RemainComm

Social Media Reality Check

I’ve become more and more enamored with the concept of “social” media and the natural extension of it…social marketing. As I speak to groups, approach the subject with potential clients, or discuss it with colleagues in the social media world, I have to keep reminding myself to be aware of who actually uses this relatively new medium. Please note that the “media” of social media is the new part. The "social" has been around a whole lot longer!

To give myself a social media reality check, and to give me some fuel for a presentation and discussion at a recent UnSummit, I decided to ask my community about their use, or even awareness of social media. In this case, “my community” is made up of the people in my neighborhood, my social circles, and those I see regularly through my kid’s activities; the soccer and baseball parents I see…often.

Being the research geek that I can be at times I decided to put together an online survey of 10 questions, which I then sent out to about 50 people. I received some 30 odd responses to serve as the basis for my reality check. Okay, this is far from scientific. It’s a brief overview with very little screening involved. Anybody who got the e-mail could respond regardless of age, social standing, or tech savvy. You can download a one sheet of the results here if you’d like but remember, these tables are a basis for discussion. Let’s take a look…

First and foremost, the group is predominantly 35 years old and over…ahhh, my peeps, but also a good representation of your average Joe Six-pack.

There's Room For You On the Bandwagon

It started with a post from Doc Searls and..well..many of the folks I follow in the blogosphere started posting it. Excuse me while I hop on the bandwagon and post it for your consideration (if you haven't already seen it).

The folks at MoFuse have a cool little application to help you take your blog mobile. Check it out here.

Couple of quick tips...

1. Try to avoid the temptation to use all of the options. For mobile, the simpler the better. Not everyone has a the iPhone 3G.
2. Don't forget to post the link on your blog somewhere to alert your constituency that you have a mobile version. MoFuse offers PHP script for automatic forwarding, but not all blog services offer the ability to implemnt it. Like my Typepad account.
3. Remember, the content is still the most important thing...no matter how cool the technology.

I'm gonna hop down off the bandwagon now.

Keeping Up..."I Haven’t Died Yet."

The quote, from Michael Arrington, is a bit sobering. Part of An interesting article from The New York Times…In Web World of 24/7 Stress, Writers Blog Till They Drop...it really drove the point home to me about what to avoid in the “new media” world.

As much as I struggle to keep up with the vast amounts of information available at the click of a mouse, those generating it can struggle even more. The article points out the same thing that I recall Bill Gates mentioning in an interview, you worry every minute that someone will beat you to introducing something new.

I often worry about what is the next post going to be about? What can we create that will push our business to the next level? How many people have the same idea? This question alone is usually answered by a quick Google…roughly a bazillion. As I’ve mentioned here before, I invented Pandora…a mere 2 years after it was introduced. Who knew?

How do you keep up? The answer is…for most of us…you don’t. Look there will always be someone, many someones, who really get a rush out of the first to invent, the first to introduce, the first report. They think it’s fun! These people love doing it and there is no reason you should not love letting them. Especially when you can be the one that can help explain what that “first” means to the other 99.5% of the world. The fact is that if you’re reading this blog…any blog…you are already ahead of many in the world. Once you get into “the internet thing” it’s very easy to forget that for those over 25 or 30 (and that’s a lot of people) are not scratching the surface of it.

Can’t keep up with it all? Don’t try so hard. Find what you love and follow that. Use the technology open to you to do it efficiently if you’d like, but love it. Hang with others who have some similar interests, but more that are different. Count on them to expose you to new things. Maybe take a day or two a week to “search” for the latest…but don’t just sit in front of the computer or TV working on that special blue tint to your skin. Get out there and tell the world what you know. You might be surprised that you are the first…and maybe the best.   

ohwha tagee kiam

...OhWha TAGee KIAm...Oh What A Geek I Am. Who knew?  I joined the ranks of "Those that can not wait" today. Not content to sit and wait (what, a whole hour) for the video of the Steve Jobs keynote, affectionately known as Stevenote, at MacWorld today I fired up the computer to try and follow along.

Since the presentation isn't aired live I depended on the kindness of about a zillion sources of hurriedly written text by those inside the Moscone Center. You'll note just two of the screens that cluttered my desktop for the hour. I haven't included the other blog windows, my Twitter and e-mail. You'll also note that one of the screens is my AIM screen. Yep, to really peg the geek-meter, I was IM-ing with my friend Mark Swift as he joined a bunch of his IT pals for lunch and blog watch during the event...the next thing you know I'll be bidding for a "tricorder" on eBay.

I realized the last time I had this many screens open was when the I35 bridge collapsed. Interesting how I now gravitate to my computer desktop when I really want to follow something closely. I'm using this form of media so much...maybe it's not "new" anymore.

New Media, New Year Resolutions

This year, I will…

  …do everything I can to make the adoption of “new media” as easy for everyone as possible. We “early adopters” can’t forget that most folks are still digesting the internet as a whole, much less all it has to offer. There is so much more going on than Google, iTunes, and text messaging.

  …remember there is a difference between sending a message and conversing. Spend more time talking face to face or on the phone with people. Text, e-mail, etc. are great for quick thoughts but can never replace the emotion of a great conversation. 

  …work to improve the quality and the content in my writing. I write more now than I have in years and I want my blog posts to be more than articles. I want them to inform, inspire, and entertain all at the same time. (Okay, this one is going to take a lot of work.)

  …work to improve the quality of the audio online. I was listening to my son’s iPod the other day and realized that we’ve taught people to settle for audio quality that is, to put it politely, not so great. When we adopted the CD we sacrificed some depth to our audio, just as we did when we started using audio tape. Now that we are using the internet as our main source of music we have sacrificed even more or that sound quality. I heard a record the other day and I was blown away by the sound I had been missing. If you have some vinyl around you should do the same. (If you have no idea what a record is, please seek one out…maybe your attic?) I had become use to the sound of an mp3, probably downloaded a terrible bit rate. I will do whatever I can to hear more of what the musicians and performers worked so hard to put into their recordings.

  …work to improve the quality of video online. The same challenge faces us with what we see online. With the advent of HDTV the bar has been raised even higher. What I see on my Smartphone should look just as good as what I see on cable.

  …convince advertisers that the “new media” audience is of incredibly high quality and is worth more than a traditional media user. There are already scores of studies  highlighting the incredibly high recall rates for online advertising (even higher with a mix of media), we need to get the advertisers to respect that and think beyond “cost per thousand.” 

…enjoy more time outside the ether so that I can bring more reality into it. Pull myself out of the screen, away from the keyboard, and off the cell phone. I need to go outside and take a walk whenever I can. In fact, there’s a new layer of snow and a crisp morning waiting for me right now…  

Happy New Year!

This post can also be found on the Association of Downloadable Media site.

 

Belated Blogging Birthday…

I guess I was so obsessed with writing my blog post yesterday, I missed the 10th birthday celebration of ‘blogging”. I didn’t even remember to get a card…or go to the party. (Was there cake?)

No worries, there are plenty of posts about the big day like this one from Ars Technica and this one from one of those credited with giving birth to blogging, Dave Winer.

Now what to get blogging for its birthday…

More participants? (Hard to top, according to Technorati, 112 million.)
More readers? That’s a gift that could keep on giving (See the next gift idea.)
More ways to make money on blogging? (See the previous gift idea.)
Fewer blogs about just tech? (My geek meter is pegging.)
More blogs about how tech can impact Joe Six-pack? (Oh, oh, I have an idea…*)

Wow what do you get the blog that has everything?

*Shameless tease.

Sunday Morning Conversation

I woke to my family’s usual Sunday Morning routine. Being the first to rise, I watch as the family staggers from their bedrooms with sleep in their eyes. My son heads downstairs to work on his Guitar Hero chops, my daughter climbs into our bed to watch the latest on the all important Disney Channel, and my wife and I grab our coffee and settle in to watch CBS News Sunday Morning.

While not as good as it was when Charles Kuralt hosted, and despite too many reruns from the archives, as well as Charles Osgood’s annoying obsession with rhyming and insistence on referring to the year as “twenty-oh-seven,” CBS still manages to present some great “articles” during it’s Sunday morning magazine show.

This morning’s piece, ”Less Talk And A Little More Conversation”, was right up the RemainComm alley. As the use of other forms of communication proliferates, the ability for people to converse is becoming more of a problem. Though the piece quickly became too film oriented, the underlying importance of the give and take of conversation, as well as the importance of listening remained front and center.

An aside; the topic of blogging came up briefly in comments from writer Delia Ephron. She noted, "So, if you are blogging…you're e-mailing - you aren't listening, right? You don't have to listen. It's really just what's in your own head." Hold up there Ms. Ephron, blogging is more akin to writing than it is to conversation. Are we comparing apples to apples here? If you’re blogging you are not e-mailing. Ephron goes on to say, "I mean, conversation is about feelings and emotion, that's what it should really be about. If we're not seeing it, that's the loss." With this, I agree, though make no mistake blogging is also about sharing feelings and emotion, conversation goes farther and includes seeing and hearing those feelings and emotions. 

Is what you’re saying getting “the look?”

You know the look I’m talking about…the one similar to a dog looking at a ceiling fan (so ably demonstrated by our family pet, Belle). “The look” has also been referred to as the “deer in the headlights look” (Sorry, I don’t have a pet deer…so please refer to said dog.) It’s that look you may get after you’ve just explained your theory, concept, or next million-dollar idea. It made complete sense to you. It had everything…explanation, application, reward. Why on earth is your audience (one person or a hundred) looking at you like you just spoke in gibberish? Perhaps, to their ears, you have. 

It is seen or heard so often, especially in the internet and new media world. There are ideas, applications, websites, widgets and entire companies that may offer something to a potential consumer or their business that could change their lives…or, at least make them easier. But the explanation was so bogged down in industry speak that they tilted their head nodded and said something like…”Cool, let me get back to you.” Never to be heard from again. 

Let me give you an example with this line from a blog (that shall remain nameless) regarding the recent Open Social platform from Google. 

Is Blogging Just for Geeks?

Geek: A person who is interested in technology, especially computing and new media. (Most geeks I know don’t even own a pocket protector.) 

So, as I’m cruising through my Google reader this weekend I’m thinking, “Wow, the net is all about Leopard (the Mac OS) this weekend.” It started me thinking about all of the “feeds” I have in my "reader"…

Techmeme, Engadget,Connecting the Dots, Lifehacker, Tech-Surf-Blog... surely there’s more to my blogosphere than techy/geeky stuff…right? …Hear 2.0, Infinite Dial, Jacoblog…okay, radio stuff (Not much different though). Wait a minute…Boing Boing, Mental Floss, Mostly Trivial, RemainComm (Say, that one’s quite exceptional.) Whew! I do have some “non-geeky” nourishment feeding me. 

So out of curiosity I head over to Technorati and see what the “most popular blogs are. Three of the top five and 6 of the top 10 are…well…geeky. That’s okay; don’t let that stop you from digging farther into the online world. The truth is most of these geeks, me included, want more non-geeks onboard.   

Hop online, search for your topic and you’ll find it. Of course, don’t be surprised if you come across more information than you could possibly want on “killer apps,” “widgets” and a pile of blogs on…well…blogging. Hey, it comes with the territory. The people that build the web use it the most. It’s only logical that they are talking about it a lot. 

If you’re into the tech stuff, cool. If you want more brain food take in Boing, Boing, Mostly Trivial, of that up and coming RemainComm (very cool). Art, Politics, Writing, Gardening, Do-it-yourself, Animal Husbandry…everybody has a voice! Please, go ahead, listen…and if you want…join in. (Maybe you'll wanna keep the animal husbandry thing to yourself.)   

 

To Blog or Not to Blog?

If you follow this blog regularly, and as you’ll find out later in this post, regularly is a term I use loosely, you’ll note that it’s been awhile since I’ve commented on anything. 

Don’t get me wrong, as many of my closest friends know, I’m never at a loss for “topics” that must be commented on (He says with just the right amount of sarcasm.). It’s just that lately; I’ve been wrestling with what topics are “worth” commenting or reporting on. 

For example, I noticed that shortly after the conclusion of the Podcasting and New Media Expo, known by it’s acronym as PNME, the organizers decided to drop the “P” or podcasting from the name. Ok, now the acronym for the New Media Expo is NME. NME…en-em-ee…enemy! Oops! I’m not sure this is what needs to be communicated by “new media.” So I’m thinking a post titled something like “When Acronyms Attack” could be good, but is it? 

Another example…Recently the National Association of Broadcasters (Yep, radio again) announced that it was launching the Radio 2020 initiative. The idea is to focus on keeping radio relevant for years to come. I don’t think the window is that wide, let’s go with Radio 2010. Clearing that hurtle is tough enough. Nah…that topic just seems so…well…done. Besides, it’s too easy to be cynical and that’s been way, way over done.   

So, I’ve shied away from posting because I want to provide content that is much more actionable as well as entertaining and not just musings. I’ve found, with all of the information that pours down on us every day it’s difficult enough to keep up without me adding to it. And yes, in addition, I now know the meaning of “writer’s block”. 

The problem is that if I want to fulfill the goal of RemainComm, which is to keep communicating, I need to…well keep communicating. In order to build relationships we all need to keep talking to each other. In my case, one way I do that is through this blog. If I’m ever going to build a relationship with you, I’m going to need to share more of me in the hopes of you sharing more with me. 

So, here’s the deal. I’ll keep striving to post real actionable content but at the same time I’ll keep posting “regularly”. That may mean shorter posts, posts that are a bit out of left field, or posts that are insightful, thought provoking, and life changing (yeah…well…maybe). In the end though, let’s keep talking… 

Now about this whole Ellen crying on TV deal…