WHAT’S NEXT IN MEDIA

HOW SOCIAL MEDIA CHANGES THE RULES FOR GOOD

Neil Perkin
Only Dead Fish
http://neilperkin.typepad.com/
1
HOW MEDIA IS
CHANGING
FOREVER
SOCIAL MEDIA HAS BECOME UBIQUITOUS
 184 million bloggers

73% of active online users have read a blog

45% have started their own blog

57% have joined a social network

55% have uploaded photos

83% have watched video clips

39% subscribe to an RSS feed

Source: Universal McCann Comparative Study on Social Media Trends April 2008
BUT THIS ISN’T THE POINT
 SOCIAL IS BECOMING A PART OF ALL MEDIA STREAMS

Social dimensions are paramount to most people

….and most forms of entertainment

“The desire to be part of a group that shares, cooperates, or acts in

concert is a basic human instinct.”
Clay Shirky
Source: Future Foundation: Entertainment Futures 2007, Image credit http://dicksdaily.co.uk/
BUT THIS ISN’T THE POINT EITHER
SOCIAL MEDIA IS COUNTER-
INTUITIVE TO
COMMUNICATIONS MEDIA
 COMMUNICATIONS
MEDIA SOCIAL MEDIA

Space defined by Media Owner Space defined by Consumer

Brand in control Consumer in control

One way / Delivering a message Two way / Being a part of a conversation

Repeating the message Adapting the message/ beta

Focused on the brand Focused on the consumer / Adding value

Entertaining Influencing, involving

Company created content User created content / Co-creation

 “THE PHYSICS OF MEDIA ARE CHANGING”*

Limited distribution channels Unlimited distribution

Abundant attention Attention scarcity

*http://www.fistfulayen.com/blog/?p=147
 THE CHANGES ARE FUNDAMENTAL AND PERMANENT

“See, I’m kind of tired of people talking about how newspapers are going
through a ‘transition’. As in, ‘we just need to get through this transition.’
Transitions have beginnings, middles and ends. Transitions eventually stop
and you get a chance to take a breath and say, ‘cool, we survived.’”
Howard Owens

http://www.flickr.com/photos/timothyschenck/
 So this requires

a different mindset

different approaches

different ways of working

http://www.flickr.com/photos/adviceposters/sets/72157602720078403/
2
HOW THE RELATIONSHIP
WITH YOUR AUDIENCE
HAS CHANGED FOREVER
 EMPOWERED USERS, UNLIMITED CHOICE

Everyone is a media owner

The means of production and distribution are now free (Moore’s Law)

Control is shared
http://www.flickr.com/photos/esparta/
MILLIONS OF CONNECTIONS

Models based on linear distribution are being disrupted by networked models

“The web is a subset of humans interacting”

Sir Tim Berners-Lee
SUDDENLY MEDIA IS A MASS OF CONVERSATIONS
SUDDENLY MEDIA IS A MASS OF CONVERSATIONS

AND YOU CAN’T CONTROL THEM

TODAYS USERS ARE CREATING HUGE AMOUNTS OF VALUE

They’re discussing the subjects you write about

They’re writing reference entries on Wikipedia about them
They’re documenting them on Flickr and video sharing sites
They’re showing what subjects they like the most on social bookmarking sites
http://www.flickr.com/photos/artsyt/
AND MOST MEDIA IS
IGNORING IT
 “We’ve been too busy trying to dictate the experience, building
walls, obsessing over the gates rather than the experience”
Ian Rogers

Ref:http://www.fistfulayen.com/blog/ Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stoyan/

 THE VALUE EQUATION IS CHANGING

Content = Attention

= Attention,
Content, tools, services participation,
interaction, content

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wespionage/
COMMUNITIES DRIVE BRANDS, COMMUNITIES DRIVE TRAFFIC

More authority

More links More Loyal Users

More traffic Higher repeat visits

More useful site Higher levels of interaction

More content
THE RESULT OF AN ENGAGED COMMUNITY
 ONLINE COMMUNITIES CAN BE A PUZZLE

www.spy.org.es/upload/actuacion/imagen-35.jpg
 ONLINE COMMUNITIES CAN BE A PUZZLE

UNTIL YOU REMEMBER THEY ARE ALL HUMAN

www.spy.org.es/upload/actuacion/imagen-35.jpg
ONLINE COMMUNITIES CAN BE A PUZZLE

UNTIL YOU REMEMBER THEY ARE ALL HUMAN

AND STOP TRYING TO CONTROL THEM

www.spy.org.es/upload/actuacion/imagen-35.jpg
SO HOW CAN I CREATE A
COMMUNITY?
 WRONG
QUESTION
“Communities already exist. Instead, think about how you
can help that community do what it wants to do”
Mark Zuckerberg
 UNDERSTAND HOW THEY WORK

1 9 90

Every community has super-users – high authority, highly active

Know who they are
 “One part anarchy, one part aristocracy,
one part democracy, one part monarchy”
Jimmy Wales on the Wikipedia Community
 LISTEN

Act on their feedback

Encourage discussion, be a part of it

http://www.flickr.com/photos/twenty_questions/
AND ADD VALUE

Understand what they are trying to do

Creat tools and content to help them do it
Interact with them, engage with them, respect them

http://www.flickr.com/photos/artsyt/
 UNDERSTAND THAT MOTIVATIONS ARE DIFFERENT

Blog Her/Compass Partners 2008 Social Media Study

3
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR
THE WAY MEDIA
COMPANIES SHOULD WORK
 Media brands are increasingly defined less by the platform and more by the community

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hankins/
 AND WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR THAT COMMUNITY

Be Useful

"...journalism is shifting from being a product to a service and, with this, a

news outlet shifts from being a final destination to being part of a network."
Alfred Hermida, reportr.net

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonasj/
 NEW JOURNALISM – CONTENT PRODUCERS TAKE ON A BROADER ROLE

Authenticator: Help the audience figure out

what to believe, what can they trust

Sense-maker: Help the audience derive meaning from

what is happening in the world

Navigator: Help the audience find their way around a

story or issue and point them to the “good stuff”

Forum-leader: Help the audience engage in

a discussion in a knowledgeable way

Ref: Tim Rosentiel www.journalism.org , Image http://www.flickr.com/photos/patty_colmer/

 ATTRIBUTION, AUTHENTICITY, RECOGNITION, SHARING

"In the past you were what you owned. Now you are what you share."
Charles Leadbeater – We Think

“On the web, audiences are more fragmented. People are using personal devices to
communicate. That means, what works best is the conversational voice, a personal
point of view, and a mindset that says, “I’m sharing,” rather than, “I’m reporting.”
Howard Owens
 THE LINK IS THE CURRENCY OF SOCIAL MEDIA. USE IT.

“Do what you do best and link to the rest” Jeff Jarvis

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jairo_abud/
 AND IT’S NOT ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY

"Over and over again, connecting people with one

another is what lasts online. Some folks thought
it was about technology, but it's not.“
Seth Godin

Image: http://www.gapingvoid.com/
WHAT THIS MEANS - NETWORKED MEDIA

Social media thinking has to run through the organisation

Models built on ubiquity not scarcity

Loosely-coupled value chains that include users as value creators

“Most items of value derive that value from scarcity. Digital changes that,
and you can derive value from ubiquity now.”
Ian Rogers

http://www.flickr.com/photos/arbegofoto/
 WHAT THIS MEANS – FREE FLOWING CONTENT

“Content Ubiquity” Peter Chernin, News Corp

Services, applications and content are scalable and portable

Platforms that are seamlessly inter-connectable

No barriers to interaction - interfaces that get out of the way

Image: img209.imageshack.us/img209/5781/deadlocknajkcomafarialibh3.jpg
 CREATE CONTENT THAT IS REMARKABLE

If the web is a mass of conversations,

then get talked about

Create content and services that are worth passing on

Make it as easy as possible for your fans to find it and spread the word

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oldflints/
SETH GODIN – ‘FLIPPING THE FUNNEL’

Marketing spend generates traffic

Some of that traffic sticks

Users are inspired and enabled to

talk about your product
They spread the message around
the network

Ref: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/files/flippingfunnelPRO.pdf
 LINEAR NETWORKED

Scheduled On demand

Appointment Whenever, wherever

Sit back Participative

Messages Experiences

Content we think you’d like Content we know you like

(because you’ve told us)

We control the way it is We allow you to play with it,

delivered pass it on
COMPONENT BASED APPROACH TO CONTENT DISTRIBUTION

BRAND
COMMERCIALLY DRIVEN DISTRIBUTED CONTENT
THE URBANISTA DIARIES
WIDGETS
 LEVERAGE YOUR CONSUMER INSIGHT

Listen to your community

Use the feedback and insight to shape what you do

Reframe problems, Identify ‘swells’ in your market

“Good insight helps you know what your customers need

before they know themselves.”
Matthew Milan, Critical Mass

http://experiencematters.criticalmass.com/
 COMMUNITY GENERATED
CONTENT

“The Sound Index is a massive index

of the hottest bands and tracks
that are being talked about on the
internet right now.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/soundindex/
 WHAT ELSE?

Hyper-targeting, improved relevancy

Smarter content tagging solutions

Improved personalisation of content

Application of behavioural solutions

http://www.flickr.com/photos/xurble/
 THINK ABOUT HOW YOU MEASURE

It’s not all about page impressions

Broader use of hard metrics – users, time spent, interactions, pass-alongs

…combined with digital ethnographic measures

http://neilperkin.typepad.com/only_dead_fish/2008/04/blended-measure.html
 ACCEPT UNCERTAINTY

Be flexible
Experiment more
Embrace failure

Image: http://russelldavies.typepad.com/planning/
AND…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/adviceposters/sets/72157602720078403/
 THANK YOU

Join the debate at…

http://neilperkin.typepad.com/

Neil Perkin
 RESOURCES & CREDITS

• Universal McCann Comparative Study on Social Media Trends April 2008

http://www.universalmccann.com/Assets/2413%20-%20Wave%203%20complete%20document%20AW%203_20080418124523.pdf

• Future Foundation – The Future Of Entertainment

http://neilperkin.typepad.com/only_dead_fish/2007/12/the-future-of-e.html

• BlogHer/Compass Partners Social Media study

http://www.blogher.com/files/BlogHer.CompassPartners.Social%20Media%20Study.ppt.pdf
 Howard Owens Clay Shirky – Here Comes Everyone, The Power of
Organising Without Organisations
http://www.howardowens.com/
http://www.shirky.com/

Wikinomics Mark Earls – Herd

http://www.wikinomics.com/blog/ http://herd.typepad.com/

Joseph Jaffe - Join The Conversation Seth Godin – Small Is The New Big
http://www.jaffejuice.com/ http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/

Tim Rosentiel Seth Godin – Purple Cow

http://www.journalism.org/ http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/

David Cushman Ian Rogers – Yahoo

http://www.fasterfuture.blogspot.com/ http://www.fistfulayen.com/blog/

Jeff Jarvis Alfred Hermida – Reportr.net

http://www.buzzmachine.com/ http://reportr.net/