Many of the podcasts I listen to on a regular basis have Facebook groups. Ones that immediately come to mind are Six Pixels of Separation, Jaffe Juice and Gen Y Marketing Podcast. But what is the point? The groups all seem dead. Julian Cole says they can be used to promote podcast episodes but I can't help but feel members of this group would already be subscribed. Similarly, these podcasts usually start or end with the same spiel in each episode. As regular listeners, surely we already know where to find you, how to contact you and have checked out the blog? This valuable content time and energy is wasted on a few potential new listeners. It seems like an incredibly outdated approach and almost mass media like. Why waste time preaching to the choir?...

Mitch Joel just posted as to why blogging is more important than ever which raised some really interesting points. Even a small time blogger like myself can relate to the majority of them if not through my blog then through those that I read and comment on. One point in particular got me thinking was the talk about the breakdown of cultural and geographical borders and the increased ease of global communication. An excellent concept but what stood out to me was where this increasingly growing new media trend falls on its face. All I ever really read about is the benefits of digital marketing not problems and issues, like this one which appears quite important. Whilst we breakdown these walls and the world becomes a smaller place aren't we at the same time building these walls higher and excluding some from the conversation? Two obvious examples to me are the those with lower socioeconomic statuses and those living in rural areas. According to the ABS only 64% of Australian households have access to the internet and of those only 68% have access to a broadband connection. So how does a new media marketer target a struggling single mother of three or a drought stricken rural farmer?...

Mitch Joel just posted about an interesting mini series titled The Story Of Stuff With Annie Leonard.It raises some really good points regarding the consumption of products particularly the way in which we produce and dispose of these. But I could not overlook the rather negative view taken on us marketers."What's the point of an ad except to make us unhappy with what we have?" says Annie Leonard, portraying a rather naive and simplistic look at the most basic form of advertising. Some what conicidently, I just purchased Clive Hamilton's book Affluenza which I'll be sure to discuss upon reading....