Category: opinion

The Audience Has An Audience | Adapt, Adopt

Watch. Learn. Apply.

Back in 2006 I spoke at my first television-industry conference (there were many many more).

Even then the discourse and examples focussed on how the the web was shifting the watching experience. Martini media had arrived along with mobile phones plus social networks.

Fast forward over 7 years and most people will read / watch the above, nod and continue on their merry way. What a shame!

The social connected layer influences and continues to impact vast swathes of our considered and structured lives. This stuff doesn’t just apply to TV. It’s also about how we work. Our health. How we interact with our family / friends. Our security. How we bank. How we vote. Where we go for dinner etc

The idea that we have networks which we influence is what the clever people get. It doesn’t matter if it’s 10 or 10,000… we have the collective / connective power to influence and create on a level unknown like any other time.

Then again, we could just Instagram the sandwich we’re eating!

How does the idea of your audience having an audience affect / influence what you do?

ᔥ Motherboard Vice blog
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Puncture The Equilibrium | The Social Perimeter

Illustrated-Guide-PhD-Matt-Might-Remix

Keep pushing!

Discussions about the space I’ve been operating in for eight years is stilted at ‘social media’ (and usually the false assumption that most folks think it just means social media marketing).

For me, the semantic and focus has shifted to just “social”, which includes:

  • social media
  • social technologies
  • social platforms
  • social workflows
  • social currencies
  • social literacies
  • social interactions
  • social expectations
  • social sharing
  • social business
  • social metrics
  • social culture (to name but a few)

These new associations seem peripheral to the main social media discourse, and if you think that way, good, because there’s not much space on the edge.

The courageous, audacious, curious margins with their better questions.

The fringes where development occurs as a gradual push outwards, extending the status quo.

A punctuated equilibrium.

Whether it be a university asking for applications for one of it’s courses via 200 characters; Lego making it’s executives to take courses in social; crowdfunded films winning oscars etc

The edges are far more fun, confusing, impactful and wondrous than the center.

Join me if you dare.

Image remixed from The Illustrated Guide to a Ph.D.
Hat-tip Brian Sweeney for ‘punctuated equilibrium’ term.
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Jeff Bezos Buys The Washington Post | Opportunity Follows

I really hope Bezos watches The Newsroom.

The Washington Post has a great legacy although has been losing readers and reach for years. Jeff Bezos just bought them and with it an opportunity to give journalists the permission to be the informed and critical medium it has long forgot it needs to be (even though the general populace has become more interested in shallow celebrity stuff than real life):

There is no map, and charting a path ahead will not be easy. We will need to invent, which means we will need to experiment. Our touchstone will be readers, understanding what they care about – government, local leaders, restaurant openings, scout troops, businesses, charities, governors, sports – and working backwards from there.

Bezos open letter

Re: The Newsroom clip—isn’t it sad that fiction says more about the truth than real life.
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Unplugging | Kicking It Old School

stoplooklive

After over a decade of being immersed in online social spaces and digital technologies it’s time to take a break.

To quieten the cleverness.

To go deep (not just wide).

To consolidate memory.

Regain focus.

Reflect.

Create.

Play.

That means no more blogging / Twitter / Tumlbr / Pinterest / Facebook / RSS feeds…

Don’t know how long—definitely for a good few weeks / months (during my west coast trip), maybe longer.

“The quieter we are, the more patient and open we are in our sadnesses, the more deeply and serenely the new presence can enter us, and the more we can make it our own, the more it becomes our fate.”
Rainer Maria Rilke

In the past couple of years the whole social media space has become noisy with advertisers / marketeers and diluted with experts.

That being said, recently I’ve discovered the next set of questions—just have to work out if I have the energy to start another business around them and if I’m in the right place for folks who are ready buy.

Still available for hire regarding consulting and speaking gigs (no more training services though unless it’s c-suite level).

I’m back.

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Social Media Is Not Social Media Marketing | A Growing Issue

social networking pie

Knowing the difference illustrates social media literacy (or lack of).

A few years ago I created the above graphic for a client to explain why social media is not social networking (full blog post). Three years later and the new frustration is the growing use of the term social media when in fact folk mean social media marketing.

A few months ago I met the social media manager for a high-profile telecommunications brand here in NZ who literally couldn’t tell me what else they were utilising social media for other than marketing:

They weren’t exploring saving time and money through collaboration platforms…

They weren’t using it to monitor and track latest news and developments in the industry…

They weren’t using it to cut print and other associated costs in their operations…

They weren’t using it to augment their professional development of the staff…

They weren’t using it to celebrate and reward their customers / clients / audience…

Marketing through social media is not bad / evil / wrong, it’s just a part of the social media pie and should be described appropriately—this also goes for the increasing growth in social media events who only talk about marketing (call them social media marketing events!).

For everyone who has ‘social media’ in your title please consider if you have that right. And the next time you hear someone talking about this subject, ask them if they actually mean social media marketing (or send them this graphic):

social media is not social media marketing

Grrrr!

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Why Closing Google Reader Is A Good Thing | A Retrospective

google reader rip

An open letter.

Thank you Google.

Thank you for giving us a simple, wonderful, effective (and free) RSS aggregator in Google Reader.

The news you are now going to retire the service is sad but not surprising.

Personally, been honoured to have introduced thousands upon thousands of individuals to the platform through my seven years as a social media trainer / masterclass take / speaker. Even a couple of days ago was enabling a group of librarians here in Wellington, NZ to the power of filtering the web and creating your own social media menu.

Of course I’ve tried other services like Yahoo RSS and Netvibes plus also dabbled with a few desktop readers, but you always got me coming back with your minimalist approach and deep integration with other platforms (not to mention a direct distribution channel through email).

Understand you’ll now be focussing your efforts on other services and although we’ll all miss and have to find another RSS aggregator, the closure will spark new players into the game, and for those already providing services, an opportunity to tighten up their offerings. This will be a good thing (although feel for those folks who created apps like Reeder and thers which sync the reader data in to make it work).

It will also move me further away from all my data being routed through you guys—as you and I both know, it’s getting a little creepy nowadays how we used to be users and are now the products being packaged and sold on (without full disclosure of the parties involved).

Thanks again Google for the memories, making me look awesome and keep in touch.

For those who are looking for alternatives, check out these:

…anyone use any of the above? Which are the best? What do you think about this announcement?
Related post: OOooooohhhh Vienna | A Google Reader Substitute
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The Original Social Media Anti-Expert | Me

3 things tell a man quote

Been introduced as a social media expert / guru / master / ninja (shudders) etc too many times.

“Change is not merely necessary to life, it is life.”
Alvin Toffler

Been saying stuff like this for over four years…

It’s time to live it out.

Leave by a different exit.

Go a different way.

Change down gears.

Be more humble.

Become an anti-expert (for a while)!

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BlackBox SocialMedia | Automated Communication

George Bernard Shaw communication quote

Going fishing.

It started with the casting of this tweet:

BlackBox SocialMedia bait tweet

A little bait to catch a bite… four days later, they bit:

BlackBox SocialMedia automated tweet reply

Much in the same vein as SplashMedia (please read the comments), it looks like BlackBox SocialMedia first capture mentions of Twellow, Facebook, Twitter and social media training, then hit these Tweetmailers with an automated reply service directing them to articles on their website (which is basically trying to sell you their services).

It’s easy to understand the above approach as social media presents an enticing opportunity to offer wisdom through targeted communication. And in sharing knowledge the aim is to build a connection (and for these guys, a sale).

There’s another way.

By creating a relationship first, not only do you become aware of the context (which is so important, otherwise, you’ll be responding to questions which haven’t been asked and you’re made to look a little silly—see my tweet and then their response) plus it’s simply more honest.

So what do you think, are BlackBox SocialMedia being savvy or is this lazy marketing? Have you experienced a similar thing on Twitter? Btw BlackBox SocialMedia, feel free to respond in the comments below.

Related posts : Splash Media U And Pete Aspen | A Twitter Mystery
Image credit
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2013 | Create / Curate

Creating / curation is the new black.

And my 2013 theme:

rilke create quote

Creating is action.

Doing.

“Where I create, there I am true”
Rainer Maria Rilke

Public speaking for me is a hugely innovative exercise. Many folks don’t understand the work and expressive energy that goes into a presentation and its delivery (especially if you don’t use a script or practice like me then the execution itself is very much an inventive act).

I. Want. To. Do. More. And. Get. Better.

But, also, taking the time to craft the opening video here or the images which compliments the text, is part of what I mean.

It’s the realisation of discovering what you’re good at plus what you’re passionate about then using that to spark creation.

Deconstructing. Starting. Expanding. Mashing up ideas. Disrupting. Smiling. Thinking.

Look out 2013 for lines in the sand and new ventures.

clay shirky curation quote

There are two areas of curation which hold my interest: developmental and experiential.

“Curation solves the problem of filter failure.”
Clay Shirky

Developmental

How do you / your organisation / company view curation? What role does it play in broadening discussions and skill development internally? How are you using it to celebrate those in your industry or even as a way of extending yourself?

The rise of the individual digital curator (thanks to sites like Tumblr / Pinterest) allows for a wider interpretation of the more traditional role. Although, the leaders in the field (Tina or Jason or Maria or Shaun etc) demonstrate a higher purpose rather just serving individual tastes, but that of aiming to inspire, educate, challenge, explode wonder, intrigue, curiosity, in their audience.

The idea of curation as a(n online) skill is hardly ever discussed in articles / conversations around social media. My argument is that it will become increasingly crucial to individual and organisational development—as the signal vs noise ratio of companies / organisations, let alone a sector or industry, continues to increase, so to is the need to understand how to navigate and sift through the information and concentrate it into action.

This is sucking the juicy wisdom out of the web and humanising it for good.

Experiential

TEDxTeAro (I’m the license holder) is an example of experiences as curative event.

There are two things to be announced in the New Year around stretching the idea of traditional events: one for Wellington-based creatives (to be made public next week) and the other for social media mavens like myself who want to explore the next set of questions (who understand the difference between strategy and culture and who want to get away from ‘how to use Twitter / Facebook’ to advertise in a slightly different way and sell stuff).

More to follow but thinking it’s time play around with event formats and offer attendees more than a seat and people talking at them.

What’s your 2013 theme? What do you think of mine? Leave a comment below you lovely tribe of readers you.

Clay Shirky image attribution
Video music via Oddworld
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