If a city needs a louder voice, bloggers can act in that capacity, but the question becomes, what message does a city want to amplify? And how could we help? I think it’s easy to think the answer is to write a great blog post that tells people to come to wherever.

I had the pleasure to take part of the last day of a tour of Pittsburgh, put on by Visit Pittsburgh. I missed the first few days, which brought the rest of the tour group to see even more of the city, but I had the opportunity to visit a historical museum, a few local attractions, and a Lucky Duck amphibious vehicle tour of the city by land and by water.

The experience was great, and because Kristin Mitchell and team at Visit Pittsburgh found some swell bloggers to talk about their experiences in Pittsburgh, they’ll no doubt get some nice write-ups.

Online reputation management consists of tracking your brand and reacting when necessary.

Though sometimes tedious, brand monitoring can save you from a potential disaster when someone cites your name in an article that misrepresents you. Aside from protection, it can help you proactively join conversations around your topic area, helping to get your brand name out there.

It's almost 2009... and if you aren't active online you are missing valuable opportunities to advertise your value to the world—through articles, blog entries, social-network profiles, comments, videos and more.

As both a content producer and consumer, your name is being spread throughout each of these circuits by people you might not even know. In fact, research firm IDC finds that there is more content being created about you than you create yourself.

Since our company launched Chatter Guard, our social media management over a year ago, we have worked with hotel management companies, hotel chains, independent hotels and restaurants and clearly the impact of social media on these businesses is a moving target, a target that demands a constant awareness and management.

The main comment we hear from prospective Chatter Guard clients is the inability to relate social media to sales results, obviously to enable a definitive return-on-investment. You cannot track the impact of your online reputation to an individual transaction. But, over a short period of time, depending on the trend of your reviews, you will see the impact in your total sales results. Social media is a critically important element in the decision process for the majority of shoppers. Your value of your online reputation is equally important along with the quality of your website, your search engine marketing and even email campaigns. Its value clearly exceeds that of online or print advertising.

The widely known maxim is that if parents like what the kids are listening to, it's time for the kids to ditch that music and move on. So what happens when mom requests you as a friend on Facebook?

The notion is not inconceivable, according to a new Entertainment Trends in America study by The NPD Group, Port Washington, N.Y. Social networking sites used by teenagers and young adults are also being adopted by baby boomers (aged 44-61). The findings show that 41% of baby boomers have visited social networks, such as MySpace or Facebook, and 61% have been to sites with streaming or downloadable video.

The study, which surveyed 11,600 consumers online, also found that over 57% of Web users overall have stopped at social networking sites in the past three months. Baby boomers stopped on average of eight times in that period.

"There is an older demographic that is shifting over the youth-centric things on the Web," said Doug Akin, evp-brand development at Mr. Youth, New York. "There is a humor to having one's mom as a Facebook friend in some circles. But it's not actually cool for most people."

The web 2.0 shift has had a huge impact across a variety of markets. The peer to peer influence on today's online buyers has prompted many industries to get involved in these new trends to stay on top. Online marketers across the board have responded by incorporating podcasts, blogs, social networking, photo/video-sharing, etc. into their marketing mix.

One particular market that has fully embraced these new technologies is travel and tourism.

Many state, regional and local tourism offices have invested heavily in online marketing initiatives, and during these trying economic times social aspects have been a huge factor for tourism industry websites. Social media, such as blogs and podcasts, can really help to highlight a region's natural assets from the view of someone who lives there, or who has visited the area themselves, and these can all add to the sense of value for the vacation planner.

One city that is incorporating the latest and greatest in social and new media technologies is Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Virtual Philadelphia site, which is still in the works, will soon boast amazing interactive 3D technologies that allow users to truly see Philadelphia from a walking, driving, or aerial perspective. Interactive options and information will be available by simply clicking on different locations within the 3D space as you make your way through this historic city.

Jason Calacanis, who got into blogging early and big, has quit.

He co-founded a network of blogs called Weblogs in 2003, before the medium cracked the mainstream, and then sold it to AOL in 2005, working there until 2007. Today he is chief executive of Mahalo, a search engine guided by editors rather than algorithms.

After five years of writing on tech industry topics as well as personal ones and building an audience of 10,000 to 20,000 daily visitors, Calacanis said he got tired of all the nasty commenters and opportunistic "link-baiters," people who post just to promote their own blogs.

Hoteliers often ask HeBS how they can monitor the Internet chatter surrounding their hotels and whether or not they should pay for services that offer this type of monitoring. What hotel review websites should you monitor? How often should you check for reviews about your hotel on these websites? Should you provide a rebuttal for reviews? These are just a few of the questions hoteliers ponder on this subject. This article offers a free, quick, and easily implemented action plan for monitoring reviews about your hotel. 

It’s common knowledge that the Internet has certainly changed how travel consumers perceive the credibility of information. Any discrepancy between “official” and “unofficial” content should be dealt with immediately. A travel supplier has to stand by its product/service, but cannot ignore the “popular vote” for its product’s quality. HeBS surveys and our own research show that consumer-generated content on social media sites and networks is perceived as more credible by online travelers. And the bigger the disparity between official and unofficial content, the bigger the gap in credibility.

Facebook took the college scene by storm. Boomers may be another story.

Less than one-quarter of US Internet users ages 40 and over use social networking Web sites, according to the JWT BOOM/ThirdAge "Boomers, Healthcare and Interactive Media" study conducted last month.

As travelers become more Internet-savvy, they're turning increasingly to travel wikis and online travel communities for the most up-to-date, reliable information available. The appeal of a wiki is that it's constantly updated and provides varying points of view.

It used to be that travelers looking for the hippest getaway, the coziest hotel, or the best restaurant had to rely solely on travel guidebooks, which were often out of date by the time they were published.

The Web, however, has spawned a new destination for those seeking travel information: travel wikis and online communities.

Created by travelers, for travelers, these sites offer travel stories, tips, observations and reviews, as well as networking opportunities for those who share a love of the open road.