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Taking a Spin in Social Media: Building a Virtual Advantage in Online Communities

Is social media a revolution or just more conversation? What are companies doing to protect their reputations online? Where do virtual worlds fit in to the Web 2.0 ecosystem? Will conversational ‘power’ end up in the hands of the few or the many? And is Twitter REALLY better than Second Life?

Robert Bloomfield welcomes Chris Abraham, President and COO of Abraham Harrison. Chris is a leading expert in online public relations with a focus on blogger outreach, blogger engagement, and Internet reputation management.

Chris recently wrote an article about Twitter and Second Life which sparked a passionate discussion:

I run into many skeptics who believe that Twitter is rife with the sort of hype associated with the ascent and crash of Second Life. This is not true. Twitter is suffused with hype, for sure, but it is a much different and more sustainable hype than Second Life. Here’s why: Twitter is light, cheap, open and permanent, whereas Second Life is heavy, expensive, closed and ephemeral. Twitter does things right where Second Life failed.

But in a follow-up post, Chris changed his tune, or at least his tone when it came to virtual worlds:

Now that I made such a big brouhaha back in June, everybody wants to be my friend and show me a good time, a good experience, and be my pathfinder. This is the big secret and the reason I was crucified after I wrote something less than complimentary back in June: Second Life is a real community of real people who are fiercely-devoted to Second Life and fiercely loyal to each other. While they may have fallen off our collective radar in the last three years, the denizens of Second Life never received the memo that Second Life was a fad and that nobody goes any more.

Chris will share his insights into what that conversation meant, where it led, and how he feels about the potential of Second Life and virtual worlds.

But more importantly, Chris will talk about how our lives are being informed by social media, how we can protect our reputation on-line, and how companies are struggling (or succeeding) in managing misinformation, rumor and memes. Chris is one of the world’s acknowledged experts in managing online communities and in understanding the tensions between the individual power to express and the implications for the future of the enterprise.

Guest Biographies

Chris Abraham

Chris Abraham, President and COO of Abraham Harrison, is a leading expert in online public relations with a focus on blogger outreach, blogger engagement, and Internet reputation management. A pioneer in online social networks and publishing, with a natural facility for anticipating the next big thing, Chris is an Internet analyst, web strategy consultant and advisor to the industries’ leading firms. He specializes in Web 2.0 technologies, including content syndication, online collaboration, blogging, and consumer generated media. Clients include Habitat for Humanity, Aruba, Fresh Air Fund, International Medical Corps, Lowe Worldwide, National Environmental Trust, OLX, Sharp Electronics, Snapple Antioxidant, Snuggle Crème, Survivor Corps, and T. Rowe Price.

Prior to starting Abraham Harrison, Chris was a member of the Interactive Team at Edelman Public Affairs in Washington, DC, consulting clients such as Wal-Mart, Shell, and GE on blogger and social media strategy. Before Edelman, Chris was Technology Strategist for New Media Strategies, a pioneer in online brand promotion and protection with clients including Sci-Fi Channel, Buena Vista, TomTom, Paramount Pictures, Coca-Cola, McDonalds, Disney, Reebok, EA, RCA, and NBC.

In the early nineties, Chris joined The Meta Network, a seminal online virtual community based in Washington, and so began his career as an expert in online community development, social media, social networking, and online collaboration. Chris has had a web presence since 1993 and started blogging in 1999, focusing on community, connection, innovation, and brand extension. As a technologist, Chris has consulted T. Rowe Price, the US Department of Treasury CIO, Friendster, Deutsche Telekom, and others.