One of the most popular sites globally, Facebook ranks 4th among the top 100 sites in India (source: Alexa.com). What accounts for its rapid success? We are not looking at how the forum works; we are trying to see why it strikes a chord with Indians, culturally. Oh yes, it’s a youth thing. You won’t find too many of your parents’ generation posting pics here or changing a status message to talk about how the rose blooming in their... 

The new year has hardly been a good one for Toyota Motors. Recalls, a flood of questions over the company’s credibility, eroding consumer trust… phew! It has all the ingredients for a perfect branding nightmare. The company has sprung into action and is trying to rebuild its credibility. Just that had it been smarter about doing it on the Internet, it could have turned the tragedy into a must-read case study about online brand management. Yes,... 

Talks of nominations for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize are doing the rounds and top of the list is one nominee: the Internet. Supporters are backing it for its role in promoting dialogue across the globe. From bringing out voices in conflict-torn regions to sharing ideas, the Internet is encouraging communication. Precisely the same reasons why the Iran government, it seems, has banned gmail. Close on the heels of the Google-China standoff come media... 

The last time Chinese authorities cracked down on Internet users within their country, the story did make it to the headlines. But it didn’t cause quiet the furore it has now. Why? This time around Internet-giant Google is in the thick of things, and has decided to speak out. Reason enough for the global media to watch the developments attentively and for the US Secretary of State to take a firm stance on the attack. The point we are trying... 

Around the time of the recent climate summit at Copenhagen, a new word began to drift around: hopenhagen. It just showed what the summit was all about: hope – for the Earth and for us. Now, that our political leaders couldn’t see eye-to-eye on how to make the Earth cleaner and greener makes for excellent analysis and political commentary. But for folks like you and me, it’s just a lot of mumbo-jumbo about strategies and negotiations. Here are... 

Will full-length movie reviews soon become a thing of the past? Well, they may not. The print media will certainly feature them and so will websites. But the tech-savvy lot will certainly not be waiting for these to decide which movie to watch the next weekend. Twitter, the popular kid on the social media block, is fast becoming the space for mini reviews and opinions. And the factors working in its favour are: It’s quick. Even before your... 

Poke on facebook My father had this look of disbelief. “Poke?…really?” Having spent his formative years in the pre-social media days, he just couldn’t understand why ‘poking’ a friend was ‘cool’.To people of his generation, poking was (and is) a sign of bad behaviour. Simply, not the thing you can do regularly to a friend. Which set us thinking. Has social media merely changed how we connect with people and... 

It’s the talk of the Internet town and the biggest question media-watchers are asking is: are your internet posts really private? Recently an insurance company stopped paying health insurance benefits to a patient who had been diagnosed of depression. The claim is that the company saw the patient, who was on  long leave from her work, having a good time on a beach. And how did it do that? Through photos that she had posted on Facebook. It concluded... 

What’s in a name, once asked someone? A lot we’d say, especially if it’s your domain name.  Your domain name is a critical part of your address on the web, which people use to find and get to your web site. It is a part of the URL that shows your web pages. For example, in www.greatcopy.com, greatcopy.com is the domain name. Basics of a domain name As we said earlier, a domain name is what people use to find your website. So, give... 

Management gurus and industry honchos alike, have all said their two-bits about customer service and customer relationship management. Point: serve your customers well, listen to them. If this was difficult to do in the physical space, it becomes even more challenging in the virtual space. You can’t see your customers, you can’t tell what interests them. Or can you? Enter web analytics. Though a familiar term for the web-savvy strategists,...