Sparkwood & 21

Where Should We Put Our Stuff, Internet?

You might like this conversation between a bunch of internet "fogies" (see also: innovators) discussing the evolution (or devolution) of blogs and social media and the owning or renting of platforms and whether or not we are all just writing a bunch of crap.

Internet Commenters

Today, for work, I wrote this on the TV station's Facebook wall:

Hikers Spot Mountain Lion near UC Santa Cruz -  If you are confronted by a mountain lion, do not try to run away, face the animal, appear as big as possible, make loud noises, and report the incident to the Santa Cruz Police Dept or Fish and Game.

Someone responded with this in the comments:

 I'm gonna shoot it with my weenie juice

A.M. Consumed: Link Dump + Commentary

Twitter Users Are More Likely to Follow Journalists Than News Organizations [VIDEO]

This makes sense. News organizations are big and bulky, and as a whole, move much more slowly than a nimble, single reporter. Twitter users know where to find a news org's published stories: on their website, linked in the Twitter profile. But Twitter users seeking new news, perhaps unreported, yet unsubstantiated news, are going to seek that out from reporters with Twitter presences before looking to the news org as a whole.

It's also further proof that people prefer engaging individuals on social networking sites, not monolithic brands.

How and why news orgs should answer critics on Twitter

Trolls and critics are not the same. Ignoring trolls works (most of the time). Ignoring valuable input from your audience is fatal. 

One Year of Backpacking All Around the World in Just Five Minutes

Gorgeous. Surefire way to induce wanderlust.

New Twitter formalizes news wire service function

Would love to explore "Discover" in New Twitter, since this might be a way for news organizations to better take the reigns of Twitter as a reporting and engagement service. Alas, I still have Old Twitter. 

Coincidences are awesome

It's the little things.

Google+, I am About to be Up in You

Due to work and the postings of people I really enjoy, I'm diving into Google+.

Yeah, I know what I said before. This crow is delicious.

Want Authenticity in your Brand? Take a Tiny Risk.

"Use social media to be authentic. Use social media to show you are human. Use social media to show a little personality."

These are mantras, orders, directions, suggestions, broken records heard in corporate environments 'round the world, but bosses, managers, directors, head honchos are unsure exactly how to do that. What does one mean by "be authentic"? Hasn't his hard work day in and day out been authentic? He thinks it has. He isn't wrong.

Show I am human?, she muses. I am an on-air host for a TV station. I move and talk and walk and investigate in front of cameras. How could I be any more human than I am already? It's not a stupid question. And personality? Her title is television personality. 

I think what they mean is this.

You see, The Today Show has a Tumblr. That's already a smart move. This Tumblr blog links to, among other things, videos on The Today Show website with short little quips or still images added, making it more micro-bloggy. These posts flow into Tumblr users' dashboards and Today Show videos these users would have never seen otherwise get watched. Why is that?

Because someone updating The Today Show Tumblr took a tiny risk.

Not only did the author of this Today Show Tumblr post take a tiny risk by expressing opinion about a guest's appearance, he or she also tagged the post with the term "delish." 

That's funny. It's also brave for a morning news show. But they know that Tumblr users are not their traditional audience and by being familiar with the ways that people use that medium (by employing tags like "delish", etc.), they were able to endear themselves to an entirely different group of individuals than those who normally watch The Today Show.

The reaction was glee, lots of reblogs and plenty of heart clicking. When a Tumblr blogger jokingly asked, "OMG TODAY SHOW WHAT ARE YOU DOING," the Today Show Tumblr author didn't freak out and delete the post or apologize and backpedal. He or she responded with, "We’re just doing what you’re already thinking."

Which is honest and playful and further endearing these users to The Today Show brand, all because this author did something unexpected, a little brave and stuck by the post.

Newsweek even chimed in with "Media Tumblrs: WE ARE PEOPLE TOO!"

Which is true. Tumblr users know how Tumblrs get made. Even the ones for major television programs where the stars make many, many millions of dollars. It's one or two people, maybe a small team--maybe--deciding what to publish and how to do it and how often and how come. To pretend that the author of that Today Show Tumblr post doesn't have an opinion or a sense of humor or a mind of their own is dishonest. This is what they mean by "be authentic." It kinda just comes down to "don't lie." 

We know that is an attractive actor. They know that is an attractive actor. Saying it aloud in the right forum--one where the audience can recognize and appreciate your tiny risk--is not a danger to your company's bottom line. It just isn't. 

To the first set of mantras and orders listed at the head of this post I'd add, "Take reasoned, tiny risks." It's what people do. It's what people have to do as humans. In this way your company can be more like the people it aims to reach. And the payoff can be tremendous.

Ha

BrittneyGilbert.com Does Not Belong To Me, It Belongs to a Domain Squatter

I stupidly let BrittneyGilbert.com's domain name lapse, and it was long ago scooped up by a domain squatter whose sole purpose with the site is to make money.

He won't give it back to me for under $1500.

I wish he wouldn't have done that.

Internet Adventurer Seeks San Francisco Dream Job

I'm doing a very brave or a very stupid thing, depending on how you look at it. I am moving to an expensive city without full-time employment lined up. Scary, risky and, well, unvoidable at this point. I'm signed up for San Francisco.

However, as an individual with experience in online media, I can't fathom a better place to try to find work. Silicon Valley has all the jobs I would like: community manager, social media strategist, content creator/editor or any variation of the above. And the City by the Bay hasn't been as rocked to its core by the recession as some of the rest of the nation. So there is hope.

Hope only goes so far, so today I am posting my resume on this here blog so that it can get as many eyeballs as possible. And besides, I worked hard on this thing:

Don't Make Me Do It: I'm Leaving Netflix Because I Don't Care

Remember when Netflix first began it's mail-you-DVDs service back in 1999, and people were in awe? It was brilliant. We thought, "People won't steal them, because they know where you live! I can keep it as long as I want, let it sit in its little red jacket for weeks! I can toss it in the mail for free! I can plan my movie watching weeks in advance! This is the shiznit*!"

Film buffs rejoiced. Lazy people thought about cheering, but thought better of it. And video rental stores who made their profit off of late fees wept into their autmotic rewinding machines.

And for close to a decade it was good. It was grand. We'd nod in appreciation at those carrying the deep red squares down the hallway to the mailbox. Our people. Red square toters. We did that, too, when we finally got around to it. Great service for the price. Entertainment mailed straight to your front door.

Then the streaming came, and it was a marvel. The people were thrilled and they shouted their appreciation for on demand movies they could watch at any time. What a marvel of technology. How far we have come. One can see Jim Carrey blow snot rockets on a whim. And all for a little over a ten spot a month? Miraculous, Netflix. Truly.

I have said aloud more than once, "The best 12 bucks I spend every month is on Netflix. It's such a great value. I love it." 

I would never have imagined how soon before I was thinking hard about leaving it.

But, I held on during the price hike. I get 2 DVDs and once and online streaming. The raise in fees was steep, but I still felt the price was fair for the service I so religiously used, and never once thought of ceasing service when others around me dropped Netflix with a hot quickness.

Then I got an email from Netflix's CEO, straight to my inbox, and I opened it and began to read only to become deeply annoyed. Saddened, even. What was going on with my beloved red squared movie company? Qwikster? Just typing the name alone hurts my feelings.

But I'll not get emotional here. My point is this: They are making me do something. The thing they were always so awesome at has now been made complicated and cumbersome, and now I have to act. Netflix was never about that. It was about sit back on your couch and let the movies come to you. Now I have to make a decision. Do I still want to get 2 DVDs at once? Do I still want to get DVDs at all? Will streaming be enough? How much is all this again?

And because I am lazy, I am just going to cancel. I was going to willingly pay 40% more for the same service I've always gotten, but now that they services have now split and the sites aren't cross-referenced in any way, it's going to mean lots of clicks, and even note taking to be sure I'm not overlapping films or missing movies. Who wants this? I don't want this. And it's too bad, because it was fun being a Netflix fan. Now I'm not even gonna get the red sqaures any more. I can stream elsewhere.

And if I may be so bold, I think this should be a lesson to companies everywhere. Don't make your devoted customers jump through hoops. Don't make them reconsider and reconfigure. They are already forking out their hard earned dough to you, probably automatically each month, pulled directly from their accounts. You want them to step in and create an almost ideal opportunity for them *not* to do that? That's not that smart.

So, I'm not mad at Netflix that it's over between us. I'm not leaving in a huff. I'm not slamming the door on the way out. I'm apathetic, which is part of why I'm canceling in the first place. I don't care enough to sort all these changes out. And there are thousand and thousands more people just like me.

I guess the lesson is leave the paying customers alone to keep shelling out your paycheck. Make it hard for them to do that, and expect that paycheck to shrink substantially.

*circa 1999 slang

Do Not Want: Google+

Let's talk about Google+ for a hot minute. Errbody else is, and I can't resist a good bandwagon.

I first learned of our new social media overlord's existence on Twitter, where I get most of my news. And my immediate reaction was, "Oh, fuck."

I ignored it for a couple of days. Stuck my fingers in my ears and sang LA, LA, LA. Didn't want to see it. Hoped it would go away.

No dice.

Soon I was getting notifications that I'd been added to these cultish-sounding Circles and I knew I had to shake hands with reality. Google+ is here.

It may not be here to stay, but dammit, it has parked its ass on the couch with a beer and your remote and it isn't hitting the door anytime soon.

Okay, fine, I admit it. Once I started getting notifications I wanted in. I like being FIRST! at new online servies, even if I discard them like an OK Cupid date if they don't put out. I wanted my wristband into the potentially happening new party just in case the venue became overrun.

I got my invite, walked past the rope, took a look around the club, saw a few familiar faces and a lot of white space. Then I left.

I'm scared to go back.

Google+ is, I fear, a part-time job I desperately don't want to take. But if I want to eat, I will. As a blogger, marketer, outreacher it is essential that I stay abreast in social media, new and old. I enjoy it, so really, no complaints, but with Google+ I am afraid it's going to be a huge project that ends up sucking major time.

My attention is already splintered by the likes of Google Reader, Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Instagram, and shall I go on? Will Google+ supplant all of those? Or will it become one more digital commitment?

I don't know. And I'm frightened to find out.

[Image via cambodia4kidsorg]