Social Networking Subscription Model–(SiliconRepublic.com) Deloitte’s Technology Media & Telecommunications Practice in Ireland predicts trends for 2007. One of which is that older people will use social networking sites more and will be willing to pay for privacy. We agree, and believe that a cable TV model– where you pay one subscription fee and get access to varios “channels”– will come to the internet.

Bigger, Not Better for Advertisers– (eMarketer) New research suggests that so-called long-tail sites, niche sites with 1,000,000 or fewer viewers, are more effective for advertisers. A true CIQ phenomenon, democratising content and suggesting that small niche content can be monetized.

Needed in Viral: Good Storytelling– (Business Week) London Firm the Viral Factory is consulting with advertisers to make sure their viral efforts don’t backfire. We see this as a CIQ phenomenon. The principles for “good viral,” are the principles for good content or storytelling. It must be entertaining. It must have humor and conflict. In other words, it must meld advertising messages with what screenwriters have known forever.

 There’s a business proposition that we think the New York City Public Library, and other similar large research institutions, are missing:

 What if I were not a resident of NY City? What if I were in Wisconsin? Now let’s say that the book I was looking for was critical to my research. (Here’s a secret about book writers doing research: They believe that EVERY book is critical to their research, most especially those ones they can’t get their hands on right away.) What would I be willing to pay for 30 pages of juicy content?

In answer, here are the services that the NYPL could provide…

1. Research assistance to identify the pages in the book critical to the research. ($70/hr, estimated time: 30 min)

2. Scanning services to digitize those pages. ($35/hr, estimated time 1 minute per page, estimated 30 pages.)

3. Rental of secure digitized document, delivered to your inbox, 15 uses permitted (NYPL already has this policy with audio books.) $15.

4. Total Cost: $70. Yes. I would be willing to pay that. In fact, a research budget of $500 on a book  is a very reasonable cost. That gets me seven researches with NYPL. That’s a LOT of good content.

For the project outlined above, The NYPL didn’t have to invest in any new technology. Until demand built up, it is likely that existing staff could handle the requests. They could also easily be outsourced. In addition, the NYPL now gets a lot of digitized content they didn’t have before. This works especially well with articles, which are self contained. But maybe the person scanning a portion of abook might scan more than the client requested, netting a whole chapter. Now, there is no up-front cost to renting this digital download again.

Print Media Slashes Staff–(NYT, Free with registration) More news about print media needing to cut staff because of declining ad pages and ciruculation. Resources are shifting to the web. Our questions: (a) Can web CPMs support a large-scale transition of print to web? (b) Is the shift happening fast enough to save some print pubs? (c) Are digital publications doing enough to offer advertisers innovative products?

Venice Project Now Called Joost–(Media Daily News) Kazaa and Netflix founders go for convergence. They say: “Combining the best of TV with the best of the internet, Joost gives you more control and freedom than ever before – control over what you watch, and freedom to watch it whenever you like. We’re providing a platform for the best television content on the planet – a platform that will bring you the biggest and best shows from the TV studios, as well as the specialist programs created by professionals and enthusiasts.” Message for traditional media– Yikes!

Needed for Brands: Training Wheels for Second Life–(Mediapost) Greg Verdino, new-technology guy from Digitas offers brands some advice on participating in Second Life. One of his points: You can’t just build it and forget about it. We have seen this behavior for over 10 years with regard to brands on the Internet: Once the print ad or TV spot is done, you can forget about it. Brands have had a hard time adjusting to the idea of a web site that needs updating every day or week, ditto with a blog. And now we see it in their social networking participation. The realities of new media will require brands to revised their launch-it-and-forget-about-it expectations.

Hollywood & YouTube–(NYT, free with registration) Kids are uploading bootlegged movies to YouTube. Studios are trying to work out licensing deals with the site, but suits are possible. The CIQ question: How do content producers– studios in this case– harness the power of YouTube and avoid becoming like the music industry? Our answer is that they need to (a) package lots of content for free on YouTube, and (b) Invent new compelling content just for YouTube. And do it FAST.

Getting Local. REALLY Local –(NYT, free with registration) AmericanTowns.com allows communities to create hyper-local online newspapers. A great idea. We are fascinated to watch what advertising does in this space. Another likely source of revenue: Local politicians.

 Harper Collins Invests in Content Digitizers— (Publishers Weekly) HC has taken a stake in the company that has helped it create its digital warehouse. We are interested in all the potential uses– and partial uses– of this digital content. See two-part article, beginning today, on the New York Public Library.