Links for 14-12-2006

• Cognoscenti grab big business by the lapels: Shared passions of social networks are forcing advertisers to innovate from the bottom up
  A Globe and Mail article on social media's impact on marketing and traditional media. It's worth the read, and provides a good overview of why marketers need to be aware of how social media has inverted the traditional marketing model. Note the observations on the new role of branding and focus testing through social media, too.
  
• Ottawa communicators meet to discuss social media
  A review of an October CRPS session on social media - good insight. Be sure to read the comments, too!
  
• Open-Source Spying
  A long but interesting article in the NYT Sunday Magazine (free subscription req’d) on how the CIA and the FBI are finding ways to use blogs and wikis. Hey, if the spy agencies can adopt social media, surely we can too!
  
• The CDC's Second Life
  The US Centre for Disease Control has opened an office to promote health information -- within the virtual world of the online game Second Life. “John [Anderton] first started exploring Second Life last March, and by July he had convinced the powers-that-be at the CDC to let him establish an agency outpost there, which he built with his own virtual hands. John seems to be the CDC's go-to guy for their health communications "Special Forces" missions, having been detailed to work on public health crises like the CDC's response to the anthrax scares, the flu vaccine shortage and setting up new communications offices in various parts of the agency. He currently (at least until next week) is working in the Office of the CDC Director with the charge of exploring how social media can be used to promote public health, and he plans to continue to serve as the CDC's virtual face in Second Life.” Fascinating stuff - can you imagine a virtual tax services office?