R|com Creative Blog

In 1516, Thomas Moore authored Utopia, the story of an ideal society, based on an imaginary island. He was beheaded in 1535 when he refused to sign the Act of Supremacy that declared King Henry VIII Supreme Head of the Church of England. During the last decade, Moore became a saint, and was previously canonized by the Catholic Church. Since Moore’s Utopia, there have been many other examples of socialism, in dreams and in practice. And today, a new form of socialism is emerging. Social Media.

Social Media is not your father’s socialism, however. Whereas socialism traditionally is about centralized authority, property owned in common, Government controlled information, and limited resources made available by the State, social media is quite the opposite: Shared use, but with protection via Creative Commons licensing, unlimited resources (cloud computing), real-time opinions, and real-time worldwide sharing of ideas, ideals, and communication.

Today, the Internet is generating a new form of social collaboration. You can find anything on the web, you can speak to everyone instantly via Twitter, tell everyone what you’re reading using StumbleUpon, share your finances with Wesabe, and create a worldwide movie premiere with YouTube and similar services.

Today, in the world of technology, it is the collective that is the driving force of change. It has been written that more than 60,000 man-years of work were poured into the latest release of Fedora Linux. More than 10 million registered users contribute to Wikipedia. 350 million people watch YouTube videos every month and the number climbs continually. There are more than 3 billion photos and videos on Flickr. These people are all living in a socialized environment. It is a game-changing influence on our culture. And nobody, least of all your father, can stop it.

Like traditional political socialism, people not involved in this culture shift are afraid of it. “Twitter makes no sense,” says one fifty-something to me when asked about it. “YouTube is for kids with no life,” another Gen Xer scoffs. But social media is not just for kids. It’s for anyone and everyone who wishes to engage the world – and to make their life, their loves, their business better.

The recent elections in Iran have created a remarkable research opportunity for anyone interested in social media. At first, the idea that despite barring the media from protests, the thrust behind the protests and publicity involved with the disputed elections was driven by social media tools, notably Twitter. A closer look reveals some bias: President Ahmedinejad’s supporters are known to lead rural lifestyles, have less access to wealth, are less educated and more likely to speak Farsi than Mousavi’s supporters. As such, does this mean that a picture of the protests via social media overstates Mousavi support or understates Ahmedinejad support?

The same issue relates to the blogosphere.  Nearly all blog posts are written in Farsi. Many of those that are not are in English. Does this type of access create a political barrier to true collaboration and freedom of speech? Overall, the use of these tools, including Twitter are making a difference. The Iranian Government has shut down cell towers, closed Internet cafes and demonstrates an ability to control the Internet, but only within its borders, and likely only for a limited time. In Iran, social media is creating change – Anne-Marie Corley wrote a powerful article about this in the MIT Technology Review. Read it.

Certainly, one could argue that the concept of collective development and distribution at little or no cost might destroy Capitalism. The current banking and economic woes of the United States and in fact the world show evidence that such is not likely the case, although there are plenty of people making “socialism” accusations at the current political power base in Washington DC. But the U.S, and the world are essentially market-driven societies. When a problem or question is thrown into the marketplace, the market typically responds – yes or no – and the question is solved. The prosperity that America so enjoyed for the past few decades was created by the use of market forces overcoming social problems.

Today, it’s clear that social media can play an increasingly important role in our mainstream society. From emergency services to personal sharing of ideas, fears, and opinions, these tools are bringing millions of people together in search of common answers. Revolutions have been started with far fewer numbers than that.

If you are a positive person, you might say the U.S. auto industry is reinventing itself right now. With GM and Chrysler both looking to start anew, Ford has been able to stay clear of shrapnel, although it too has suffered substantially as a result of the overall economic situation in the United States, not to mention the rest of the world.

But Ford is truly using the downturn in the economy and the drama with its Detroit cousins to get up and deliver. While quality may have been their long-term mantra, Social Media may now be at the top of their marketing agenda.

Scott Monty is the head of Social Media for Ford. He clearly gets it. On a daily basis, Monty is working to let people know that Ford is not a building, not a car, but a company that is made up of people. Not only does Scott understand Social Media as a marketing tool, he understands the audience. GM and Chrysler both use the typical Social Media mechanisms, including FaceBook and Twitter, but just like their current overall situation, the effectiveness of their use of these tools leaves something to be desired.

According to Trendrr, a Social Media trending firm, in May of 2009, Chrysler had approximately 850 Twitter followers, while GM blew past them with more than 5,000 followers. On the other hand, Monty’s Twitter audience jumped to 20,000 people. That’s not even in the same solar system.

Ford created an effective and useful promotion using YouTube to market the introduction of the new Ford Fiesta. By creating a series of contests, Ford drew thousands of submissions, created a steady stream of Twitter “tweets,” and got substantial blog and news coverage. The bottom line: Ford reached a broad audience, interacted with them, and saved literally millions of dollars in advertising.

We like to collaborate with our clients to ensure they understand both the commitment that is required when diving into the Social Media pool, and the rewards for a job well done. It isn’t a mysterious endeavor, but it does require care, focus, and a strong understanding of whom the customer is, what they expect to see, hear, and read – and how to share things that will generate a response.

If you’re interested in how Social Media can work for you, please give us a shout. We’d love to hear from you.

The LAFD uses Twitter to broadcast updates on Major Emergencies

There’s been a lot of buzz about Twitter of late. No wonder. With millions of users, and truckloads of new people signing up every day, it’s now easy to follow the antics of your friends, co-workers, or even Darth Vader. Much of the recent buzz has centered around the possible acquisition (assimilation?) of the company by Google. Other news stories and editorial pieces have asked if Twitter is for real, or is just a flash in the pan.

Twitter is for real – and perhaps more so because of mobile devices. The combination of 140 character micro-blog style entries and the broadcast abilities from computer to mobile device make Twitter a powerful technology. but Twitter isn’t just for kids, my sister-in-law, or even Demi Moore. Twitter can be an important business and public outreach technology as well. (See? I buried the lead again!)

Twitter is not limited to social commentary. It can be used for a wide variety of important communications solutions. Imagine setting up your servers to tweet you if they encounter pending failures or issues. Many law enforcement and fire agencies are now using Twitter to broadcast emergency incidents, evacuations, and street closures. Public safety, notably in a large city, can be an excellent environment in which to use Twitter.

Twitter is an ideal tool for a trade show, as it would allow reminders for keynote presentations, special events, prizes, etc. And, the most common device to receive these tweets is a mobile device. Now, combine the analytic results of such activities and any entity using both technologies can improve their communications, outreach, and effectiveness.

When our team works with clients who are interested in developing better relationships with their customers, or who wish to reach a wide audience easily, we are careful to give proper consideration to how the technology might be used. Just having the technology isn’t enough. There is work involved after the technology is installed or configured. The fantastic thing is, these technologies are avaiable to us, and our expertise lies in how to best use these new tools to improve business, communication, and in some cases, life itself.

It seems that every week, we’re reading about another multi-billion dollar loss and the threat of another huge firm closing or filing for protection from creditors using chapter 11, etc. The trickle down effect that has on suppliers, consultants, staff, etc. means we are all impacted in one way or another. But it doesn’t mean we’re cut off at the pass.

Big companies have problems that little companies don’t. And overall, it seems to be that smaller is bigger than big these days. A small company can change direction more quickly, can create products or services more rapidly, and overall, can be more effective in servicing their customer base.

Even the way we communicate is affected by big vs. small. As one example, email is big. It’s big enough to attract spammers. So, unless we spend the time to properly manage our email filters, plug-ins, etc., our in-boxes fill with nonsense on a daily, if not hourly basis. Email is so big, it’s causing people to put off reading their email.

But Twitter is growing, and it’s getting bigger because it’s service is smaller. A Twitter Tweet is short. It’s simple. 140 characters, please. It shows up on your phone, your PDA, or your web browser. And, you subscribe to it. So, you follow those whom you’d like to hear from. I know at least a few of our team get nearly as many tweets now as they get email messages. Of course, learning to manage Twitter is important, or your phone or PDA will go beep, beep, beep all day long.

So, give it some thought – we can help you better understand how to creatively and effectively manage your products or services in a rapidly changing marketplace. By thinking small, you could eventually be big. And we can help.

Twitter is a powerful tool. For those not familiar with it, the concept of a “tweet” is essentially a micro-blog post. You are limited to 140 characters. Your “tweet” will then be available via your Twitter account to anyone who follows you, or will be broadcast to anyone who has signed up to receive tweets – they look like text messages.

And, just like everything else, there are people who get it and are building awareness, PR, marketing, or just sharing with friends and family – and there are people who are clogging our phones, PDAs, and web browsers with garbage.

Now, the beauty of Twitter is that you can publish anything, and of course, you don’t have to follow anyone you don’t want to. But, the issue comes up when you think you want to follow someone, and it turns out to be a bad mistake.

How should you use Twitter? Well, the short answer is anyway you’d like. The longer answer might be to share relevant and useful information. A good example of a solid tweet would be tweeting about a news story, YouTube video worth watching, or a change to your website. In these cases, you’re using Twitter as a broadcast mechanism to share additional news that may interest people who follow you.

A less than terrific use of Twitter is to share tweets that mislead people who sign up to follow the author. If you’re a photographer, people expect to get tweets about new photos online, client engagements, cool new technology, etc. But, if you’re a photog and you send tweets like, “my pies were burned, I’m so pissed!” – then you’re not really sharing with your audience.

So, if you’re following someone via Twitter, give them feedback about the value of their tweets. Make certain the emerging technologies we’re sharing with so many of clients are effective and hep them build business, not lose it.

The inauguration of Barack Obama earlier today was a milestone in the history of this country. While we like to keep politics out of our business communications, there were some notable things in play that are worth mentioning, as the peaceful transfer of power was not the only thing evident on this crisp Washington D.C day.

Our world is much smaller now. Smaller than ever before. It is so because of technology, and we must be ever vigilant about it, or it will pass us by. All of those things we’ve talked about in our businesses for the past decade as, “things for the future” are now upon us. And never was it more evident than in the inaugural coverage witnessed by hundreds of millions of people around the world.

CNN invited the world to submit photos. They had cameras across the country and we watched each other watching – in high definition. When the president-elect walked down the steps prior to the swearing in, nearly everyone, his daughter included, was busy snapping digital photos – and in many cases, sending them to family and friends. So much so, that cell service in the Metro DC area was compromised for a time both yesterday and today. People were using flickr, twitter, facebook, myspace, their own blogs, and even CNN. The era of the iReporter is upon us.

CNN also invited people to watch the post-inagural parade and other activities via computer. Literally. “Watch CNN on your computer – www.cnn.com” was displayed on-screen multiple times. And overall, the graphics we see now move, change shape, and are presented in computer-display clarity. The move to push people to watch was most likely a calculated marketing move as well. Once the inauguration was over, people headed to work. By promoting viewership via computer, CNN was essentially encouraging people to watch from work. And, if they watch today, what about tomorrow?

And the technology outreach via the web wasn’t limited to CNN. More than ever before, the use of technology is being used to communicate with everyday people in this country and across the planet. CNN is also partnering with Facebook and users of the system provided real-time impressions of the event. Those impressions appeared in a “facebook” window on the cnn.com website. According to the Los Angeles Times, there were more than 1.3 million concurrent connections via Facebook. By 10AM, CNN reported it has delivered more than 10.7 million video streams this morning, a new record.

CBS and its anchor Katie Couric will host a webcast in which anyone with web access can submit questions. Fox News has decided to use a third-party web service, Hulu to stream the event. Following today’s activities, Hulu will make the entire inaugural and all such speeches an on-demand product.

Even the New York Times, long known for its traditional approach to things, will stream their own or subscribed video via their websites. MSNBC will allow people to embed video streams in their websites, no doubt borrowing a page (literally) from YouTube.

The result is that live television is no longer a couch potato pastime. It is now an interactive, mobile, office, auto, and interactive television experience. These tools are important for promotion. They’re important for research. They’re vital for product marketing. And, they’re good for saying hello and staying in touch, too.

And the White House is now with the program as well. At approximately 12:03PM, once Barack Obama was officially President (but before he completed being sworn in), a completely new White House website was launched. It reflects the “with it” web 2.0 technology awareness that the President is already known for.

This has significant meaning for all of us. It’s now time to evaluate the use of these tools as a component of your 2009 business model. For us, we’re more committed than ever to recognize and help our clients realize the potential of viral and Web 2.0 technologies.