I’ve been seeing a lot written about “the social media bubble” in places like the NY Times, NPR, and Atlantic Monthly. A theme you’ll find across their coverage is that the sale of Instagram is a mark of the social media end times.

I’m the first person to point out the folly of assigning universal values to followers and friends. Really, doesn’t it matter just who those friends are, and what your plans are for them? Besides, there are bigger forces, such as the end of the PC era that will do more to shift customer experience and business models than social media. So, what other signs of social media’s value might we find?

This week the Huffington Post became the first blog to ever win a Pulitzer Prize.

The prize for HuffPo’s David Wood’s is stunning 10-part series “Beyond the Battlefield,” which describes the lives of severely injured Afghanistan and Iraq War veterans. The blog invested in a long term effort, allowing Wood to interview veterans over an eight month period. The reporting is paired with striking photo journalism. Take a look. (above)

Matt Wuerker, Politico’s editorial cartoonist and illustrator also won a Pultizer for “his consistently fresh, funny cartoons, especially memorable for lampooning the partisan conflict that engulfed Washington”. You can see a carousel of his work here. Though Politico is printed for distribution in DC, most people know it as a blog.

Okay, both publications and the Pulitzer committee may all be in the bubble. But that’s not the point. There’s real revenue being racked-up, and value being established. Sure there’s uncertainty, but that’s not a bubble, its just good old risk. (if you want a real bubble, find a place where government financing is falsely buoying prices: college tuition and corn seem more bubbelicious to me than Pinterest with its 22 employees.

Bubble or Sale?
Not long ago Ad Age summed up this whole social media and digital media shift: “Marketers: Digital offers us more for less“. We’re in a tight economy, many big firms are cutting advertising to protect margins. They’re moving part of it to digital, and depending on its greater efficiency to make up for over all ad cuts. Cuts in one area of marketing are fueling the development of new owned and earned media channels. When Facebook ads are selling at $1 CPM, the bubble feels far from full; it feels like a sale. Knowing that Facebook is steaming toward a possible $100B IPO, raises the negotiating floor for any strategic purchase it makes. America is leading in digital marketing, and the investment world is fueling a ton of innovation in this “bubble”. (There are tons of examples: ExactTarget’s IPO, Schoolology – a Blackboard competitor in the .edu space, and Path come to mind.)

Sure, there is an irrational exuberance among those who thoughtlessly pursue the endless string of bright shiny objects in digital marketing. Darwin punishes stupid change as surely as those who fail to innovate. But in this environment, you’re either in motion or out of the game. More than ever, change isn’t optional, bubble or not.

I’m not sure who’s an expert about social media. But I’ve figured out a few tips to steer clear of stupidity.

1. Shun Gurus, Ninjas, Rockstars
They should be translated as follows:

• Guru = “Windbag”
• Ninja = “Novice”
• Rockstar = “Marginally competent”

How did ninja – an elite assassin and/or practitioner of ninjitsu – come to mean “someone who is good at social media”? In this context, shouldn’t a ninja be someone who is good at destroying reputations?

A friend of mine got a call from her daughter’s kindergarten, claiming the girl had been lying. Seems when they ask the kids in the class what their dads do for a living, the daughter says, “He’s a ninja.”

Long pause from mom on the phone. Then mom says, “Well, what do you call someone who teaches ninjitsu?” (And unless that’s what you do, best to stop it now before you meet a real ninja.)

2. List-Based Headlines Announce Weak Content
Y’know, like “iPads, Facebook, Pro Wrestling and You.” Or “Three Tips Anyone Can Use to Muck up a Headline.” It’s a sure indicator that the author doesn’t have anything new to add to the topic or even a coherent idea.  I stopped reading these (and writing them) cold turkey, and life has only gotten better.

List headlines may good for SEO. But since people make all purchasing calls I’m part of, it’s a no-brainer to default to writing for the humans who pay the bills, rather than the search algorithm that’s trying to  ignore over-optimized drivel.

3. Follow Your Own Path
Beware of any blog written according to the Problogger/Copyblogger formula for success. Jason Cohen has a great post at his blog A Smart Bear explaining what this formula is and why he’d rather get a root canal than follow it. This formula is perfect for people who have nothing to say. The only reasons for writing like this are because you’re lazy or you think your readers lack a clue.

4. Don’t Study “Authenticity”
If you want to be authentic then just say what you have to say and stop wondering if you sound authentic. If you’re worried about sounding authentic – whatever that means – then you have a bigger problem: Figuring out who the hell you are. An authentic person just is. Maybe your authentic voice is that of a stuffed shirt. That’s OK, as long as it’s a stuffed shirt with real information. If you don’t have the information then, again, SHUT UP.

5. Avoid the List’s End
Be extra-skeptical of any post that has five, seven, 10, or 15 items. Real life doesn’t work that way, even if marketing wants it to. Generally, a list like that has been padded out. And that last item will be real short and self-evident. Like this one. ;>

This is  a story about Eric and Jack, who both blog about the law with an eye on topics that are enlightening, ennobling, or at least entertaining.

By now you’ve probably heard about Eric Turkewitz, who wrote an April 1st post in his NY Personal Injury Law Blog announcing he was the new Whitehouse blogger. He recruited other legal bloggers to echo the post, so they could punk unsuspecting political bloggers who type first and check facts later.

The stunt captured a wider set of dupes than expected. In fact, none other than the New York Times ran with the story. Suddenly, the little geeky joke was everywhere. Here’s Turkewitz’s explanation of the stunt.

Why the hell would I go to all this trouble for an April Fools’ stunt?

I’m glad you asked: Lawyers often deal with misery. Peoples’ lives can be forever changed in a fraction of a second in an accident. Divorce. Child custody. Bankruptcy. Arrests. There is no real end to the chain of human misery that clients bring to the doors of practicing attorneys.

Eric’s explanation matches my own for blogging. Personal injury law is how people and families attempt to recover when they “become statistics” though no fault of their own. I hear about explosions, poisonings, fraud, catastrophic medical errors, and — toughest of all — kids whose lives will be forever framed by the careless act of another. I understand the need for a joke, and I try to provide some of that here. In my opinion, lawyers with character rock. I’m fortunate to know more than a few of them.

Can’t a Lawyer Make a Joke?
After the joke, the recriminations began. After all, reminded Jack Marshall of the EthicsAlarms blog, lawyer advertising is  highly regulated. Counselor Turkewitz misrepresented himself, and the codes of legal conduct are not suspended on April Fools’ Day.  This both put Turkewitz’s professional livelihood and reputation at risk and made Mr. Marshall the target of vitriol for being a complete April Fools’ Grinch.

What followed was a thoughtful exchange between the two men about the nature of legal advertising and the provision of free expression rights even to members of the bar.

I’ve often noted that trademark rights can’t be used to encumber efficient commercial and even competitive speech.  Yet bar regulation of lawyers’ commercial speech does just that, by restricting truthful, accurate, and constitutionally protected self expression. Hey, if corporations can have “speech rights” in this crazy democracy, then members of the bar should too.

Yes, Lawyers Can Blog a Joke or Make a Mistake and Live to Tell the Tale.
To his credit, Mr. Marshall re-examined both the facts and his own motives for teeing off on such a benign case. And, unlike the fake apologies of news retractions or cheating politicians/golfers, Jack Marshall did a man’s job with his.

It gave a far better introduction to his character. Take a look.

Blogs and social media in general often seem random, petty, self-aggrandizing, and downright anti-social.  But they also give us the chance to see people with insight and integrity more closely, and to discover there’s often lots more to like. I’m looking forward to reading more of Eric’s NY PI Blog and Jack’s EthicsAlarms blog to see where their legal insights turn next.

I hope you enjoy them as I have.

If you’re blogging, you’re a publisher.  Yesterday I posted about how Cyber Liability Insurance may help firms mitigate the risks of new online business activities. But what about your personal blog?

Liability for Your Personal Blog? Oh, yes.
Andrew Hamilton published a website, Forgotten Ohio, in which he retold a local ghost story about a “haunted house” in his community. Though he didn’t encourage trespassing, or portray the property owners in a false light, a local court held the website liable for $125,000 in damages. See coverage of this horrifying ruling on Overlawyered.

Are There Liability Risks in Personal Blogging?
Even if your blog is non-commericial you can still be charged with defamation, copyright or trademark infringement, libel, slander (if you publish audio), and other creative charges. Once could also be charged for invasion of privacy as part of your news-gathering. Though the First Amendment protects what you say, it’s protection isn’t as strong about how you gather information to express.

And there is always the potential of infringement claims by trademark and copyright holders. And even if you’re in the right,  litigation can be expensive to defend, and the costs skyrocket the longer the litigation continues.

Besides, the law around many digital issues is still unfolding, and many jurisdictions vary in their knowledge of these laws. You may think you’re in the right but still find a decision against you. These unexpected rulings are the bread and butter of our online law blog.

You May Already Have Liability Insurance for Personal Blogging
If you have Homeowner’s or Renter’s Insurance, you have general liability insurance that could be applicable in some of these situations.  Most policies cover damages and fees incurred in suits against the insured for “bodily injury.” While that sounds more physical, this often includes  personal injury arising out of defamation or invasion of privacy.

Obviously, you are only covered if your insurance contract contains such language.

You should note, however, that your policy may not include coverage for copyright or other intellectual property claims, which do not typically fall within the standard definition of “bodily injury” or “personal injury” covered by most policies. Homeowner’s and renter’s insurance policies typically cover damages  and legal defense costs, but not punitive damages.

Extend Your Coverage With Media Insurance
Harvard’s Citizen Media Law Project provides resources to explain if you would benefit from Media Insurance.

If your online activities are part of an existing business, you may also be able to add coverage to your business insurance policy through an add-on rider. Keep in mind that the fact that you may not make money doesn’t insulate you from responsibility for what you publish online. And a few minutes thinking about how to avoid liability and protect yourself from charges may save you stress and thousands of dollars in expenses later.

In Monrovia, Liberia, there’s a guy taking the matter of a lopsided, state-run media and reshaping it into a free-of-charge, independent news-aggregator—all accomplished with a whiteboard and couple of markers. (No Internet required!)

Each morning, at 10:45 a.m., Alfred Sirleaf heads to his bulletin board to post the day’s news, culling together a slate of stories his countrymen might otherwise never see.  A “self-taught newshound,” he reads half-a-dozen newspapers, then summarizes the most important topics and prints them out by hand in front of his plywood shed. He has recruited a set of stringers to send him scoops via text messages, and puts up a painted “Breaking News” sign to signal a big story. He’s even designed a system of symbols to convey the news to those who can’t read, or who are driving by.

Grateful readers line up in droves, on foot and in cars, to read these updates, in what has been described as the country’s — and probably the world’s — only analog blog.  Simplicity is the good manners of our age.

Discussions of regulating digital marketing were just below the surface at New York Ad:Tech.  My last post gave an overview of efforts to regulate digital marketing. Now, here’s an interview at Ad:Tech by reporter David Spark with Ted Murphy, CEO of Izea, the company that makes the paid blogging service Social Spark. Ted’s been in touch with the FTC, and that made it into the interview.

How Can Digital Content Pay for Itself?
The quest for “monetization” is still a major theme in digital publishing. Can long-tail marketing pay for itself? What about social media? How can the need for journalism get attached to new working business models?

Answer: Pay for Play, the “Oldest Profession” in Marketing
Pay for play is absolutely present in many non-digital business models. Gartner Consulting is being sued for this right now, for $1.4 billion.  IT consulting used to be rife with “sponsored authorship.” They wanted to avoid this kind of case.

I was part of this. First you’d pay Aberdeen to write nice but vague things about your firm, then after a few quarters of paying Garner they’d become aware of you, and you’d get mentions. There were only winks and nudges, perceived or real, exchanged with the subscriptions. Hell, the analysts that covered our space probably thought we all just had nervous ticks.

But firms, like the one in the video below, are explicit about “you pay, we get people to publish stuff for you.” Sounds a bit like the PR trade, but with less smoke and fewer mirrors, and more certainty of results.

The FTC would require that such relationships be made transparent to readers. And though this sounds reasonable, consider why political figures endorse and speak for one another. PR and lobbying are pretty similar: one pursues political favor, the other journalistic favor. Having a truth squad to enforce ethical behavior could be a medicine more deadly than the disease it seeks to solve. Regulation or not, your online BS detector is still the best defense.

We’ve seen governments monitor private citizens through video surveillance and increased access to electronic records. Here’s a proposal for citizens, and their media, to use some of these same tools to follow the work of their representatives in government.

Massachusetts’ Open Meeting Law and Public Record Law may be expanded by S1458 to provided better access for independent media (bloggers) to state buildings and records.

The bill proposes special standing to citizens and members of the press seeking to take video of proceedings. They would have preference in attending meetings and a prepared location whenever possible.

And finally, it puts the state in the role of taking and distributing its own video of proceedings.

The General Court shall ensure that video recording of each public hearing of committees and special commissions. Said recording shall be archived on the website of the General Court in a form easily accessible to the general public as soon as reasonably feasible after the recording is made, and shall remain available on the website for at least 24 months, after which it shall be preserved in the state library.

The state has lots of cameras fixed on citizens.  This bill would put some of those cameras in public meetings, so that citizens can track the work of their government.  In all, happy news for Independence Day.

Tip of the hat to Stephanie Davis and PatriotGamesMedia.

Censorship it easy to spot when China or Iran simply turn off media channels. However, in the US, well-meaning local agencies are also advancing censorship.

Want a job? Give us your social media passwords.
The City of Bozeman, Montana, has a long-standing policy of requiring job applicants to provide usernames and passwords for “any and all current personal or business Web sites, web pages, or memberships on any Internet-based chat rooms, social clubs, or forums, to include, but not limited to: Facebook, Google, Yahoo, YouTube.com, MySpace, etc”.

National coverage has caused the city to reconsider the policy. Bozeman City Attorney Greg Sullivan said in The Daily Chronicle that the policy may change – instead of asking applicants for login information, applicants would be required to “friend” officials on Facebook so the city could see the individual’s profile, for example. What’s next, diary screening? Government employees have privacy too, right?

Update: On Monday night, the city issued a release (PDF) stating it would henceforth cease the practice of requesting candidates’ login information.

Old English font is NOT for teens
The principal of the high school in Orange, California, has confiscated copies of a student magazine prior to publication.  His main complaint about the latest issue of PULP concerns the cover, which features a faux full-back tattoo with the publication’s name and a picture of a panther, the school mascot.

The principal alleges that the image promotes gang life and might encourage students to get tattoos, singling out the use of Old English font to create “gangster-style writing.” The principal agreed to allow the magazine’s publication if it carried an “anti-tattoo” message. This undercuts the legitimate gang concern, as tattoos don’t cause gangs, and are in fact a further form of self expression. Students can use any font they want, right?

Read more on the Citizen Media Law Project.

UMass Student Leaders Compel Conservative Apology
The Legal Satyricon illuminates state-backed censorship voted in by student leaders at UMass:

The UMass conservative organization, the Silent Majority, publishes a newspaper called The Minuteman. The most recent issue exposed some financial irresponsibility in another student organization, Bridges (an organization that is supposed to spend its funds to tutor minority students), and mocked the organization and its director. The expose appears on the first page of this document. . . .

The Bridges crew wasn’t too pleased about this, so they engaged in a pretty time-honored UMass tradition: They stole all of the copies of the newspaper that they didn’t want others to read. The UMass student government association responded by calling for the conservative group’s funding to be cut unless they purchased an advertisement in the campus’ main newspaper, The Collegian, apologizing for the above statements. (source)

Despite the fact that the measure violated the First Amendment in two different ways, it still passed. When a student senator attempted to introduce his own measure repealing the clearly unconstitutional measure, he was escorted from the senate floor by campus police.

“No decency, no shame, not even a hint of self-awareness.”  Says Professor Randazza:  “Any ‘liberal’ who doesn’t stand up for the Minuteman has no right to complain the next time it is liberal-valued free speech under attack.”

In a related case, the tenth circuit upheld a school’s requirement that a student who mentioned Jesus in a valedictory speech be compelled to apologize as a condition of receiving her diploma.

It seems increasingly that individual rights are balanced against collective righteousness. And increasingly, the mob seems to believe its good intent trumps constitutional protection.

Any way you read the data, the exercise of blog valuation done by 24/7 Wall St. casts a new light on changes in advertising, the involvement of founding owners, and changing tastes.

Admittedly, these are estimates of value, which, absent an actual buyer, is at best informed conjecture. OK, its one blogger spouting off about the value of another blogger’s blog. But 24/7 did have some of their estimations validated by actual sales last year.  And even if we’re skeptical, comparing data from this year to last year can give a sense of the market’s direction and velocity.

So now that we’ve consumed more than a grain of salt, here’s what their results suggest to me.

A 5 percent Decline in Value is Nearly Gain
A comparison of values between this year’s top ten blogs, and those of last year, shows a mere 5 percent decline in value ($447m down to $422m). That’s a surprise, because the researchers discounted future ad revenue by 50 percent. It suggest there’s strong traffic growth to offset the ad discount.

More Growth than Loss by Position
Looking solely ranking position rather than company reveals five of the rankings have a higher value this year, four went down, and first place stayed even at $150m.

This Year’s Top Ten Show More Growing into Position.
Depending on how you read it, six of the top ten sites seem to have growing revenue.

1. + Gawker Media: $170 million. Last year: $150 million.
2. + Huffington Post: $90 million. Last year: $70 million.
3. + The Drudge Report: $48 million. Last year: $10 million.
4. -  Perez Hilton: $32 million. Last year: $48 million.
5. +  Sugar, Inc.: $27 million. Last year: Not listed.
6. – TechCrunch. $25 million. Last year: $36 million.
7. – MacRumors. $21 million. Last year: $85 million
8. – SeekingAlpha. $11 million. Last year: $15 million
9. +  GigaOm: $9.5 million. Last year: $8.4 million
10.  + Politico: $8.7 million. Last year: Not listed.

It seems reasonable to count those “not listed” last year as having grown. After all, they weren’t listed because they were too large to be noticed. While this news isn’t breathless optimism, it seems to suggest that the blog medium is gaining broader adoption, with commercial viability at its high end.

Meanwhile, far away from the “high end” we least we know UsefulArts’ zero valuation won’t be fallling with ad rates. And we’re glad that you value our take on these stories with your time.  Thanks!

Two weeks ago, the Senate considered a lobbying reform bill which would reportedly have required bloggers who communicate to more than 500 members of the public on public policy matters to register and report quarterly to Congress, in much the same way as K Street lobbyists.

The blog Wonkette reports that this over-reaching requirement was removed from the final bill by Senate Republicans. All but six of our freedom-loving Democratic majority voted to keep the registration requirement in the bill, but these votes allowed the Republican minority to remove the requirement.