It’s a big move for AOL, but a necessary one to stay in the game — and to avoid a sale. Naturally, one of the questions people are asking today is, among other things, will TechCrunch give AOL the boost needed to bring the company back??
Opinions seem to be that buying TechCrunch is certainly a step in the right direction for AOL and a sign that the company is making a major offensive to build itself up again.
In it’s heyday, AOL was a leading ISP. But through a series of missteps over the years the company no longer has that certain je ne sais quois.
Because of this, AOL has taken a beating for quite some time in the press. It’s particularly hard to watch knowing the company was once a major player.
Their PR agency, who I can only imagine has been plagued with challenges for years, must have been thrilled with yesterday’s news. It’s no longer the totally depressing client to work for. Woo hoo!
If AOL plays this right they might have a shot at a reincarnation. I wish them good luck! Stay tuned.
I spotted a news report today on a Pew Research study looking at mainstream media coverage of technology. It’s no surprise that Apple is in the lead in terms of company coverage, followed by Google, Twitter, Facebook and Microsoft. What I found more interesting were the tech topics that headed the list. The top stories were those focused on how technology makes life more productive; in second place were stories about the security of the Internet (or lack of security to be more precise). The good news: positive themes (tech’s empowering effect on people) ranked higher than negative themes (how technology makes for less human interaction). The biggest single storyline: texting while driving. It’s also interesting to note that tech as a whole surpassed topics like religion and immigration as a percentage of total media coverage (but tech is well behind crime). There’s a lot we can learn from this research, but one takeaway is clear: coverage of technology is increasingly crossing beyond tech-oriented outlets or news sections to the top of the American news agenda. Not that many years ago, it would have been impossible to find this kind of interest in tech companies and the types of tech stories spotlighted by this study.
Twitter’s Security Flaw - Earlier this week a vulnerability was found on Twitter which used a piece of code with an onMouseOver Javascript which caused a pop-up to appear when scrolling over links on users’ Twitter accounts, opened porn sites and performed auto-retweets. Apparently this was triggered by a 17 year-old Australian boy who said he didn’t want to do anything malicious, he just wanted to see if he could do it. Were you affected? Should people leave finding vulnerabilities to the companies, or is it OK for people to take matters into their own hands?
Using your Phone as a Room Key? – Two Holiday Inns, one in Chicago and one in Houston, have started a pilot program where customers with an Apple iPhone, a Blackberry or an Android smart phone will be able to use their phones as a room key – meaning you won’t have to stop by the front desk. Would you try this out if the option was available?
Dead Zones: Tisk, Tisk, AT&T – A San Francisco Business Times project is off trying to find dead zones in the Bay area. Of the 500 data points they received it appears that all of them are AT&T networks. While there are dead zones from other providers, AT&T rebutted saying they only account for 83 percent of the dead zones in the area. Only 83 percent? Go AT&T!
Please Give Me your Cell Phone Number- Facebook Fan Pages are one of the newer ways brands and businesses are connecting socially with their customers. A new application called TextualAds is bringing companies even closer to their customers, but allowing them (with permission) to text them. Would you give a company your cell phone number?
Can Lindsay Lohan be Saved? – Just as Lindsay Lohan is able to walk around freely, she failed a court-ordered drug test. She confirmed in a series of posts that she did fail the test, saying that “Substance abuse is a disease, which unfortunately doesn’t go away over night.” Do you think she will ever be able to reviver her career? Could good PR save her?
Facebook Events: Public vs Private – A girl who naively posted her birthday party publicly was in for a surprise when she received more than 21,000 RSVPs. After her post was removed, it was re-posted by users showing the girl’s address. Police in her sleepy town of Harpenden in Hertforshire are aware of the incident and preparing for what could double their population in size if the attendees actually show up. This proves that you must be aware of the potential security hazards of posting personal information on your facebook page. It might not be only your “friends” who can access what you post.
Katy Perry’s skit with Elmo – While this skit has yet to air (and now is not scheduled to air anymore) it was leaked to YouTube and parents are outraged at her outfit – saying she is showing way too much cleavage for a children’s show. You be the judge, was her outfit worth pulling from Sesame Street?
In this week’s PRobecast PR Power Ranking – where we vote on which story we think ranks the highest PR-wise – and the winner is the Holiday Inn and their pilot smartphone keys. Not only does it have the cool-factor, we appreciated how it’s the Holiday Inn, not one of the bigger savvier hotels. They’re really stepping up their game and might be starting a trend if this pilot takes off!
