Rewrite history with Wikipedia
We Irish like to do more than drink! In recent news this week, an Irish student completely juked/pranked several major European publications with a faux quote. He created a rather heart-warming and inspirational quote for an Oscar-winning French composer Maurice Jarre and then posted it as legit information on Wikipedia. The student, 22-year-old University College Dublin sociology and economics major Shane Fitzgerald, claims he posted the made-up quote directly after hearing of Jarre’s death back in March as a way to prove that society depends too much on the internet for information.
It has been reported that Fitzgerald had anticipated blogs and “perhaps small newspapers to use the quotes but did not believe major publications would rely on Wikipedia without further checks”. “I was wrong. Quality newspapers in England, India, America and as far away as Australia had my words in their reports of Jarre’s death,” Fitzgerald wrote in an article in Thursday’s Irish Times newspaper.
What is stopping anyone from publishing anything on Wikipedia? Nothing. And what is stopping journalists, scholars, bloggers or frankly anyone from using information from Wikipedia as a viable source? I’d say the Irishman has perhaps frozen some of that activity for now. I suspect people that have been practicing this type of information sourcing are questioning whether their facts are straight or straight bologna. Is honorable journalism is dead? Is fact checking and accuracy is lost? Is journalistic integrity a thing of the past? Some people may argue that objectivity is now a joke and that the advent of online research is actually taking us steps further backwards in data collection.
Wikipedia is said to have recorded as many as 6 million visitors daily—watch what you read folks, because the next joke might be on you!
Next on the Endangered Species List: Newspapers
For nearly 140 years, the Tucson Citizen has told the stories of Southern Arizona, but on Saturday, March 21, the state’s oldest newspaper will stop the printers stories from the well respected paper will cease to reach paper.
“The Citizen, an afternoon newspaper, has struggled for years against the Arizona Daily Star, a 117,000-circulation morning newspaper owned by Lee Enterprises. During the Citizen’s heyday in the 1960s, circulation was about 60,000; today, it’s 17,000.”
-FOX News reports
The Citizen isn’t the only paper feeling the cold shoulder, this announcement is only the latest in newspaper shutdowns. Four newspaper companies in total have seen their last ink dry, including the owners of the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and The Philadelphia Inquirer—all of which have sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in recent months.
So what does this mean for those of us who still appreciate inky fingers on Sunday morning or the smell of freshly printed-paper mixing with our breakfast? Basically, that we better get used to the glare—of our computer screens I mean. While printed materials are sensing the doom and gloom of this soft economy, online media is flourishing with the advent of social media and blogging.
But what does this mean for thousands of journalists and English majors? Join the ranks of those who have blogged before you, because once the paper is gone—it isn’t coming back!
My only concern is with our next generations of readers and scholars—will my grandkids know what a newspaper was in my day? Will they understand the importance of language and the power or words if they don’t read them in this context?
Only time will tell, but expect to see subscriptions jump for online news and a booming new culture of readers and writers…
TV’s Obituary
In today’s society, we want certain things small and sleek and other things big and bold; however we want all things to match the pace of life—fast and easy. This is why cable TV’s days are numbered. The truth is that we are conditioned these days to work, entertain and flat out live at a rapid speed. This requires information to be readily available at a moment’s notice or sooner. My theory is that cable TV will at some point be gradually phased out and replaced by similarly functioning tools—like computers and cell phones.
According to data from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), there are currently 285 million televisions in use in US households; this figure clearly indicates multi-television set homes. Of these 285 million, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) reports that only 63.7 million operate a basic cable package (40.4 million have an advanced or premium plan). Combined, the U.S. cable penetration translates to less than 50 percent of TV owners. Conversely, the U.S. Census Bureau reports that “54 million households, or 51 percent, had one or more computers”, and that “there a 180 million cell phone users.” Furthermore, the NCHS says that the number of wireless-only households rose from 3.5 percent in 2003 to 17.5 percent in the first half of last year. This translates to approximately six million adults and two million kids were wireless only in 2003, compared to 36 million adults and 12 million children in the first half of last year.
So why is this important? Because we want are becoming more mobile and more interactive/online dependant. This is particularly true for the younger generations growing up with these technologies. According to Brad Stone of Newsweek—“75 percent of Americans use the Internet and spend an average three hours a day online”—a percentage that is increasing by the minute with the increasing integration of online resources in schools, at the workplace and in homes. TV is currently available online and newspapers are available online; books, magazines, music, movies—all online!
My points is—why pay for cable and several boxes for each household TV when high speed internet, that can be wireless and routed to multiple machines, costs the same if not cheaper monthly. Simple economics apply here and people will figure it out eventually. My colleague actually hooked his computer up to a 32 inch flat screen instead of a regular monitor. We’re really starting to appreciate packaged things or one stop device functionality, like the iPhone, Blackberry and laptops. The concepts of on demand and cable TV really pales when you think about the ways people can individualize their television viewing and other features with a hand held device or personal computer.
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/bam/www/numbers.html
http://www.census.gov/prod/2001pubs/p23-207.pdf
http://www.ncta.com/Statistics.aspx
The Press is On–Online that is!
According to a recent study conducted by The George Washington University revealed that information journalists use the most can be sourced back to the Web—thus identifying another growth perspective for blogging etc. The study also indicates that journalists still use traditional routes like interacting with PR professionals, using press kits, attending press conferences and snagging things from the newswire to gain new information.
Excerpt from the release:
“Reporters and editors queried in a year-end survey by Cision, in conjunction with The George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management and Don Bates, adjunct professor with the school and PR veteran, reported that Websites, submissions from public relations professionals, and press kits were among their most frequently used sources of information for stories. These were followed by conferences and events, industry newswires, trade journals, blogs, social networking sites, and podcasts. One hundred percent of the respondents said they regularly use Websites for editing and reporting; 94 percent said they use information from PR professionals; and 87 percent said they regularly refer to press kits.”
People in higher education were somewhat shocked at the survey results. “I was surprised by the admission among the respondents of the high degree to which they depend on public relations professionals and the tools of PR,” said Don Bates, founding director of GW’s strategic public relations graduate program. “The survey makes it clearer than ever that journalists can’t do without public relations professionals any more than public relations professionals can do without journalists. It’s a symbiotic relationship.”
That being said, how can Mr. Bates defend the recent misuse of a fraud Wikipedia quote among several top tier media outlets…you make the call!
The article can be found here and includes links to the complete 34 page report:
http://www.gwu.edu/~newsctr/pressrelease.cfm?ann_id=30347
Google Gullibility
Users live by search, but they also die by search.
People turn to search as their first step — or as their second step, if their first attempt at navigating fails. Users typically formulate good initial queries, and vaguely understand how to tickle the search engine into coughing up desired sites when they appropriately modify their main keywords. For example, in our new study, a user looking for a modest gift for a football fan searched for “football trinket.” Five years ago, such a user would most likely have searched “football” and been buried by the results.
Still, today’s users rarely change their search strategy when the initial query fails. They might modify their first attempt, but they typically stick with the same general approach rather than trying something genuinely new.
For example, one user tested the Mayo Clinic’s site to find out how to ensure that a child with a milk allergy would receive sufficient calcium. The user attempted multiple queries with the keyword “calcium,” but never tried the words “milk” or “allergy.”
Also, users are incredibly bad at interpreting SERP listings (SERP = Search Engine Results Page). Admittedly, SERPs from Google and the other main search engines typically offer unreadable gibberish rather than decent website descriptions. Still, an expert searcher (like me) can look at the listings and predict a destination site’s quality much better than average users.
When it comes to search, users face three problems:
Inability to retarget queries to a different search strategy
Inability to understand the search results and properly evaluate each destination site’s likely usefulness
Inability to sort through the SERP’s polluted mass of poor results, whether from blogs or from heavily SEO-optimized sites that are insufficiently specific to really address the user’s problem
Given these difficulties, many users are at the search engine’s mercy and mainly click the top links — a behavior we might call Google Gullibility. Sadly, while these top links are often not what they really need, users don’t know how to do better.
I use “Google” in labeling the behavior only because it’s the search engine used by the vast majority of our test users. People using other search engines have the same problems. Still, it’s vital to reestablish competition in the search engine field: it would be a tragedy for democracy to let 3 guys at one company determine what billions of people read, learn, and ultimately think.
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/user-skills.html
Ethics in IMC–PR
It is without question that ethics are important; they are a cornerstone of the field—because without ethics, practitioners have no credibility and the work loses integrity. PR is a powerful tool—if done properly, it has the ability to persuade and convince a public on any notion. Unethical PR can be any number of activities, including (according to PRSA):
• Misleading information
• Influence of management actions
• Promotion of substandard products
• Discrimination
• Destruction
• Gain at expense of others
• Political influence
One concept that I learned in my undergraduate studies is the “5 masters” concept. We, as PR practitioners are to serve and be true to (1) ourselves, (2) our clients, (3) our employer, (4) our PR practice or profession, and finally (5) our society. First and foremost, it is essential to be true to yourself, however, the group of others that are depending on your decision to be ethical, however easy or courageous that choice seems, is pretty extensive. As PR practitioners, ethics starts at the individual level, but then travels through a totem pole of additional authorities, with various priorities and ethical standards. Therefore, the decision to pursue an ethical solution might not be as rational or evident as one would think. For instance, I would never decide to work for a cigarette company, because of my principles and ethics most likely do not align with the clients, the employer, or society. A great deal of PR work is based on confidential company information and the message development to either release or conceal that information. It can be a very telling and tricky business for people.
Additionally, I found an interesting on the “PR Ethics Resource Center” that identifies three categories of ethics: Teleological, Deontological and Situational.
Extracted from http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring02/Holt/definition.html
Teleological ethics systems take on a results-oriented approach and are often referred to as “utilitarian.” This approach asks the question, which decision will provide the greatest good to the greatest number of people.
Problems with this approach:
• How can you calculate greatest good?
• Won’t you have to act before you can determine the outcome?
Positives of this approach:
• Requires a consideration of all alternatives.
• Requires practitioners to think about the consequences of their actions.
Examples of teleological ethics:
• The suggestion that public relations should serve the public interest.
• Making choices not based solely on financial considerations.
Deontological approaches to ethical decision making are also called “duty” ethics or the “humanitarian” approach. Deontological systems are based on the idea that human beings must treat other human beings with respect and dignity. In this case, ethical behavior is judged on whether the action violates human rights. The actions themselves are treated as “right” or “wrong.”
Problems with this approach:
• Which human rights are deemed more important?
• As society evolves over time, will norms of basic human rights change?
• Blindly following this approach could lead to considerable harm.
Examples of Deontological Ethics:
• Declaration of Independence
• Choosing not to disseminate false information because that would constitute an act of lying which is “wrong.”
Situational ethics suggests that decision-making should be seen as independent of specific circumstances. Instead of following the same set of rules in each decision, practitioners engaging in Situational ethics decide on a case by case basis.
Positives of this approach:
• Can be helpful when there are several conflicting ethical obligations.
• Useful when blindly following rules, as suggested by Deontological systems, would result in considerable harm.
Examples of Situational Ethics in Action:
• Choosing not to comment to the press when releasing the information could result in considerable harm to one’s client or the public. The conflicting ethical responsibilities in this instance include honest and prevention of harm.
Content is KING
When it comes to the effective use of a Web site, content is the essential first step. It dictates messages, determines key publics, establishes ethics, etc. Certainly companies, media and Web site owners want to ensure that their Web site gets traction and generates interest; but content drives visitors. This week I read The Discipline of Content Strategy by Kristina Halvorson. The article nicely identifies content strategies and principle points for ensuring content is meaningful and effective.
Halvorson explains that “content strategy plans for the creation, publication, and governance of useful, usable content”. This address the significance of content strategy as a process, but Halverson also says that content strategy is complicated and messy and clearly not so black and white. I think this concept is evident in Web sites we’ve reviewed this course as well as our blog project. I’ll take the media industry for instance. With the advent of blogging, Tweeting, Facebook et al, everyone is a glorified news engine or reporter. Everyone and anyone can create a Web site and write—some of these are now gaining moment and credibility—however the successful blogs are again driven by content. These social networking and blog sites are becoming more and more saturated, therefore forcing content management to differentiate between the meaningful messaging and random ranting.
Halvorson honed in on a few primary components of content strategy, including key themes and messages, recommended topics, content purpose (i.e., how content will bridge the space between audience needs and business requirements), content gap analysis, metadata frameworks and related content attributes, search engine optimization (SEO), and finally the implications of strategic recommendations on content creation, publication, and governance. People hardly recognize the impact of successful content strategy, because they typically omit several of these key concepts. It seems like common sense, but the reality is that most Web site managers neglect to acknowledge the importance of building content strategy. I think Halvorson would argue that there is little attention given to content strategy because it seems like uncharted waters and requires commitment both from a human resource and financial resource perspective. In my somewhat insignificant opinion, content specialists should incorporate a “measure twice; cut once” approach to content development, rather than the impulsive alternative that relies on the speed of online repairs. What I mean is, I think that these specialists should take the necessary steps to reduce errors first and ensure content accuracy.
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/thedisciplineofcontentstrategy/
Online Ethics: Virtually Righteous?
This week in IMC 619, we explored the concept of ethics with relation to kids. Specifically, we were asked whether it was ethical to conduct online marketing to children. While most of my fellow students agreed it was borderline unethical, I had to wonder if we currently have any legislation or FFC regulation on what was appropriate to market to kiddies. Here is what I found:
“The Federal Trade Commission is conducting research related to the presence of explicit adult material in virtual worlds and how accessible it is to children. Virtual world operators that collect data from kids under 13 have to comply with a federal law, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which requires that operators get verified parental consent for the child’s participation in the world. A group of online game companies are also setting their own guidelines on when or when not to advertise to children.”
- Dan Offner, a lawyer at law firm Nixon Peabody
According to a recent Stanford University event on legal frontiers for digital media, a major issue for most with children being exposed to the internet it that is it a pretty complex arena to regulate. As the world of cyberspace continues to evolve into a sophisticated “second life” for many, it is near impossible to ensure that laws or regulations are protecting kids. “Navigating the laws of cyberspace is getting ever more complex as virtual worlds themselves become mirrors of the real world,” explains Dan Offner, a lawyer at law firm Nixon Peabody. “The basic challenge is that the laws aren’t keeping up with technological change.”
Protecting children from predators is of course at the top of the regulation list. But there are so many tricky issues about who owns the property created in the worlds, what rights to privacy should users expect, how operators should work with real-world law enforcement, and in general whether or not real world laws should govern behavior in virtual worlds. Stanford University says that the expectation of technology taking the blame for online corruption is tough a sell. In fact, the point is that technology alone cannot handle the problem. For instance, Disney, a huge proponent of online kid sources, has hundreds of human moderators watching over the conversations to ensure everyone complies with rules. However, a certain amount of responsibility must fall on parents to oversee the kids online as well.
It is reported that dealing with the legal issues is becoming increasingly more important because of the sudden sprout of virtual worlds.
“Sony Online Entertainment said today that its Free Realms virtual world drew more than a million users in its first 17 days. World of Warcraft has 12 million users. Linden Lab’s Second Life had 732,526 unique users in the first quarter, up 25 percent from a year ago. Nexon’s MapleStory has 92 million members worldwide, including 6 million members in North America. Virtual worlds raised $594 million in venture money in 2008, and there are more than 200 virtual worlds for kids in the works. These are all big businesses too. In Second Life, residents spent $120 million in real money on virtual goods and services, up 64 percent from a year ago. Sulake, which runs a cartoon-like world, Habbo, in which kids can decorate their rooms and characters, generated $60 million in virtual goods revenue in 2008. The recession has claimed a few victims so far, such as Google, which shut down its Lively by Google virtual spaces.”
- Dan Offner, a lawyer at law firm Nixon Peabody
Just like with any other high stakes situation, the ethics of the matter become an issue when money is involved. With so much money at risk, Web sites are often reluctant to subject themselves to a loss—however—they are at jeopardy of losing much more if they ignore the legal pitfalls that could stall growth.
Banning Ad Banners…
After my IMC 619 class decided by a high majority that Web Banners were the least effective Web marketing tool, I decided to do a little research on the topic at hand. Interestingly enough, I came across a studied done by Dr. Jakob Nielsen that provides some sound proof to the class’ thoughts behind Web banners. In summary, Dr. Nielsen finds that Web users rarely look at display advertisements on websites. According to him, “of the four design elements that do attract a few ad fixations, one is unethical and reduces the value of advertising networks and the others are less effective in general.”
His study of Web banners included the use of eye-tracking research to decipher where attention was most drawn out on a Web page. As you can see for the image below, very little outside of the main content of a page is recognized by the visitor—this is even more true when you consider the time people spend reading through an article versus skimming and moving to another page.
Heatmaps from eyetracking studies: The areas where users looked the most are colored red; the yellow areas indicate fewer views, followed by the least-viewed blue areas. Gray areas didn't attract any fixations. Green boxes were drawn on top of the images after the study to highlight the advertisements.
All and all, the study did prove that site visitors are conditioned not to pay much attention to the distracting elements of a Web site—including advertisements and Web banners.
“There are no secrets of usability any more than there are secrets of astronomy. If you point your telescope at Saturn, you will see that it has rings. And, if you conduct a series of usability studies, you will discover the same insights as we do — assuming you employ the correct methodology”
-Dr. Jakob Nielsen, User Advocate and principal of the Nielsen Norman Group
About Dr. Nielsen:
Jakob Nielsen, Ph.D., is a User Advocate and principal of the Nielsen Norman Group which he co-founded with Dr. Donald A. Norman (former VP of research at Apple Computer). Before starting NNG in 1998 he was a Sun Microsystems Distinguished Engineer.
Dr. Nielsen founded the “discount usability engineering” movement for fast and cheap improvements of user interfaces and has invented several usability methods, including heuristic evaluation. He holds 79 United States patents, mainly on ways of making the Internet easier to use.
Making Mobile Marketing Magic
More and more companies are looking to new media and mobile marketing for advertising and brand solutions. This seems especially true in these trying economic times, which are driving companies to cut advertising and PR budgets. It is hard to pinpoint the most effective aspect of a mobile marketing campaign—a successful campaign integrates customer research, fun/interest, interactivity, viral possibilities and finally marketing support by way of PR. The most attractive part of a mobile campaign for most companies is the price tag—they do generally run lower in cost. Most successful campaigns include all or most of these key success factors:
- Relevant to the consumer
- Welcome invitation to participate
- Entertaining and interactive
- Drives a specific action
- Integrated where appropriate
- Connects what was previously disconnected
- Simplicity
Here are the top ten mobile campaigns published by the Mobile Marketing Forum.
- Nike ID. Nike erected a large, interactive billboard in Times Square. Passers-by could use their cell phones to text in their own custom design and receive a free pair of Nike IDs. In Wheeler and Keenan’s video, individuals went nuts when they saw their own shoes posted live on the jumbotron in front of them. Though Nike gave away 3000 pairs of shoes in this promotion, users were just as excited by their design on the billboard as they were by the free footwear.
- Dove ‘Campaign for Real Beauty.’ Dove erected a large billboard of a happy, fresh-looking older woman with a text-to-vote number so that pedestrians could choose between ‘wrinkled’ and ‘wonderful.’ The billboard’s live ticker showed the combined results from both text and online voting.
- Pontiac G6. This camera phone promotion for the G6 encouraged consumers to look for G6es out on the street. By snapping a photo of a G6 and sending it in, a consumer was entered into a drawing to win $1,000,000.
- American Express Wimbledon Sponsorship. The Wimbledon bleachers contain a captive audience of ticketholders. American Express promoted a contest in which any audience member could guess at the winners of the next day’s event, and thereby be entered into a contest pool. Even better than brand awareness, American Express had a meaningful number of card applications submitted as a direct result of consumer participation in the mobile contest.
- Lenovo Mobile WAP. After its acquisition of the IBM PC business, Lenovo ran banner ads on the USA Today WAP site. The campaign’s click through rate of 6.6% was roughly double the industry average. Lenovo also had an impressive 487% lift in aided brand awareness among consumers who clicked through to the WAP site.
- NBC ’s Deal or No Deal. The Lucky Case Game integrates mobile into the TV show experience. Viewers can text in lucky case numbers and win cash prizes if there’s a match. NBC has also had some success with its model wallpaper for mobile. The multiple products are not only a good way to access viewers on multiple screens, but also a way to generate additional revenue. This mobile content revenue pays for the entire show’s production – and as a result, all of the normal TV advertising becomes gravy.
- Axe. The company’s ‘little black book’ applet is a ringtone giveaway. Guys can choose tunes that they like, and then associate the tones with particular contacts (presumably, women) in their address books. This provides something of value to the consumer while reinforcing brand associations.
- Nike Airmax. This inspirational advertising campaign shows athletes getting up early and doing their thing. The mobile campaign worked from this theme, enticing customers to sign up for a recorded wake-up call from a famous athlete such as Maria Sharapova. The campaign managers saw single users setting up multiple calls, and initially thought they were being used for crank calls – instead, they discovered that coaches and team managers were signing up their entire roster. This 8-week promotion exceeded its total target participation by 300% by the end of the first week alone.
- Adidas QR Tagging. QR codes, which turn your phone into a bar code scanner, are everywhere in Japan and Korea. Adidas used these codes on retail merchandise tags and clothing imprints. Potential customers could take a photo of the color code on a sleeve, and the handset would then load up the manufacturer’s WAP site. Over the course of the test run, 60,000 people participated in the Korean Adidas program, and Adidas had over 2,000,000 page views. (Note: It’s up to carriers as to when this technology becomes available in the US.)
- Snakes on a Plane. This inventive mobile promotion may be my personal favorite. Users generated a customized voice call from Samuel L. Jackson. To set it up, go online to select the recipient’s personal attributes from pull-down menus and submit the necessary phone numbers. As a recipient, it looks like the phone call is coming in from a friend, but when they pick it up, it’s Mr. Jackson. This was phenomenally successful in raising movie buzz, with over 4,000,000 phone calls made during the core promotional period.
Christine Herron, a director at Omidyar Network, where she developed the Media practice strategy and drove $15 million in early-stage placements, says there are 2 simple rules to mobile advertising—(1) understand the typical carrier’s business priorities and (2) think proactively about traffic optimization. Christine argues that “of the three entities in the mobile advertising value chain – advertisers, carriers, and subscribers – the relationship between advertiser and carrier is the least established.” So the two rules she established repair tat underdeveloped relationship.
Here is her discussion:
1. Understand the typical carrier’s business priorities. To establish a win-win proposal, mobile marketing campaigns must take these carrier needs into account:
- Carriers want to not only increase their subscriber base, but also increase their average revenue per user (ARPU).
- Carriers want to reduce churn, and worry that giving advertisers a channel into the subscriber will harm their subscriber bases.
- Carriers want to increase the ROI on their 3G networks, as they have yet to see meaningful returns on this investment.
2. Think proactively about traffic optimization. Traffic optimization is the biggest challenge to the adoption of mobile push campaigns. For example: In Europe, Christmas Day messages make up 1/4 of an entire year’s messaging total. Once a carrier builds out a system capable of handling Christmas Day traffic, it must then find ways to make money back on that system during the rest of the year. Advertising push has an opportunity to add value, but it presents a new challenge for the carrier: when the system is busy, what gets prioritized – the advertiser’s message, or a subscriber’s birthday message to Grandma?
