360DigitalInfluence

I was certainly not surprised to read that Twitter is calling this the year of the Twitter election; former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs had said as much in a PRWeek interview last October that stated: “political campaigns, governments, and businesses face a “unique” environment with a completely new set of rules: no-one is immune to society’s doubts and everyone has to be accountable to their users, who are now the ones in control.”

Moreover, we see the impact of users’ voices on Twitter every day - whether occupying Wall Street or voting for The X Factor winners. As social media professionals, we advocate that one of the regular benefits of social media listening for any organization is the opportunity to take a pulse of the community, but in the upcoming election, that pulse can impact media coverage, debates, and candidates in real time.

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Last week, Google+ announced changes 91-107 for the platform many of which are strong indicators of a site that is listening to its users and thinking thoughtfully about use cases. Unfortunately for a fledgling social media site, the very next day at f8, Facebook shared its latest and greatest rollouts with developers and the public.

Amid Andy Sandberg appearances, Spotify integration, and a sweeping UI change called Timeline (all of which are well recapped by my colleague, John Stauffer, in his post), it was tough for Google+’s more functional changes to stand out in conversation.

In fact, if you look at online conversation about the two, Facebook conversation eclipses Google+ conversation ten to one the last two weeks.

Volume of Social Media Conversation about Facebook and Google+ from 9/14/11-9/28/11

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I’ll admit it: I don’t think about the “future” of music that often. I’ve been listening to a steady rotation of musical soundtracks, country music, and late-90s soft rock ever since late-90s soft rock was current, and while I’ve made the switch from CDs to iTunes, I haven’t been more creative than that. However, the subject keeps bubbling back to the surface with the launch of new platforms like Spotify and Google Music, the rise of mobile applications, and even the changing needs of radio (as discussed at a recent client event I attended hosted by Ford Motor Company). Finally, when this infographic showing 30 years of music sales from Digital Music News was circulated last week, I took note:

There are some quick takeaways on where music sales have been and where they’re headed:

• Never again will any source of music dominate the way CD sales once did. CDs accounted for 95.5% of music sales in 2002 and we’re moving to a model with even more options, not fewer.
• The whole is likely not greater than the sum of its parts. Single sales both digitally and on CDs/vinyl are a significant piece of sales when, in the past, we looked for an entire album. This changes both the sales model AND the approach of artists who no longer need to have 12 songs ready to release new music.
• Cassettes haven’t reached the retro cool point yet. Vinyl sales as full records and singles are making a comeback, but not cassettes.

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Chart by Leon Haland

After launching Wave and Buzz to poor reviews and little pick-up in user base, Google had a low bar to clear with Google+. Now that Google+ has acquired 10 million users in 16 days and is receiving accolades for user interface as well as high responsiveness from the Google+ engineering team on the platform itself, the social media community is asking itself “what does the future hold for Google+?” Moreover, as social network users, we each need to ask ourselves on what platforms we’ll share our information and content - and with whom.

If you are looking for a comprehensive overview of all aspects of Google+, I encourage you to check out the complete guide to the platform compiled by Ben Parr at Mashable. In this post, I’ll give you the very brief overview of key elements of Google+ and how you can get the most out of using them.

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"Death of Dorcon," Marc Chagall, Weinstein Gallery

It’s not groundbreaking to say that Facebook has become the platform of choice for sharing (and over-sharing) major life moments. It’s the first place I learn about engagements, marriages, pregnancies, grad school acceptances, promotions, births, injuries, and loss. Since so much of this news is joyous, I’m happy to hear it, regardless of platform, and eager to have an easy place to “like” the news and share fond words.

However, when the news is sad, difficult to hear, or highly personal, what does the broadcasting, sharing, and engagement-inviting nature of Facebook mean for family and friends?

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Long a hub for the news I care about most — who is getting married, who is going to grad school, who is changing jobs, and who is making poor photo tagging selection choices — I’ve noticed my own consumption of news has changed on Facebook in the last few months as well. I subscribe to favorite blogs and news outlets to get their headlines in my news feed and visit Facebook more often than my overwhelming and oversubscribed Google Reader page.

Apparently, my consumption habits aren’t unique, and Facebook is eager to increase use of the news feed for actual news. Last week, Facebook launched a Page called Journalists on Facebook, which you can read all about in this Inside Facebook post.

In an age where we get news through the filter of our friends, actual journalists reporting news comes as a breath of fresh air for information-hungry Facebook users.

Chatter about the new page has ranged from saying Facebook has “Twitter envy”, to enthusiastic anticipation that the new page will engender richer conversation and of course, a wider audience. (To date, Facebook has over 600 million users, while Twitter reports just over 190 million users). No longer will people have to rely on 140-character limitations to understand the context of a news story. And all too often, Twitter’s text limitations obscure the actual message of the news story, and the focus on breaking the news can sometimes lead to inaccuracies in reporting. Current conversation on the page itself is focused on helping Journalists learn from each other about how to take advantage of Facebook — creating a true professional networking culture.

But how will this affect Facebook’s loyal audience?

On the one hand, this is a very savvy move for Facebook, whose credibility and likability I believe will be bolstered as a result. Smart decisions like these will help Facebook avoid the fate of MySpace, which became more and more irrelevant as its content felt more and more spammy. The new Journalist Page will add an air of authority to the news feed by encouraging the addition of, you know, actual news.

On the other hand, it could be said that news has been dying a slow death as people flock in mass quantities to social networks because they would rather see photos of their neighbor’s new baby than learn about the latest developments with the budget crisis. In a world where reports of crime and war rise as the economy falters, no news is good news for some people. Facebook is escapism from reality, and these journalists could just be invading a social sanctuary.

What’s your take? Do  you think Facebook users will embrace or balk at the new feature?

Outside of the Yankees during playoff season,  I find nothing incites my competitive juices like reality television. I’ve been in an American Idol fantasy draft, I’m on the edge of my seat for The Amazing Race, and I’m still bitter over Boston Rob’s early exit on the most recent season of Survivor.  However, minute for minute, no program compares to So You Think You Can Dance simply for the way it combines artistry, entertainment, athleticism, public judging, and public voting.

This season’s So You Think You Can Dance introduced a number of changes in format including: the return of past contestants as partners, a reduction in the number of contestants, and the elimination of the loudest (but most joyful) judge, Mary Murphy.  On top of all of the changes, Alex Wong, arguably the most talented contestant to ever appear on the show, sustained an injury and was eliminated early — arguably the greatest tragedy to ever occur in reality television history.  My own dejection over Alex’s injury was briefly alleviated when I saw Ellen DeGeneres tweet that she was going to “do something special for Alex.”  Unfortunately, Ellen’s gift was not a miracle that would heal Alex so he could dance again as I’d hoped, but it did, however, make me think about social media’s effect on SYTYCD this season and how it’s changed the viewing experience.

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It was only a matter of time before we went from using our phones to call or text friends and plan to meet in a certain location to using our smartphones when we’re in a certain location to find out which of our friends are already there.  Social networking, while already popular online, is one of the fastest-growing activities among mobile users.  In fact, eMarketer predicts that by 2013, 43% of global mobile Internet users will be accessing social networks from their mobile devices and 45% of the US mobile Internet population will be on social networks from their mobile devices.  It seems that even when we’re socializing in real life, we want access to our online networks.  continue reading

I had the privilege of attending BlogHer ‘09 this year in Chicago where 1200 women bloggers (okay, men too!) came together to “celebrate the fact that our blogging, whether personal, professional or political, has brought us real work, real friends, real satisfaction and is most definitely a significant part of our real life!”

While it’s impossible to spend significant time at BlogHer without feeling a renewed sense of pride about new media and inspiration for your own blogging, the implications of social media for marketers and the effect of social media on traditional media took center stage at the keynote.

On Saturday, BlogHer co-founder, Lisa Stone, led a keynote panel discussion with Tina Brown, founder of The Daily Beast, Donna Byrd, publisher of The Root, and Ilene Chaiken, creator of “The L Word,” on how the rise of social media has challenged traditional media.  The entire conversation was fascinating, but I’ve shared some of my favorite moments here.  continue reading

Thanks to Governor Sanford, the Appalachian Trail has received tremendous press this week as a great place to clear one’s head, recharge batteries, and get away from a stressful job.  Had Governor Sanford actually hiked the Appalachian Trail and done these things, he certainly would not be in the mess he’s in now.

While Sanford’s opponents stand the most to gain from his time not on the Appalachian Trail, the Sierra Club has seized the moment as well with a highly topical enewsletter sent yesterday morning from Greg Haegele, the deputy executive director:

We heard the governor of South Carolina had some trouble finding the Appalachian Trail last week.

We don’t want that to happen to anyone else, so now’s a perfect time to let you know about our new online community: Sierra Club Trails. Members of the community are adding trails from around the country, sharing spectacular photos, and discussing topics such as whether guns should be allowed in our national parks.

But so far only two sections of the Appalachian Trail have been added by our members. No wonder the governor got lost!

If you’ve hiked the Appalachian Trail, join the Sierra Club Trails community and add a stretch or two. Share your photos of the trail, too!

If you haven’t hiked that trail but have other favorites, we’d love you to share them on Trails as well.

Thanks for all that you do to protect the environment.
P.S. — Don’t forget your (moral) compass.

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