Let me begin by drawing an analogy: this will prove you and I have a common cultural frame of reference that allows me to effectively explain a contemporary but minor development in the evolution of social media in a manner that you will understand and find appealing.

This cultural frame usually revolves around one of three axes:

• 80s movies or music (of which John Hughes and New Wave are subsets)
• A citation from one of: Office Space, Glengarry Glen Ross, or the Judd Apatow oeuvre
• A reference to a similarly obscure yet momentarily popular applications from either 2005 or 2000.

Now that we have a shared understanding, I will support my argument by making a tenuous link to social theory, literary criticism, existential philosophers or post-modern artists. This will reassure you that I can move beyond simple analogy and am capable of applying cognitive frameworks to the issue under consideration.

If I’m unsure of my interpretation, I will link to a Wikipedia article or mention that I last studied the point in university.

At this point, I will need to tie my budding argument into a contemporary narrative. After all, you the reader needs right here, right now to keep on reading. This means one of two things: a link to a more prominent blog that has already staked out ground and an opinion on the issue, or a direct citation from a report in a mass media publication.

Unless I’m an economist, you will never see me link to a more considered examination of the issue in an academic journal. This is largely because academic journals are long and hard to read, but can also be explained by the firewalls that keep me from reaching subscription-only material.

Anyway - back to the contemporary narrative. If I have bounced onto this issue from an MSM report, I will take issue with the reporting. There is no value to me, my reputation as a capable strategist and thoughtful person or my employer in reaffirming the work of a more informed and professional reporter.

If I’m deriving inspiration from another blogger’s insight, I will take one of two tacks: I will be 87% in agreement, or I will cockblock their argument. In either circumstance, I will be demonstrating that I am, in no way, a dogsbody or a yes man. I am a man of ideas, a man of thought, a man to be considered a thoughtful and capable strategist.

Having established that I am well informed, educated enough to draw historic comparisons and critical enough to avoid parrotting the work of others, I will present a thesis for why the issue under consideration has arrived at this point. This thesis will draw upon three things:

• my experience, however limited, with a particular technology still in alpha
• my conversations with other strategists and gurus
• trends derived from online analytical apps

This thesis will present a forward-looking statement that is sufficiently vague that I will not get in trouble with the SEC nor anyone who decides to conduct a semi-annual retrospective evaluation of my predictions and assessments.

IT WILL, however, claim that the issue under consideration will have significant impact on the future prospects of a) the public relations industry b) publicly traded consumer goods companies c) the future of one politician in particular or d) the advertising industry.

Now, as a capable strategist, I will take a moment to point out that others have taken issue with the position I am currently arguing. I will reference a high profile blog, even if I have to dig deep into the comments to find a point contrary to my own.

I will then hurredly summarize my position, for a variety of reasons:

• it’s a wobbly house of cards, truly understandable only when read on a smart phone in traffic
• I cannnot extend the argument without revealing that it was lifted directly from Wired and the Economist
• if I stretch the logic of my main thesis much farther, it will disintegrate like a stick of chewing gum from a pack of 1983 O-Pee-Chee’s
• the Lavalife commercial just came on tv.

Having established my bona fides with my insightful and prescient thinkpiece, I will tend to the comment fields like a Chinese democracy activist who had the temerity to actually apply for a protest permit during the Olympics.

There, people of a similar mind will be in 87% agreement, or will cockblock me. Or, if they’re Amanda Chapel, they will actually make constructive comments that point out the holes in my argument and question my ability to wield a keyboard without significant instruction.

Forget about stoic pride. Forget about demure recognition. When you hit a defining moment in your life, you should celebrate with energy, with passion and with a demonstrable air of excitement.

That’s what Rafael Nadal did last night, climbing up into the stands to hug his friends and family. He then walked across the top of the scoreboard at Centre Court to speak to the Spanish Crown Prince.

It was only after he had finished his personal celebrations that Nadal returned to the Court - where the tournament organizers in blue jackets grabbed him to make sure he returned to the age-old script for awarding the trophy - and maximizing television time for sponsors and Wimbledon club officeholders.

The second that blazer-toting apparatchik grabbed Nadal, I recognized that the Spaniard’s impulsive decision to head into the stands had exploited the transition between sport and business on Centre Court.

The convention is that the winner stands at Centre Court, turns to each side of the stands and does the aw-schucks do-see-do, then returns to his courtside chair to be led through the rest of the agenda.

Nadal did not pause to consider his dual obligations to sport and business - his epic match was a landmark in modern tennis, and he let his emotions shine brightly through.

Technorati Tags: joy, Wimbledon, Nadal, Federer, celebration, life goal

Today, millions of Italians are encouraging their government to perform a little act of self-love. It’s V2 day.

You have to understand, Italian politics is a giant mess. Governed by a parliament split into countless regional, ideological and personal political parties, Italy has been subjected to minority government after minority government.

Not that the ruling politicians have changed. If you bother to look up past presidents and prime ministers, you’ll see the same names popping up again and again - powerful politicians, financiers and oligarchs. Some have been cleared of conspiracy and corruption charges, others had the evidence disappear or claimed immunity as sitting legislators.

At the moment, Silvio Berlusconi is getting ready to become prime minister - for the THIRD time. There are some that argue, with some merit, that Berlusconi’s personal chokehold on print and television media in Italy plays a significant part in his abilities as a political phoenix.

Italians, understandably, are getting a little tired of their predicament. In fact, two million Italians hit the streets on September 8, 2007 to protest corruption and incompetence on the part of their government.

It was all part of a campaign of insubordination and protest organized around the “v sign” - the upturned fingers that really get the message across that an Italian would like you to vaffancuolo - perform intercourse on yourself.

Leading the charge is Beppe Grillo, a comedian, satirist and, now, political activist. Imagine Robin Williams, but with a lot more impact on the electorate. His foul but catchy anthem,

The New Yorker ran a lengthy interview with Beppe in February, which offered up an insightful examination of the political, economic and social currents that have prompted this sort of popular reaction.

Beppe has followed up on last September’s activity with V2 Day, being celebrated today, on April 25 (threw that in for you late readers on the feeds). From his blog:

…On 25 April we are liberated from nazi-fascism. 63 years later we can liberate ourselves from the fascism of information. It’s more difficult than it was then. It’s no longer rifle against rifle, hand grenade against armoured tank. The battle is between consciences that have gone to sleep and the freedom of thought, between those who no longer want to fly and those who cannot renounce the sky.

On 25 April we can change the country. We have the duty to do it for our children and for our conscience. The liberty of information cannot offer discounts. Three referenda for freedom of information in a free state: abolition of Mussolini’s Order of Journalists, elimination of a billion euro a year public financing of publishing, abolition of the Gasparri law and the duopoly Parties-Mediaset (shortly to be Mediaset-Mediaset).

In 400 Italian cities signatures will be collected. In tens of foreign cities there will be information about the control of the media in Italy. Music, bicycles, festivals and signs of peace. A new Renaissance. After so much shit, for Italy it is a duty…

Check out the flickr pool. Check out the PSAs, protest videos and citizen journalism reports on YouTube.

image courtesy of Stop.Media.Mafia

Technorati Tags: V2 day, Italia, Italy, Beppe Grillo, corruption, government, protest

Ofcom, the British media regulator, has just released hundreds of pages of qualitative and quantitative research into participation in social networks.

There’s the predictable division of social network members into cute little persona or caricatures, and then there’s a much more detailed breakdown of the impulses, activities and omissions of people participating in social networks.

I think it’s essential reading for anyone at all interested in the behaviour of youth online, as well as those interested in how regulators and ombudsmen view online activities.

Interestingly, Ofcom has also recorded a commentary on YouTube to accompany the release. Granted, it’s a one-sided commentary that evokes memories of Betacam video sent out to regional offices from corporate headquarters, but it does add a layer of interactivity and visual stimulation.

The qualitative research suggests five distinct groups of people who use social networking sites :

• Alpha Socialisers – mostly male, under 25s, who use sites in intense short bursts to flirt, meet new people and be entertained.
• Attention Seekers – mostly female, who crave attention and comments from others, often by posting photos and customising their profiles.
• Followers – males and females of all ages who join sites to keep up with what their peers are doing.
• Faithfuls – older males and females generally aged over 20, who typically use social networking sites to rekindle old friendships, often from school or university.
• Functionals – mostly older males who tend to be single-minded in using sites for a particular purpose.

The qualitative research also suggests three distinct groups of people who do not use social networking sites:

• Concerned about safety – often older people and parents concerned about safety online, in particular making personal details available online.
• Technically inexperienced – often people over 30 years old who lack confidence in using the internet and computers.
• Intellectual rejecters – often older teens and young adults who have no interest in social networking sites and see them as a waste of time.

Technorati Tags: Ofcom, Facebook, MySpace, youth online

Well, I’ve finished work on it. A handy little guide for exploring the world of social media and building support for social media in a large organization.

I think the advice in this 23 page guide to secretly implementing social media in organizations could be equally useful for any government employee looking to try out new technologies - I’m pretty certain on that point, since I’m a government employee in real life.

You can find the guide at this link, and please feel free to share it with your friends, colleagues and bosses.

Here’s an excerpt, from the introduction:

How do you do it? How do you bring a spirit of innovation and experimentation to the communications shop of a large organization?

I’ve worked in a large organization – the government – for the last ten years. You can find bright, creative and resourceful people around every corner, in every department.

During the course of their careers, many of these people have thought of a move that could improve their work or their environment.

From experience, we all know that small changes in process or presentation are easily won. After all, it’s just another line on an approval sheet, or a tweak on the website.

Large organizations can also be convinced to launch a large-scale overhaul of their systems – whether it’s a supply chain, assembly process or online order system.

But it’s a real pain to get them to rethink their relationship with humans outside the security fence. After all, our customer service reps seem to be doing a good job, right? That sales force really does have a handle on the needs of the community, doesn’t it?

In speaking to hundreds of workers and managers for large organizations (government and private sector), I’ve been asked the same questions, over and over:

• How do you convince your boss to even experiment with social media?
• Doesn’t it mean a lot of extra work?
• Isn’t this sort of stuff blocked by our organizational policies?

This Secret Underground Guide to Social Media for Organizations is meant to help you answer some of those questions.

Technorati Tags: guide to social media, instruction, dummies guide, introduction, organizations, government

Mitch has nailed it. A lot of companies being slammed by online controversies - like Hasbro - just aren’t used to dealing with emotional, irrational and impetuous humans.

Their relationship with the marketplace is framed by the work of their distributors, an import/export firm, or a licence holder.

The issues involved are often complex, with plenty of lawyers involved. Corporate positions frequently cannot be distilled into blogger-friendly language without affecting corporate interests in liability, finance or intellectual property.

Any corporate public relations pro will recognize their dilemma.

As Mitch points out, it’s hard for a company built to a fifty year-old model to adapt to a new business flow chock full of eddies, breakers and dangerous rapids.

Increasingly, though, they are trying. People like Petro Canada or Ford are dipping their toes into the social media swamp - and taking the punches and expanding their influence.

The transformation of the corporation demands participation and understanding at many levels - not just in the marketing and communications department.

As Doug Walker points out in a comment to Mitch’s post, the simplest point of contact may just be the customer service representative - if finance, facilities and human resources help you expand your CSR force to deal with the pressures that can be generated by social media.

And that means finance, facilities, human resources, and the call centre manager will all have to understand the needs and challenges of playing in social media.
Oh - and Mitch’s other point, about bloggers demonstrating the same qualities they demand from corporations? I agree as well.

Anyone can build a bully pulpit, whether they’re a fascinating storyteller or simply a demagogue.

It takes a level of dedication and transparency to actually maintain relationships and effect change in a community - small or large.

Instead of a hagiographic shout-out, or a far too quick reference to the great man, why not take a moment to consider Marshall McLuhan, the colleague, friend and neighbour?

In the Garden with the Guru, a short essay by Bob Rodgers in the Literary Review of Canada, serves up some personal anecdotes and a reference to the academic environment that surrounded McLuhan’s work in the 50s.

“…A published statement by a hugely influential classicist from Yale is not untypical: “There is afoot a mindless orgy of trend-catching anti-literacy, best typified by the appalling popularity of the jargon-laden, hyped-up, and profoundly ahistorical works of McLuhan, designed to flatter just about all the prejudices of a TV generation in which functional illiteracy is already well advanced.”

McLuhan can be many things to many people, simply because he was either so wide-ranging or enigmatic. It’s interesting to note how different bloggers have drawn quotes from Rodgers’ piece, from Hidden Persuader, to Chicken Scratch, to Sans Everything, to the Banana Peel Project. Was the man a futurologist, a floor dwelling aphorism machine or what?

Technorati Tags: McLuhan, U of T, medium is the message

Two comments from the fabulously named Noodlepie, Graham Holliday’s blog about journalism, food and other wonderful things.

First off: one commenter notes that journalists largely treat the internet like an all-you-can-eat lunch buffet. Sometimes the entrees are tasty and refreshing, other times they’re old, stale and previously touched.

“… The internet is a pub. The journalists are outside on a fag break. Every now and then they hear someone shouting or screaming inside the pub. They go in, ask what’s happening, take some notes and nip back outside for another fag break. On the second fag break, they are joined by their editors who cherrypick the journalist’s notes before heading back to the newsroom to add cherries as deemed necessary - with a nice fat link back to the man in the pub.

The journalists don’t really hang out in the pub, but they’re in and out on a regular basis.

Business as usual then really… That make sense?”

And another person (and freelance journalist) has a comment about Web 2.0 evangelists:

“… My point - although it’s a gut emotional response, really – is that I can’t stand the stupid technological determinism of Web 2.0 evangelists: i.e. the assumption that because technology has the potential to change something, that change will necessarily occur. Nope, it’s people that make changes - although they often use technology to do it. I think this may be what you call “pseudowank”, which is a much better term. Can I suggest you start a blog under that title?

Oh, the other thing that annoys me (while I’m ranting) is that the debate about “journalism, social media, people-who-used-to-be-the-audience blah, blah, blah” is so skewed towards the evangelists. This is a small bubble, and there are a lot of people outside it - in academia, for example - who have very interesting things to say about media, democracy, information rights, etc who are just ignored - probably because they are writing deeply researched books about it, rather than spewing out blogs or polishing their TED powerpoints.”

Technorati Tags: pseudowank, TED, social media

The premise, as posited by Jeremiah, Kami, Kevin and others: content generators need to develop materials and vehicles that communicate effectively with “media snackers,” those new economy animals who bounce from medium to medium picking up information and filtering it.

That means short blog posts, interactive web tools, podcasts of varying lengths, videos, Twitter streams and anything else that two guys withs seed capital can think up.

I see a strategic weakness in this premise, however: just because people want their media quick, easily digestible and interactive doesn’t mean we should abandon context and overlook longer term tactics.

That’s because I’m an old school media snacker. Not as old enough to be a Reader’s Digest subscriber, let’s get that out of the way.* But old enough to know how to follow Usenet threads. Old enough to have thought PointCast was going to revolutionize our world.

I think we run the risk of over-simplifying our tactics and under-estimating our readers/listeners/viewers: they don’t come to the dim sum buffet for the individual dish, they see ach piece as part of a larger meal.

You see, I’m not a media snacker, I’m a media aggregator. I may bounce from source to source and from one format to another, but I have one (or several) topics that I’m tracking.

I am picking up tidbits, thoughts and observations, and integrating them into internal narratives, or adding them to databases on issues I am following, or marking them as useful for work I am doing at the office.

The danger with the “snacker” meme is that we may see our readers in too simplistic a manner: as someone dropping by for a visit, or someone not really engaged in the process.

We have to make sure, as communicators, marketers, public relations hacks or community builders, that we integrate our “snack media” into a more comprehensive communications and marketing plan.

And that doesn’t mean a cool splashpage made in flash.

It means some sort of community hub, where all these snacks can be displayed on a big buffet table (or, given that most “media snacks” are ephemeral in time and place, a warming table). A touchstone for your “lifestream,” so to speak.

And then our reader, community member, stakeholder - whatever - can pick and choose the tactic that most suits them.

*You realise, of course, that Reader’s Digest was the original media snacker’s resource.

Technorati Tags: media snacker, twitter, meme, community, interstitial, lifestream

Depending upon the topic, it seems that people define the role of public relations practitioner, corporate communicator, and marketing fairly loosely. What exactly is the difference between the three distinct professions?

This graphic tries to separate them by indicating specific “benefits” of working in marketing communications (like travelling on business, having access to Super Bowl tickets) and then presenting the proportional odds of that benefit being available to one or all of the professions.

Technorati Tags: marketing, communicator, corporate communications, public relations, schwag

Here it is , folks. One of the first effective media applications of Twitter.

Two BBC reporters covering the Rugby World Cup are using Twitter as part of their reporter’s tool kit.

And the BBC has done a very smart job of integrating their Twitter messages into the overall reporting package.

Tom Fordyce and Ben Dirs are “blogging their way around France in a camper van,” as the BBC tells us. In addition to blogging and twittering, they are posting pictures to flickr.

Twitter seems a perfect application for sports reporting, especially in a high profile game like the Rugby World Cup final. It’s:

• immediate
• multi-platform
• already part of the user’s media diet
• already used to convey emotion and a sense of place by users
• easily integrated into the larger reporting plan

As Robin Hamman, a voice from inside the BBC points out:

“…One of the most exciting things that the BBC Blogs seem to have done is to give programme and website producers the opportunity to innovate by adding additional services, from social bookmarking to social networking, to their pages - creating some compelling new content and new building audience communities in the process….” (Cybersoc)

h/t to Matthew at Data Mining.

Technorati Tags: twitter, rugby, bbc, integrated news rooms, social media

Issue: A� vertical conglomerate with continuous production demands and an asymmetrical distribution cycle, Santa Claus Enterprises faces accelerating competition from e-suppliers and even a reinvigorated challenge from traditional toy retailers. It currently faces difficulties coordinating the work of its management, production, strategic forecasting and distribution groups.

Scope: Communications among SCE, Inc. groups relies upon traditional communications methods: waterfall information management, employee newsletter, small team meetings and a sketchy computer network. Senior management has identified several immediate challenges that require enhanced communications capabilities, including:

• a six sigma approach to quality control on the production line;
• just-in-time inventory controls;
• outside food sourcing;
• intra-species human resources management; and
• competitive intelligence collection.

Suggested Solutions:

• Vodcasting: Encourage continuous learning among the workforce with voice and video podcasting, with custom programming available on SCE Inc. branded players. Distribute corporate messaging easily and quickly. Make the newest training material� available from� onsite workstations - including footage of the� latest workplace accidents and customer safety complaints. Sure to improve production quality!
• Google Maps mash-up: By integrating� data on current inventory,� production scheduled at suppliers, positioning of available� reindeer fleet, traffic and weather conditions, and elves available to receive deliveries, management can monitor a comprehensive inventory dashboard.
• Mobile text messaging:� Drawing upon� simple online text messaging software, managers and corporate officers can communicate with reindeer herders and purchasing agents currently away from the North Pole.
• Desktop Widgets: OS-neutral widgets allow corporate officers to provided desk-bound workers with vital information on weather delays during delivery, RFID-enhanced elf monitoring to prevent pilferage, ready access to the latest cafeteria menu� and performance metrics measuring action on the workshop floor.
• Viral Video:Elf populations have an unusually long lifespan. This presents unique challenges for “human” resources management. Utilizing CCTV systems initially developed for retail applications, management can track Elf� social behaviour. Disincentives can be applied by making the more entertaining CCTV video available on YouTube and other social video sites.
• Wikis: SCE Inc. can better� forecast demographic and regional demand for particular toys by analyzing commercially available consumer purchasing data. To anticipate last minute fluctuations in inventory and erratic delivery schedules, credit ratings and FICO scores can help anticipate increased last-minute demand by household. Wikis are a useful and flexible tool for SCE Inc. data analysts to share both raw and analyzed intelligence.

We thank you for the opportunity to participate in this bid. Agency partners participating in this bid will continue to service the Santa Claus Enterprises Inc. account, and include:

• J. Frost, Account Manager
• Dr. Victor Fries, Agency Principal
• Yukon Cornelius, Agency Founder
• Billy Richards, Account Assistant

Technorati Tags: Santa, Christmas, Toys, RFP

Shell uses an extensive planning process to develop scenarios that question common assumptions about the influence of economic, political and social networks.

The attendees at Davos this past January were treated to a preview of the new Shell Global Scenarios to 2025. The new scenarios (.ppt) identify three competing forces (slide :

The last force, social cohesion, can be further described as a “civil-society-centric world.” One, you would think, that would include participants in the accelerating world of civic journalism, participatory democracy and social networking.

Why, then, does the slide dealing with influencers (slide 16) stick to the same old tired players in political economy theory: regulators, NGOS, media, political leaders, and trade unions?

If I squint and expand their code words as flexibly as possible, I think I can see myself (and you) in their analysis.

I hope their more detailed work on these scenarios reflects the reality of a hyper-connected world - one where national revolutions are coordinated by text-messaging and protest movements are energized by homespun news reports, webcasts and meetups.

Tom Murphy has pointed to an interesting article on the PR challenges faced by US beef producers, now that a case of BSE has been discovered.

In June 2003, The Toronto Star’s entertainment critic drew an amusing, but insightful, comparison between the recent outbreaks of BSE, West Nile and SARS and Steven Spielberg’s thriller Jaws:

The first death is swift, savage and out of the blue. Public officials blame it on a fluke. They predict a speedy and inexpensive resolution. When more deaths occur, the officials shift to denial and damage control. They’re concerned about bad publicity, how it will hurt tourism and trade. The menace
suddenly halts and the officials rejoice: “Everything will soon be back to normal,” they say. Then the deaths start happening again …

Sound familiar? The above, in a nutshell, is how the SARS epidemic has progressed in its three-month Toronto rampage. Parallels can be drawn with the mad cow and West Nile diseases.

It also sounds a lot like a classic Hollywood thriller: Jaws. And we can learn something from it …

Don’t assume it’s an easily solved problem: The SARS, mad cow and West Nile crises all started with single cases, and in each instance, officials laboured to ease public fears of a mass outbreak. … Good intentions, perhaps, but as in the case of the Amity shark, pretending there’s a quick fix can prove fatal.

Don’t put salesmanship ahead of safety: “I was acting in the town’s best interests,” said Amity Mayor Vaughan, sounding an awful lot like the politicians who have fiddled while Toronto burned … Politicians need to do more to solve the long-term health care crisis in Ontario than simply pose for photo ops eating Chinese food and steak dinners.

Don’t be cheap: Sea salt Quint demands $10,000 to hook the killer shark, and Amity officials flinch and hedge. “You gotta make up your minds,” he tells them. “Do you wanna stay alive and ante up, or do you want to play it cheap and be on welfare the whole winter?” … Going cheap on health care has made coping with epidemics all the more difficult.

Don’t assume it’s over: As angry nurses told the Star, Toronto’s second major SARS outbreak can be blamed on senior health officials and politicians who refused to accept the possibility of resurgence by the disease. So eager were the suits to get back to business as usual, they refused to acknowledge that a second shark was silently waiting.

Get ready for the big one: “You’re gonna need a bigger boat,” Chief Brody tells Quint when he first sees how large the great white shark really is. Good advice for the next big disease to come our way, say Ebola or anthrax. We might look back and think of SARS, mad cow and West Nile as small threats. A bigger health care boat may well be needed.

The UK held an extensive enquiry into the BSE outbreak in the ’90s. The Food Standards Agency, which was created as result, summarized the enquiry’s findings as:

� There was too much secrecy
� There was too much unjustified reassurance
� The Government needs to be more open with the public
� It is important to acknowledge and deal with uncertainty

Startling similarities, eh?