Bloggers in Bloom

For some people the 15th of the month is just another day (tax deadlines in April notwithstanding), but for garden-lovers across the blogosphere, its a monthly holiday: Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.

It's an online event, started by garden blogger Carol at May Dreams Gardens, where green thumbs are encouraged to blog about what's blooming in their gardens that month.

I'm sure that doesn't sound like much: Garden bloggers are obviously going to blog about their gardens, right?

That's true, but the reason I bring it up is that the event has seen its popularity explode over the past couple years, with more and more top gardeners and garden photographers getting involved.

And all of these bloggers writing about one topic is not only building buzz about gardening, but strengthening what was once a smaller niche market in the blogging world.

Although Garden Bloggers Bloom Day isn't meant to promote any product or service in particular, gardening as a whole is becoming a big topic of conversation in these blogs, and that fact alone is what makes massive blogging collaboration like this so important.

Cell Phone Radiation? There's An App For That

Ever since the very first brick-like cell phone hit market decades ago, consumers and scientists alike have questioned whether or not the radiation from using the devices will lead to serious medical issues.

In fact, this issue had gained so much traction that a massive, 10-year international study of 13,000 participants was done to help answer this conundrum once and for all.

And with the results of the decade-long study being released today, the concerned masses were on the edge of their seats waiting to hear their cell phone fate...only to hear that the results were "inconclusive."

Obviously this means that some people will continue to use their cell phones without a second thought, while others will continue to live in fear of their iPhones or Droids.

But if you're worried about how much Blackberry use is too much: there's an app for that.

The $9.99 Blackberry app from Tawkon measures/predicts when and where your phone is giving off more radiation and gives you warnings accordingly.

The accuracy and necessity of the app is being debated, but both sides have acknowledged that newer operating systems have led to less radiation. And with cell phone technology constantly being advanced, I do question the app's long-term value.

The bottom line is that this app is great for those who have serious concern over radiation, but the $10 price tag will most likely discourage most other Blackberry users from trying it out.

Live From New York, It's Saturday White!

If the Internet has taught us anything, it's that icon status is a few million mouse clicks away. We've seen a few of these Internet celebrities over the years, but Star Wars Kid didn't want the fame, Tay Zonday failed to produce another hit song, and Numa Numa Guy's dance moves became old news.

But this month our biggest Internet icon is Betty White, who was already an established actress in her own right, but has seen a huge resurgence in her popularity thanks to Facebook.

White recently had a very successful appearance on Saturday Night Live thanks to a Facebook campaign called "Betty White to Host SNL (please?)!" that garnered over 500,000 fans.

The SNL gig is apparently not enough for the Betty White fans out there, who have now launched new Facebook campaigns to get the former Golden Girl to host the Emmy's, the Oscars, even the Academy Awards.

The success of these new grassroot Facebook campaigns has yet to be seen, but are proving the power that these social media efforts can have, and the real results they can generate.

Shopping Sprees Go Viral

Every time I sit down in the food court at the mall, I see at least two or three girls showing their friends everything that they bought at the stores that day.

However, there's a new trend emerging online that takes this shopping day show-off to a new level: the haul video.

The idea is that people (a majority of which are younger females) record videos of themselves walking the audience through all of the purchases they made that day, along with commentary about fashion trends and the difficult choices they came across when out at the mall.

And with over 150,000 haul videos on YouTube getting tens (if not hundreds) of millions of views, this haul video craze shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.

Add in the fact that YouTube allows users to earn money through partnerships, with some of these haul "vloggers" (video bloggers) earning thousands of dollars a year, and it's clear that this has turned to a legitimate business for some women.

These partnerships show that retail marketers are seeing the huge opportunity with these videos, which are essentially positive product reviews (why would someone say something bad about something they just bought?) that are accessible to a large audience in their target demographic.

But despite the huge earning potential with these haul videos, I probably won't be one of the thousands who have uploaded videos of their mall purchases. Besides, I doubt anyone would want to hear about my food court choice or the awesome pretzel I bought that day.

The Emperor's New Clothes

Two hundred fifty million Facebookers, 184 million bloggers and 14 million tweeters, that’s a lot of opinions. Some traditional media call these noisy threats, but Vogue’s Editor in Cheif Anna Wintour sings their melodies. Last month Anna was quoted by Fashionista,

“We laude as much coverage on fashion as possible—we don’t care where it comes from,” she says. “But with all the noise, it actually helps Vogue, because we have authority.”

With the magazine industry crumbling, is Anna overly optimistic or are some industries impervious to social media’s leadership qualities?

Vogue’s authority might be in jeopardy as advertisers dive deeper into social media. Marc Jacobs’ “Fashion Victim” Foursquare badge, Jimmy Choo’s London treasure hunt, and Diesels' Facebook connected fitting room cameras show advertisers aren’t just interested in social media, they are signing on to the newest outlets.

So what does this mean for Vogue’s powerhouse editor? Anyone who saw the documentary The September Issue or the film The Devil Wears Prada knows Anna Wintour is one tough cookie. As people continue to Facebook, blog and tweet, Anna is still sitting in meetings with Bergdorf & Goodman or Armani where a single nod or look from her can change the creative and marketing direction for the season.

As long as she is Editor in Chief, Vogue will fight to retain authority and I think, succeed. The fashion industry isn’t impervious, but Anna may be.

What about other special interest categories? Do established media still rule?