I'm working up a story idea on the success of fan-based or unofficial social media sites over their official counterparts. For example, while Apple Computers has almost no official presence on Twitter (at least from what I can tell), @MacRumors has almost a quarter million followers. Another example, would be a fan-based/watchdog Facebook site called Protect the National Weather Service has almost as many "Likes" as the official U.S. National Weather Service Facebook site.

The rise and success of unofficial social media is an interesting phenomenon to me and I'm very interested in additional references, research and examples I know some of you can proivide.  Feel free to leave your comments here or you can reach me via Google+ or through CMS Report's Twitter account.

As most site owners do, I rely on content to sell my site on the Internet. I fully recognize the emerging trends of social or community sites such as FaceBook and Twitter attracting large audiences on the Internet. While I have been dabbling with how I can benefit by merging conent and social media into a website, CMS Report remains mainly as a content site. If suddenly people lost interest in using the Internet to retrieve content then sites like mine would no longer have a reason to exist.

With the continued growth in social media sites is there a future for content sites and content management systems? As an article on CNET by Lance Whitney points out, apparently, the answer remains a resounding "yes".

The Internet offers everything from searching to shopping to social networking, but Net users still spend most of their time on plain old content sites, according to a survey from the Online Publishers Association.

In the latest installment from its monthly Internet Activity Index, the OPA reported that Internet users are now spending 42 percent of their time online using content sites, more than any other category. That figure represents a 24 percent jump from 2003 when Net users spent 34 percent of their time on content sites.

Content sites include those that offer news, information, and entertainment, such as NYTimes.com, ESPN.com, MapQuest.com, and Edmunds.com.

This is good news for those of us that run mainly content websites. I am still fascinated by the use of social media for moving information to a wider audience and I will continue to experiment in that direction. But in my heart I know that my site can't truly compete as a social site with the very popular community sites that already exist today. I do though have unique content to offer through articles and blog postings that can't be found elsewhere on the Internet. It's good to know that with content still king there is a reason why sites like mine still have a future on the Internet.

There has been a huge transformation this year at WhiteHouse.gov. Blogs, RSS feeds, and connections to social networking sites are being fully utilized at the President's website. Those of us that have worked in information technology positions for the federal government have experienced first hand just how slow bureaucracies can be in taking advantage of newer technologies. From my perspective, it is almost surreal to see references to Web 2.0 from a website for an office that once didn't allow the President of the United States to send emails or even use a smart phone.

Let's hope the President's views on content management and social publishing trickles down to the rest of the Executive branch.

WhiteHouse 2.0

In the President’s last Weekly Address, he called on government to "recognize that we cannot meet the challenges of today with old habits and stale thinking." He added that "we need to reform our government so that it is more efficient, more transparent, and more creative," and pledged to "reach beyond the halls of government" to engage the public. Today the White House is taking steps to expand how the Administration is communicating with the public, including the latest information and guidance about the H1N1 virus. In addition to WhiteHouse.gov, you can now find us in a number of other spots on the web:

• Facebook.com/WhiteHouse
• MySpace.com/WhiteHouse
• Twitter.com/WhiteHouse

The WhiteHouse blog (RSS) will power a lot of the content in these networks, but we’re looking forward to hearing from our fans, friends and followers. Don’t forget these sites as well:

• Flickr.com/WhiteHouse
• Vimeo.com/WhiteHouse
• YouTube.com/WhiteHouse
• iTunes (videos & podcasts)

Technology has profoundly impacted how – and where – we all consume information and communicate with one another. WhiteHouse.gov is an important part of the Administration’s effort to use the internet to reach the public quickly and effectively – but it isn’t the only place.

Julia Angwin of the Wall Street
Journal recently wrote that she
wanted to remake herself into a new person...at least into a new person as seen by Google.  When Ms Angwin searched on Google using her own name she continued to see an
old article written by her on top of the search results page .  Although the link to the old article was popular, she didn't feel the article was her best work nor that it reflected who she was today.  She then starts on an adventure into search engine optimization (SEO) as she tries to get
what she tries to get the search engine to list instead the artides and Internet sites she would want people to see on top of the search results page.

Personally, I don't
have any issue with search engines determining which of my work, sites, and references to me float to the top of the results page.  If a search engine decides to
use my name as reference to Internet pages that best reflect who I
am....hooray for me. If a search engine points to something truthful about me in an embarrassing way, that is fine too because it will serve as a reminder to me just how much I have learned and evolved since that page was posted. 

What I do have a problem with is when Internet surfers are
pointed to another Bryan Ruby that isn't me.  I do not like it when people are searching for me on the Internet and find another me that isn't me.  I'm sure there are others that feel the same way as I do. 

It looks as if Laura Scott, pingVision, had some free time on her hands. There are reasons free servcies on the Internet are free. Laura wants you to start asking yourself, "why?".

Is the future really free?

It seems we've entered an age where there's a land-grab happening for personal data and attention time. Look at all the web start-ups backed by venture capital. They aren't investing out of philanthropy. There's value there. YouTube is "free" but Google paid over a billion dollars for it. Why?

Here's a hint: It's not about the Tube. [Read more at Laura Scott's Blog]

Personally, I'll need to read her post a few times and soak in on the information from her excerpts. Some things to think about...