360DigitalInfluence

This presidential debate has seen an unprecedented level of social media adoption. Both candidates have used the web to tab new audiences, foster conversation, and energize supporters.

With a little over 30 days until the election, I don’t think it’s too soon to wonder how social media will spill over to the next presidential term.

Wired Magazine, as you expect, is a popular reading choice for many of us in 360 Digital Influence and they started thinking about this in their recent cover story, 15 People the Next President Should Listen To. One of these 15 brilliant thinkers, Ellen Miller suggested that Washington become more like the web.

Her proposal would take the web’s best attributes - transparency and collaboration - and apply them to a traditionally close-door Congress. One of the sites she references is OpenCongress.com.     This network allows users to track bills, comment on pending legislation and debate congressional issues in the forum section.   The site also aggregates user-generated content from around the web.

As a result, I’m able to fire up OpenCongress.com, read a profile of my local representative.   From there I’m easily able to explore the blogs and message boards talking about my congressperson, local bills, or issues such as habeas corpus or gun control.   This helps bring together traditional Washington insiders with social media’s democratizing ability to speak truth to power.

CPSAN also just launched it’s new Debate Hub site. Wait!   Don’t fall asleep! It’s actually really exciting.   The site takes the form of a debate dashboard of sorts, featuring transcripts, video, and, of course, twitter and blog coverage.   One of most interesting features will be a real-time word tree allowing users to track the number of times each candidate references, say, “Iraq” or “Economy” over the course of the debate.
Read Mashable’s Debate Hub write up here.

It’s great to see the election transformed by the web but I’m curious to see how this momentum carries into the next presidential term.   Do you think Congress and the White House will continue to adopt this spirit of transparency and collaboration long after the as the dust settles on the campaign?

Today is OneWebDay and today we’re taking a look at this year’s theme (participatory democracy online) through the lens of Ogilvy’s Paris office.   I recently spoke with Laetitia Attali, 360 ° Digital Influence Account Director in OgilvyPR Worldwide’s Paris office for her thoughts on how the web has shaped politics in her neck of the woods.

Laetitia pointed me to last year’s presidential election when Nicolas Sarkozy defeated Ségolène Royal and suggested that both candidates were effective in using social media, specifically to encourage voter participation.   Luckily, I was able to dig up the Sarkozy Campaign Web site from year last.   Using Google’s nifty translate tool, I was able to get a sense for last year’s campaign, the major issues, and what was on the mind of the common voter.

Head over to the site in English or in French to take a look for yourself.

The video Q&A seems to be one of the most notable features that really touches on OneWebDay’s ‘participation’ theme.   Here’s the somewhat rough translation from a visitor who asked Sarkozy about the role of the Internet in campaigns.

(Link to clip, I wish the site provided the embed code)
12-01-07
Question: For the first time Internet should play an important role in your campaign, are you prepared?

Nicolas Sarkozy:
Yes, I am. The Internet is not simply a technique is a new concept of society.   All information will be available on all the territory for everyone at the same time.   It is a formidable instrument of democratization.

I want to convince, I want to seek voters one by one, get in contact with France and passion for a new debate.   With the Internet, I can reach more people is a way for me to engage in dialogue.

Head over to OneWebDay to take part in today’s discussion and to stay up to date with new issues effecting the freedom of the Web for next year’s event.

If you haven’t heard of OneWebDay, think of it as Earth Day, but for the Internet.   As OWD describes itself, “an environmental movement for the Internet ecosystem. It’s a platform for people to educate and activate others about issues that are important for the Internet’s future.”

We’re excited to announce that Ogilvy’s Digital Influence team has signed on to be a OneWebDay Ambassador   - one of 100 bloggers who’ve committed to letting their networks know about the cause in the 100 days leading up to OWD’s September 22nd milestone.   This year’s theme is “online participation in democracy.”

In the spirit of this collective celebration, Ogilvy’s Digital Influence team has tapped its network of experts from around our global network.   Some of the top minds in our company, from Paris to Singapore to London, will address how they’ve seen the web facilitate new, innovative ways of democratic participation in their regions.

Stay tuned for a series of posts highlighting recent cases from around the globe.   In the meantime, head over to the OneWebDay site or check out their:

OWD Stories Blog

Twitter Handle

Facebook Cause

Meet Up Calendar

Project Proposal Wiki

I am reading the initial tweets out of Beijing about the opening ceremonies - calligraphy writing dancers - and for the first time in many years,  I am actually excited to watch the Olympics. Part of it is that we have a team there helping the athletes blog and vlog about their experience, part of it is the myriad of ways we can now follow the stories and the action, part of it is that I am a fan of China.

I am a fan of the country, not the government, so, don’t get started down that path. I had the good fortune of visiting to work with our global 360 ° Digital Influence team in China last year. I was in Beijing and Hong Kong. The energy amongst the people was terrific. Lots of optimism, energy and lots of conversations. The innovation in social media is terrific and China Web 2.0 Review remains one of my favorite blogs.

As you all tune in to the TV coverage this weekend, check out  our aggregation of athletes who are blogging their experience. Their stories are what drives this experience for me. Government policies may be damned  but the passion, drive and effort of these athletes is the story I must see.

Also check out the blogs of some of our team and Lenovo, you will hear some interesting behind the scenes observations:

David Churbuck

Rohit Bhargava

Kaitlyn Wilkins

Window shopping isn’t easy on video sharing sites like Youtube.   If you’ve ever attempted to browse around without a specific keyword then you know what I mean.   The search and sort features generally aren’t that great, and what boils to the surface tends to be irrelevant no matter how you structure the search terms.   It’s easy to be discouraged, especially if you’re looking for examples of a video content strategy for a client.

I’ve waded through the cesspools of the online video underbelly to bring you fantastic examples of how organizations are using episodic video in compelling and interesting ways.   These examples range from channels on Youtube to full fledged video libraries like Fora.TV and SnagFilms.   Some are of these examples are oriented around a specific organization, some are purely educational, perhaps a few will even make you wonder why you still own a TV.

FORA.tv

This is an incredible collection of some of the world’s top thinkers and scientists.   Similar to the uber-popular TED Talks, Fora.TV brings together brilliant minds for discussions on current events, science, business and culture.   With a wealth a content, visitors could spend all day combing through the different categories.   The My Fora.TV section is an excellent example of how organizations can use co-creation to engage with users.   This section allows users to upload their own content, splice it together with Fora’s footage, and produce a brand new program.   Genius.

@GoogleTalks

Google has a reputation for snagging incredible speakers to come talk to their employees and now you have a front row seat for every presenter that’s ever graced the halls of the Googleplex.   There’s over 400 episodes in all.   Some notable guests include Noam Chomsky, Richard Florida, Salmon Rushdie, Condoleezza Rice and Bob Woodward.

Worldbank Channel

The official Youtube channel for the Worldbank.   With nearly 20,000 views and 100 videos, this NGO is doing it right with online video.   It’s not all boilerplate and CEO interviews.   There’s video aggregated from all over world.   The most recent video is from Here Comes Everybody author Clay Shirky.   Very interesting stuff and proof that large organizations can overcome the common barriers to producing compelling video.

MoMA

Youtube channel for the Museum of Modern Art.   A video content strategy probably wasn’t part of the plan during the founding of the museum in 1929, but like many organizations, they’ve evolved.   Each video generally represents a new exhibit or project.
Hulu

In the “why do I own a TV” category, Hulu aggregates free episodes available from the major network and cable stations into one, organized home.   While one no organization is likely to have a treasure chest of video content like Hulu, brands looking for a video content strategy would be well advised to emulate the layout, categories, and search that make using Hulu a breeze.

Citizen Tube

A meeting ground for interviews and discussions focused on politics and the general election.   With over 1.8 million views, this represents a legitimate forum of discussion and one of Youtube’s most subscribed channels.   With a steady flow of fresh content, Citizen Tube is also proof that post frequency is a contributing factor to building and maintaining a large number of subscribers.

SnagFilms

This is the brand new home for more than 250 full length documentaries from all over the world.   Top documentaries like Super Size Me live alongside obscure independent gems, making this site an instant favorite among film and documentary buffs.

The real beauty in SnagFilms lies not in the free content but in the way users are encouraged to share the films.   Each movie comes with an individual widget that allows users to post the full length movie in their entirety. on their own site.     “When you embed a widget on your web site,” Snagg Films explains,   “you open a virtual movie theater and become a ‘Filmanthropist’”

I’m going to stop here rather attempting to boil the ocean by providing every example of great video content online.   Instead, I’m going to turn it over to you.   What’s your favorite place for video content?   Post a link in the comments section and if enough readers submit we’ll expand the list for a round two edition…

You may not have spotted it, but there is a trend on the rise which we could call RGM: Royalty Generated Media. This, of course, refers to the idea of media being created by royalty around the world to help Kings and Queens to more directly connect with their subjects. A modern twist on the common fairy tale fable of royalty walking amongst the people in disguise … most people would point to “The Royal Channel” (a YouTube channel that the English monarchy has had for more about six months) now as the first example of RGM. It is a more commonplace use of online video to share updates on the royal family and provide a platform for communications for the royal family. The second use of RGM I came across is a much more engaging effort from a member of royalty many Americans may not be familiar with: Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan.

Queen Rania of the small Middle Eastern country of Jordan (best known in America as the location of Petra - the beautiful achitectural site and tourist destination used in the filming of the 3rd Indiana Jones movie as the location of the Holy Grail) is a walking example of the large gap in perception from much of the Western world about the Arab one. She is articulate, beautiful and completely modern. A startling contrast to the women donning hejabs most frequently seen on the evening news in America - watching her is enough to challenge your perceptions of the Arab world.

Her latest effort on YouTube that launched this week is a more direct effort to counter the many stereotypes that persist amongst westerners about the middle east. In her first video from March 30th (inserted above), she invited watchers to send her their stereotypes in an open dialogue. In a little over a week, the video has more than a million views, over 4000 comments and 20 video responses. She has also published a follow up video response and seems to be laying ground to use YouTube as a consistent channel to communicate with a worldwide audience to challenge the perceptions about the Arab world. This is an example of the power of social media at its best … to foster a discussion, change perceptions and tell an important story in a highly personal way. Already, her first video has nearly as many views as the entire Royal Channel of 125 videos from the English Monarchy. If Queen Rania’s example isn’t a common case study of the power of social media … it soon will be.

Early in this Presidential primary season, many wondered what the cumulative impact of the “MySpace Effect” would be. Candidates raced to set up profiles, compile their playlists and amass friends - hoping that reaching out to 18 - 25 year olds on their own turf would translaste into votes on election days. (For the record, youth voting figures doubled, trippled and even quadrupled in some Super Tuesday states, rewarding candidates like Mr. Obama who went after this group hard early on.)

Another noteworthy trend this season has been citizen use of social media tools to create what amounts to user generated ads for or against certain candidates. A few notable examples:

Vote Different Video
This mashup of Apple’s famous 1984 ad, created by an Obama supporter, appeared 11 months ago and various versions have racked up over 5.5 million views.

Will.i.am’s Yes We Can Video
Uploaded 1 month ago, this video features Black Eyed Peas singer Will.i.am and assorted celebrities singing the lyrics of Mr. Obama’s “Yes We Can” speech. Various versions now have over 10 million views, and the video has been picked up by hundreds of bloggers, the New York Times and People magazine. (This video also marks what seems to be the first appearance by Tatyana Ali since Fresh Prince of Bel-Air went off TV in ‘96)

John.He.Is Video
A send up of the Yes We Can video features individuals speaking over various McCain speeches, emphasizing phrases like “Bomb Iran, Bomb Bomb Iran” and Mr. McCain’s remark about being in Iraq for 100 years. Over 1 million views in approximately 1 week.

I know there are dozens more examples from the I Gotta Crush on Obama girl to HillaryIsMomJeans.com (please feel free to add other notables in the comments!) All this makes me believe that social media has the potential to be the updated version of “Swiftboating.” Not only do you have an asset that is ready made to “go viral” via embed codes, email a friend functions and a social-media happy public, but by and large these videos and Web sites are being passed around via word of mouth. Receiving a link to a site/video (for or against a candidate) from a trusted friend arguably has a much larger impact on one’s consideration than a 30 second television spot. For right now this trend is mostly in the hands of consumers, but I fear to think what will happen when the back room politicos get caught up to speed!

I’m betting that the Will.i.am Effect is going to be around for quuuuite awhile.

Yesterday The Library of Congress announced that it is partnering with the popular photosharing site, Flickr, in a crowdsourcing effort to improve the bibliographic information pertaining to more than 3,000 of its copyright-free photos. The Library is posting the photos in hopes that the Flickr community will comment on and tag the images with the names of people and places depicted, ensuring “the best possible information about those collections for the benefit of researchers and posterity.”

The Library of Congress’ effort is part of a pilot program with Flickr called The Commons, which both hope will serve as a “publication model” for other publically held photography collections. The two Library of Congress collections currently hosted on The Commons are “News in 1910″, which features photos taken in that decade by the Bain News Service, and “1930s-40s in Color”, with pictures of World War II mobilization efforts taken by the government’s Farm Security Administration and the Office of War Information.

I think this really epitomizes the best of what Web 2.0 has to offer, and it’s fantastic that the Library of Congress - who likely has many patrons that are not as familiar with our geeked out terminology and trends - recognizes its importance.   As the Library points out, “Even if you don’t know the term [Web 2.0] itself, you’re one of millions worldwide who are actively creating, sharing or benefiting from user-generated content that characterizes Web 2.0 phenomena.”   For someone like me that spends more time than I should reading feeds from “the Valley”, it’s nice to see be reminded that millions of brains are almost always better than one - whether you’re developing software, a browser, or trying to improve a photography collection from 100 years ago.

Adults make rules for kids all the time. It’s their job, after all, to protect children and to help them to grow and to succeed.

But sometimes those rules can get in the way. And, according to the National School Boards Association (NSBA), the 92 percent of school districts across the country that have policies creating barriers against Internet use during the school day may be doing just that — getting in the way.

(Disclosure: I don’t have children and I love social media. But I do have a background in media literacy education. I hope that counts toward something.)

The NSBA recently completed a study of nine- to seventeen-year olds and their use of social media as well as the role of social media in education. What did they discover?

No shock here, but kids are heavy users of social media.

• 96 percent of students with online access use social media, with 81 percent doing so within the past three months.

The thing is, many of them are using social media for educational reasons.

• 50 percent of students use social media to talk about schoolwork; and
• 59 percent use social media to talk about education-related topics like college or college planning, politics, news, careers or jobs, ideas and religion or morals.

And most schools are requiring the use of the Internet to complete assignments.

• 96 percent of school districts have teachers who assign projects that require the Internet;
• 95 percent have teachers who use web sites to communicate assignments and other course-related information;
• Nearly 50 percent have international pen pal programs and online partnerships with other schools;
• 35 percent have student blog programs; and
• 22 percent use wikis for school projects.

But they are also making rules that restrict Internet use during the school day.

• 92 percent of school districts require parents and students to sign an Internet use policy;
• 98 percent of school districts use software to block access to inappropriate sites;
• 84 percent prohibit online chat and 81 percent prohibit instant messaging;
• 62 percent prohibit commenting on message board and blogs and 60 percent prohibit email; and
• 52 percent prohibit the use of social networking sites like MySpace or Facebook.

While these rules are only applicable during the school day, their mere existence is sending a (wrong) message to parents — and to students. Participating in social media has limited educational value.
Meanwhile — and despite the hype perpetuated by the media —
students and parents report few problems with students’ social media use.

• 20 percent of students have seen inappropriate pictures on social networking sites (likely to have been posted by their own peers);
• 18 percent have seen inappropriate language (again, likely coming from their own peers and nothing more than they hear on the playground or the bus – or at home);
• 7 percent of students have had someone ask them about their personal identity or have experienced cyber bullying;
• 4 percent have had conversations that have made them feel uncomfortable;
• 3 percent have had strangers approach them repeatedly; and
• 2 percent said that they a stranger tried to meet them in person, with .08 percent actually agreeing to do so.

What was most interesting about the study was its discussion of students the NSBA labels the “noncomformists.” These students are heavy users of social media and they break the rules that school districts have for Internet use. They use inappropriate language, post inappropriate pictures, share personal information with strangers and, while online, often pretend to be someone they are not.
But these same students know about new sites and technology before their peers do, communicate more frequently with their parents and demonstrate greater proficiency with “21st century skills”: communication, technological, creativity, collaboration and leadership.

Meanwhile, their graders hover in the B’s and C’s, which the NSBA suggests has less to do with their capabilities and intelligence and more to do with the schools’ lack of effort to engage them in innovative and creative ways.

What does the NSBA recommend?

• Educators and administrators should take the time to educate themselves by spending time using social media. Don’t believe the hype. Experience it.
• Put social media to use for staff communication and professional development – give your staff the chance to use social media in a productive way.
• Begin to experiment more with using social media for educational purposes.
• Develop policies that will help to ensure more equitable access to social media among your students.
• Pay attention to the “nonconformists” and develop more innovative ways to engage them.
• Reexamine restrictive Internet use policies.
• Work with social media companies to identify opportunities to increase the educational value of their technology.

What would I add to that list? Why not actively engage those nonconforming students in developing ways to engage their nonconformist peers — as well as other students? Take advantage of their leadership capabilities and their knowledge of social media and give them a good reason to get excited to come to school and a chance to do well.

Do you have anything to add to the list?

(By the way, the study was funded by three organizations with an economic interest in encouraging students’ — and schools’ — use of the Internet: Microsoft, News Corporation and Verizon.)

Speaking of economic interest . . . while I was writing this post, there was an ad for the cable industry’s online safety campaign, Point Smart Click Safe. While most messages about online safety lean toward overemphasizing the boogie man in the closet, the message from the ad was that parents should simply spend more time learning about what their kids are doing online. In the ad, the dad had been reading his daughter’s blog and was able to speak more fluently about her interests.

“You might even like it,” the ad says.

Join me as we kick off the new year with a WOMMA Conference Call on one of our favorite trends: Co-Creation.

Dial in to join on Wednesday January 24th at 12pm ET.

Here’s the skinny:

“Inviting customers to comment in a blog is one way to carry on a social conversation and build connections; even today, it is a big step for some companies, and the wrong step for many. There is, however, an even bolder move by which to engage your customers — one taken by Lenovo, Johnson’s, Electrolux, LEGO, Sam Adams, and more — that involves co-creation programs in which you invite your customers to help you make your products and services better and more relevant. This is over and above the co-creation of marketing materials phenomena typified by make-your-own MasterCard or FireFox commercials.

Companies who invite their customers in to influence how products are designed are building sustained word of mouth, a terrific demonstration of openness and transparency. Co-creation projects defy the typical discipline categorization — they are neither neatly public relations, marketing, nor CRM initiatives. Instead, they rely on community-building skills and commitment.”

Click here to register.