the number of blog posts that employ lists. You know the posts I’m talking about. Just today, Mashable offered, “Six Slick Ways to Customize Your Kicks Online.” Problogger recently offered, “5 Tips to Grow Your Twitter Presence.” Copyblogger offers, “6 Questions to Ask Before You Spend a Dime on Graphic Design.”

Jay Dolan, author of “The Anti-Social Media” blog, argues…