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AP Gets Serious About Social Media

by Jerry Battiste · 0 comments

lori r taylor, revmediamarketing, social media, social media marketing, branding, product branding, networking, oneclicksociety

Social Media Can Sell The News

Perhaps 2012 will mark the end of the world. This is being foretold not by the casting of chicken bones or the story of the Rapture, but by the fact the Associated Press, after years of resisting nearly all efforts to integrate social media into their reporting, is finally coming around.

This week they announced that veteran reporter Eric Carvin will be the new social media editor, based at their headquarters in New York City. Carvin has worked at the AP Nerve Center for the past two years, quietly using social media tools to promote AP news stories, gather news and doing all of the many things social media can do for the news industry. Carvin makes a good choice for the position of social media editor because he is familiar with both the inner workings of the AP and social media.

As a social media marketer and former journalist I have written extensively on the sheer stupidity of the print news industry in trying to ignore the importance of social media marketing to their business. As a reporter I regularly used social media to source stories, track down leads, investigate and promote my stories, all to the disdain of fellow reporters who considered it a waste of time.

What struck me as odd, or again, stupid, was that while the print news industry would regularly write about social media success, they did not embrace it. As if resisting its use would somehow restore the glory of the “good ol’ days.”

Ah, yes, the good ol’d days, when news came in on the telegraph line and print setters spent hours carefully laying out each individual story. If only Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg was still alive, surely the print industry would be more flexible than it is today.

Ha! Ha!

My only question now will be whether efforts by the AP to finally integrate social media into their operation will amount to another case of too little, too late, or if it will lead to a true renaissance of the print news industry.

For the past two years, Carvin has been a news producer at the Nerve Center, the central editorial desk at AP’s headquarters. He has focused primarily on using social media to uncover breaking news, gather user-generated content, engage readers and promote AP stories and visuals. He also plays a central role in overseeing the AP news report more broadly.

Carvin has extensive experience with innovative and interactive storytelling methods. He managed and edited Meltdown 101, an award-winning series that sought to unravel the most complex aspects of the economic crisis, as well as Ask AP, a weekly column in which AP reporters around the globe answered readers’ questions about the news.

Previously, he was a founding editor of asap, an AP service that pursued innovative and multimedia approaches to the news. During his time at asap, he oversaw and edited Far and Wide, AP’s first news blog.

Click here to read more about the AP and social media.

Social Media Will Look Different In 2012

by Jerry Battiste · 2 comments

social media marketing

Makeovers Are One Thing: Transformations Are Another

This past year there were a number of changes to the social media landscape, including the creation of Google+. These changes to our existing social media services have all been meant to improve functionality, increase useability, and attract new users, and more less, they all have worked.

What the world seems to be waiting for, what we have all grown so accustomed to in the ever changing tech-world, is a true transformation. A disruptive technology that truly changes everything we thing we already know about how we can interact with one another via social media.

I say, what’s the hurry? It seems to me we have hardly scratched the surface when it comes to the true potential of the services we have right now, why do we need to find something brand new to change everything? We don’t even know what “everything” is right now. Not even the most social media savvy people have mastered all the various social media services that exist. We are still unable to provide effective social media analytics that tell us whether social media marketing efforts are worth their time (I truly believe they are) and whether or not there is any value in a “Like”, a Follower or a +1 (I believe there is) and what that value is (That I cannot truly answer.)

When an existing social media site decides to change their look, gives themselves a true makeover, I don’t expect it to do much more than appease people who have grown tired of seeing the same old thing. It might attract a few new users, or keep some existing users from getting bored, but probably won’t do much more than that.

I could sit here and tell you what I believe the impact of Google+, Facebook and Twitter will be in 2012, but that probably wouldn’t help you very much. The fact is you need to discover their strengths and weaknesses for yourself so you can better inform your customers or clients as someone who truly understands the nature of the tools they are using, and is not simply repeating what they read somewhere.

As for a transformative social media network? I think we have enough to worry about for the moment, without adding a truly disruptive technology to the mix. Of course, I don’t make these tools folks, I just use them.

 

Three of the major social media sites introduced or rolled out makeovers of their platform this month. Facebook has made its “Timeline” feature available to everyone (on personal pages), Twitter has released a new design, and YouTube has started “channels” on its site. It’s the start of a lot more changes like to come in 2012.

Facebook presented their new design in October, and then quietly tested it in New Zealand last month. They’ve now opened it up for everyone on personal pages. The new look takes photos to another level, with a full-width photo across the top of the page and a smaller profile picture. When the new design is offered to businesses, it means you’ll need better photography on your page — at least for the large top photo. No more using grainy cell phone photos.

The design also places your photos in chronological order, which on personal pages, essentially means you’re providing your life story in photos. You want to think about that before you post it. Facebook allows you to try out the Timeline feature for seven days (it is free), but once you convert, that’s it. You can edit the photos in the Timeline, and if you’re in the job market or have “friended” people from work, you should definitely go through all the photos in your timeline before releasing it.

Click here to read more about the makeovers.

2012: War Of The Social Media Giants

by Jerry Battiste · 2 comments

lori r taylor, revmediamarketing, social media, social media marketing, branding, product branding, networking, oneclicksociety

A Google/Facebook War Seems Inevitable

Facebook is closing in on a full one billion users, making it the King of All Social Media, but Google has not been letting up when it comes to new users. Some estimates put their user number at nearly a half billion by this time next year, making it the second biggest social media service n the world.

This makes a battle between the two social media behemoths, whether or not you believe they actually serve the same purpose for users.

I have said before that I felt Google+ was a better tool for people who already regularly use Google tools like Blogger, Docs, YouTube or even search. This is what has led to their continued increase in Google+ users. If you have a Gmail account, or any account with a Google service, you already have a Google+ account. At some point you will likely want to use it. That only makes sense. If you like what you find there then you’ll likely be back for more. If you don’t, you won’t.

Facebook, on the other hand, has made a business of social media. It has added a great deal of third party processes and services, meaning you can get more out their social media network at this point than you can from Google+. Today, if you want the easiest-to-use social media network that reaches the greatest number of users globally, then you naturally reach for Facebook. But given its sheer volume of potential users, and an easy trail to follow, already blazed by Facebook, Google could make a serious run for dominance.

I am still not convinced this is their plan or their goal. Consider their launch foibles: They initially forced new members to only use their actual names. Then, there was no room for businesses on their network. Even when their new Business Pages were eventually rolled out they were severely lacking in features. This tells me Google doesn’t care as much about being a Facebook clone as they do about doing things their own way.

Whether or not Google is planning on directly competing with Facebook, a battle does seem nearly unavoidable. Eventually users are going to choose to narrow their social media interaction to the niche which fits them best. At that point we might just see Facebook user numbers declining, instead of increasing. But that day seems far off, for now.

While most analysts think Facebook retained its wide edge this year, most agree that the battle is likely to heat up further in 2012. And that means users of both Facebook and Google+ should expect a lot of new features and more integration with third party products.

“This is a fight for survival for Facebook — and for relevancy for Google,” said Rob Enderle, an analyst with the Enderle Group. What happens in 2012, he added, “will make the difference between whether there is a Facebook by the end of the decade and whether Google can become truly relevant outside of search.”

Click here to read more about a possible social media battle.

Occupy Social Media

December 28, 2011

An Activist Social Media Network Is Coming The Occupy Wall Street movement has done many things, although most of what it has done is yet to be fully understood. The dust will need to settle and historians will need to cogitate before anyone knows what, if any, impact OWS had on the American (and global) [...]

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Social Web Gaining Ground On Traditional Web

December 27, 2011

What Do You Do With Your Online Time? Check this out: comScore just released a report showing social media usage accounts for 20 percent of all the time spent on the Internet. According to comScore social media is the most widely used Internet feature in the world. When you dig a little deeper into the [...]

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Social Media Trends Of 2012: What’s Next

December 26, 2011

Are You Ready For A New Social Media Trend? Prognosticators abound making them my favorite target. It’s hard to miss when the web is so crowded with them. Whenever I see someone talking about what’s coming next I wonder why they are wasting their time blogging when they are obviously so precognitive they should obviously [...]

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How Businesses Can Get The Most From Google+

December 23, 2011

You Have A Biz Page On Google+ Now What? It is far too easy to get so caught in securing space on the ever widening social media landscape that you forget to properly manage them. I will forgive you for now, but you better get a handle on it for next year. Chief among the [...]

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Can Social Media Save The World?

December 22, 2011

Yes It Can! My boss, Lori Taylor does a great deal of social media marketing work for clients all around the world. She loves helping her clients reach their goals through the use of social media marketing. But her true love is the work she has done for Disabled American Veterans (DAV). By leveraging the [...]

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Is North Korea Ready For Social Media?

December 20, 2011

A Change Of Leadership; A Change Of Direction   Following the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il the world is watching the situation closely. Both for political and social reasons, and from a commercial point of view. Specifically, social media marketers are wondering if the nation will now open its digital borders to [...]

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Don’t Wait For A Reason To Set A Social Media Policy

December 16, 2011

Once The Horses Are Gone From The Barn, What’s The Point In Closing The Door? University of Iowa faculty have been discussing at length the need for a social media policy. Much of this discussion has taken place via social media, where all the world can see them battling back and forth, although to be [...]

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