Technology & Innovation — March 29, 2011

Old-Style Vs. Social Media Ads

Traditional media advertising remains a more effective driver of online traffic than the social networking equivalent, a multimarket study has found.

bigthinkeditor

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Traditional media advertising remains a more effective driver of online traffic than the social networking equivalent, a multimarket study has found. Respondents were asked how often they visited websites after being exposed to various types of media. In all of the nations assessed, social networks registered scores below those of newspaper ads, radio spots and offers distributed by email. “Search engines returned the best ratings, as 36% of contributors agreed properties like Google and Bing regularly led them to visit other websites, including 43% in Japan. Television ads followed on 20%, beating email alerts and deals with 16%, and press advertising’s 13%.

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Thinking

Ex-Christian America: How social media created more “nonverts” and atheists

If you lost your religion, it might be because the internet and social media are having a secularizing effect on American society.

The Present

7 ways to avoid becoming a misinformation superspreader

When actual people correct misinformation online, it can be as effective, if not more so, as when a social media company labels something as questionable.

Culture & Religion

Social Media and the Loss of Curiosity

From MySpace and Hi5 to Facebook and Twitter, our relationship with social media has evolved over the past 15 years. Unfortunately, this may have led to the loss of curiosity and the devolution of our bonds with the people these platforms were built to connect us with, beyond the boundaries of time and space.

A Catalogue of Social Media (and Related) Tools

I have assembled a catalogue of 85 tools to help you run a more effective social media program for your campaign, organization, or business. Most of these are free. A […]

Technology & Innovation

Social Media Encourages Activism

A new study from the University of California has found that younger Internet users become more socially engaged in the real world, not just online, thanks to their use of social media.

Up Next

Technology & Innovation

‘Do Not Track’ Feasible, Practical

Do Not Track allows us to veto tracking by third parties, who are welcome to respond by offering cash-for-data. It creates a market mechanism for negotiating over privacy preferences.