Athletes have taken to social media, specifically Twitter, in droves, using the network as a way to quickly connect with fans and press without traditional media filters. As Twitter became more visible and top celebrities from Hollywood took the network, athletes soon followed - with Shaquille O'Neal being among the first and biggest name to make the service part of his arsenal. With the unfiltered capability upon them, athletes have often made mistakes for updates to the network, and it's possible some regret saying many of the things they have. With the advent of Google+ from Google, Chris Peoples asked me to join him on a regular podcast he calls "The Peoples' Court" to discuss how athletes could benefit from Google+ and what to expect in terms of adoption.

As I mentioned on the podcast, athletes are not the fastest adopters, but if history repeats, they may follow the Hollywood celebrities to the network, and find value in limited distribution of content via Circles, dedicated Hangouts with family, fans or press, and unlike Twitter, the option to not only post in long form, but to edit content after it has been posted. Until Google+ is open to mass registration, I would expect uptake from athletes looking to use the medium for marketing to be slow, but once the doors open, it could be a very different story. Per usual, I had some audio difficulties on the call, so if you don't mind skipping through occasional static, you might enjoy our discussion, embedded below.

Wednesday night, as the Giants and Rangers were battling in game one of the World Series, BlogTalkRadio's Joe Hackman and I sat down to see if we could cancel out the jocks and reaffirm our position as geeks, participating in a podcast to discuss how bloggers can gain visibility through access and insight. We discussed my personal decisions to join my6sense as VP of Marketing, my conversion process from iPhone to Android, and how I try to juggle having three kids under 2 1/2 with all the other tasks that compete with my time.

Among the key discussion points, which might be fun for you to check out:

1) Defending one's turf, rather than being pragmatic & investigating alternatives.
2) Google's innovative moves versus struggles they have had in other areas.
3) A next generation of bloggers in their teens you should start watching now.
4) Microsoft's challenges in mobile a parallel for search.
5) The history of louisgray.com.

For those of you who have read louisgray.com for some time, or heard some of my previous podcasts, some stories may be familiar to you, but there's always something new.

Joe posted the discussion on his site here, and I have embedded it below. You can find Joe on Twitter at @hackmanj.

Listen to internet radio with Joe Hackman on Blog Talk Radio

Through my work with Paladin Advisors Group, one of the longest-running clients has been Emulex Corporation, a networking solutions provider focused on the convergence of Fibre Channel and Ethernet. One of the company's system engineers, Thomas Jones, has caught the social media bug in a big way, getting deep into blogging, Twitter and podcasting. You can find him at @niketown588 and http://www.niketown588.com. A week or so ago, he kindly took the time to talk with me in a wide-ranging conversation that covered not just social media tips and missteps, but blogging strategies, the ongoing debate of iPhone versus Android, and more personal questions, ranging from family to fantasy football.

This laid back, but content-rich podcast, can be found on his Web site in two 30-minute parts, or below in full. His soothing demeanor and friendly style make for good background listening if you want to hear about everything from Sonos to iPad, Mario Kart and TweetDeck.

The full content is below:

Thursday night, I gained the opportunity to participate in the Android Guys podcast, ostensibly to talk about the launch of my6sense's new application on the Android platform, but the far-ranging call discussed the rise of Android vs. iPhone, the issues of privacy and next generation search.

Starting at about five minutes in to the recording (below), you can see how these aggressively pro-Android geeks are seeing the introduction of the digital intuition and personal relevance app. In the discussion, they drill me on revenue questions, partnerships and how the Attention API could be used to surface relevant content from all streams. Hope you enjoy the discussion, which lasts about 20 minutes.

As word of my joining my6sense as vice president of marketing broke late last night, Chris Saad (@chrissaad) put on his journalism hat, and the two of us recorded a quick Edge Theory Conversation to explain the opportunity ahead, and what this means for all the other roles I have been carrying.

Chris' insight into the opportunity for my6sense's ability to prioritize and personalize content from all streams on the Web is especially important for me, given his background as a geek and his dedication to data portability, open standards, and his day job, working for Echo, where they aggregate reactions of all types. With Echo becoming the back-end conversation repository for major media sites, it's of course possible those discussion areas are ripe for personalization and prioritization...

This and all other EdgeTheory conversations can be found on the dedicated ET Conversations site.

Listen to the full recording below:

Yesterday I had the great opportunity to participate in a podcast with Frank Angelone of the Social Tech Zone to talk about the always-intriguing topic of how early adopters gain influence and the role social media plays in personal and business life. Frank, who did a very professional job teeing up questions and drawing out stories behind the development of this blog and how I interact with entrepreneurs today, highlights in his summary of the discussion that there is no true "right way" or "wrong way" to participate in social media, and that works for one person may not work for another. We discussed how louisgray.com got started, whether one should obsess over statistics, and how important comments and engagement are to bloggers.

I hope you find the conversation interesting. As always, the full content is below:

Glen Campbell, an avid social Web user, and quiet power player on the Yahoo! News team, sat down with me earlier this week to talk about how social media is impacting traditional media and the value of individuals' connections. We even had the conversation flow into a little more of my background - how I got into the Web, dabbling in AOL, and searching online for data on baseball, Madonna and other interests while in junior high and high school.

If you remember 2400 baud modems or want to know why pictures of my twins became part of my online activity, you might be interested in this podcast. It's unlike any other you've heard me participate in:

The full content is below, and at the On Garner Road site.

With Digg's Kevin Rose tweeting out a rumor that Google is planning a social networking alternative to Facebook called "Google Me", the rumor mill around Mountain View is in full force.

Sunday night, Chris Saad  and I connected to discuss whether the Web needs a stronger alternative to Facebook, and if Google can be as strong in social as they are in more data-driven markets. Clearly, author of The Facebook Effect, David Kirkpatrick, says that they cannot, and the service's 500 million or so users are voting with their time and their clicks. As for us, we are rooting for more competition and we trust Google's approach to the Open Web as much as any other source. So listen to the podcast, about 20 minutes in length, to see if you think we are on target.

Related Posts:

louisgray.com: Google Me This, Google Me That. Can Google Me Trump Facebook, Or Will It Fall Flat?

SF Weekly: Is Google About to Launch a Facebook Killer? Kevin Rose Says So.

Also noted:

The Official Microsoft Blog: Microsoft By the Numbers

louisgray.com: Author: Zuckerberg has "Total Control" Over Facebook

Chris Saad calling 'BS' on Facebook's data portability

This and all other EdgeTheory conversations can be found on the dedicated ET Conversations site.

Listen to the full recording below:

With so much data being created online from so many different sources, human curators are becoming increasingly important - separating high quality content from low quality content, and becoming trusted sources of data for the extended social graph. At the beginning of June, I gained the opportunity to talk with Ed Callan on the topic of curation, and how I go use many different services online, from Google Reader, FriendFeed, Delicious, Twitter and Facebook, to other tools, including my6sense and CinchCast. The extended interview is very detailed and explains, in near entirety, how I interact with the Web each day.

While the topic is curation, Ed and I expand well beyond the core, and into more biographical detail, and the psychology of social media users. I hope you find it of value.

Of note: The call was part of a one-hour paid engagement unrelated to any company I advise or my core job at Paladin. My6sense, a Paladin client, is highlighted, thanks to the topic of the call. I did not know the call was being recorded, but as it is, I am sharing.

The full interview is available below:

Following general release of the HTC Evo last week, and the revelation of iPhone 4 at WWDC from Apple on Monday, the smartphone wars are in full swing. Being among the first to have the HTC Evo, thanks to attending Google I/O, it seems everywhere I go, people are asking about my choice to make Android my primary mobile OS, and putting the iPhone aside. My quick comments on iPhone 4 Monday got a lot of attention, especially thanks to my comment that developers should start coding for Android ahead of Apple's platform. (See responses from JMetz.com, The Apps Lab, Ken Yarmosh and Daring Fireball for example...)

While you heard some of my thoughts on EVO vs. iPhone when Chris Saad and I spoke last week, I expounded on my thoughts when talking with Greg Knieriemen of Chi Corporation and Marc Farley of 3Par and StorageRap.com on a new episode of the Infosmack podcast this evening. We talked about the prospects for Apple, Google, Windows Mobile, and Android in general. For guys who generally talk about enterprise products and the datacenter, they did a great job talking consumer today. I hope you find value.

You can listen in below:

On Friday, the HTC EVO, powered by Google's Android operating system, finally went on sale. As you know, I have been using the device, courtesy of Google I/O for the last few weeks. First I started using it exclusively, and later, I reported on my experience.

Tonight, Chris Saad (@chrissaad) and I talked about how the mobile landscape is changing with the rise of Android and the near-term arrival of iPhone OS 4 and a new iPhone device from Apple at the Worldwide Developers' Conference this week. Chris, seeing many mixed reviews of the EVO in particular, especially when it came to battery life, has not yet made the plunge, but I promised that if he did, he wouldn't regret it. In fact, I am having a hard time seeing myself return to the iPhone platform - barring something amazing. This probably violates my Apple fanboy contract, but that's what's happening.

This and all other EdgeTheory conversations can be found on the dedicated ET Conversations site.

Listen to the full recording below:

Despite the blog having my name in the URL, I try not to make the blog all about me. Instead, it's more fun to highlight new developments in tech, entrepreneurs and my perceptions of trends and innovation. Today, Jennifer Lindsay of Blog Talk Radio took a half hour to talk with me about the development of louisgray.com, clients I serve as Managing Director of New Media at Paladin Advisors Group, and what it takes to be an early adopter. Jennifer also took time to ask a little bit about my background, my focus in college, and my Superman vs. Clark Kent approach of focusing on enterprise companies all day and talking consumer at night. I hope you find the discussion valuable.

Jennifer posted the discussion on her site here, and I have embedded it below. You can find Jennifer on Twitter at @jennifered.