Welcome to the Fifth Estate by Geoff Livingston It’s almost been two years since my second book Welcome to the Fifth Estate was published. Because of the compensation issues, time since publishing, and frankly, the plethora of social media and… Read More »Download Welcome to the Fifth Estate
Hopefully by now you’ve heard about the plight of Russian punk rock band Pussy Riot.
The girl punk band was sentenced to two years of hard labor by Russian officials for staging a protest concert at a Russian Orthodox Church. The performance defended women’s rights and decried Vladimir Putin’s strongman hold on the country.
By levying a draconian punishment, the Russian government (and Putin) martyred Pussy Riot.
Next Monday marks the six year anniversary of my first blog post. As I’m blogging less these days, I decided my final post of this year with six reflections based on my experiences over these years. Here are my observations about social media, blogging and marketing based on my journey:
When I began blogging, I believed in The Cluetrain Manifesto. Its raw message that businesses would be forced to act better thanks to social media spoke to me. Cluetrain inspired hope that conversations could change the very fiber of business in favor of people. I was full of passion for that change, and my first book Now Is Gone reflected this idealism.
The first chapter of Welcome to the Fifth Estate discusses social media empowered people that act independently of traditional media, government and corporate structures. Last Saturday night on WOR Radio’s The Business of Giving show I had the pleasure of discussing this tension with host Denver Frederick. From Syrian bloggers fighting the Assad regime to the anti-Komen Planned Parenthood social media fury in the United States, people continue to fight power structures with social media.
Average citizens feel a need to circumvent established media as well as traditional government and corporate structures with online tools. Their information needs are unfulfilled and voices are not being heard. So people activate themselves online to demand change and action, or to form new innovative ways of resolving their problems.
Image by Kap Kap The Occupy Wall Street protests have spread across the country, capturing the hearts of America’s disenfranchised. These events have sparked a debate across America — particularly online — about economic injustice in America. Occupy Wall Street… Read More »Occupy Wall Street – Groundswell of Economic Injustice
In the past three days, Chapters 6 and 7 of Welcome to the Fifth Estate have been podcasted, completing the reading of the book. Welcome to the Fifth Estate is now available for listeners in its entirety for free. Below… Read More »Listen to the Fifth Estate for Free
The following is an excerpt from Welcome to the Fifth Estate, Chapter 7: Sustaining Your Community Over Time Who in their right mind would predict the death of Facebook, given its ever-increasing dominance? But everyone always asks, “What’s next?” One… Read More »Book Excerpt: The Death of Facebook
C.C. and Ann, image by John Wall It’s time for another Zoetica book contest! This time we are giving away five copies of Ann Handley and C.C. Chapman‘s Content Rules to the person who best answers a question posed by… Read More »Contest: Does Social Strategy Need Content?
