David McCandless explains the power of infographics

August 26th, 2010

Here’s a treat - David McCandless explaining the power of visual information design/infographics at the recent TED Global conference in Oxford. There’s plenty of good for thought in his lively talk and he shows some wonderful examples of how complex data from different sources can be presented in a way that makes it more graspable. He also shows how new understanding can come from the process - and so change the ways we think.

My only concern is that the adage “garbage in, garbage out” applies even more to the production of infographics. There has to be a way of assessing the quality of the research data - and as Ben Goldacre proves every week in his Bad Science Guardian column, there is no shortage of questionable data online.

Posted in Blog, Digital communications, Digital media, Journalism, Social media, Social networking, Trends and research, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

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BBC Radio 4 You & Yours – forensic approach behind the daily consumer programme

July 15th, 2010

The BBC’s You & Yours consumer affairs programme has just covered research findings by our client, the search and social conversion agency Tamar. The patient process involved in getting that five-minute interview with Winifred Robinson (my vote for radio Voice of the Year) was another reminder of how much respect the Beeb has for its listeners.

I began talking to the producer/reporter Kevin Mousley months ago about the YouGov survey commissioned annually by Tamar – Search Attitudes. Kevin is a straight up professional who does not waste your time or his so the fact that we were able to continue the discussions was a big bonus for me.

Kevin prised apart the data, reworked the ideas and came back several times with detailed, probing questions about the value, relevance and legitimacy of the Search Attitudes series, as well as the current study. He then worked on the detailed outline script, which was revised and assessed by his team before discussing the question-set and interview flow with Neil Jackson, Tamar’s Search Strategy Director.

Kevin then arranged for studio time in London so that Neil could be interviewed by Winifred via direct link to the Manchester studio where You & Yours was being produced.

Put that all together and we’re looking at least a couple of days’ work, for five-minutes of focussed Radio 4 airtime. I was mightily impressed!

You can hear Neil’s interview and learn more about You & Your team here as well as review the Tamar research, blogs and news on its website.

Posted in Blog, Content, Digital communications, Journalism, News, PR | No Comments »

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Editor tells staff not to use silly words like “tweet”

June 14th, 2010

Here’s a story that caught my attention over the weekend, The New York Times’ editor, Phil Corbet, sent a memo around to staff telling them not to use ‘tweet’ or similar words, which he referred to as  “silly”.

Here is the memo:

How About “Chirp”?

Some social-media fans may disagree, but outside of ornithological contexts, “tweet” has not yet achieved the status of standard English. And standard English is what we should use in news articles.

Except for special effect, we try to avoid colloquialisms, neologisms and jargon. And “tweet” — as a noun or a verb, referring to messages on Twitter — is all three. Yet it has appeared 18 times in articles in the past month, in a range of sections.

Of course, new technology terms sprout and spread faster than ever. And we don’t want to seem paleolithic. But we favour established usage and ordinary words over the latest jargon or buzzwords.

One test is to ask yourself whether people outside of a target group regularly employ the terms in question. Many people use Twitter, but many don’t; my guess is that few in the latter group routinely refer to “tweets” or “tweeting.” Someday, “tweet” may be as common as “e-mail.” Or another service may elbow Twitter aside next year, and “tweet” may fade into oblivion. (Of course, it doesn’t help that the word itself seems so inherently silly.)

“Tweet” may be acceptable occasionally for special effect. But let’s look for deft, English alternatives: use Twitter, post to or on Twitter, write on Twitter, a Twitter message, a Twitter update. Or, once you’ve established that Twitter is the medium, simply use “say” or “write.”

Techcrunch has a couple of updates on the story:

Update: Dave Itzkoff, who blogs for the New York Times, tweets that the report is indeed not true. Which makes it a perfect satirical piece worth sharing anyway. Update 2: Another New York Times staffer tells us privately that the memo is “100% real” and Itzkoff clarifies that it is not the memo’s existence he was denying, but that some journalists inside the NYT recognise “tweet” as a word and there is an internal debate ongoing about it.

Is it true or not? Whatever the case it is mildly amusing, and highly embarrassing for the NY Times, but hang on a sec maybe the guy has a point, will the vast majority of his readership know what “tweet” and similar words actually mean?

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Journalist gets Twitter abuse

June 10th, 2010

In the Football/soccer world, Guillem Balague is a key fixture at Sky Sports, and a well respected journalist who, like many others, is using Twitter to voice his opinions, thoughts and share news.

Today he had a mini rant:

“Courtesy of Twitter, I`ve been getting more abuse from the Twitter tw*ts and toddlers because I`ve been reporting on Barcelona’s strategy for recruiting Cesc Fabregas from Arsenal.

Apparently, because I`m Spanish, I`m doing my bit for the Catalan club of which I must surely be a fan: because I`m from Barcelona. You couldn`t be more wrong. Is every Londoner and Arsenal fan?”

I shall Tweet no more, other than to link to an article in full. The internet has become a mine of mis-information and unless you read it here, or in an article with my name on the by-line, then the next time you read in a forum or a blog that ‘Balague says….’ – you can take it with a pinch of salt.

But when I report that candidates for the Barcelona presidency have a strategy for signing Cesc Fabregas, apparently I`m single handedly masterminding the downfall of Arsene Wenger.

The most interesting part for me was the “The internet has become a mine of mis-information” an issue that will pop up again and again I’m sure, and causes a lot of problems for individuals and brand’s alike - which is part of the reason why and understanding of the theories on online networks and online reputation management is so important!

Read the story in his own words

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Is the mainstream media changing to meet news consumption trends?

May 27th, 2010

Two very interesting stories caught my eye this week in the world of traditional and online news consumption. The first is that The Times, and Sunday Times, launched redesigned websites and will begin charging next month after offering registered users a free trial for four weeks. The Guardian has done a good write up.

The second story, well it’s a piece of research actually, is the latest from Pew Research Center, this time focused on its Project for Excellence in Journalism, Mashable has done a good overview.

To my mind these two announcements couldn’t have been better timed as they show how the consumption of news is changing (at least in the U.S), next to the reaction of a traditional media outlet to this change.

I’ve gone on record in the past and said that switching to a paid-for content model, with only minor changes to the offering, is often an old-media reaction to a new media problem, i.e. ‘Our content is available online for free, and we’re losing money, so let’s charge for the content - that will work!’ Well, yes it would, assuming those that currently consume your content are willing to pay for it, or at least a certain percentage are willing to pay.

The obvious issue with this approach is most are not willing to pay for the content as it’s not really differentiated from the reams of other content that is accessible online for free. Plus, if you really want to get paid-for content for free, there are always ways in which you can do that, as long as you don’t want immediate access to it.

So, will The Times new website help in its objective of securing enough paying customers? Well, on the face of it the new website is pretty good, it’s been relatively well received, but when asked if you would pay for it, the majority have said ‘no’. That pretty much tells its own story. The Sunday Times has a loyal following, but the majority of those followers are hardcopy readers, and I don’t feel the Times brand has enough of a loyal following online, nor is the new website embracing the opportunities to become ‘social’ although it will likely gain revenue at least until more of the UK’s national newspapers follow suit and there is then a more level playing field.

To help understand this change in policy from The Times, and more accurately News International, let’s look at what the Pew research* can tell us about user behaviour.

The headlines from the research include: ‘News today is a shared, social experience. Half of Americans say they rely on people around them to find out at least some of the news they need to know. 44% of online news users get news at least a few times a week through emails, automatic updates or posts from social networking sites.’

Interestingly the stories and issues that gain traction in social media differ substantially from those that lead in the mainstream press, Roy Greenslade covers of this issue in more detail.

However, social media stories also differ greatly from each other. ‘Of the 29 weeks that Pew tracked on all three social platforms, blogs, Twitter and YouTube shared the same top story just once. That was the week of June 15-19, 2009, when the protests that followed the Iranian elections led on all three.’

‘Across all three social platforms, though, attention spans are brief. Just as news consumers don’t stay long on any website; social media doesn’t stay long on any one story. On blogs, 53% of the lead stories in a given week stay on the list no more than three days. On Twitter that is true of 72% of lead stories, and more than half (52%) are on the list for just 24 hours.’

Interestingly, most of those top weekly stories differ dramatically from what is receiving attention in the traditional press. Social media tend to home in on stories that get much less attention in the mainstream press.

So, how does this help us to reflect on The Times decision? Well, it shows that the public are choosing to consume their news in whichever way fits them, by whichever method or platform suits them.

Increasingly the confines of traditional media outlets, and in many cases that includes their websites, are being shunned simply because we all have choice and many of the alternatives are more flexible for social interaction online. Sure, traditional sources are important to get the details on breaking events, but on a day-to-day basis, we chose our outlets according to our need.

This doesn’t mean traditional media will die, and its authority still carries huge weight - much more so than the individual social outlets, but the fact of the matter is the consumption of media has changed, and until traditional media outlets realise that, evolve their offerings to meet this change and stop trying to cram traditional media methods into the digital world they are going to continue to struggle. It’s not the reader that needs to change to suit the platform, it’s the platform that needs to change, go beyond its own confines and change to meet the reader’s environment.

If you would like to hear more from The Times, you can listen to the Radio 4 interview with James Harding, editor, speaking earlier this week.

*The Pew Research Center, Project for Excellence in Journalism study examined the blogosphere and social media by tracking the news linked to on millions of blogs and social media pages tracked by Icerocket and Technorati from Jan.19, 2009, through Jan. 15, 2010. It also tracked the videos on YouTube’s news channel for the same period. It measured Twitter by tracking news stories linked to within tweets as monitored by Tweetmeme from June 15, 2009, through January 15, 2010.

Posted in Blog, Blogging, Content, Digital communications, Digital media, Journalism, PR, Social media, Trends and research, Useful resources | 1 Comment »

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Corporate social media, walking-the-walk

May 20th, 2010

I read an interesting article by Tom Foremski on ZD Net yesterday, titled: ‘Corporate social media is not social - it’s sales media‘

As you can see the piece is focused on the issues of corporate social media efforts that are really just focused on selling, or as Tom says: ‘When it comes to corporate use of social media I have problems with the use of the word “social” because it’s not accurate. It’s not social it’s all about sales.’

On the whole I agree with Tom’s conclusions, the simple truth is; direct sales tactics do not work in social media. However, I don’t believe corporates should not engage via social media at all, they simply need to understand the medium, adjust their approach and get involved where they can be useful. They have to understand the rules have changed; social media isn’t a broadcast medium nor is it a sales channel.
Fundamentally, this is a difficult issue for many corporates to grasp. Sure, the theory of listening, understanding, developing a conversation and engaging usefully sounds good, but the next question is usually; ‘When do we get to the part where I make money?’

There-in lies the problem. The part about listening, understanding your community and developing conversation is the key, and those that walk-the-walk, quickly discover the many new opportunities that social media offers if done right. After all what price would you place on real engagement and feedback from your customers, understanding their real needs and opening a constant flow of feedback - isn’t that valuable? Doesn’t that lead to reputation development, and yes eventually the coveted sale?

The value here is in the conversation and learning, something marketers have been trying to develop with their audiences for many years, and now have the opportunity to achieve relatively easily.

The difficulty comes in the mindset, i.e. helping a corporate to understand that social media isn’t a direct sales channel. In my experience, part of the problem is that social media has been hyped up to such a degree with many corporates, that it’s like showing a child a huge tub of ice cream, telling them it’s the best they’ll ever have, but then saying they can’t eat it in the same way they’ve eaten ice cream before, otherwise it’ll react badly with them. The natural reaction is to ignore such advice and dive in with spoon at the ready, and later discover the error of their ways when the stomach pains begin.

Getting back to Tom’s piece, I can appreciate that many corporates have jumped straight in, tried to apply non-social approaches and this has not only failed to deliver sales, but probably only served to damage the brand.

However, the same isn’t true for everyone, there are many examples of brands engaging in social media in an honest and open fashion, and getting their just desserts (excuse the pun). I also think these examples are on the increase, even if it’s up for debate whether the bad still outweighs the good, at least at the moment.

So, should we be surprised that corporate’s first few shaky steps into the world of social media are not always in the right direction? No. Hopefully the more case studies we see of positive results from social media (not necessarily sales-related), the more corporates will be willing to walk-the-walk about social media theories and strategies, as well as talk-the-talk.

Posted in Blog, Blogging, Content, Digital communications, Digital media, Emerging technology, Journalism, PR, Social media | No Comments »

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Social Media Optimization Is The New SEO With Brian Solis

April 15th, 2010

Last night, I joined in the Hubspot webinar on “Social Media is the New SEO” with Brian Solis and took away enough ideas to last through the rest of this year at least.

Brian engages with diamond-like clarity and precision; and he doesn’t waste words so, likewise, I’ll keep this short.

You can see Brian’s presentation on Slideshare. http://www.slideshare.net/HubSpot/social-media-optimization-is-the-new-seo

Main takeaways:

1. Social media conversations currently are “Blah Blah Blah!”
2. The next level for marketing/brand professionals is to cut through
3. Do this by accepting that we are all publishers now
4. Create and curate Social Objects that extend depth and range of your conversations
5. Social Media Objects, managed correctly, automate your social media work
6. This is Word of Mouth automated, not just “going viral”
7. Social Media will have its own budget in companies next year
8. Maybe every savvy company will have a Chief Editorial Officer
9. That Officer will direct quality, calibre and frequency of content (Social Objects)
10. The new “CEOs” will help to connect the dots in Search.
11. With Social Objects you will be found and be useful, relevant, authoritative.
12. Social Media Optimisation is more than a conversation, more than manipulation
13. Empathy is the key.

You know, there was so much more in that hour - The buzz around the webinar and Brian’s book, Engage, is continuing through the #engage hashtag if you want to joiun the conversation.

You can also out more about Social Media Optimisation on Brian’s blogsite http://www.briansolis.com/2010/02/social-media-optimization-smo-is-the-new-seo-part-1/

Posted in Blog, Content, Digital media, Emerging technology, Industry events, Journalism, PR, Social media, Social networking, Trends and research, Useful resources | 12 Comments »

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RIP Guy Kewney

April 8th, 2010

This morning I heard the sad news that technology journalist Guy Kewney had passed away following a year-long battle with cancer of the liver and bowel. I remember him calling me in May last year when I’d just given birth to my daughter Isabella, to congratulate me and let me know about his diagnosis.

I’m not going to try and write an obituary as some lovely ones have already been written, and I merely wanted to write something short as a sign of respect for Guy who was a truly great journalist, who I had the priviledge to work with for a few years at Ziff Davis and ZDNet, and who remained a trusted friend.

During his illness, Guy kept a daily online journal The Hunkymouse - his honesty and bravery was an inspiration, and the number of comments that people have left through his journey is testimony to how loved and respected he was.

If you would like to read more about Guy’s life, here is a touching obituary by his great friend and colleague Manek Dubash, and another by Iain Thomson.

I will always remember Guy by his trademark sandals and branded fleeces! As Manek says, “he was an inspiration to two generations of journalists and PR flacks over the decades of his working life.”

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How Bournemouth University is tackling digital PR at degree level

March 26th, 2010

Yesterday Andy and I met up with Tom Watson, who is deputy dean (Education) of Bournemouth University’s Media School, and highly regarded within the PR academic world.

We were keen to gain insight into how the next generation of PRs, marketers and journalists are being educated and prepared for the field, with particular interest in how social media is being addressed within these disciplines.

The Media School is divided into four academic groups: Marketing & PR, Journalism & Communications (which includes a course in Multimedia Journalism), Media Production, and Computer Animation.

What was interesting to hear is that numbers for the Interactive Media Production BA (Hons) course have been dwindling, with no clear explanation why. Baffling in light of the thriving industry sector that this course represents. According to Tom, the reality is that interactivity/digital is being built into all degree programmes, and students are taking the view that interactivity is being dealt with at all levels across all media degrees. The boundaries between the various degree programmes are increasingly becoming less confined.

The Public Relations BA (Hons) is a four year programme, including a 40 week placement in the third year. Digital communications strategies are taught in the second year, and again in the fourth. However, Tom admitted that social media is moving faster then they can research it which is making it a challenge to incorporate within course programmes - this is a reality of our times for the PR academic world.

There were no surprises that Twitter came up a lot in conversation. It was refreshing to get outside of our echo chamber which in all reality is obsessed with Twitter, and hear how the younger generation of students are rapidly losing interest in Twitter, and the academic PR world do not see it as the be all and end all.

Tom is currently organising The International History of Public Relations Conference, and his DummySpit blog can be read here.

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Twitter stats don’t tell the whole story

March 11th, 2010

As you might have seen, an interesting Twitter stat has been doing the rounds recently: ‘21% of Twitter users are active users’ ,a stat that you’re likely to see regularly from now on.

This originated from the Barracuda Labs 2009 Annual Report, which was released earlier this week, revealing data from Twitter trends and tracking, as well as Web threats and trends, and email spam and viruses. The report is also available at the company’s portal.

The study looked at around 19 million Twitter accounts, and started with one assumption: an active or “True” Twitter user has at least 10 followers, follows at least 10 people, and had tweeted at least 10 times.

Looking back, the data shows interesting usage trends and reveals that 26% of Twitter users had 10 followers or more by December 2009, while only 40% were following 10 people or more, in fact 51% of users were following less than five people.

The report also confirms that 34% of Twitter users hadn’t tweeted once, while 73% had tweeted less than 10 times. That means nearly all of the tweets on the social network were coming from about 1/4 of the user base, and it is these users that the report refers to as ‘power users’.

So, are these revealing stats going to spell the end of the myth that Twitter is going to be the new communications platform for all? Hopefully, because i doubt even the quarter of Twitter users that are using it consistently thought it was going ever to be that.

If you’re not trying to make money out of Twitter, the importance attached to the amount or frequency of Twitter’s usage should not be as important as one might first assume.

The most important element of Twitter is the conversation, not the brand, not the technology and not the potential, but the conversation. That conversation doesn’t just happen on Twitter, it happens across many social networks, messaging platforms, via SMS, even in email and person-to-person, and Twitter allows part of that conversation, bringing communities together that choose to share information with each other.

If Twitter stopped tomorrow, the conversation would still continue, and my bet is the majority of Twitter’s ‘power user’ base, that Tweet the majority of the conversation, use other platforms to continue the conversation in other ways.

So is this the end of Twitter and the Twitter success story? No, Twitter is a massive success story, but it has been blown out of proportion in some ways. It is, as the research says, a valuable tool for ‘power users’, but in the world of social media we all have freedom of choice, we all communicate in different ways and some of us will find our preferred community on Twitter while others will look elsewhere for a better fit in terms of relevance. However, the one common theme is the conversation, and the ability to share; knowledge, content, news, excitement, sorrow, whatever.

We’ve seen the ‘no-one reads blogs’ headlines before, which again i don’t believe to be the case. Of the millions of blogs only a small percentage are useful and interesting, and those blogs are well utilised, the others quite simply are not. Does that make blogs any less useful though?

What we are seeing is Twitter maturing, as the study says, Twitter recently reported it had reached approximately 50 million tweets per day.

In the beginning of 2008, Twitter was growing approximately 0.31% per month. By November 2008, that growth increased to 1.95% per month.

After December 2008, Twitter’s growth exploded from nearly 2% per month, rising to approximately 4% per month, before finally peaking at nearly 20% per month in April 2009. Growth appears to have normalised, dropping back to 0.34% in December 2009.

We can also see more evidence of Twitter users finding their feet. A full 79% of users had less than ten tweets in June 2009, but that number dropped to 73% by December. 80% of users had less than 10 followers in June 2009, but that percentage dropped to 74% by December.

So, little by little, Twitter is finding its place in the role of conversation. It’s not going to change the way we communicate radically, but it is helping us to communicate more effectively, with those in our chosen community.

Posted in Blog, Blogging, Content, Digital communications, Digital media, Journalism, PR, Social media, Social networking, Trends and research, Useful resources | 1 Comment »

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