Breaking News: The Use Case Model

Like anyone with a conscience and any news professional the events at the Fort Hood Army base in Killeen, TX yesterday were shocking.  For me, they hit a little close to home. When I worked in Dallas 10 years ago I spent a lot of time at the base covering assorted stories about Army spending, homecoming of bodies etc.

Now I get to spend more time in an office and help make sure word of such events is disseminated to multiple platforms, shape coverage and be involved in the planning process of how to cover these types of stories.  Yeah, sometimes I miss the field.

As events unfolded yesterday, there was a great case study unfolding on Twitter in how the story evolved.  There were plenty of straight up posts, hash tags and trending topics.

There was plenty of news being broken on Twitter from news organizations big and small (BNO, CBS News, KWTX etc) but there was also an interesting mix of people in the media looking for information and sources on Twitter.

Now, I am not sure that is the best use of the medium–to put a call out for witnesses etc, but its a use, and thats a good thing.  With the data rolling in, it would b e great to quickly be able to spin up a way to week out re-Tweets (RT’s) and reactions and get into the straight up news.  It’s all part of the bigger story, I get that–but information is so tough to generate in those moments–a clearer path would be great.

In some way, let the community designate “trusted sources” and their Tweets would have a higher weight–and the rest are still there–this is not an exercise in quieting voices.  Rather this is a way to make the voices ring out.

The Social Network v Google

So lately I have come to realize that I can get better information (and get it faster)  by tossing a question out to my social network than I can get by doing a Google search.  It makes me wonder if there is some real possibility that my social network will replace Google as a core source–and probably sooner rather than later.

A lot of brands are spending a lot of money to “work the system” and be in the top three results for Google.  These strategies include among other things SEO, buying keywords and keyword optimization in metadata on sites.

Or, I can just float a Tweet, or post to Twitter, Facebook and MySpace all at once–and sit back and wait.  Generally speaking in the time it would take me to go through the paid placements on Google and get the information I am looking for–I not only have the data I am looking for, but I have a link that is on point for my query.

Try it yourself.

My case study was a search for cool extensions for Google Wave–I am determined to truly figure out how to make Wave work for me and make it a cool experience (this is a subject for another blog perhaps-but I think the framework is there, just need to figure out what to do with it).

As my list of Wave contacts grows–its kind of interesting to see how people are using the product–and how they are innovating within the environment.

 

The Implied Digital Divide

Yesterday I spoke at an event I have spoken at the last four years and five of the last six years…the Fair Media Council hosts an annual “Connection Day” designed to put professionals from across industries together with media types.  Sometimes, at least to me its kind of when media folks come out of the ivory tower some–but that’s just my perception.

A quick word about events–I get invited to speak at a lot.  I could do three a month or more if I wanted to.  I don’t want to though.  I speak at events that serve a purpose and offer me the chance to learn something which is why the FMC event is on my schedule.

Even though my background is in traditional media-I am the cross over guy so I talk a lot about new media–from blogs, to text messaging to yesterday’s topic on social media.  Makes some sense since I am an evangelist.

Yesterday’s panel was about how to use social media–and there were probably 50 or so people in the room.  Brian Edwards from Astoria Federal Savings led the panel which included Andrew Jacobs from Linx Communications, Andrew Hazen from Prime Visibility, Gurmeet Dhaliwal from CA and me.  It was an interesting bunch–because we represented an assortment of uses for social media.

The Andrews were interested in lead generation for their businesses.  Gurmeet from the CA perspective eventually tries to drum sales up–but is a little closer to the way I use social media at CBS–for brand awareness and loyalty.

But it was the demographics of the room that I thought was fascinating.  One of the stigmas of social media in my opinion is that it’s for the young only.  Yet from IM clients to LinkedIn to Facebook to Twitter the ability to be in the space is prevalent and in fact more people are in social media than even know it.  Brian mentioned a stat that 66% of users in some survey (I can’t remember) said they were on social media.  I would put the number closer to 96%.

Yet some of the older people in the room started their questions with the preface that, “I can’t even turn on my computer.”  Now I always find that a funny way to start a question about new media–because I always find it hard to believe. The reality is these people are imposing their own digital divide.  Here is a reason why I can’t do this–rather than jumping in.

Then from the younger skewing crowd in the room–came questions about where and how to start.  And these were great questions–but its a matter of just jumping in.  Again I have to think that this is a self-imposed digital divide.  The tools are out there.

Yes, there are some learnings to be had in terms of best practices–but until it’s in practice it’s all theory.

I am always amused when someone tells me they are going to a seminar (or worse even a class) on Twitter.  There are 3 fields to fill in to create an account (and a capacha).  After that there are 140 characters to fill in and hit send.

If you jump in–read a little from others its pretty easy to catch on.

Its time to break down the digital barriers we impose on our selves.  It’s not to say social media is for everyone and every occasion–but there are no rules or barriers to entry.

Sharing is Caring?

So I am not officially trying out Google Wave.  And the funny thing about it is, I want to like it a lot–I really do.  And I am hoping to be able to use it to tie it all together.

But right now, its just not there.  I will keep on using it, keep on trying to like it–and hopefully I will find the utility that I need to actually like it.

So help out and check out the Wave for this blog, and let me know what you think.

Social Dialog v. Broadcast

From an inside-baseball perspective one of the more anticipated iPhone apps for this quarter is the CNN app.  It rolled live this week in the iTunes app store, and from what I can tell from an initial download and tour of the app its pretty solid.

For publishers like CNN (and CBS where I work), what has become core functionality is the way the app leverages social networks like Twitter, Facebook etc–as a means of sharing content.  Meaning, it’s a one-way broadcast of me to my friends and followers:

Hey there 1100 Twitter followers and 650 Facebook friends here is something I saw and thought it was pretty cool.  You may like it too.  Enjoy.

But there is nothing social about that from the publisher side.  Its a broadcast.  We are enabling the end-user to broadcast a piece of content (that links back to us) but we are not engaging our core user–or any part of their network.

And that to me seems like a missed opportunity.  Now, I don’t pretend to have all of the answers to this–but I think the soon to roll CBS News app starts to address some of this–but its scratching the surface.  We need to do more to not just be a voice in the social media darkness–we need to engage the end user.

That is the way to build our brand, build your loyalty to our brand and to be a part of the fabric of the social network-and not just a patchwork part of a broader quilt.

Rules of Engagement

Just how prevalent and meaningful has the “gibberish” of your Twitter stream or Facebook wall gotten? There are a lot of companies – both large and small that are creating policy for their employees about how they are expected to conduct themselves.  Not only conduct on “official” Twitter pages or Facebook fan pages, but extending that expectation to personal social media accounts.  And you know what-its a good thing.

I can tell you from personal experience-it was pointed out to me that at one point my Twitter stream (and downstream of that my Facebook wall) had gone too far.  And I appreciated that little heads up and I have modified my behavior since then because social media (even personal accounts) are and extension of our selves (as our jobs, families, background etc).

I did a quick Google this afternoon of the term “Twitter policy” and I came up with rules about the way NFL players can Tweet, guidelines for NBA players, rules governing social media for ESPN employees and tips about how to create policy and some blog comments about policies that have been implemented.

I did a quick read through some of the memos that have found their way to the internet–and there are varying degrees of regulation.  The important part though is no one flat out banner Twitter.  Some of made it a little more generic what can be Tweeted or posted–but the conversation is open, and the sides are engaged.

And that is a good thing, it’s about time.

Once those rules of engagement are open for discussion, implementation and modification an end goal is in sight.  Once the use of social network is defined-employees can begin to implement policy and reach the goal.

For a long time, social media has been an experimental ground-drive brand awareness, drive consumption, drive something.  But the scale to measure impact has not been there.

Now it is-and rules legitimize it.

Yes, it would be great to have the wild-west mentality and just a straight up land grab for every inch we can get.  But that’s not the way business works in 2009.  Business is as much about image and awareness as it is about customer loyalty quality.  Those business needs extend beyond company websites and official destinations–and now that conversation is engaged.

Scratching the Surface and Going Too Far

So, today I am blogging from 35,000+ feet, thanks to the magic of GoGo in-flight (and a free use card I got earlier this week on my west-bound flight that I did not use).  And as I kind of reflect back some to the week that was in our San Francisco offices–and how much I go that i got done, and how little social networking I did-I wonder if the services we rely on today are just scratching the surface, or if we have gone too far already.

There I was on the BART riding out to Freemont (its a lot further than I thought it would be) and I really wanted to do some Twit pics etc–after all I spend a good amount of time bitching about mass transit in NYC, may as well be equal opportunity, right?

I did some Tweets-but not a lot, and no pics.  The why to that is a simple answer-I was doing other things (reviewing some apps that are about to launch etc), but still my premise is always tha the social media stuff takes so little time that its negligible.

So, perhaps I have gone too far?

Yet, here I am on an American Airlines flight heading East, and not only do I have the GoGo fired up-but my TweetDeck is humming along and I am catching up on all things that I did not get to over the last few days.

Fare enough-but then there was the last conversation I had before leaving the SF office today-and it was about rolling some Twitter share functionality into an app I am working on.  Its kind of expected today-and obvious when its not there (yeah, I launched a BB app less than a year ago that did not have any Twitter hooks in it).

That basic core requirement now makes me wonder if we have only scratched the surface of what we can do with social media as a means of bringing content and ideas together.  As a publisher-we want to leverage the tools for discovery and to build brand, but its equally important to be where the conversation is happening–and now I am wondering if we are helping shape the conversation, or simply adding white-noise to the background.

I am pretty sure the answer is somewhere in between–we are only scratching the surface on what we can do, but perhaps we are going to far all at once….

Expectations 2009 Out and About

So an interesting day today, and with a few minutes of downtime, I thought I would take a minute to chronicle it, because its an interesting view on how 2009 has played out-between the economy, technology and in reality service.

By way of background to understand how I got to a Quizznos in Mastic, NY to kill 90 minutes or so, we have to go back to the beginning of the summer.  I pushed my kids (especially my older one) to make friends at camp, get their phone numbers and then encourage them to call their friends and remain social with them after camp.  So yesterday was the last day of camp.

Today, the younger one decided to call a camp friend and set up a play date.  So, she called me on it. Mastic is 30-35 minutes from my house.  So rather than spend 2+ hours today shuttling back and forth, I decided to bring the lap top, do some work and figured there is a Starbucks in pretty much every other shopping center so I’ll have a place to hang and plentiful WiFi to use.

So, I pull into a new (and very large) shopping center in Mastic-and to my surprise, no Starbucks.  How is that even possible? There are four Starbucks within 3 miles of my house-literally every other strip mall.  So, I looked around and there is a pizza place, a bagel place and Quizznos.  I figured a Tuna Torpedo at Quizznos and all of the fountain soda I can handle would kill the time.

So, I order-second encounter with what we now face in modern times: The service was awful. No tuna, two guys on the counter who barely speak above a mumble, no diet Pepsi.  In fact in a moment that made me feel better about my own inability to wait on line, a mother with two kids walked out because there were two people on line in front of her, and it took more than 15 minutes for her to even place her order.  Go ahead sit in a Quizznos for a bit and you too shall understand what it means to observe.

But, there is plentiful WiFi-thanks to one of my of my former employers.  Cablevisions Optimum WiFi is cranking here.  Now the interesting thing, when I sit at the pool near my house, or up at Cedar Beach in Sound Beach-Optimum WiFi is not so plentiful.

So, in the economic downturn, this is clearly the land that Starbucks overlooked.  Service sucks, the tip jar next to the register has to be a joke.  And somehow Cablevision is less than equal with its distribution of WiFi.

Not sure what conclusion to draw fro all of this–other than the economy, the service industry and broad WiFi all remain a work in progress.

Looking Ahead-Its that Time

So I have to admit, being in the media and journalism business-the election cycle is actually kind of a fun time.  There is so much happening, and it all matters.  I have worked in the most local of local radio stations, to stations that are “as local as local news gets” to networks (three times)–and all of the elections are important.

So, with that thought process-and some interesting thoughts from a buddy of mine Heather Kovar- checck out her blog here or follow @hrkovar on Twitter here-2010 will be an interesting year for applied social media.  And for those who like to watch-see what works and how it works now, because 2012 will be downright fascinating.

Now, Heather has a pretty good beat on beat on the local scene-especially in Connecticut where she works-and you can see the sheer volume of Twitter and Facebook users who are either in or running for office.

Add to that some of the early favorites for 2012 already staking out ground on social media-Sarah Palin is not shy about sharing on Twitter. Barack Obama is active as well.  Don’t discount Mike Bloomberg (the NYC Mayor) as a player in 2012.

Right now, its “experimental” for the politicians.  But wait as the stakes go up–and the attention grows.  Admit it, you dabble in the space if not go full frontal.  After all-Jet Blue announced the single fare for September travel on Twitter.  American Airlines ran a whole contest on Facebook where tens of thousands (including me) offered names for their Facebook app. (just a mention to the AA folks, it would be nice if they set up a better URL for their fan page. Its two clicks on Facebook).

Think this all goes unoticed? Nope. Not even a little.

Its a simple formula.  I have 600+ plus friends on Facebook (you can always friend me up) and just shy of 1100 on Twitter (follow me there) plus more on Plurk, Bright  Kite and MySpace.

In social media 1.5, this is where the people are.

Social media 2.0 is bringing your content to the people–see what Huffington Post did today-with the huge Facebook integration.  This is just the start.  Its not about what you read and where you read it–its about where you get to what you read.  That’s the eyeballs that we all seek, and the decisions we make are geared toward making that a straight up user experience.

Despite all the options, when communication breaks downs

I consider myself to be a pretty connected dude. Perhaps too connected. After all, you can find me on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Plurk, FriendFeed, Linkahollicks, BriteKite, Hi5, LinkedIn etc-and those are the easy ones.  Then there is all Digg, Social Median, Xing, Delicious and other sharing sites that I am at least semi-active on.

For the most part, I do this for professional reasons. Although in someways its overkill, in other ways, its part of my job to understand what these sites do, how people use them–and more importantly if there is a way to use them to grow the sites I am responsible for.

Yet somehow, in all of this–I can easily forget to simply communicate with the people around me who I care for.  Case in point, my “lunch” today. Lunch is in quotes because there was not a lot of  eating going on.

Someone was surprised that I had a MySpace account, and I realized that I had told her that I was thinking about setting one up–but did not tell her I would.

Its an odd kind of thing–because this is someon I text with all the time, see regularly, and chat with via email, IM and on Facebook….yet, until just now I had not friended her up on MySpace.

Now yes, she could have friended me–but regardless–while I over communicate in so many ways when it comes down to the ability to actually talk with someone, I have a great ability to under-communicate.

So does all of this two way BS make it tougher to actually talk to someone?

Recently someone asked me how Twitter was different than Facebook status–and my answer was that Twitter was a two way conversation while Facebook status is a broadcast.

But sometimes I guess its important to broadcast what you are doing–because in doubt lies worry and in worry lies the seeds of concern…and in reality, we all have too much to worry about and be concerned about, that something simple should not be on the list.