Samantha Power, in the most recent issue of Time Magazine suggests criticism of web 2.0 trends in “Technologies’ power to narrow our view.” Power highlights the ongoing trend in technology, politics, and social movements:
Much has been made of the convening and mobilizing power of today’s technology. A person inspired by a cause can blog about their outrage and plot a response on Facebook with other similarly animated people. While any single congressional district might not produce a groundswell to demand a halt to global warming or killing in Darfur, a virtual community unmoored from geography can deliver a critical mass.
Power, however, worries:
But while the long tail ensures once obscure documentaries remain available, citizen advocacy may have a short tail, causing the number of viable causes to get winnowed to a handful of megacauses. Burma may achieve the requisite market share, while Burundi fails to penetrate at all.
Non-profit Advocacy and Outreach 2.0:
While I agree with Power’s on-point recognition that this is an issue that needs to be highlighted, addressed head-on, and discussed robustly in society, I fear her analysis may be slightly askew. Certainly an undercurrent of the issue Power discussed is emerging, however I feel Power may miss the larger point. Initially, Power’s analysis forgets the power of the network online. Social movements, non-profits, and advocacy groups are uniquely positioned to take advantage of the community and community aspects of web 2.0, particularly as mobile expands. A nonprofit concerned with Burundi can find other folks interested in similar issues via social media platforms and social networking communities (for instance those interested in human rights in Burma and China, as well as those concerned with genocide and ethnic conflict). Further, a non-profit concerned about Burundi can talk about related issues on their blog, as well as provide context and depth for what may be more shallow coverage in mass media. Video platforms like YouTube, Vimeo, and UStream along with Ovoovoo and Seemic provide the ability to provide dramatic documentation of rights abuses, environmental destruction, and compelling stories of cancer. Video can tell these stories in a way the written word may not. Further, as mobile video expands, the ability to cover issues and international news, including international human rights, ethnic conflict, and genocide, will vastly expand.
A More Viable Criticism of Web 2.0 Communities and Trends:
Non-profits may struggle to find the most strategic platforms to use amongst the thousands of web 2.0 platforms. Understanding how their customers and donors will behave online in three to five years is certainly a difficult calculation. Third, dealing with the struggles of getting outside the echo chamber of the non profit blogosphere in constructive ways and dealing with the information overload in productive ways (aka social networking overstrech may be larger concerns that the ones Power outlines). Fourth, web 2.0 uniquely risks encouraging the younger generation to conflate knowledge of human rights with more robust forms of activism and volunteerism. To me these seem like the more urgent risks and disadvantages of a web 2.0 world for non-profits, social movements, and advocacy groups.
Are the criticisms Powers outlines a real concern? What are the actual disadvantages of a web 2.0 world?
According to the tech savvy folks at CNET, government agencies and political representatives are increasingly leveraging web 2.0 technologies (also know as social media, the Interactive Web, and Live Web) for greater citizen (customer) interaction:
Governments are expected to increasingly use social networking and other Web 2.0 innovations as a means of fostering greater participation and dialogue with their citizens, as well as encouraging more effective intragovernment communication.
“A lot of Web 2.0 applications will allow government to change the nature of what they can do, in terms of interaction, but apart from the technical side of things, there will be a greater focus on improving the business of government,” said Richard Harris, research vice president at analyst firm Gartner.
Branding:
• What is the purpose of your social media strategy? Is it to increase customer support? Branding? Marketing? Product and service innovation?
• How is the blog helping your branding?
• How could the blog better help your branding?
Audience and Customers:
• What content should you be addressing for your audience?
• How can you address your customers needs better with social media?
• How can you better address your audience needs and concerns in your campaign?
• How can you make the experience more participatory and community oriented?
• How can you increase reader engagement?
• How can you better use the collective knowledge of your readers?
Blog Productivity/Getting Things Done:
• Are you creating focus in your posts? Individually and collectively?
• Could you improve your current social media schedule and workflow? How?
Online/Offline Strategy Integration:
• Are your offline and online strategies integrated?
• Could you do a better job of integrating your strategies?
What would you add to this social media audit and assessment for web strategy and branding?
Check out this earlier post for more perspectives on return on investment assessments for web 2.0 and social media.
Social Media and Video Conferencing Tools Meet the Environment:
Well, perhaps we don’t have a direct effect. However, we can a) decrease our overall consumption of gas and b) decrease the price we end up spending at the pump by using social media platforms like Tokbox to connect, communicate, and share ideas. Ultimately, this and other video conferencing tools are time savers, because you don’t have to spend time on an airplane or sitting in traffic. The applications send endless….from brownbag lunches to meetings to interviews to conferences. In my book, thats a pretty high return on investment (ROI).
Questions Moving Forward in Video Conferencing:
The question becomes…How smooth is the streaming? And how will they integrate mobile?
The Wiggly Wigglers podcast demonstrates how even remote businesses can leverage social media tools, like podcasts to reach customers and spread the overall message of the organization globally. In fact, its a great case study in the small business use of social media and web 2.0 technologies. [Just grabbing the first 45 seconds or so of this gives you a good idea of how they are leveraging the technology in their marketing efforts]
Solutions to the Return on Investment and Web 2.0 Metrics Discussion:
With the emergence of Web 2.0 and social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and the explosion in corporate blogging, web analytics and Return on Investment (ROI) in experiencing a renewed interest and scrutiny.
Knowing what to listen to and track is critically important to a business bottom line. On Linked In Answers, I just asked “What are the most important metrics to track?” More specifically:
-Visitors per day/week/year
-Repeat visitors
-Time on site
-Website conversion action (# per on site to conversion–ie on email list, inquiry, purchase)
-Links for SEO purposes
What do you think is most important for a business website?
And how can you track the ROI of the web over time? (ie the ROI is often 3 to 6 to 12 months down the line on various web techniques. How do you take that into account?)
Web Metrics Resources and Update: Dave McClure has a great Slideshare that provides a great deal of focus to the social media and web 2.0 metrics conversation.
Photosharing site Flickr recently made the jump to video (click here for an example of Flickr video: Flickr’s Golden Age), perhaps in an effort of Yahoo to keep up with Google’s YouTube. Can’t wait to see the other new features Flickr rolls out over the next 6 months.
Phil Wickham has amazing Christian music…and he’s giving away his music for free.
I just think this is pretty cool. Not only is he releasing the music and the live performance for free, he’s inviting his listeners to vote on the tracks he selects (aka crowdsourcing). A great way to embrace faith and his Christian music community.
Please feel free contact me with yourweb 2.0 and social media marketing, as well as your blog consulting and coaching questions. I look forward to helping introduce you to blogging, the wonderful world of social media, and helping you increase your search rank in Google via search engine optimization (SEO).
This is a great presentation by the man, the myth, the legend–Merlin Mann about Flocked Up. It is targeted at web coders and geeks….but has some mainstream appeal as well. What a great way to brand yourself and your social networking site as fun and worth checking out. Merlin really woke this SXSW 2008 crowd up. Wow! I just wish I had been able to check this and Austin, TX out this year.
I can’t make this code from Viddler work, just scroll down to the video at Sleepydad)
Ok…they haven’t said bye yet, but they are certainly considering getting rid of it:
The editor of the Knoxville News Sentinel, Jack McElroy, revealed on his blog this week that the newspaper is considering abandoning stock listings and even the business section entirely. “This trend is happening because the cost of newsprint is rising sharply, thanks to consolidation in that industry, and newspapers are eliminating their stocks pages, which have become increasingly obsolete in the Internet age. After you remove stock listings from a Business section, it’s hard for most newspapers to justify a standalone Business section.”
Its kinda cool to think that we have such forward thinking newspapers here in Tennessee. I think keeping the business section makes sense to the extent that you can report on local business interests and separate them from more local stories of the community and human variety.
The future of missions includes technology and social media. I just ran across this sweet post about Missions 2.0. (photos, videos, and wiki’s Oh My) Certainly, the work of bloggers around Compassion International suggests this trend will continues. I’m sure mobile will be a big part of this as soon as the video and pictures improve.
“Because the purpose of business is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two, and only two, basic functions: marketing and innovation.”
Peter Drucker
Chris Bernard is correct to highlight that “social media engages them both.” Ergo…social media should be high in the priorities of business given the way it connects to its very purpose and core mission.
Mr. Ryan Moede does a great job of creativing a visually and rhetorically compelling case for social media as an active part in the Christian college community (and organizations and academic institutions of all shapes and sizes). I’ve been thinking about this since November of last year, the notion especially hit home with Professor Michael Wesch and his anthropology class at Kansas State produced this:Increasingly as we think about now and the next three to five years: we are the media. That revolution alone is reason enough to wake up and recognize the need to integrate social media in the college classroom and across the ideological spectrum:
• Blogs and social media are an intimate part of personal branding and careers. Online networking via Linked In, Facebook, and niche social sites are proving this. Networking Events are even transmitted and supported in the digital space (think Goto Meeting, Blog Her’s Second Life initiative, the promotional video for Blogger Social, or the way you find out about events in Facebook, Meetup, and Upcoming)
• Mainstream media is trending down and increasingly going both digital and interactive.
• People of all ages are spending more time online, with YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, and blogs taking off.
• It’s a digital communication revolution. Blogs, wikis, and other social media are personal expression engines that will help create Communication 2.0, Education 2.0, and Work 2.0.
• The web is changing the fundamental nature of organizations now and dramatically over the next decade. If Christian Universities and Universities as a whole are going to keep up, they must adapt. Its a fundamental shift in culture and identity that I don’t think has been seen since the 1960’s.
• Video, mobile, and community platforms are the place where the next revolution is at. Bottom up, participatory, and creative communication is the wave of the future. This means that social media is anywhere (and almost everywhere).
• Christian organizations and individuals face unique responsibilities and value conflicts in this digital space, which aren’t being addressed in mainstream curriculums.An excellent example of the power and creative passion of social media is found at Qui Diaz’s blog about social media and nonprofits:
I’m hoping to pen a couple other thoughts later. How about yourself? Thoughts, inspirations, or creative outbursts?
Twelve Fundamental Principles of Smart and Productive Blogging:
1) Content is king (original perspective)
2) Create pillar content
3) Community and Relationships (inclusivity)
4) Collaboration
5) Find a model-mentor or three
6) Leverage your blog with real world events (networking)
7) Guest posting on others. Interview people your audience is interested in or bestow credibility upon (and optimally that your audience will be searching for)
9) Mix in fun content
10) Consider PPC
11) Consider a formal blog launch after 1-2 weeks of blogging
12) Reciprocal link building can help your SEO.
Engage Key Blogging Communities:
Get accounts on all five and enter your blog’s info on each network.
1) Technorati-Google for blogs.
2) Del.icio.us-social bookmarking. save your best content
3) MyBlogLog-great blog community that can augment blog traffic for the better
4) BlogCatalog-great blog community that can augment blog traffic for the better
5) Flickr-great way to tell the story of your organization and for people to find you
Three Blog Design Concerns
• e-mail subscription
• RSS subscription
• Widgets
Quick Brand and Reputation Management Tips
• Linked In
• Zoominfo
• Add other social networking and social media networks as necessary
Here are some “wisdom of crowds” answers for Linked In or perhaps Yahoo Answers:
Blog monetization? Is there any standard or range in pay per impression? What are the options below the ranks of Federated Media?
Podcamp Nashville is coming up….so “the best podcasting and video blogging/video shooting/video editing books for newbies? Other resources?” seems appropriate.
More to come……when I think of them..
Oh…if you like any of the questions….you can answer in the comments…
This is a monetization strategy with the intent of breaking even once all things are considered.
Content Strategy
• Get content from three top blogs (not sure if it would just be a paragraph or full post)
• Daily personal question
• Daily link other high quality and provocative blog content.
• Perhaps some suggestions from Rohit Bhargava and Jesse Thomas’ powerpoint slideshare:
Monetization Strategy
• 75 clicks a day *30 =2250 ($75 for three $25 ads)
• Feedburner advertising or other feed advertising (perhaps $25 a month)
• Have a company, church, or nonprofit sponsor the blog for a day, a week, or a month. They could get top, sidebar, or in post advertising.
• Or increase product price from $30 to $30.50 and use the extra space for building the brand or advertising.
• In the case of non-profits, churches, and even businesses, trading blog space with like minded blogs may make sense.
• The first month it might be hard, but once you get traffic it might get easier. (I wonder how you get monetization from day one)
Marketing Strategy
• PR with local niche, local mainstream, and national niche publication
• Linkbait post and possible blogger relations
• Stumbleupon
• mixx, digg, or digg clone promotion
What does impression based advertising run? Any case study of blog monetization? (The above impression seems like about .01 an impression)
What makes a great social media name? Here are eight key principles that every person who is getting into social media or blogging should consider in this new web 2.0 world:
• 18 characters or less will generally allow you to keep your screenname consistent.
• You generally want to keep it the same across platforms so people can easily find you.
• Your name should convey your identity if possible. This helps for identity, community, and SEO.
• Make it intersting. Make it sing. Make it memorable.
• Generally aim for the niche. Can you say long tail?
• Catchy, funny, or cool.
• Consider creating a separate e-mail address for social media and blogging. Again screenname consistency can be helpful.
• Consider changing your instant messaging identity to reflect your new identity.
This is probably the most common objection to social media adoption and corporate blogging. Marshall Kirkpatrick from Read/Write Web answers this question here:
With practice, familiarity and technology fine-tuned with a little experience you’ll find the time required will decrease.
You might consider this time spent on marketing or communication with existing customer base - perhaps there’s something else in that department that isn’t working well and could be replaced with online work.
Here are some key reasons I would add to the list:
Technical Solutions Solve the Time Issue:
• Some of the best posts are short and pithy. Much blogging can be done by adopting other content.
• Jott and Utterz offer mobile solutions, for easy blogging.
• Qik and other platforms offer mobile video options.
• Blackberry’s and Palms offer great ways to blog in transit.
• Network with other organizations in your field for business opportunities.
• You can blog for as little as an hour a week.
The Time Brings Great Return on Investment
• A CEO’s main job is communication (thanks Debbie Weil)
• Establish yourself as a thought leader with clients and businesses.
• Create a better product. It’s a free form of online focus group. A better product is worth it.
• Blogging allows you to draw on the wisdom of crowds.
• Blogging results in a net time saving, given you won’t spend so much time on email.
• Learning from industry leaders and listening to your customers is well worth it.
• The digital marketplace is where people increasingly live.
• Search engine optimization advantages of blogging help justify time.
• Time you will be save by using Backpack or Company Wikis.
• Do you have an hour and a half? You can blog for as little as an hour and a half a week.
• Self-actualization, passion, and creativity.
• You already have content for a blog.
• Once you get started your will want to blog.
Thoughts? Can you add any? Can you re-frame any? What are the best three of the bunch? Have you experienced this objection? What did you say?
A Rose By Any Other Name is Just the Same?!?!
If we refer to the insights of postmodernism we will find that “the map doesn’t fit the territory.” In other words out descriptions of reality don’t have a 1:1 relationship to reality (remember Plato’s cave and the difference between the ideal and the real and the shadows et al) This problem is multiplied given the way in which context, history, and identity shape our beliefs and perspectives to give us lenses on the world. After looking at any blog or in this case Techmeme there is a significant amount of info that I don’t care to know about. For instance, the latest funding of companies is 95% of the time off my radar.
Can I Get a Little Matt Cutts?
Lets be honest, sometimes folksonomy isn’t the sexiest thing in the world and can sometimes be a ^*()^*(&(). I firmly believe if Matt Cutts & the Google blog (who by the way both rock) both posted some universal tagging guidelines or suggestions, that people would likely follow. Here is a fundamental start.
Two aspects are critical here: the core nugget purpose and the core content media type:
• article
• breaking news
• manifesto
• query (question for the peanut gallery, I don’t know) And certainly this is just the start (what other types of post or frameworks would create better search and folksonomy)….
Better Living Through Folksonomy:
In fact, the better we collectively get at folksonomy, the less information overload will likely occur and we’ll probably be collectively smarter (given the depth of knowledge we would have on subjects important to us) A focus on folksonomy would enable better blog aggregations to better automate the collection of important, interesting, and relevant data.
Concluding Thoughts and Questions to Ponder
The question remains, would people still game the system…sure. But hopefully, they would be a minority of 1-5% and those people are probably gaming the existing system anyway. If Google doesn’t solve the problems of search soon, Mahalo and niche search engines will increasingly capture the communities’ collective attention.
What would David Weinberger say? What are your thoughts about search and folksonomy?
Interview people your audience is interested in or bestow credibility upon (and optimally that your audience will be searching for)
