Social Networking: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

It took me a long time to even get interested in social networking. However, many people I respected in both business and politics were telling me I was way behind the curve. Furthermore, it gets a little old to have your kids constantly call you a "dinosaur" because you are not up to speed with this or that current trend. This is all the more so the case when it deals with the Internet.

I started my MySpace and Twitter accounts a couple of years ago, but did very little with any of them. I started a Facebook account later, but sat on it for months as well. Today, I use Facebook more than any, Twitter is catching on, and I have no idea how to even log in to my MySpace account. That is okay though, because my kids keep assuring me that MySpace "is so high school." Who wants that?

Facebook

I update my Facebook account several times a day. If it is midday and there is a few hours between my last update, I get a little stressed out. I have to find something to post! I often go to Fox News and other websites and glance at the headlines and try to give them my own unique spin. I also post articles of mine from BizPlusBlog.com, AmericanDailyReview.com, Reuters.com, ChicagoSunTimes, or one of the many other sources that are out there. Placing those articles on my Facebook "wall" leads them being found all over the place after that. This is one of the strengths to Facebook.

Facebook has enabled me to fast track relationships and find new friends all over the country. It allows me to test ideas before they become an article or give me some feedback that I use on my radio show, the Price of Business. If my 1,000 plus friends didn't like it on Facebook, why force the thousands who listen to my show to be subject to it? Many new people who have become my friends on Facebook have told me they have done so in order to influence some of my content on the radio and else where, which is great.

Twitter

Twitter has been harder for me to warm up to. I understood the value of Facebook almost immediately. You can place your articles, promote, your ideas, do more detailed searches for friends and potential friends, and more. This is not the case with Twitter or, it was not nearly as easy to ramp up.

One of my biggest concerns is that I am a writer as well as a radio host, and it is so challenging to put anything of interest or value in 140 characters. Who are they trying to kid? To me, I get paid by the word, so the type of word economy I am learning is amazing.

I have, however, seen Twitter work. The circulation value of events, interviews, ideas, etc., is amazing. I have just over 200 followers at this time, so when I write something and it is "Retweeted" to others, you enjoy the multiplier effect. My friend Felicia Cravens, who is one of the more sophisticated individuals I know at the art of the Twitter (and a leader of the Houston Tea Party effort) has over 2,000 followers. Once she gets hold of something I write, it flies from there. I have had a few questions answered to news stories or people have given me sources for shows or articles. I am beginning to see the power.

To sum up...

I enjoy Facebook and Twitter and even see their practical value. My use of both, I am sure, will only grow. On the other hand, as a writer, I find it a little distracting. The pressure to convey a powerful idea in 140 characters, has made me economize in words, even when I should let it out a little. I will have to learn to balance Facebook and Twitter with my other media responsibilities, but I feel confident that social networking are here to stay.

Kevin Price is Host of the Price of Business, the longest running show on AM 650 (M-F at 11 am) in Houston, Texas and on AOL Radio. Eric Bolling of Fox News and Fox Business says that Price’s Blog “is very influential and moves the blogosphere.” Steve Moore of the Wall Street Journal calls Price the “best business talk show host in the country.” Find out why and visit his blog at www.BizPlusBlog.com and his show site at www.PriceofBusiness.com. You can also find Price on Strategy Room at FoxNews.com.

Chuck Grassley Provides Signs of Life for GOP

For months, and maybe years, Republican rank and file have been seeking signs of life from a party that has been limping along for ages. The GOP has become the "me too" party, or "the light" version of the Democrats, or many other cliches that can be used for a party that has become dysfunctional.

Every once in a while, we see signs of hope. Many were excited when John McCain chose Gov. Sarah Palin as a running mate. Gimmick or not, it was nice for the dominant moderate force of the party to recognize that conservatives still matter. The latest cause for excitement has come from an unlikely source, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA).

I've known Grassley for decades and almost worked for him back in the 1980s (instead I worked for Sen. Gordon Humphrey of New Hampshire). He was then, and still today, anything but an "activist" Senator. He is very soft spoken and not particularly sharp witted or sharp tongued. He is a fairly typical "middle America" personality. Subdued, soft spoken, and matter of fact. He is one of only 28 Senators in history to have made more than 10,000 votes, something he wears as a badge of honor (something that I deem a little suspicious). The 75 year old has been in the Senate since 1981 and in the US House for six years before that. In other words, he has almost 35 years of working in DC behind him.

This unlikely hero for Conservatives is getting attention for taking President Obama on in a way that we are not use to seeing these days. Politics is too genteel for my liking and the US Senate even more so. This very elite club is known for treating its colleagues and the President with "kid gloves." Meanwhile, millions of Americans are looking for someone to speak up. Enter Chuck Grassley.

The Senator, in his 70s, has used an unlikely vehicle for getting the message out as well. Pulling a chapter out of Barack Obama's book, his platform, of all things, is Twitter. Today, the Senator gave the following status report, ignore the grammar, the Senator is taking typical Twitter liberties:

"Pres Obama you got nerve while u sightseeing in Paris to tell us 'time to deliver' on health care. We still on skedul/even workinWKEND."

This 140 characters (give or take a few) has started a social networking revolution and has gotten conservative Republicans excited again. It is time for the GOP to start drawing lines in the sand and holding this Administration and its minions accountable for its arrogance. That is the kind of thing that could revive the dying Republican brand.

This particular issue, the rationing of health care, is absolutely crucial in fighting to defend the greatest health care system in the world (warts and all). If Republicans want to be relevant again, they will speak with force and passion, use Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, YouTube and every other tool they can think of to win back the hearts and minds of the American people. Our freedoms and future hang in the balance.

Kevin Price is Host of the Price of Business, the longest running show on AM 650 (M-F at 11 am) in Houston, Texas and on AOL Radio. Eric Bolling of Fox News and Fox Business says that Price’s Blog “is very influential and moves the blogosphere.” Steve Moore of the Wall Street Journal calls Price the “best business talk show host in the country.” Find out why and visit his blog at www.BizPlusBlog.com and his show site at www.PriceofBusiness.com. You can also find Price on Strategy Room at FoxNews.com.

Fox's Super Bowl Coup

Any regular reader of this blog knows I'm a big fan of Fox. All the more so with recent success they enjoyed with the Super Bowl over the weekend.

It was, without question, one of the best games in the history of the game. In fact, it was one of the best games in the history of all games. This is certainly one that is destined to go down in history. It was one of those games where I am sure many called others saying, "you have to watch this."

I was delighted to see that Fox pulled it off without a major wardrobe dysfunction and all the Any regular reader of this blog knows I'm a big fan of Fox. All the more so with recent success they enjoyed with the Super Bowl over the weekend.

It was, without question, one of the best games in the history of the game. In fact, it was one of the best games in the history of all games. This is certainly one that is destined to go down in history. It was one of those games where I am sure many called others saying, "you have to watch this."

I was delighted to see that Fox pulled it off without a major wardrobe dysfunction and all the embarassment and cost (in fines) that can come with that. Yes, Paula Abdul was a little stiff, but she remained in clothes.

The commercials were solid and, thanks to the network's relationship to MySpace.com, people will find those spots archived. that means these commercials will have an after life like we have never seen before. Furthermore, with the commercials strategic location in the world's premeir social network, all the advertisers will be able to monitor public opinon on the spots. This will provide an unprecedented level of research.

Also, Fox had the opportunity to promote its new line up of programming both on TV and online at MySpace (where you see those ads pop up repeatedly).

In the end, Fox was great for the fans and its clients, proving once again why Murdoch is one of the most brilliant people in media today.and cost (in fines) that can come with that. Yes, Paula Abdul was a little stiff, but she remained in clothes.

The commercials were solid and, thanks to the network's relationship to MySpace.com, people will find those spots archived. that means these commercials will have an after life like we have never seen before. Furthermore, with the commercials strategic location in the world's premier social network, all the advertisers will be able to monitor public opinion on the spots. This will provide an unprecedented level of research.

In the end, Fox was great for the fans and its clients, proving once again why Murdoch is one of the most brilliant people in media today.

By the way, you can see that archive of commercials here.

Kevin Price is Host of the Houston Business Show (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at HoustonBusinessShow.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.

Time Magazine's Best Lists: Worst Business Deals

I have been summarizing my thoughts on Time Magazine's Best Lists over the last several weeks and hadn't even touched their business lists. Until now. I found the magazine's Worst Business Deals" very interesting.

* The Blackstone Group going public. It looked hot after years of some rather amazing deals, but lost 38 percent of its value in no time after going public. In my experience, VC firms are the epitome of feast and famine. It isn't the kind of place one puts the family nest egg in. However, you can't count these guys out yet. The stock market is a long term game. It is only a bad deal if you cash in from the early highs.

* DaimlerChrysler pays to unload Chrysler. After an amazing array of mathematic antics, Daimler actually paid $2 billion to unload the company to Cerberus. With mathematic geniuses like this, is there any question as to why Daimler was going broke?

* Microsoft overpays for Facebook. First it was MySpace and Murdoch, then it was Google and YouTube. Microsoft simply had to get into the social networking phenomenon. The one it bought a stake in was Facebook for $240 million. The deal gives Facebook an implied value of $17 million, but is only expected to make $30 million a year. Time Magazine fears it looks like AOL a few years ago. I agree.

* KKR and Goldman Sach's pull the plug on Harman Industries International. Time notes that "Private equity shop Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group's private equity unit pulled out of their $8 billion offer to buy high-end audio equipment manufacturer Harman Industries International, claiming a "material adverse change" in Harman's business. Harman's stock plummeted more than 20%." Harsh indeed!

* Bank of America dumps $2 billion dollars into Countrywide. "Better make that $1 billion — at least that's what B of A's investment was worth as of December 1. Bank of America thought it had picked an opportune time in August to invest in Countrywide's mortgage machine, but the mortgage mess hadn't bottomed out yet." Bank of America was already limping along due to its troubling approach to providing credit to its clients. This situation only makes matters worse.

Some of these stories are not as entertaining or as sexy as some of the others covered, but their implications are far reaching financially. And they are far reaching to investors, customers, and obviously the employees

WebProNews Internet Winners

WebProNews is weighing in on the 8 biggest Internet winners for 06, and I found the list most interesting and something others might wish to read. I like the list and will only add a few edits. I encourage everyone to go to WebProNews and sign up for their newsletter, it is one of my favorite sources. I tell you how they won me over, great headlines in the subject line works every time. Here's their list. What other winners and losers would you add?

1. Google. Every year for Google has been a breakout year for the eight-year-old company, but 2006 was a blockbuster. Besides adding user-generated video phenom YouTube to its roster for $1.65 billion in stock, Google remained a favorite of Wall Street, with stock catapulting over $500 per share. That spike was more than enough to cover the cost of purchasing YouTube. And then they moved in with NASA.

I couldn't agree more. Google has moved from a site, to a verb (in searches, thus googling), to a legend.

2. YouTube. If Google was a winner just for acquiring YouTube, then YouTube founders Chad Hurley and Steven Chen, who created a site and flipped it for major moolah in just a year and a half, without even demonstrating how the site could turn a profit, are the biggest table scrap winners of the year. They still run their company and still got those stock certificates.

YouTube may be the first major television network for the 21st Century. What better place for it to be than online?

3. Broadband. Dialup Internet access has become akin to having outdoor plumbing. In the US, broadband access hit nearly 80 percent of the population. Because people no longer had to begin downloading a large file and then go to dinner while it finished, they spent more time actually enjoying video and audio content on the Web.

Broadband may be number 1, because YouTube and many interactive websites needed this technology to increase the Web's relevance. Without broadband, their would be very little market for dynamic content, in my opinion.

4. Lawyers. Happy days are here again for the corporate attorney. As Internet companies become Web giants, the window for lawsuit, valid or not, frivolous or not, gets a lot bigger. Google settles with advertisers angry over click fraud for $90 million - that's $60 million in advertising credit for the advertiser and $30 million cash for the attorneys who won that case. Yahoo's lawyers are so good, all they had to say was 'sorry about that' and write a check for $5 million to the complainant's attorneys.

Since I'm not a big fan of lawyers, I'll refrain from commenting much, but they have clearly been huge beneficiaries of the legal struggles related to the Web.

5. Social Media. For the end user it's been all about friends' lists, blogs, wikis, amateur videos, vlogging, podcasting, and instant messaging. From the consumer end, it's been a communication bonanza and the official creation of the citizen media. Ideally, the elite and powerful only provide the means by which the people communicate, not control the communication itself, and the people are eating up. And for the professional media, if we hear the words "MySpace" or "YouTube" one more time...

This is obviously huge and as important as the "social" part, is the participatory part, in my estimation. It is being able to influence media that has made such sites so huge.

6. Podcasting. The word "podcast" may have been Oxford's word of the year in 2005, but nobody really knew anything about it until 2006. Now organizations of all types - newspapers, corporations, educational institutions, radio stations, kids - have started their own virtual radio stations. Though Apple made threats to those audacious enough to use the term "podcast," a trademark infringement Apple said, all it took was a tongue-in-cheek one-dollar check to Apple head Steve Jobs to get official approval to podcast at will.

This, too, may be a little low on the list. Podcasting is creating a revolution that is striking fear in the heart of traditional media. People are looking for real, uncensored, and candid media; that typically cannot be done in a government regulated world of media. Traditional media, beware.

7. The Man. In all his incarnations, in government, media, or corporate America,The Man came out far ahead of the rest, even if he were scratched and bruised on the way. The G-Man, and his DOJ minions, strong-armed all the major search engines for their search data and got it, even from Google. Phones were tapped, records were seized, and online gambling, except that which is preferred by The Man, was banned. In China, The Man again forced Google to alter its search results to match the imposed cultural hegemony.

The government certainly was a big winner when it comes to the Internet in 2006, but in the top 8? I doubt it. I personally would put Rupert Murdoch in this spot for his ability to understand the power of the Internet and to transform his massive media empire into a responsive and dynamic media machine. This is being done through his very strategic Internet purchases.

8. The Proletariat. However, The Man hasn't always won this year. Though the telecommunications industry (one of The Man's most powerful front organizations) had Congress wrapped around its green finger, there were enough grass roots to forestall any legislation without meaningful Net Neutrality protections. With a massive Republican defeat in Washington, Net Neutrality has a fighting chance. When AOL tried to impose the equivalent of an email tax, the people revolted and AOL was forced to reconsider. When Britain proposed a blogger code of conduct, again the proletariat told The Man where to shove it. When TV wasn't as entertaining, when news wasn't as neutral or biased as it needed to be, when radio was too censored, and movies were far too polished, the people took the media into their own hands, which makes The Man very, very nervous.

I agree and so does Time Magazine which has called the Web contributor the "Person of the Year." That would be you and me! The world of the media is changing daily (maybe even hourly). Some, like Murdoch, are adapting and over time his traditional media will become a giant support to his Web media (just watch and see). Others are simply dead in the water, like the canal boat industry (no pun intended) that underestimated the power of trains, many in traditional media are still trying to charge for online content or are refusing to make dynamic media available (e.g., videos). Watch many traditional media go on the auction block and sell for cheap in the next few years.

This is a great list, but I would love your comments on this year's winners and losers. I would also like to know which companies or individuals you think will win big in '07.