text: Social Networks – Decipher Media Research
  Is RTL Having A 'Friends Reunited' Moment With The SpotXchange Deal?
  RTLs recent acquisition of a majority stake in SpotXchange gave Decipher a nervous moment of deja vu last week, reminding us of a previous broadcaster's dramatic foray into emerging digital media.
  In 2005, ITV under a previous management regime, paid £175M for the British social media site FriendsReunited. The deal delivered £30M to the founders, Steve and Julie Pankhurst. At the time this was charitably viewed as an 'unusual' deal – what Sir Humphrey would have called 'brave'- although Friends Reunited was one of the most visited UK web sites of its day. But the reality for ITV was this was a deal made in desperation by a management team who didn't understand the new market that was unfolding in front of them. They needed a 'digital' play and didn't know how to deliver it. more "Is RTL Having A 'Friends Reunited' Moment With The SpotXchange Deal?" …
  Twitter and TV – A Pause For Reflection!
  Nigel Walley – 2nd April
  I have finally recovered after AdWeek. I went to four conferences and followed two more on Twitter, which was over-kill. As I sat in the final conference, my over-riding thought was how those of us in new media have yet to make the case for a central role for the web and social media in marketing budgets. It was like 2003 all over again. There were some truly dreadful presentations from new media types, but the area that bothered me most was the perpetual over-claiming for the role of Twitter around TV.
  I am a massive Twitter fan and probably count as a 'super-user'. I am also a massive fan of broadcast TV. I like the story that they are somehow mutually beneficial, however it appears to have spun out of control. It has leapt from an observation of concurrent use, to an implication of symbiotic dependence, to the point where now Twitter are peddling the line that not only do they influence TV audiences, but that a brand advertiser can get material benefits from co-ordinating Twitter campaigns with TV ad spots. The only problem is that there is no data to back any of this up. Or if anything, the data disproves it.