Media Ramblings
Rambling About the Media and Using the Media to RambleArchive for June, 2008
NMAS 2008
For those out there with an interest in the current and future state of new media and how it is being incorporated into PR campaigns and more the New Media Academic Summit 2008 is serving up what can only be described as a cornucopia of information and stimulation.
Edelman and PR Week are getting together to host this event in Chicago June 26 and 27th. They are covering an array of topics with expert panels including: The Role of Communications in a Digital World, Engaging Consumers Through Social Networks, Leveraging New Media to Advance Brands and Corporate Reputation, Teaching Social Media and what has to be one of the most interesting topics to be discussed, New Media in 2012.
There is nothing quite as interesting as intelligent people speculating about the future of media and technology. I want to know when the microchips are coming that project interactive holographic images into our visual environment.
Come on you know it’s coming.
The days when people laugh at pictures of people carrying around physical phones and laptops? Okay I’m getting off topic here…
If your like me and can’t be there feel free to do what I’m doing and READ IT. Not surprisingly these new media experts have found a way to overcome the geographic and financial hurdles preventing others from attending and have a live-blogger transcribing the event which you can read and comment on here.
Releasing the Spiders
I just signed up for Technorati and in order to get the most out of their services I need to go ahead and include a link to my my Technorati profile.
This will as they say, “release the spiders” into my blog and the rest is well, I will let you know.
Technorati is a website that helps to index and track the popularity and influence of blogs on the web. I’m new to it but once I use it for a few days I’m sure I will have a better understanding of how it works and what its benefits are.
Here goes…
Did you hear that? Uggh I hate spiders…
Tracking, analyzing and learning about an audience. That’s a place where the web has a huge advantage over any other media platform.
If you don’t believe me let’s put it into perspective for you using RADIO.
Did you know that radio ratings are determined by junk mail? It’s true.
A company named Arbitron will send out pamphlets to random households in each radio market during every ratings period and instruct people to fill out a daily journal tracking their listening habits.
People are expected first of all not to throw this Arbitron Diary away with the rest of the junk mail but then they have to carry it around with them and jot down their listening information or even worse at the end of the day remember exactly what station they were listening to and when and record it accurately.
What a horrible system! The reason station are always saying their station name between songs, in and out of songs and in and out of commercial sets is to imprint that name in your head so even if you aren’t listening to them you may think you were and jot down their station in your diary anyway.
People’s careers are saved and lost, demographics are determined and decisions are made all depending on how accurately random people fill out some junk mail.
With the web it can be way more accurate. Below you’ll be able to view a video that features a short interview with Todd Parsons, co-founder of Buzz Logic. Buzz Logic is a company that can help track the main influencers on the web.
By analyzing who people are linking to and linking from when it comes to certain products, people or topics they can help companies and individuals understand who is setting the tone of the conversation when it comes to their product, idea or initiative.
Companies can then take that information and reach out to the trend setters and opinion makers and hopefully gain valuable feedback and ideas.
How valuable is it to know who the real influencers are and who is really setting the tone of the conversation when it comes to your stuff?? I would say it’s gold but really it’s priceless.
With the web we are really beginning to understand more and more about how ideas spread, who is spreading them and how to change and shape those ideas. It has never been easier to get instant, honest and specific feedback on products and audience.
No longer do we have to rely on old demographic models that assume that Males 18-24 years old are only interested in beer and strip clubs while Women 25-54 only want to listen to pop music and talk about decorating.
How insulting.
How many times have you seen someone who defies the demographic norm? Yet we still tend to go by them because we have been lacking a better system to gauge it all.
We really are way more complex than that as people and the web is starting to shed light on the reality of it all. We still haven’t perfected the analyzation of audience and opinion yet but with the web we are getting closer and closer each day.
Get it Your Way
Now first of all I want to state upfront that I know this may be very old news to many people out there reading blogs like this one. After looking up some information I learned that these things have been around since 1996. However I don’t believe they really started taking off until 2005 and I haven’t really incorporated them into my online experience until this week.
1996? Wow. I thought in 1996 there was only AOL chat rooms and Instant Messenger. I guess I was more concerned with girls and beer back then.
Okay, so what am I talking about?
Personalized home pages.
For those out there who are NOT familiar with this concept, when I say personalized home pages I am referring to things like iGoogle, My Yahoo, Netvibes etc… These are all pages you can customize with content that YOU choose so that when you log onto the internet you are no longer exposed to whatever someone else deemed worthy. Instead, you are the master of your domain and control your experience which is what makes the web so great in the first place.
Your page can have a local weather section, a NY Times section, your local paper, local movie times, your favorite sports team can have its own place, all of the blogs you like to check out will be right there and updated etc.. I really can’t think of a reason not to have one of these things set as your homepage.
Obviously for websites and bloggers the goal is to get as many subscribers as possible to your content in order to indicate a large influence and impact. I can proudly say that Feedburner is currently indicating that this blog has a mighty 11 subscriptions.
Watch out Perez Hilton…or not.
This is just another example of the web empowering people to create their own experience much like the iPod enables people to basically program their own commercial free radio station. Unlike old media platforms like radio and TV, consumers are truly driving the market online which is another reason it is so exciting and great.
With radio, advertisers are determining everything you hear. If a song or personality is deemed offensive or inappropriate for a certain demographic the advertiser is trying to reach based on some outdated and mind-numbing research it is never going to get airtime. Have you ever been asked what you think of a personality or a song on the radio?
I haven’t.
When it comes to regular radio are you hearing whatever you want to hear whenever you want to hear it? Are the personalities you hear relatable and interesting to YOU? If not then radio programmers are falling short in the competition with the web.
It will always be like that whenever someone else is determining what you get.
Satellite Radio is becoming more and more popular because it is making money from subscribers for the most part so they don’t have to answer to advertisers in the way terrestrial radio does. Instead, they have to focus on creating more interesting content to entice people to pay for the service instead of relying solely on keeping advertisers happy.
Creating great content? What a concept!!!
On the web it has been like that for a while because you completely determine your environment. For a guy like me that comes from radio that is such an exciting idea. I believe that is what really fascinates me about this new media experience. The freedom of it all is insanely liberating.
Take advantage of it and set yourself up a personalized homepage today. I went with “My Yahoo” but of course you can choose whatever you want.
Here is a list of some of the top options that might help you get started.
Not Since 1881
A little New Mexico town that is known for its history is now helping to shape the future.
Fort Sumner, New Mexico hasn’t made news since Billy the Kid was buried there in 1881 but it is back in the headlines today for it’s progressive use of digital technology in education.
High school students in Fort Sumner, New Mexico have been taking part in a digital trial of sorts. Microsoft has donated Zunes (their version of the iPod) to the school in hopes that it will help raise test scores.
How the heck can a Zune in the hands of a high school student help raise anything but the awareness of the latest Billboard hits?
Podcasts.
Teachers are getting help from tech savvy students deemed “Zunies” to create podcasts of lectures and study aids. Students have noted that the ability to rewind a lecture or a foreign language lesson has been very helpful and the remote learning option isn’t bad either.
If test scores do rise will kids soon be able to download a class instead of attending one? Online learning and interaction thru video chat, forums and messengers with information distributed via Podcasts and E-Books isn’t an unrealistic option. It already works for college.
Are physical books becoming the new CD’s? It seems like as a society our information is increasingly losing its physical mass. Will class information eventually be stored on a small MP3 player of sorts and backpacks become a thing of the past?
Old timers will say things like, “Remember the days when kids had to lug around these huge backpacks stuffed full of all kinds of books? There were news stories about back problems caused by them and everything. Wow that was so 20th century….”
This experiment will also provide great PR for Microsoft if test scores end up rising. Not only are they getting their product in the hands of high school kids and imprinting their brand but they are also doing it via a great cause: Education.
As for my 2 cents?
Obviously as a New Media fanatic I am all for podcasts and online learning and believe that one day it could help redefine what we now think of as “the classroom.”
I think this story proves that it already happening.
However, while the classroom may one day be a thing of the past, physical experience will (should) not. Ironically enough it was Ft. Sumner, New Mexico that helped me personally learn that back when I was 16 and visited Billy the Kids grave with my Dad.
No podcast, video or E-Book could ever replace that. So let’s not forget that while there are always going to be new ways to learn there will always be only one way to know.
Read the full article here.
Twitter Debate
While people wait with baited breath for the first Presidential debate between Obama and McCain, TWITTER has the next best thing. A debate between campaign reps taking place via TWITTER TWEETS.
I am having flashing visions of Tweety Bird and I’m sure you are too.
For those who aren’t yet familiar with Twitter it is not a new way high school kids have come up with to terrorize nipples. It is actually a social media tool used by people to update their social networks via short 160 character bursts of information. You can update it via the web site or your cell phone using text messages.
This should be interesting. Check out the full article here.
For Better or Worse?
Remember when the parachute pants and fluorescent wardrobes of the 80’s seemed cutting edge? Well today they seem completely dated and out of style.
It is the same with technology. As advanced as the level of technology we currently utilize seems there is always something new on the horizon.
Where will all of these leaps in knowledge and technology take us? Where will this “New Media” lead? When will we get there? And just what the heck is GoogleZon?
