Is Stephen Colbert the most powerful man in America?

Last night I was watching Late Night with Conan O'Brien and his first guest was Stephen Colbert. The talk led to Stephen Colbert's group of staunch supporters who he calls the "Colbert Nation". Stephen Colbert knows his target market, teens and young adults probably aged 17-35 or so. He knows that they are tech saavy and he knows that they enjoy a chance to disrupt the status quo. That is why when he calls on his "Colbert Nation" to do something such as change wikipedia entries to reflect his comical views, the website later has to adapt and alter itself due to the work of the "Colbert Nation".

Fortunately, it seems as if Stephen Colbert will not be having the Colbert Nation drinking special Kool-Aid anytime soon so they can visit the mothership. But this community of people seems to be developing into more of a religious cult following. The church of Colbert is up and running and people listen and hang on his every word.

Does that make him the most powerful man in America, or is he just a crack marketer? He knows his target, he knows how to keep them involved in his brand, he has developed an incredible following. Any brand/tv show/company would love to be in the position he is in.

Will he use it for good or evil? Only time will tell.

Change when no change is required

Why do some people/companies feel the need to do something, just for the sake of showing they are actually doing something. Granted this is how everyone remains employed, gets their annual budget, keeps the investors happy, etc. But sometimes there really isn't a need to make the changes that are made.

A perfect example is Facebook. The social networking site was growing by leaps and bounds and had millions and millions of members. Members were enjoying the ease of using it and were becoming actively involved in the community, creating applications, games, groups and widgets. Then they decided to change the interface for some reason. Now granted the change was not exceptionally harsh but even in my group of friends who's status' I see daily I have seen more than a few grumbles and groans. Why chance angering and alienting your members by making a change that doesn't appear necessary. Why not focus on improving the interactions among members and creating more and more cool applications to keep people interested in the site.

Another angle on this would be the stubborness of humans and how we hate when things we know are changed on us. We will adapt to it, but the majority of the population will mutter under their breath while they do.

Just makes you think the next time you are changing something.

Is there a need for this? What is the strategy behind this decision? What will our customers reaction be?

Creating communities

Two things are on my mind right now...

1. The Real Estate market (leisure related)
2. Social networking (work related)

The concept behind residential real estate is essentially "joining a community" and the concept behind social networking (as Mitch Joel likes to tell us) is "building a community" and he says it can't be bought...... but when you are selling a community, aren't you essentially buying one too?

I have been looking at some of the new residential developments throughout my area lately and it struck me, why not have a virtual neighbourhood while your development is being built? People are buying condos in these massive buildings 2 years or more before completion date. Why not reduce the buyer's remorse through a little community building? Get people excited about where they have just sunk a major wad of cash. Let people get to know their neighbours and interact with them. Won't this be a great way to create a good feeling about those that have purchased in the building, and maybe, just maybe they will tell their friends about it.......and the community will grow.

Maybe its been done before, but I haven't seen it anywhere i've been. Seems pretty simple to me.