Game engine advertising. Oh God yes. Television viewers or movie-goers may remember the Killzone 2 ‘Bullet’ trailer that told an interesting story of a bullet crossing a battle field. I thoroughly enjoyed this ad, being an avid gamer; but what I did not know was this ad was fully interactive. You can actually slow the ad down, change perspectives, move around within the ad and even change view filters or turn on commentary. So what are the possibilities? Three dimensional live action advertisements that users can enter, engage with and interact with. As if this isn’t an exciting enough prospect, apparently the day soon approaches when this will actually be used. Check out the full video for a prediction on release dates and some other potential uses for this technology.
Apparently we are still talking about the way that Twitter was adopted and popularized by older users instead of a younger demographic. The discussion continues today with some new data from comScore that says 12-24 year-olds are the fastest growing audience segment. Adam Ostrow, of mashable fame, said that Twitter is in fact “aging in reverse.” The flood of new users is thought to be partially due to a mass of new celebrities, who lead as the most followed users on Twitter.
A great quote and report: “The beauty of social networks is that they are a place where nearly any marketing goal can be achieved, with nearly any marketing tactic,” said Debra Aho Williamson, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report, “Marketing on Social Networks: Branding, Buying and Beyond.”
Ever wondered the traffic cycles the internet goes through on a given day? Everything from the amount of daily P2P traffic, how many and when World of Warcraft nerd meet ups, when instant messaging peaks and when is the most video online being streamed? Well then take a look at The Internet After Dark: Part 1 and Part 2. Great depth in explanation and some intriguing figures. 
What land mass in America is most involved in social media? Michigan! Promoting tourism, the state has created a campaign and a blog by the same name: Pure Michigan. The blog is quite impressive, updated frequently and full of useful information for travelers. Michigan even managed to win two Mercury Awards for a radio ad and a commercial they did as part of the campaign. If only I wasn’t afraid of America.
Check out the new CrowdEye beta that just launched. It is a real time search engine that uses a new algorithm called CrowdRank. CrowdRank is a cross between Google PageRank and a crowd of people, used to generate real time results. It grabs volume, tags, news and tweets of search results, all in real time. Very cool.
Some other good stories today were about the expansion of Facebook Connect, iPhone users being data whores and the social media ‘egosystem‘.
On a personal note, I’m excited for Nuit Blanche (its on my birthday!), and interestingly there are iPhone and Blackberry applications being released that will be help you organize your night. The applications will make previewing exhibits and navigating through the city much more convenient. I liked the light installation under the Dufferin bridge on Queen last year. Should be a fun night of shameless revelry.
