Archive for December, 2009
Will Blogging Kill Trade Publications?
Dec 17th
I was engaging in an interesting intellectual discussion on this question with my friend Jeremy Victor and he kindly offered to lend his expert perspective to a guest post. Take it away, Jeremy:
As the founder of an online publishing company, you might expect my answer to this question to be a resounding and emphatic, “YES!” … but it isn’t. But as much as I’m a technologist and marketer, I’m also a realist.
We are at a pivotal time in history — not just the convergence of print, digital, and social media, but also the transition of how media is created, packaged, and consumed. And that’s the challenge facing trade publications. So rather than speak to the demise of the “dead man walking,” I’ll offer a prescription to inject some vitality back into the industry. How’s that for helping the competition?
The key to the demise
By far, the biggest factor impacting the trade publication industry is a lack of innovation. High profit margins of the past have lulled the industry to sleep. When the Internet arrived, publishers initially ignored this “fad.” On top of that, the mid-2000s brought rising paper costs and increasing postal rates. Pile the 2008 Recession on top and the industry has no room for innovation. It’s focused on survival.
Backed into a corner, publishers started doing things like selling covers. For example, this week’s Advertising Age cover belongs to the Jackson’s new reality show. What does that say about the state of the industry? Now the talk has turned to pay for premium content models. Innovative? Not so much. That is reactionary, not the Apple-like , market-changing innovation that’s necessary to cure what’s ailing the industry.
Ideas for re-invention
When was the last time you received your mail actually hoping the trade magazine you subscribe to was there? With online content available anytime, anywhere, on a growing number of devices, trade publishers need to put the focus on creating remarkable content that will make it exciting to actually receive a magazine again.
A few ideas to spark innovation in the trade publication industry:
- Develop an iPhone application tightly integrated with both the editorial and advertising.
- For ads, include something like a bar code that can be scanned with the iPhone, providing access to discounts or special promotions only available in the print publication. Membership has its privileges, right?
- Integrate the LinkedIn API or Facebook Connect to enable readers to easily submit their contact information to the advertisers as a lead request.
- Create videos or podcasts that accompany the articles that can only be accessed by using a code from within the magazine.
- Gaming – Trade magazines don’t have to be dry, bland technical journals, do they? Sure case studies and featured articles are necessary, but what’s saying you can’t surround that with some social games? Try connecting the subscriber base through Facebook or LinkedIn – or a newly created publisher branded community.
- Marry the content and the distribution devices. Intertwine paper and online content.
That’s my prescription. Or have the trade publications already heard those fateful words from the doctor, “We’re sorry, there’s just nothing more that we can do?”
Jeremy Victor is the founder of Make Good Media and publisher of BtoBbloggers.com. He can also be found on Twitter at @JeremyVictor.
Is blogging a man’s job?
Dec 16th
I read a blog post yesterday that staggered me. It was about a woman who could only find success as a blogger and freelance writer after she posed as a man (under the name of James Chartrand).
The gist of the tale was that she was a talented, hard-working individual who could not make enough to feed her family until she lied about her gender. Once she became “James,” her life changed. She’s been living a double life for years and has attracted a loyal audience to her photo-free, phone-free persona. It made me sad and angry … and it stirred a lot of other people too. It was tweeted more than 2,000 times and received more than 400 comments.
One of those commenters was Jenn Whinnem, who suggested that I blog about the underlying issues. I thought it would be a richer experience if I could capture a woman’s perspective too, so I embarked on an experiment – a virtual chat that became today’s blog post on gender inequality on the social web …
Mark: My initial reaction was “stunned” that this kind of blatant inequality still exists, especially on the social web, which is supposed to be so democratic. I guess that myth has been exploded.
Jenn: I was saddened, but not surprised. Since establishing a professional presence on the social web, I haven’t experienced discrimination (to my knowledge). I have, of course, experienced sexism in the workplace – everywhere really – so I see no reason why it would be any different on the Internet. I realize James Chartrand was pushed into outing herself, but I’m really grateful for the attention her decision has brought to this topic. When I’ve been offered a salary, I’ve had no idea if a man would have been offered more. But “James” knows, and she shared it with us.
Mark: You said you didn’t know if you had experienced discrimination on the web and this made me think about my own behaviors. I looked at who I work with, who I am connecting with on the web, who has been guest-blogging … just any data points I could find. I guess I’m trying to judge my behavior by the numbers. Does that seem silly?
Jenn: I don’t think it’s silly at all. Reviewing one’s own behavior is necessary for change. As for examining the ‘numbers’ aspect of it — well, that’s a pretty hot topic in social media – proving that the time spent using social media leads to dollars for your business. I know it’s something you’ve written about, Mark. It’s important to know which numbers you’re paying attention to and knowing what they mean. You can look at the number of men vs. women you’re following on Twitter, but what is that going to tell you?
Mark: At the end of the day, equality has to come through self-awareness. I can try to look at numbers and still fool myself about how I treat people. I had one boss who treated women terribly … to the point that I was compelled to address it. He said, “Look at all the women who report to me. How can you say I have a problem with women?” In his case, the numbers supported “equal treatment” but his actions were incongruent. So Jenn, what do you do to see yourself more accurately? To make sure you’re congruent?
Jenn: That anecdote is a perfect example of how someone can fool themselves into thinking they’re ‘okay’ and why there’s a real need to keep fighting for equality. For me, that fight begins with my own behavior. I’m the first to admit that I’m often guilty of ‘incongruent’ behavior, and like you, Mark, I find that awareness is the first step in correcting that. I also had an excellent boss (hi Alice!) early in my career who lived the mantra “nurture other women, don’t compete with them.” And, when I think about it, this complements nicely the social media mantra “promote others, not yourself.”
Mark: Do you think that is a social media mantra or a feminine mantra? I ask this because the comment section in my previous blog post on this topic contained speculation that some inequality stems from the fact that men are perceived to be better self-promoters than women. I think the male social media mantra might be “help others, promote yourself.”
Jenn: I’ve read the “promote others” mantra in several blog posts, but didn’t notice if the authors were men or women. But I don’t know that this is a feminine mantra. My experience has been, at least in the work place, that women are more likely to tear each other down to eliminate the competition, rather than help each other out. This is why Alice’s advice was so powerful to me.
I find the conversation about men or women being better at self-promotion more difficult. If we look at gender roles in this culture broadly, I would say that self-promotion goes against socially desirable behavior for women.
Mark: That’s an interesting observation. Perhaps this cultural expectation for socially-desirable “female” behavior is just exacerbated on the narcissistic social web. Instead of being the great equalizer everybody hopes for, it could actually highlight and reinforce aspects of our culture that keep gender inequality in place?
Jenn: If I can back up a minute, where did the idea of social media as an equalizer come from? We encourage the idea of “being human” on the social web … and any space where people are invited to be human means they’re going to do just that. On the positive side, I think this kind of highlighting is a good thing. When attention is drawn to inequalities, it starts to change. Something of a theme in our conversation.
Mark: I say “equalizer” because presumably having access to free, global, immediate communication should provide genders, races, religions, rich and poor with precisely the same opportunity to communicate and connect. But I guess you’re right. If underlying inequalities persist, it’s wrong to think that will change by simply having a new way to broadcast it. It drives home for me again how silly it is when people say the social web “changes everything.” Obviously it doesn’t.
Jenn, our dialogue has brought up some vital discussion points. Let’s turn it over to the {grow} community to add to the discussion …
Jenn Whinnem is a Communication Specialist focusing on developing social media strategy for Golden Compass. You can connect with her via @JennWhinnem on Twitter.
Wireless data indicate recession surprises
Dec 15th
U.S. wireless revenue is up 7.6 percent for the year led by data messaging. It isn’t news that the wireless industry has been growing or that data has been off-setting a slowdown in voice. What is striking is that data’s contribution to growth has been accelerating through the recession, while the voice slowdown has been steepening.
This has surprised some analysts who expected people to tighten their budgets on “discretionary” data services such as text messaging while holding on to a core service such as phone voice services. But the opposite has happened. What’s going on here?
- Rapid technological advancements (better devices, applicatiions and networks) are powerful drivers of growth. Growth would be even stronger without the recession.
- To some degree, data messaging is substituting for voice services.
- Voice markets are maturing.
- Alternatives like Skype has some impact on voice
- Price competition has been severe for voice while high-end data services are still commanding a premium price.
By the way this is a U.S. trend only. Data show messaging growth much slower in Europe, Latin America and developing countries, while voice is still growing in places such as Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe.
If you make the leap (and I think you can) that trends in wireless data growth would also correspond to growth in social media usage, this is how the world stacks up, by approximate two-year data usage growth trends:
- U.S. 12.7%
- Asia-Pacific 10.2%
- Latin America 8.2%
- Emerging Europe 8.7%
- Emerging Asia 7.9%
- Developed Europe 5.1%
Why is Europe lagging so significantly in wireless data usage? Wouldn’t you think the same trends would apply? Any opinions?
*Illustration: Bank of America Securities-Merrill Lynch Global Wireless Matrix database
A futurist’s view of the “next big thing” in social media
Dec 13th
Venessa Miemis’ Twitter bio describes her as a “Metacog, futurist and thought architect tracking emerging media and technology trends & impacts.” Now THAT got my attention.
Currently pursuing a masters degree in New Media Studies at the New School in NYC, she has been passionately thinking and writing about the future for seven years. Venessa kindly agreed to an interview and I found her views on the connections between social media and education, politics, global community and our future to be one of the most thought-provoking posts I’ve featured here on {grow}. I think you’ll agree:
What is a futurist and how do I get a job like that?
A futurist’s role is to help people anticipate, plan for, and adapt to change. This means tracking emerging trends and seeing how they fit into the big picture and envisioning different scenarios for what might come next. You could call this “developing foresight.” It’s a skill set that’s in pretty high demand these days. Things are changing rapidly and everyone is looking for ways to stay ahead of the curve.
At the professional level, futurists are hired by organizations to help them understand the forces and trends shaping their industries, and anticipate the changing needs and desires of their customers in order to stay competitive. At the individual level, each of us constantly thinks about our own goals and dreams and develops strategies that will help us accomplish them … so in some sense, we’re all futurists. I do think we’re in a very transformative period in history, and we all need to hone our “futures thinking” skills in order to actively participate in the process of shaping our collective future, instead of just being a passive bystander.
You first connected with me after seeing my blog post on the future of social media. Please answer this multiple choice question: As a futurist, I thought Mark Schaefer’s social media forecast was a) entirely accurate; b) uncanny and without error; or c) the subject of my college thesis.
Ha, well I think you hit on some great themes. I wrote a post recently, 3 Key Trends Shaping the Web and Society, that looks at some megatrends that are driving today’s developments. The one that’s influencing many of the social media trends on your list has to do with the increase in complexity around us.
Historically, as complexity increases, we develop better methods for making sense of it. A big challenge we’re facing right now is figuring out how to deal with information overload, and how to separate quality content from noise. We’re trying to solve the problem through quantification. As you mentioned, we’re going to continue to see information about ourselves, our habits, our sentiments, and our social connections become much more clearly measured and defined.
This could potentially be an amazing thing. If we know more about each other, we may be able to begin collaborating on an enormous scale to solve some of the world’s serious problems. At the same time, as you also mentioned, if we’re not actively involved in demanding our civil liberties and digital rights, we may face some scary situations regarding privacy, power and control. Thankfully, there are organizations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the Peer to Peer Foundation that are dedicated to protecting our rights and values as we transition into a networked society.
One area on your list I disagree with is the notion that the digital divide will continue to grow and eventually become permanent. I think it will be just the opposite. There’s a concept called “leapfrogging,” which describes how areas with poorly-developed technological or economic bases will skip over the intermediary steps and transition directly into adopting modern systems. For instance, you’re not going to see cables laid all over rural Africa so people can have internet access, you’re going to see an explosive growth of internet-connected mobile phone adoption. As the technologies get better and cheaper, we’re going to see portable devices and interfaces become more seamlessly integrated into our lives, and it will be a game changer.
What are the social media trends you’re most concerned about? Most optimistic about?
This passed through my twitterstream the other day: “Understanding how networks work is one of the most important literacies of the 21st century – Howard Rheingold.” I think that complements what I’ve been saying nicely.
While some people haven’t even entered the social media space yet, the rest of us are chomping at the bit and asking what’s next. We’re still very much in the Wild West of the real-time web. Just look at Twitter. There seems to be a new app released every day that’s trying to measure something – ROI, influence, impact, and so on. There are no established rules of conduct or best practices, and people are still arguing about whether it’s more important to have lots of followers or to be on lots of lists. Everyone’s trying to figure out how to capitalize on the space.
I understand that business is about monetization, but I think there’s something going on here that’s much bigger than people realize. It doesn’t fit into our traditional business models at all, because we’ve never had the opportunity before to leverage social networks at this scale. That’s the next big social media trend: understanding how to leverage networks. We’re all here, we’re all connected – now what do we do?
I’ve been thinking quite a bit about the effects of social media in the workplace and the next generation of workers who grew up communicating with their thumbs. What should we know about this group?
I’m actually rather concerned about this group. I try to pay attention to what’s going on in many different fields to get a sense of the big picture, and the lack of “new media literacy” in young people is alarming. You think it’s hard getting organizations to embrace social media — try looking at the educational system. It wasn’t designed for this. Forward-looking teachers see the necessity of bringing social technologies into the classroom to enhance the learning experience and prepare students for 21st century life, but it’s not happening fast enough.
Many young people are not being taught how to benefit from the power of the web as a tool for building a network and for learning. I mean, anyone who uses Twitter or belongs to an online community of some sort has seen that sharing information and learning from one another is not only fun and rewarding, it’s addictive. Kids need to be shown how to navigate that world too.
I think the social web is enabling an informal learning process to take place that in some ways challenges the validity of our educational institutions. It might be a bit extreme to tell schools to “‘innovate or die,” but they need to get with the program already. America is already falling behind in so many areas as geopolitical power shifts to other nations. We can’t afford to sit by and idly watch today’s youth go through a system that leaves them appallingly unprepared to compete in a global marketplace.
If the {grow} community wanted to learn more about the work of futurists and their study of social media, can you recommend a few resources?
The World Future Society , the World Futures Studies Federation and the Association for Professional Futurists (APF) websites are good places to start for an overview. Ross Dawson and Gerd Leonhard focus a lot on the future of media on their blogs. John Hagel and John Seely Brown both provide great insights into innovation and strategy from a business perspective. I’d also definitely recommend checking out the blogroll on KedgeForward, a blog by professional futurists Frank Spencer and Michael Morrell. It’s an excellent resource for future-focused exploring.
There are also several programs in the country to pursue higher education in Futures Studies. The University of Houston offers a Master of Technology in Futures Studies as well as a Certificate in Strategic Foresight. Regent University offers a Master of Arts in Strategic Foresight, which is directed by Dr. Jay Gary. And for those aching to leave the mainland, the Hawai’i Research Center for Futures Studies offer both an MA and a PhD in Alternative Futures through its Department of Political Science. For a complete listing of Futures programs around the globe, visit this page on the Acceleration Studies Foundation website.
I’ve left the most important for last. As a futurist, please tell me who you like for the Super Bowl.
My crystal ball has suddenly become very hazy…
Would love to have the {grow} community comment and pose other questions to Venessa!
Follow Venessa at @VenessaMiemis Her insightful blog can be found at: http://emergentbydesign.com/
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