On Saturday, the Des Moines Business Record ran an article outlining social media’s importance in P.R., marketing and branding. A couple of local experts-slash-professionals were featured, including Lava Row. Thanks, Biz Record!

Link: Social media gain importance in marketing

Prediction: You’ll be hearing lots about Joost (pronounced “juiced”) very soon. Formerly code-named “The Venice Project,” Joost is interactive television content served up to your computer via peer-to-peer technology, with some cool social apps mixed in.

Intriguing to us at Lava Row are the following tidbits:

Super-niche content. For example, there are plans for an all-Transformers channel, where original episodes of the 1984 animated series will be broadcast. This means hyper-targeted advertising, as opposed to the current shotgun method of network TV. And, for the first time in television history, ads will actually be measurable. *Gasp!*

Social features. Joost gives users the ability to IM each other while enjoying the same channel. Sure, that sounds like two disparate technologies stapled together, but imagine if viewers of Grey’s Anatomy were allowed to chat with other friends watching the show, using their televisions to share the experience. It’s already proven that Grey’s fans ditch their TVs and coalesce on Facebook during commercial breaks, and vice versa. Mashing programming and interaction makes perfect sense.

As of today, you still need an invitation to download and test the Joost beta software. If you’d like an invite, just leave a comment on this post or drop us a note — we’ll hook you up.