Archive for October, 2009
How much klout do you have on twitter? October 30th, 2009
Stumbled upon a nice Twitter influence/comparision tool called Klout.com.
Klout -Twitter Influence Tool
How you compare with others on twitter has normally been a manual task of looking at their followers, following, number of tweets, number of @ and general level of engagement. I did an analysis of some public sector organisations for a presentation to some press offices organised by Public Affairs Ireland and trying to decipher who was more influential was pretty time consuming and manual. This tool really helps giving a helpful snap shot. Unfortunately it does not find all twitter users but assume this will improve over time. When you search under your twitter user name it positions you on an x/y axis looking at influence and audience with the four quadrants covering Casual, Connector, Climber and Personal. The personal quatrant containing the most active twitter users.
Klout Quadrants
Interestingly I was in the bottom corner and much as I would like to protest its probably a fair reflection on my personal twitter usage and out reach. I don’t follow everyone who follows me and I do engage with a relatively small pool of people on a regular occasion and I have a moderate rate of tweets.
It also give a text interpretation of the graph. Mine is below and although I dont agree with it all – ahem! – its indicative. Interesting to see youself reflected lower than you would expect as in theory everyone would like to be the utimate category but why and how people use twitter is a personal choice on time availability, how much engagement you want and can handle and how wide you wish to be spread among others.
“You don’t take this Twitter stuff too seriously. People towards the lower left corner are probably very new to social media. Most people in this quadrant tend to engage with a small group of friends that they know in real life. If you’re in the upper right corner, you have succeeded in building a strong audience, but need to engage and be more active to jump to the next level.”
I would like to see all the variables they use but its a useful snap shot when you are looking at improving your twitter profile or trying to get a handle on someone elses influence.
Tags: klout, online influence tool, Social Media, Twitter, twitter influence application
Posted in ORM, Online Reputation Management, Twitter | Comments (0)
Could Augmented Reality Be the Answer To Newspaper Woes October 20th, 2009
Newspaper readership and the ability to translate younger readers into future buyers is a real tricky one for Irish media. The online habits of younger readers are well documented and last weeks announcement that the online had overtaken TV and other media forms as the most prevalent advertising medium in UK brought sharper attention to the topic.
Add on to this the heavy investment into the printing presses which compounds the problem for media owners. The Irish Times spent approx 50 million euro on its printing press while the impressive Independent plant was possibly similar.
Most articles on this topic focus on ploughing investment into the online product. Most media owners are doing this to some degree but not everyone is online and the investments in the printed press needs to be realised. Print is not dead and the popularity of freesheet and glossy magazines show they still have a good following even among the more digital native. The tactile physical and instantly portable nature of print means its still has great following and plenty to offer if it embraces real innovation.
Last weekend I was part of a panel at a creativity conference called ‘Creativity Rising’ in Fitzpatrick Hotel organised by MultiTalent. The 20 participants came from Spain, Austria and Ireland. Over the weekend people presented a ‘Work in Progress’ of some initiative they were undertaking in the realm of creativity. The group then peer reviewed each one and delivered feedback and suggestions.
During one of the breakout session I had a good chat with Humberto Matas from DNX in Madrid. We spoke abouts some of the challenges facing the print media industry in Spain and Ireland.
Two interesting things emerged from the conversation on how the print industry can translate younger readers into older buyers and not canibalise the entire print industry. The two areas were
- Augmented Reality
Augmented reality is a hot topic at the moment with interesting experiments in Amsterdam with mobile technology. Check here for an earlier piece I did on AR. In simple terms augmented reality pulls together multiple layers of data to help present different version of the real world and allow new ways of interacting with it. One possible use for the print industry is that along side an article there is a symbol/bar code that could be scanned by mobile phone, web camera or event an interactive kiosk. Once scanned this would pull up a 3D interactive version of the story that younger viewers could manipulate or use to find more information or buy services. Rather than having all of this originate from online and stay online, this type iniative would anchor it to the physical newspaper with multiple modes for online interaction.
2. Embedded Video Screens
Very similar to the moving photos in Harry Potters Daily Prophet US publishers are experimenting with inserting tiny video screen in to magazines and newspapers. Entertainment Weekly will be distributing 2.7mm thick video screens that are integrated into the magazine. These rechargable screens can play up to 40 minutes of video. As video is the choice of younger demographics it has a good chance of attracting younger readers but also offers advertisers much more choice in advertising. Hopefully it does not become advertising platform alone but rather another editorial outlet. As the technology evolves and gets thinner it could in theory replace all the colour photos. Hopefully the recycling industry would catch up so it was unlikely to produce a waste nightmare but I imagine that short life easily recycled screens and batteries would emerge.
This shows the how the entire media industry is converging. Print publications becoming web portals becoming social media outlets becoming twitter channels becoming virtual radio and tv stations (with podcasting and YouTube). In theory the Irish Times would compete with RTE and YouTube only stations.
The next few years will see alot of media changes and its obvious that online will be the key driver. However there is still life in the print edition but only innovation will save the day.
- new post scripted information -
Just noticed this great video from TED India. Lots of interesting stuff but fast forward to 8 minutes to see how Six Sence technology can interact with newspapers.
Tags: Augmented reality, Irish media, Multi Talent, online media
Posted in Augmented reality, Irish media, Uncategorized | Comments (4)
IGO People Checklist October 15th, 2009
Most social media from Facebook, Bebo and Twitter caused lots of consternation for organisations especially when their membership mushroomed. Facebook now claims over 1 million, Bebo over 800,000 and Twitter looking like 26K to 45K depedning on who you read.
Everyone agreed that that they are wonderful platforms but how can organisations take a meaningful role in them was an enigma. As time passes the fog has lifted here partially as a result of experimentation, new applications emerging and platforms like Facebook taking a deliberate stance by establishing pages for companies and leaving profiles for individuals. Some of the rules of engagement have come from the community themselves. Essentially most of these communities jarred with the idea of companies engaging with the fear of over commercialisation. Now these is an acceptance that if an organisation can deliver value and entertainment then people will give them eyeballs in a pseudo transaction way.
IGO People
is different. It was established with the very purpose of creating a medium whereby companies could interact with consumers and indeed a platform where people could group together to create change with an organisation. For example you have a problem with a mobile provider and getting no where with the company itself, then you can use IGO people to group people together to structure a more cohesive approach.
Like all social media the more you put in, the more you engage, the more you build your network base the better the result.
Below is a lits of some of the ways you could use and enhance your IGO People presence.
Beginner
- Set up your organisation page with a vanity URL.
- Add a map to your profile.
- Add keywords to your ‘conversations of interest’ in order to monitor conversations that are relevant to your business.
- Upload a profile photo, brand information and relevant collateral to your profile.
- Create your first post by introducing yourself to the community and also describe the activities of your business.
Intermediate
- Build Community – Invite your customers to your organisation page via the Go Connect features.
- Join Groups of interest and add value to these groups.
- Add organisations to your network.
- Comment on other conversations where appropriate.
- Post regularly on information that is relevant and of value to your customers.
- Import your blog via RSS.
Advanced
- Integrate the IGOpeople connect button with website.
- Connect your twitter account to your IGOpeople account.
- Assign multiple representatives to manage your twitter customer service on IGOpeople.
- Use IGOpeople to manage your customer service, promote and market your products and services , collect feedback and to build social capital.
Any other experience or more ideas please let me know. Its worth browsing the site for some nice examples by FBD and Vodafone.
Eoin
Tags: IGO People, Social Media
Posted in Uncategorized, social networking | Comments (0)
Nice job if you can get it – Matt Harding and Cybercom! October 5th, 2009
At the very well run Cybercom 10th birthday bash in the Sugar Club guest speaker and internet evangalist Matt Harding spoke about his global travels and his infamous dancing videos.
After leaving his job in Australia to travel, a friend of his suggested he record a dance he used to do at peoples desk to get the to go for lunch with him. The idea being that he dance in front of famous and not famous landmarks in different parts of the word and then merge it into one video collage with a great backing track. His efforts caught the attention of Stride, a US chewing gum and they paid for him to do the same all over again. Since then it has grown in popularlity (over 25 million views) and he has undertaken more commercial sponsorship (ie where he had little control over the content and left it to a large film crew – big change from hand held video recorder).
One has to wonder how much more there is in an iniative like this but the real value lies underneat. Social media and web platfoms offer the opportunity to have huge peaks over a short period. Matt is now extending the dance theme with choreographed dances where he teaches different nationalities to do the traditional dance of another country – i.e. teaching the chinese to do Irish dancing.
Some interesting observations on this whole initiative where the is probably more interesting lessons and value:
- A great and simple idea (with a lot of work) can attract global attention.
- Engagement and featuring of people is key – Matt by himself because tedious after a while.
- Hands off sponsorship can benefit both sides – video product appears untarnished/uncompromised and Stride get copious mentions and kudos.
- One of the real benefits is the 10,000 email addresses and contacts that Matt now has. The majority of these are very willing participants in future projects.
- Ability to leverage a global audience to do something bigger and more dramatic.
- People everywhere in the world are happy to partake in online experiments (for a few seconds of fame).
Matts experience, although probably one in a million, does show that you can make a livilihood out of social media but that route will probably only become clear after you do something special rather than a planned programmes. Lots of interesting crossovers with the Chris Anderson book Free - the content is free but some brand pay for its development.
I will be interested to see how the next set of videos go and if the more professional edge lessens or increases it popularity.
Tags: Cybercom, Matt Harding, online video
Posted in Events, social networking | Comments (1)
Books I Read – No.2 – Free by Chris Anderson October 1st, 2009
I was asked to review the new book Free by Chris Anderson – Wired Editor and author of the Long Tail for Marketing Age Magazine. You can find the online version of the article here but you may need a subscription so I have included below also.
Its great to get a deadline for when you need to read and review a book as I find the books I should read mount up on the good intentions pile. So after a week of no TV and coffee after putting the baby to date, the results are below.
Free – The Future of a Radical Price – Chris Anderson
A quick search of Chris Anderson’s book shows up free online versions of the book from abridged audio versions to eBooks, iPhone, limited chapters, to limited time offers for the book which in a way explains much about what this book is about – utilising technology to give away something valuable for free while clawing back revenue in another form. Equally the book has spawned some long debates about plagiarising sections from Wikipedia which shows how raw and recent this debate is.
At first glance this book can appear quiet scary for a variety of industries whose main business model is now under threat but the deeper message is that free (mainly due to technology) is on a rapid rise and with it come huge changes in business structures but also new opportunities. Change is a painful process but those that can innovate and change will reap reward while those that don’t could witness the demise of institutions like Encyclopedia Britannica who yielded to Microsoft’s Encarta who in turn were usurped by Wikipedia.
One of the things that make this book easy to read is that it discusses many of the free services and products that we consume on a daily basis without really questioning how they justify their existence from Flickr’s photo sharing service to Ryanair’s free flights to free webmail. In addition the text is nicely punctuated with case studies explaining how a car be free, where stores in Japan give the physical products away free, how digital video recorders can be given away free through to how subtle changes in free bike schemes can result in one being successful in one city and not another (Dublin City Council may be interested in this one).
The book itself is an engaging and accessible read even if the author does take a purist line while staunchly defending the right of free. It initially covers the perception and history of the word free and he takes good amount of time to explain the 20th Century versions of free which was perceived as gimmicky in that you paid at some later stage. Early examples of Jell-O in 1902 being marketed with a free cookery book to the 1903 Gillette giveaways of free razors (you paid for the blades) show that free has a long history. He contends that in the 21st Century that free really means free especially as things become more digital. This is large due to the reducing costs of storage, bandwidth and processing power in that technological innovations have reduced so far as to be almost free and unmetreable. The book is peppered with examples to back up his assertions and point to the cliff fall of transistors cost from ten dollars in 1961 for a single transistor to current price of .000055 cents, a widely discussed implication of Moores Law. His learning is that “When something halves in price each year, zero is inevitable”.
Much of the book builds on the original thesis that ‘information wants to be free’ by Stewart Brand. The full version of Brands quote talks about information wanting to be expensive because its valuable but the cost of distributing it has reduced so much that is has relentlessly pushed to it to the free model.
He takes a fairly uncompromising stance on free in the music, publishing and software industries. This is even more interesting when you consider his role as Editor of Wired Magazine, an industry that has struggled great with the free expectations of the web. He contends that the celebrity status of the book will boost his charged speaker and consulting business. To the Music industry he explains that piracy should not be viewed as the killer of the industry but rather its potential salvation and that record labels need to look at their business in an entirely different way. Music itself will become the ultimate marketing tool while the economic rewards will come from other associated activities such as touring, merchandising and innovative licensing while CD or digital sales will still generate some income. This is an uncomfortable message for many artists who have relied on the current CD sales model, which in itself is relatively new.
In looking at the software industry Anderson points to the open source movement versus Microsoft and the protracted stages from Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression through to Acceptance that Microsoft have gone through to the point where some of its products are now offered free.
Free is fairly simplistic term and normally people align it to restricted set of examples. The book contains a lot of good examples of three different types of free models which he breaks into:
Direct Cross Subsidies, where one aspect is provided free but subsidised by another which generated the revenue. This covers products and services from free drinks at shows (e.g. casinos), free shipping over a certain amount (Amazon) to free parking at shopping centres. Many of these models are almost direct opposites to each other but have a built in mechanism to generate revenue by selling something else e.g. free software but selling the hardware (IBM, HP Linux Offering) to giving away hardware and selling software (games consoles sold under the cost price).
Three Party or “Two Sided” Markets where one customer class subsidizes another covers common place offers like free credit cards where merchants charged a fee, access for children being free but adults pay, through to giving away free readers (Adobe) but charging for document writers.
The final category of Freemium is where some customers subsidise another. This ranges from the giving away of low quality MP3s but selling high quality box sets (Radiohead and name your price), giving away computer to computer calls but charging for computer to phone (Skype), giving away online games but charging a subscription to do more in the game (Club Penguin) to giving away ad-supported services but selling the ability to remove the ads (Ning).
One would not want to make strategic business decision on the back of Free as the rapid changes that digital is making are still quite new. However for a thought provoking easy to access analysis of fast moving trends it has a lot of merit. Change has always been painful, especially when it has financial implications but the one certainty is that Free will bring major changes to most industries and those changes will be more rapid than we have experienced in the past.
ISBN 978-1905211470
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