I would like to thank all of you who participated in my Google Plus Attitude and Usage Survey. I received 447 responses and I think the data provides a useful snapshot of user sentiment. Now, a lot has happened in the week since I posted the survey. The day I made they survey public was the same day of Google’s rollout of official business pages. Yesterday, they opened they opened their API to third party social media management systems.  Hopefully, these developments don’t make the results too stale.

Google Plus Attitude and Usage Survey Results

The survey was a short, simple, eight question form aimed at finding out who’s on there, what they feel about the service, whether business pages will enhance the experience, and whether they plan on using the platform more in the future.  Again, thank you to those who participated.  Here are the results:

There appears to be a wide range of sentiment, but overall, many seem ready to keep with their Google Plus efforts.  Ultimately this is less about social networking and more to do with strategy.  Google Plus add a layer of social measurement within their page rank ecosystem.  So if you’re an online publisher, it’s less about engagement and conversation and more about that little +1 button.  It really doesn’t matter what you think about Google Plus.  Businesses especially may have to embrace the platform if they hope to maintain page rank.  I’m starting to like it better already.  So what do you think of the survey results?  Are they what you expected?

Despite the tremendously enthusiastic, persistent support and promotion from high profile web marketing strategists, entrepreneurs and technology pundits, Google’s nascent social platform, Google Plus, appears to be sputtering.  That may change with the much anticipated official rollout of  Google + Pages for business.  It will be interesting to see if behaviors and attitudes toward Google Plus change with the introduction of businesses to the network.  If brands see value in being there, they will likely demand more from Google in terms of our data and in turn, Google will demand more from them in cash.

So far Google+ has focused on connecting people with other people. But we want to make sure you can build relationships with all the things you care about—from local businesses to global brands—so today we’re rolling out Google+ Pages worldwide.  - The Official Google Blog

Just this past weekend, web luminaries Guy Kawasaki and Chris Brogan made the case for Google + for Business before the online publishing faithful at the Blog World Expo in Los Angeles.

And while many adherents crow about more “meaningful and intelligent conversations” taking place there, the real reason Google Plus can’t be ignored can be found in this video of the Brogan/Kawasaki presentation. Google giveth and Google taketh away.

The search ranking is the reason I tell people to start using  Google Plus for business, because when you post to public, it shoots up very fast and gets indexed very fast in Google rankings. – Chris Brogan

Google has such advantages… I don’t see how they can’t be a success. – Guy Kawasaki

One has to wonder if the languid days of “meaningful conversations” will be well behind us when Google Plus is inundated with free e-book offers, webinar announcements, “10 reasons why…” – oh and a sure sign of the End Times for Google Plus – Purchase +1.

My Un-scientific Google Plus Usage Survey

Please humor me. Between the 44 thousand of you who “follow” me on Twitter, my 3 thousand plus Facebook connections, and the thousand or so of you who have circled me on Google Plus, I figured I could get a sense of the prevailing sentiment towards G+.  So I’ve put together some survey questions that I hope you’ll take the time to fill out. I’m not a professional pollster, but I hope the survey is structured in a way to produce some useful data. PLEASE pass this on if you think it is a useful survey.

While Google Plus appears to have plateaued, it would be unwise to dismiss the platform as another yet-to-be-shelved social effort by the internet behemoth. I have an account there and visit daily, posting nearly as often. Still, I have yet to find my groove Google Plus, which makes me skeptical of it’s long term success.  Because as any good blogger knows personal experience is a reliable bellwether for any web technology (/snark).

Facetious (mostly) confirmation bias aside, I am curious if there is anecdotal consensus about how people are using Google Plus and how they plan on integrating the less than mainstream network into current or future content strategy.  One thing we can be sure of is that Google has plans for how online publishers – individual to corporate – integrate Google Plus into their content strategy.  My aim here is to gather data on how YOU plan to, or are currently using Google Plus.  As always, please leave your thoughts in the comments.  What am I missing here? What would make the survey better? And PLEASE share this. Survey results will be released Wednesday October November 16th.

Please Take the Google Plus Survey:

Thank you for taking the time to finish the survey!  Feel free to +1 the post or share it in any way you see fit. For the record, I’m not dismissing Google Plus. I’m just not sure how I will embrace it – but I will – because I don’t think it’s going to be just another shelved Google project.

Related Reading
Google Plus for Business – Guy Kawasaki & Chris Brogan
Google+ is not a social network, but it’s not a graveyard, either

The conversation around the content

While traditional media fights to hang on to linear audiences, they are also tasked with cultivating new viewers in an increasingly fragmented media space. These audiences, empowered with multiple screens and recommendations from their social graphs, look to news feeds in social networks as their new electronic program guide.

Meanwhile, nimble, niche content internet TV networks like Revision3 are building these experiences from the ground up – further testing established media.  Marketing and promotion of television poses more challenge than ever before. Yet at the same time, there are unique opportunities to truly engage audiences as people, not just ratings. Bus backs and billboards don’t build trust or program loyalty,  real human conversation does.

Today, I have the privilege of sitting on a panel at the 140 conference in New York that will explore how news organizations are engaging in conversations on the web to drive viewership. Social TV is complicated and has a lot of moving parts. For many, it is the new “TV Guide”.

Simpler Times

When I was growing up, my family would gather around a 19 inch black and white TV – the only one in the house – that sat perched on a rickety aluminum framed patio table.  We didn’t have a remote, so we would actually have to get up from our seat to “surf” the five VHF and handful of UHF channels that our rabbit ears were capable of picking up.

TV was a planned event. In terms of news, we were a NBC family. The recommendation engine that informed our viewing came by way of the TV guide that arrived with each Sunday newspaper. (remember them?) Gosh, it was simple back then.  Everyone gathered around their boxes and all of the available viewing choices fit into a thin weekly circular.  Lack of options made program loyalty a pretty simple proposition.

Social TV and the Transmedia Experience

Today, viewers not only have boundless choices of what to watch, but they are also unlimited in terms of how, when, where and on what devices the enjoy content. So from a viewer standpoint, the challenge is search and discovery of meaningful content on a variety of platforms. From a content creator perspective, the challenge is much more complex.

Facebook Becoming Key to Audience Loyalty and Development
Some pretty compelling statistics come in report from Inside Facebook citing data from Facebook’s Media Partnerships Director Justin Osofsky.

• around 1.65 billion “likes” of TV shows
• 275 million Facebook users have liked a TV show
• 17 of the top 100 most like pages on Facebook are TV shows

No longer is it a matter of simply coming up with formulaic show concept and promoting it across traditional channels.  Audiences expect a level of what the hipsters now call a “transmedia” experience.  Whether that conversation comes in the form of a Facebook friend “like” -ing a show, a Twitter conversation with actors in a drama or reporters from a newscast , or an expanded experience on the web  - there are a dizzying array of touchpoints where audiences can encounter content on their social entertainment operating systems.

Further Reading

Comcast Taps Facebook for Enhanced TV Experience

Good Social TV Roundup Curated by Mo Kromchal

Those who quietly go about the industry of consistently delivering value to customers and clients will win the day.  It’s simple, and it applies to all business.  And when that maxim is applied to social media consultants, so be it.  If they are achieving the aforementioned results, then they will rightly reap rewards.  Those with that moniker who deal in fraud and fabrication – whose only consistency is ”outkicking their coverage” – will lose business because, over time, their reputation will deteriorate.  That’s natural selection in the business world.

The fact that the charlatans are laid bare, shouldn’t affect the overall health of any subset of the communications industry, including social media.  If there is a demand, there will be those to meet it.  Some of them will provide professional advice that leads to measurable results, others will take clients’ money, move on, and sell their snake oil in the next town.  That’s the nature of a lot of business.   There will always be phonies happy to separate the gullible from their cash.  Caveat emptor.

To Build Yourself Up or Tear Others Down

It’s surprising to see that the shop worn theme of “social media guru” bashing is en vogue once again and that notable detractors have come out in vocal internet outcry.   Recently two web luminaries added their voices to the chorus in an offensive against the social media expert with bold, link-baity proclamations.

Gary Vaynerchuk and Peter Shankman, both of whom operate social media/customer service consultancies, made provocative statements about those who ply their trade – statements that produced predictably polarizing results. Many aligned themselves with the two – some perhpaps attempting to get out from underneath the umbrella of their criticism. Others took offense and pushed back against their pointed missives.

The Posts That Caused the Kerfuffle:
Gary Vaynerchuk: “99.5 Percent Of Social Media Experts Are Clowns”
I Will Never Hire a “Social Media Expert,” and Neither Should You (Peter Shankman)

I bumped into social media professional Jason Falls at IgniteDC and asked him what he thought of the very public critiques of the industry.

The people who care whether or not someone calls themselves an “expert” are only afraid one of them will steal clients from them. You know who doesn’t care about this topic? Businesses who hire consultants. They hire people who can help their business, not paranoid and defensive ego-mongers who think they’re playing thought leader by minimalizing someone they never heard of and know nothing about. – Jason Falls, Social Media Explorer

By Way of Explanation

Vaynerchuk and Shankman are both accomplihed, successful bloggers, authors, and businessmen so their messages carry a lot of weight.  Heavy hitters like these guys can take the heat and both of them stood by their words. In fact, Gary responded to a lot of people personally and clarified his remarks made on TechCrunch with his own video.

Both of these guys are proponents of social media as a means to deliver genuine customer service. I’ve written here about the disconnect between social media and customer service.  Ultimately, corporate leaders have to decide whether they want to create business cultures that are moral, ethical, customer-centric, and human.  Social media can help them achieve those ends, but only if that is the path they choose to take.

I don’t take a side in what I consider to be a faux controversy, and to steal from Shankman’s post, “neither should you”. So whether you took umbrage with the critiques or cheered them on, I say the best path to success IS to work hard, be excellent, kick ass and let THAT be your differentiator. And if all else fails, you can hire this guy.

Further Reading
I’d hire a social media expert, and maybe you should, too – Shel Holtz
There Are No Experts, Only More Experiences – Geoff Livingston
Never Plan on Hiring a Social Media Expert? Good Luck With That – Esteban Contreras

The Remnants of South by Southwest 2011

Fresh off a trip with the Secretary of Defense, with stops in Afghanistan, Germany, Belgium and Bahrain,  I had just arrived home early on the morning of March 13th, in time to do some laundry, nap for about an hour, then make my flight to Austin.  While disappointed that I had not been able to attend the first half of SXSW, I had high hopes for the remaining days of the now hugely popular conference.

This was my second tour of South by Southwest Interactive and what I have come to see is a conference whose popularity -the official tally from conference organizers puts event attendance at nearly 20,000 – has engulfed some of its usefulness and value.  If you go as an individual, you really have to be strategic with your time there to make it worthwhile, by my estimation.

It’s important here to note here this is “by my estimation”.  Your results may have been vastly different than mine.  Perhaps if I hadn’t parachuted in mid-conference coming off a grueling overseas work trip, or if I had avoided the lure of the social gatherings and gone head down into some serious panel attendance, my takeaways would’ve been different.  Still, I think to derive value from panels and keynotes you really should fan out in teams and arrive very early.  Much of the panel content is duplicative and some panels simply aren’t that good.  But there were some quality panels and keynotes, and Patrick Ruffini of Engage communications has outlined four of his favorites here.

Face to Face – It’s the People That Make the Conference

power to the people

The real, measurable value of these conferences is spending time meeting people face to face.  Frankly, you could do that without buying a pass to the conference.

While some of the parties and lounges require a badge, you can meet people and do business simply by roaming the lobby of the Hilton or Driskill, or on the main floor of the convention hall.  You can always catch the keynotes later.

With all of this ambient intimacy allowing us to keep tabs one one another – defying time and space – it’s no substitute for a handshake or a hug.  I had the opportunity to reconnect with people I hadn’t seen in years.  These meetings produced measurable value professionally, in terms of projects/plans I have in the pipeline, and at a personal level it was lovely to spend time with the folks who mean a lot to me. This is what made the trip worth it for me.

I want to especially thank ardent globetrotters Melissa and A.J. Leon along with Justin Levy, Lisa Horner and the rest of the Citrix Online folks for making me feel welcome in Austin.  I also want to send a HUGE shout out to NBC News Director of Social Media, Ryan Osborn.  Ryan and I attended social events and sessions together and it was great to mindshare with a very smart member of team NBC.

There were alot of wonderful, memorable moments for me this year.  I’ve collected some of them on my Flickr page.

No Breakout Platforms This Year

This was no coming out party for any shiny new technology like there has been for services like Twitter and Foursquare in years past.  Venerable Silicon Valley blogger Louis Gray proclaimed Hashable and Foursquare “winners” of this years confab, but other than that, there weren’t any real standouts. Like the title of this post implies, all of these platforms are evolving, and more emphasis is being placed on how people are using these tools – sometimes with wrenching geopolitical implications.  If nothing else, this demonstrates the maturity of mobile, social and location based technologies.  These thoughts are echoed in a post by IBM’s Todd Watson, also a SXSW attendee this year.

For so much of the past 10-15 years, we’ve been so enamored with the technology itself. But more recently, we’ve begun to take much more notice of what the technology can do to empower humanity and human relationships, in often profound and game-changing ways: the Green revolution in Iran, the Haiti earthquake, the Chilean mine, the recent quake/tsunami in Japan… – Todd Watson, IBM

Watson adds that all of this technology is forcing organizational change upon institutions.  Unable to keep up with the “speed of the network” governments, businesses and other command and control institutions are increasingly being outpaced by networked individuals.  This is an compelling trend that bears watching.  I’m interested in reading As One by Mehrdad Baghai and James Quigley.  In it, the authors outline many different types of organizational structures that work toward successful, unified goals.  Not the stuff of SXSW party buses, but it looks like a worthwhile read.

The Promise of Web Video at SXSW

I live, eat and breathe video.  I’m invigorated by the fact that production, distribution and monetization of video is now within the reach of anyone.  A scant few years ago this was the sole realm of broadcast and cable giants. But as with many institutions, the internet has leveled the playing field.  I see great opportunity here and am fascinated by the idea of launching a internet TV network.  In one of the more energizing conversations I attended at SXSW, IAC chairman Barry Diller described how this internet “miracle” is disrupting broadcast and cable TV dominance.

“Here you have this classic thing… You have a group of people, they’re on the train tracks. The train is five miles away. It used to be 10 miles away. In a year or two it’s going to be a mile away, and they’ll still have their hands out.” – Barry Diller, SXSW 2011

He appeared to be quite bullish on the future of internet television and believes it will be ubiquitous within three years.  More on his talk here.

Quietly, web video companies are doing something very de classe in the tech world.  Many of them are making money instead of just taking money.  Call me old fashioned, but I like that. In back-to-back “lightning round” sessions, companies like Howcast and Revision3 touted video ad CPM’s of $9, $15 and even $35.  More impressive is the potential for growth in online video.  Revision3 Chief Revenue Officer Brad Murphy shared these encouraging projections: (source: eMarketer)

• 2011 – 68% of US internet users will be watching online video at least once a month
• 2015 – 76% will be watching online video regularly
• 2010 – Marketers spent $1.5 billion in online video (up 48% from 2009)
• 2014 – Expected to grow to $5.7 billion

I sense great opportunity here and was inspired by these sessions.  One big disappointment for me this year was that I didn’t get a chance to meet Revision3 CEO Jim Louderback.  It’s impossible at something this big to see everyone you would like to, so hopefully our paths will cross soon.

Will You Go Next Year?

It’s funny, looking back on my “speed of the network” post from 2008, I have to laugh.  Once again, here I was heading to Austin on the heels of an overseas trip that required the use of body armor.  My day job puts a lot of demands on my personal life, and this makes getting to SXSW challenging.  That holds true for many of us, so we hope for a return on our investment of time, energy and money.  There have been grumblings about the quality of the event itself lately.  In a piece for the Statesman.com, technology writer Omar L. Gallaga proposes Five ways to fix SXSW Interactive. (strange title because he has enumerated ten suggestions)

I would’ve posted this recap sooner, but as soon as I got back from Austin, it was off to South America covering the President’s visit. So in the leadup to the upcoming SXSW, I want to spend more time planning on how best to spend my time there.  I think I’ll go back next year.  I’ve got a line on a condo just two blocks away, so at least that part is taken care of.  I’d say this SXSW was worth the trip, but as I noted to someone, I didn’t “love” it, I “liked it a lot”.  So what are your thoughts?  Did you go this year?  How was your experience? Would you go again?  Did you find it worthwhile? Leave comments below!

Pilgrimage to Geek Spring Break

SXSW Still Life by Becky McCray

As social media, web strategy, and tech company luminaries prepare to descend upon Austin, TX for the annual geekapalooza that is South by Southwest Interactive, it’s after some deliberation that I’ve decided to join the pilgrimage. The “why” of going isn’t some existential, intellectual – is SXSW dead – struggle for me.  Rather, it’s a practical one.  It costs a lot of money, plus time away from family and work – so pragmatically, there has to be definable value for me to go. Nonetheless, I do feel a primal, instinctive tug inside to make this migration along with the rest of the techno-herd.

My inaugural attendance was in ’08, and it was a fascinating, non-stop, overwhelming attention fest. I recall just getting settled into one event only to by tugged to the next by a group of friends. It was an exhilarating, if not exhausting – all consuming dynamic. I expect this year to be no different, magnified by the success and growth of the event itself – growth and success that are beginning to put stressors on the value of SXSW. Could SXSW ultimately collapse under the weight of its own success? Some notable detractors are suggesting it could.

The selection approach for the talks is all about popularity, and there is no obvious thematic control, and no MC, so the sessions are very uneven. Some can be great, but the majority are a rewarming of shopworn topics. The most popular talks are too crowded to admit all those that want in, so you’re lucky if you get into one in five of those.

- Stowe Boyd

Still, while I understand those criticisms, my thirst for personal and professional growth compels me to go. My means and time to attend events like this throughout the year are pretty limited and I admit a bit of envy toward folks I know who seem to be serial conference attendees. I don’t get paid to attend or speak at conferences and it’s not part of my job to be at these things. But I hunger for challenge, knowledge and the “contagion of optimism” that come from surrounding yourself with smart, driven people. I think many of these group events can expose us to new ideas and technologies, make us smarter, and invigorate our inner entrepreneurs.

Why Go to SXSW?

The crystalizing, defining moment of that experience for me is still very fresh in my mind. It’s SXSW ’08.  I’m in a minivan with the social media folks of Dell, along with Shel Israel, on our way to Salt Lick as we drive past Jeff Jarvis on our way out of town. Here were the Davids and Goliaths of “Dell Hell” and it’s fruit – this nascent, un-corraled social CRM. It was a little surreal at the time, but it kind of put a fine point on what was – and still is – happening to how institutions and us regular folk talk with one another.

Since then, web communication technology has become increasingly fast and mobile, and has transformed power structures around the world. Turn on the news if you’re not exactly sure what I’m talking about. The people who developed these technologies will be remembered and written about the same way history pays tribute to people like David Sarnoff, Guglielmo Marconi, Alexander Graham Bell, and Philo T. Farnsworth.

These modern-day communications pioneers will be walking the streets of Austin in a couple of weeks, along with the financial and promotional infrastructure that supports them. That’s where I want to be, that’s who I want to meet, that’s what I want to be a part of. The contact high alone will be worth the time, energy and money to get there. As Jeff Jarvis once said of attending South by Southwest Interactive, one goes there to “touch the zeitgeist”. (provided there are no municipal laws against such touching)

Relationships

C.C., me and Rocky - photo by Adele McAlear

Along the way, I’ve come to know some of the finest rogues, ne’r-do-wells, and upstarts to grace these here interwebs. The list is too long and you know who you are. I love you all and can’t wait to see you in Austin! Like me, you’ve been pushing rocks up mountains, whether at your work, or just shouting from the mountain top – trying to bring the horses of old thinking to the water of new media. You have taught me much and have always inspired me.

Connecting with friends old and new is the priceless part of SXSW. In fact, it’s really the best.  We all “see” each other every day on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and blogs – but connecting in person and sharing real face to face conversation is energizing and joyous.  Getting past this screen is important.  I was reminded of this by refreshingly forthright PR/Commuications pro Jeremy Pepper.  In response to my Facebook query  “What is your main conference focus this year?”, his response:

there’s supposed to be this new thing about talking to people IN REAL LIFE to create real relationships. I think it’s vaporware, though. we get so caught up in tech, that we forget the realworld relationships that are made in public.

Jeremy Pepper – via Facebook

Making the Most of SXSW

another fine SXSW ’08 photo by Becky McCray
While I don’t have a specific, strategic plan of who to meet, and where to be during my four days there, I did outline some broad reasons of why I’m determined to be there this year.

• to meet people who have pioneered entirely new ways of creating and sharing information
• to be challenged by people smarter than me and to be exposed to new ideas and new ways of seeing things
• to be part of something bigger than me
• to be with the objects in motion, not the objects at rest

I’ll be relying on the serendipity of the experience to guide me to these goals.  In fact, in many respects, SXSW is very much like your Twitter stream.  It moves by very quickly and you have to pay attention, and have your wits about you to find those interstitial moments that are pure gold.

As a practical matter, conference goers should have a good logistics/survival plan in place.  I found this great one via the serendipity of Twitter, courtesy of Dave Delaney.

Special Thanks

I want to send big shout outs to the folks at Chinwag, Airbnb and Zipcar.  Fran at Chinwag helped me score a discounted interactive pass.  Airbnb is a phenomenal site for finding short term housing rentals all over the world.  Their system is built on reputation and trust, and their payment system helps ensure that everybody in the process wins.  They helped me find a great place to stay when all of the hotels were booked solid.  Finally Zipcar has been tremendously helpful in getting my account set up.

Chris Brogan Mobile

I’ve got my Zipcard and was able (surprisingly at this late stage) to book a cool little car named “Brogan” Apparently Zipcar names their cars. Who knew?  I told my friend Chris Brogan, it was my homage to his SXSW spirit.  Finally, a HUGE shout out to WordPress core developer Andrew Nacin, who upgraded my server to php5 last night so, I could run a SWEET install of WordPress 3.1, and get this post out.

That’s my plan for SXSW ’11. What do you hope to achieve there? Who would you most like to meet? Are you a session or hallway person? Just there to party?? (not that there’s anything wrong with that) Bankrolling the trip yourself or on the company dime? Will this be your last SXSW? Do I need to buy ironic hipster clothes for this conference? These are all things I want to know! Please leave comments below.

Let my start by saying that my career in media has been paying the bills since 1988.  So I firmly embrace corporate media, advertising revenue and all media endeavors that enjoy commercial success. The lure of a life in TV (i’m a news cameraman by trade) was its combined appeal of an adventurous lifestyle and comfortable livelihood.  This is what prodded me to take my plunge into TV news.  But as with many things in life, my timing was off.  I came up in the ranks of cameramen well into cable’s affront on broadcast dominance,  admiring the legendary lenslingers before me, or more precisely their glorious tales of lavish travel and limitless budgets. Those were the glory days of TV news, and I got to see the vanishing apparitions – the vestigial remnants of those times.

Disruption Past

As a child of cable’s disruptive power,  I understood that challenge, that shift, that imperative for change.  So when blogging, podcasting and social networking emerged on the radar screen of my consciousness,  I wasn’t prepared to grasp their nascent and then unrealized impact on mainstream media.  Not until an unlikely series of events prompted the purchase of an iPod, did I come to realize that great numbers of people out there were dissatisfied with passively consuming mainstream content and advertising.  They were out there creating their own content and speaking to each other and were quickly becoming disintermediated.  With revolutionary zeal, web-preneurs sprang up like weeds creating platforms empowering people to share content and ideas.  Brands, of course, took note and migrated their messaging and their spending from TV, print, radio to the then “new” media.

Join the Conver$ation

This media revolution made YOU Time magazine’s Person of the Year back in 2006 – and was at once an empowering energizing force, but at the same time, made me fear for the future of my career.  Back then, it was all about the “conversation”.  As a brand, one couldn’t just stumble in and “sell”, one had to honest, transparent, conversational.  As social media has matured,  I get the sense that we have moved beyond that – and now we’re back to where we once were.  Brands just want access to us and the transaction remains the same.  Look, I understand that companies need to make money and that investors need to get returns on hopes of 10x exits.  But i’m struck by the rapacious speed with which social media, its adherents, and platforms are pursuing the buck.  Ironic to me, considering that it was dissatisfaction with traditional media and “push” advertising that in many respects gave rise to social media.

It’s strange, but I still haven’t completely shaken my nostalgia for the salad days of old media as I begin to feel twinges of longing for new media’s simpler times.  When old media was king it was advertisers buying access to passive audiences.  Now, marketers are paying to become part of this:

Power Shift

The mantra of the Social Media Club, “If you get it, share it” has been modified by “ninjas”, “gurus”, and “experts” in the field with the following addendum: “for a fee”. Meanwhile, tech/Web 2.0 headlines point to leaner, meaner more competitive times. Here are some trends pointing to a shift in social media from being people-powered media to corporate driven:

In a move akin to ABC News recent staff slashing, popular, free social network platform Ning is free no more and has cut its staff by 40%.
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How Facebook shares private information with third party companies is being scrutinized by Washington now, prompting one Senator to urge the FTC to get involved.
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Twitter has announced “sponsored tweets” prompting some to point out – if companies were using Twitter right, they wouldn’t need sponsored tweets.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pepsi passed on Super Bowl ads this year in favor of a $20 million social media campaign, and it’s probably not just about meeting new Twitter and Facebook friends.

So while this post may seem wistful, and perhaps critical of the direction that “people-powered” media has taken – none of this should be terribly surprising and it is perhaps inevitable. I still believe that successful, profit-motivated media can coexist with the community/individual driven kind. For my part, I’m just trying to stay ahead of it all and finding my place in this ever evolving landscape.

Most good blog posts, or at least the ones that attract the most traffic, draw a line in the sand – taking an unequivocal position. So just on the heels of the iPad launch, scores of tech bloggers are taking that stand against the onerous, closed nature of Apple’s latest offering. And the Church of Open Media has issued it’s doctrine against the iPad decreeing it a heretical, “retrograde” device.

The iPad is retrograde. It tries to turn us back into an audience again. That is why media companies and advertisers are embracing it so fervently, because they think it returns us all to their good old days when we just consumed, we didn’t create, when they controlled our media experience and business models and we came to them.

iPad danger: app v. web, consumer v. creator -Jeff Jarvis, Buzzmachine

Update – The Chorus of Returns Begins

Your humble blogger here, updating as I sit in an airport terminal waiting for a flight to Mexico City to cover the First Lady’s visit. I felt I had to update what I published yesterday as we’re now seeing the chorus of “I’m Returning my iPod” posts.  Jeff Jarvis even made a video outlining his reasons.  Maybe this is a shift that will ultimately prod Apple to re-think pricing and exclusivity agreements with publishers.  Maybe it’s a few high profile bloggers using their influence and reach to voice concerns that are valid and point to salient shortcomings in Apple’s offering.  Maybe folks should’ve read the label before they bought it?

Why I’m Returning My Apple iPad ($AAPL)

Why I’m Returning The iPad

Look, I’m no iPad fanboy. I may eventually buy one, but I’m not suffering from the technolust that swooned those first in line to get theirs. I’m more interested in how the device will change the worlds of publishing and advertising. And now, the conversation is being framed as either/or in terms of participatory vs. walled content. I think that’s a false choice, and that there always will be choices in how we consume, create, share and interact with content. It’s perfectly fine to simply, passively consume media and that is precisely what the device is designed to do.

Lean Forward – Lean Back

I’m not sure who originally coined the terms “lean forward” and “lean back” media, but the premise is simple. If you’re not familiar with the terms, lean forward media is the kind we create, engage with, mashup, share, link to, comment on, embed in our blogs etc. Lean back is the kind we passively consume.

Examples of “lean forward” media

• blogs and the comments on them
• embeddable video
• links to content within a blog
• Twitter

Examples of “lean back” media

• books
• movies
• certain TV shows
• certain iPad content

Both of these types of media have intrinsic value and I don’t think we need to frame this as one replacing the other.  This blog falls into the category of lean-forward and I hope all of you enlightened readers here engage me and each other in a robust dialogue in the comments.  But what is it that makes people think that ALL media has to be like this blog?

What is wrong with people wanting to just be part of the audience?  I don’t buy this notion that every bit of content needs to be open to some online peer review,  or worse – the ill tempered trolls of the interwebs.  I further don’t buy the notion that all content – from blog comment, to link,  to twitter mention – is sacrosanct. Most critics of the iPad seem to hold this belief. To them I say: if you’re REALLY worried about the iPad hobbling your generativity… DON’T BUY ONE.

Walls, Windows, and Doors

Apple is building walls around it’s media empire. It want’s to set the price for apps and subscriptions and much of the content thus far doesn’t allow for much by way of sharing or commenting.  So what?  Apple is a company that’s in the business of delivering value to their shareholders.  How they get there – whether by open source or DRM ensconced walls -is up to them, not us.  The iPad is not a tool of individual media empowerment and as such, I’d equate it to a really great piece of stereo equipment.  It’s an entertainment appliance.

That’s just fine for most people.  If you’re reading this blog, you’re exceptional (on many levels).  Not just because you’re reading my blog, but that’s certainly a plus. You are part of my social graph, and I have to get your attention on Twitter or Facebook first to get you over here.   But most people aren’t this connected on the web.  In that respect, we are exceptional. We are the digerati.  But the self-ordained high priests of the Church of Open Media would have us believe that everyone is out there contributing content. That’s where I and others are given pause.

This is the place where this brand of critics fall most deeply into the same kind of echo-chambered trap as the news industry — by thinking that most people should think and behave like themselves. But most people are not and will not ever become creators of sophisticated media. Instead they’re working in bakeries and insurance offices and having babies and teaching people to play the fiddle.

Have iPad critics fallen into an echo-chambered trap like the news industry? -Howard Weaver

The social web allows us to create, collaborate and connect in ways constantly being innovated.  Social media, citizen media – whatever you want to call it – at the minimum, gives us a window into power structures like media, press and government – transparencey.  At it’s most open, we’re allowed through the doors and given an opportunity to help shape and create content.  Increasingly traditional media are opening windows and doors and extending their brands to online audiences. By and large these are good things.

But I think there will continue to be a strong desire for people like you and me to lean forward, engage, share, embed, post, comment and shout out to the world.  I also think there are more people in this world, who are just as happy to read, watch, absorb and ponder while leaning back.  Both of these approaches are just fine and I simply don’t understand all of the histrionics of this non debate – debate.  Am I missing something here?  Please lean forward in the comments below.

Related Reading

Consumers vs. Creators (or Will the iPad Destroy the World?)

Here Is Why The iPad Won’t Save The Magazine Industry

The iPad Luddites

The Employee Blogger – Manage the Risk and Reap Reward

I wrote my very first blog post here three years ago, nearly to the day.   In 2005, I had an awakening to just how disruptive the empowered social web was to my industry, and ultimately my job.   So rather than just sticking my head in the sand, and hoping all of you would stop using the interwebs and start being better TV citizens, I dove right in and began exploring new communication channels.  My blogging, Twitter and experimentation with emerging mobile trends – such as location based services – have all been a part of my continuing media eduction.  To be honest, its also about positioning myself favorably in a troubling and uncertain career landscape for those of us who still toil in legacy media.

While anonymity was my cover early on, a modicum of web notoriety and Google ranking has put me in a position where those who employ me pay attention to what I say here and on Twitter.  Whether it’s this blog, what I say when I speak publicly, or my behavior  on the job – interacting with people face to face – it’s important that I represent the brand of my employer favorably.  I hope I do that here, but while we’re on the topic, I wanted to point you to my blog disclaimer, so that you know that these are MY thoughts, observations, and views.

Disclaimer 2.0

So, as you can see, I’m hoping that this “living, breathing disclaimer” can be an opportunity to demonstrate that I’m doing it right.   Thoughtless online behavior by a CEO or the lowest ranking worker, can put brands in a negative light.  Sometimes an insightful employee’s blog, like former Forrester analyst Jeremiah Owyang’s Web Strategy,  can take the spotlight off of the employers brand.

Recently,  Forrester Research laid out new guidelines prohibiting their analysts from blogging about research ares that they cover.  To some it’s a smart move that prevents their employees from diluting the brand.  To others, it’s seen as “Epic Enterprise 2.0 Fail” – a way of jealously preventing their personal brands from getting larger and more relevant.

Forrester CEO George Colony is well aware of that savvy analysts can build their personal brands via their positions as Forrester analysts amplified by social media (see the post on “Altimeter Envy”). As a consequence, a Forrester policy that tries to restrict analysts’ personally-branded research blogs works to reduce the possibility that the analysts will build a valuable personal brand leading to their departure. -  SageCircle

Employers struggle with the notion of their workers having a voice on the web.  At the extremes, there are two tribes – one that espouses a social media utopia where every worker has open access to social networks, and another that operates in fear and pushes to silence the rank and file.  Hopefully, a more pragmatic third tribe recognizes the risks and rewards of their employees social media use and provides a set of guidelines for them.  NPR has an approach to all of this that I admire.

As NPR grows to serve the audience well beyond the radio, social media is becoming an increasingly important aspect of our interaction and our transparency with our audience and with a variety of communities. Properly used, social networking sites can also be very valuable newsgathering and reporting tools and can speed research and extend a reporter’s contacts, and we encourage our journalists to take advantage of them. – NPR Social Media Guidelines

Policy Evolution

These policies and guidelines will continue to evolve as new technologies and communications platforms further push the boundaries of openness and transparency.

I’m interested in hearing your experiences – as a worker or an employer – with disclaimers, social media policies and the like.  I’ve already gotten some good  feedback on Twitter and Facebook.

QUESTIONS:

Free Social Media Strategy Advice

Here’s some FREE social media expertise. As such, it’s likely valued similarly, but just as useful as any other “thought leadership” floating around out there. Here’s the deal: If you’re a brand using social media to field customer service complaints on Twitter or Facebook, make sure the other links in your customer service chain are as dedicated, sophisticated, responsive, and dogged as you are. What good is it if your company is out there patting the heads of us poor consumers, putting your reassuring arms around us on Twitter, just to leave us victim to your Kafkaesque customer service?  I’m not alone on this one.  Right Place Marketing asks: Are You Using Social Media as an Excuse for Poor Customer Service?

..are they merely doing good PR by handling public, highly-visible complaints with a fast, courteous response, while the rest of their customers are sitting on hold listening to the endless easy-listening loop?

- Right Place Marketing

dryer that doesn't dry.

Now much of this rant is the result of being betrayed by the dryer pictured here, my subsequent grumblings to a yet-to-respond publicly [REDACTED] and the resulting odyssey that has ensued.  While @scottfmurphy has been incredibly helpful and sincere,  the rubber meets the road part of our customer service experience has been unimpressive… infuriating in fact.   But that’s sometimes how this stuff works.   So I won’t bore you with our garden variety consumer woes.  My point is, for all the self congratulatory social media back slapping that goes on, much of it is undeserved.  Many of these efforts appear, by design, simply a means to squelch negative Twitter mentions.

And The Noisy Shall Be Heard – If They Have A Lot of Followers

Flickr photo courtesey of Carol Browne

Once a customer service complaint has reached the Twitters, your customer service team has likely failed.  It’s the online equivalent of  “I will not leave this store and I will stand here shouting at the cash register until I speak to the manager!”  The effectiveness of this strategy appears directly proportional to the number of followers you have on Twitter.  Enter Kevin Smith.

So when your social media complaints department responds with “gosh, so sorry to hear you’ve had this experience.  we’re going to get to the bottom of this.”  – that’s just PR.  That makes YOU look good in the near term, but it doesn’t make us feel good. More importantly it doesn’t make the customer whole.

Do It Right or Don’t Bother

So to all of you much blogged about, case study panel sittin’, social media – customer service darling brands – I say this: don’t write social media checks the rest of the customer service chain can’t cash.

Dryer Update

The heating element arrived from [REDACTED] yesterday (3/1) and the tech came out to make the repair not long after.  Minutes after he left, ANOTHER heating element arrived, so I’ll save that one (unless [REDACTED] asks for it back) in case this one fails.  [REDACTED] executive office of customer service called to make sure that we were satisfied with the work.