Lionsgate and Google deal, a nascent social media directory

A couple of overdue posts:

  • I am was one of guests on Bob Knorpp’s BeanCast podcast, where we discuss all things marketing. This week’s show included discussion of Lionsgate deal with Google to allow its content on YouTube, the InBev-Budweiser merger, data about the changing U.S. consumer, and more. Please check it out.
  • Over at ProBlogger, Darren Rowse had a great idea, asking everyone to post their social media info (Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) in the comments of a post to create a kind of social media directory of ProBlogger readers. As of this morning, the post had more than 400 members. Go add your information if you want to build your network — comments will close within the next 24 hours.

Jason Calacanis retires from blogging

Jason Calacanis, an Internet entrepreneur, says he is retiring from blogging. Simultaneously, he has launched a limited subscriber newsletter. You might want to join it, if it’s not too late. Click here.

In his email to that list yesterday, Calacanis explained why he is retiring from blogging.

It became clear to me last night after my email to y’all.

One hundred of you responded with amazing suggestions to my email last night. After that I realized that blogging is not longer the medium for me–email is. 100 amazing suggestions in 12 hours from a pool of around 500 email subscribers. That’s 20% response rate with really considered words and no drama.

This is really interesting (and it’s not April 1, so I assume this isn’t some kind of hoax or prank, though you never know). Calacanis was co-founder of Weblogsinc.com, one of the first big commercial blog networks. It was sold to AOL in October 2005 for a reported $25 million or so. So Calacanis is someone who really knows blogging and has been doing it for a long time.

You can still a lot of his online movements, of course. In addition to the email newsletter, there’s his Twitter stream, his photos on Flickr, and more in the right sidebar of his blog.

Update: Scoble says Calacanis is playing us. Could be right.