Social media has made today’s marketing less about controlling the message and more about asking questions. While Twitter and Facebook want to know what’s happening, Foursquare and other location-based social networks wonder, “Where are you?”

For those unfamiliar with Foursquare, the service lets users “check in” to a location via their smartphones or laptops and logs their positions on a map that others can see. The more you check in, the more badges and bragging rights you earn.

“The X-factor appeal of Foursquare is in its social currency,” says David Berkowitz, senior director of emerging media and innovation at digital agency 360i. “Giving Foursquare users these badges for completing explicit tasks adds an element of surprise, like a scavenger hunt.”  The badges also help users show off their interests to others, enabling them to connect with like-minded people and keep the “game” going.

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From such viral hits as I Can Has Cheezburger to helpful tools like Walk Score, hundreds of startup companies have their roots in Seattle’s thriving entrepreneurial community. This Q&A is the first in a series of interviews with Seattle-area startups.

Mark Briggs, CEO of Serra Media

When was Serra Media founded?

Officially in 2007, but the company didn’t start doing business until January 2009.

How and why did Serra Media get started?

It grew out of a side project while I was working at The (Tacoma) News Tribune. A friend of mine, who had started a couple tech companies in Seattle, and I came up with an interesting idea and decided to build a prototype. After showing it to several prospective companies and receiving positive feedback, we decided to launch the company to market the idea.

What does Serra Media do?

We power Web sites and provide mobile solutions to build community for hyperlocal news, information and shopping and help companies capture local advertising dollars shifting from traditional print publications.

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The recession may be hurting the pocketbooks of people and businesses, but a new study shows that few companies that currently spend money on social media plan to cut back next year. The 2009 Tribalization of Business Study by Deloitte, Beeline Labs and the Society for New Communications Research reveals that 94 percent of the 400 companies surveyed intend to maintain or increase investment in their communities.

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I’m going to say it – I really like the ads on Facebook.

This is a significant statement because my traditional attitude toward advertisement consumption has been rather adversarial. Before there was DVR, I was the person who muted the commercials. Now I love my TiVO so much for all the noise it removes from my entertainment experience that I could give it a hug. And though I tout the wonders of internet radio station Pandora – I curse every time a 15-second ad is inserted into my streaming music. Obnoxious advertising was one of the primary factors why I abandoned terrestrial radio in the first place. I will stop reading an article of interest on a website if one of those Flash ads dances across the text. The user experience for that kind of interruption is so negative that I will actively stay away from that site and try to patronize its competitors.
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Lots of companies are now trying to incorporate social media into their marketing campaign. Twitter as a very famous social media platform has become a important place for companies to do that.

Tracking Twitter(http://trackingtwitter.com/brands) is a website used to classify companies that have profiles in Twitter. It sorts all those brands by media, television, celebrities and electronic artists. Under these four big groups, it further classifies those brands for the purpose of bringing convenience to users. Further more, every brand’s latest tweets and followers will be demonstrated parrallel to each brand. As I see, this website could be a good place for companies to evaluate their online influence and for users to measure the popularity and credibility of those brands.

Today, music-nerd bible Pitchfork Media launched a newly redesigned site. The first thing most readers probably noticed as they rolled out of bed or sat down at their desks was the really cool looking yet highly intrusive iPod Touch banner at the top of the page. This Flash monster not only shows the iPod Touch in action, but the device itself smacks around the menu buttons located along the top. Wait, what? Pitchfork doesn’t have menu buttons there, and everything isn’t all white, and hmm, that font looks familiar. Not only was an Apple ad featured prominently, but the site design itself seemed to be taking a lot of cues from Apple, too. If it’s permanent, it will take some getting used to. If it’s some sort of sarcastic jab at the indie love affair with Apple products, well played Pitchfork. And if it’s one of those “so ironic, it’s not” moments, then well played again. I think.

Image by Geek and Poke

I’m a huge fan of leveraging web resources, especially the new ones like social media that have popped up in within the past decade.  But, I’m going to play devil’s advocate.  I don’t think we know enough about social to solely rely on them for lead generation and monetization.  I believe that social media provides a platform to develop conversations that create relationships, which eventually may help generate leads.

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In the financial crisis, the industry which can not generate payoff while cost a lot to maintain the business will be influenced the most, of course in a bad way, such as the community and video in the social media business. Probably considering the financial crisis might be tempered by the end of 2009, according to the estimation of eMarketer, American Online vedio ads market are expected to grow in an exponential rate after the year 2010. I am looking forward to see if this trend will effect the dominant position of annoying TV ads in the future. Below is the chart.