ba9b Hailey | Open The Dialogue - Part 2

Author Archive

Newer Entries »

There’s 150,000 Apps For That

Friday, April 2nd, 2010

It seems every where we look, or read, or Tweet there is something said about the iPad. But who can resist? It may be my bias, because I happen to really enjoy Apple and all of their marketing and their iMac and iPods and iPhones, but I think that Apple has upped the ante again.

Yes, the Kindle and the Nook connect to the Internet, and for $259 I could own either of them and read my books. I could download a new book if I felt like it.

But can I read the New York Times (in color) on either of those? Can I play the latest John Madden game? Can I Tweet, blog, or Facebook?

The iPad offers users some unique features, driving every company, brand, and blogger to develop “an app for that.” With so many platforms available literally at a users fingertips, I posture that this is going to change the ball game.

We are undoubtedly going to see the birth of new social media applications that are specific to the iPad and the way users interact with their new toy. The iPad is going to drive the expectation for every comparable gadget that comes out. It is also going to drive upgrades for already established readers such as the Kindle and Nook to get up to speed and feature applications. As Bob Dylan said, “times they are a changin’.”

The iPad may also be the saving grace for print media.  Users can obtain the tactile satisfaction of turning pages without inking up their fingers from a newspaper. If the price point is lower for electronic versions of Vogue, Elle, and The New York Times, I would most certainly load them all on my iPad. I don’t have to remember to pick the newest magazine up at the store, or wait for it to come in the mail. I don’t have to go out in the rain to pick up the paper at the bottom of the driveway, hoping it isn’t soggy. And I don’t have to waste paper ordering subscriptions, mailing in payments, or throwing editions away.

Only time will really tell the impact the iPad will have, and it won’t take much longer than a few weeks to start feeling it’s influence. With its release tomorrow, my next post just might come from my lap.

Posted in Public Relations | Comments

Links of the Week: April 2nd Edition

Friday, April 2nd, 2010

This week is wrapping up, and March has turned to April and we have survived another April Fools Day. Here are some of the stories bookmarked by Dialogue Media this week (including some great April Fools jokes across social media platforms):

Facebook to Scrap ‘Become a Fan Of’ for ‘Like’

Facebook is changing the “become a fan” feature and swapping it out for “liking” on pages. This new feature will increase users’ interaction with their brands, and presents a non-committal declaration of a fan’s support of a brand, etc.

Facebook To Release A “Like” Button For the Whole Darn Internet

Another announcement from Facebook this week was the release of a “like” button across the world…wide web. Expect Facebook to get bigger than ever with this new feature rolling out everywhere, as websites will have to scramble to format their content for Facebook’s preferences.

The iPad Launch: Can Steve Jobs Do It Again?

With barely one day left until the iPad is let loose on the tech- and social media- hungry masses, it’s leaving many wondering what the reception is going to be like and how this new piece of technology could change everything.

Apps For the iPad Now Available

The iPad App store has finally opened, giving way to all those i-junkies chomping at the bits to see what is going to be available. Definitely worth a perusal, there’s going to be some great apps, like Wordpress!

Twitter Gets an Extreme Home Makeover with Release of New Home Page

This week, Twitter’s home page received an overhaul on its home page, featuring more content that showcases the platform for new users.

The Funniest April Fools Jokes

There were some pretty hilarious pranksters this year on Twitter and YouTube. Mashable rounds up their favorites.

What news made your ctrl+d  this week?

Posted in LOTD | Comments

The 24 Hour (Social) Media Cycle

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

Last week, CNN President Jon Klein, said during an interview with BusinessWeek that he is “more worried about the 500 million or so people on Facebook versus the 2 million on Fox.” And he has cause for worry.

We have entered an era that puts demands on our news sources to get with the times or get out. In 2009 we witnessed the collapse of some of our most beloved magazines, and newspapers are now an endangered species. Instead of buying the paper, we get our information on the Internet, where we can readily access the exact article that appeared on today’s front page of the New York Times print edition. We can get our information 24 hours a day, and as new information comes in, we get that too, before it ever hits the print edition. When you’re sipping your coffee and reading the headlines, all the while getting your hands covered in ink, I’ve already read the headlines at three a.m. when the news broke.

So are we training ourselves for the potential extinction of network news, too? All our favorite sources are online now – CNN, FoxNews, MSNBC, and CNBC.  Maybe we’re training ourselves not for broadcast network news, but for the extinction of the network news’ websites.

What happens when we expect all our information to be packaged in 140 increments and we rely on social media platforms like Twitter to get our fix? People like CNN President Jon Klein start to worry that we won’t go to their website anymore, or watch their video or read the full article. But, hey, if you can’t make your point in 140 characters, what good are you?

And then there is Reuters, who last week released a social media policy telling its journalists they shouldn’t break news on their Twitter feeds (versus BBC who’s Director mandated their journalists to use social media or get out).  We can appreciate Reuters trying to stay true to its journalistic routes, and break news ‘over the wire.’ It’s nice in a sort of nostalgic-good for you-I’ll-get-my-news-somewhere-else-if-you-aren’t-telling-me-first. Reuters should be more worried about Facebook users than CNN. At least I can follow @cnnbrk for the latest.

How can any news source position themselves as the most trusted network, or the place to go for breaking news, if they aren’t part of the conversation?

What is important is that instead of fighting these changes, our news sources need to integrate themselves with the changes. Get on Facebook. Let your journalists break news on Twitter. If a journalist I’ve been reading for years is breaking his/her news on Twitter, I’ll go there first. If I’m friends with CNN, Reuters, BBC, and they are giving me the news then I’ll listen to them. I’ll read what they have to say (in 140 characters or less) and maybe I’ll click on their link and read the rest of the article. Maybe I’ll stay tuned for more information on a story that is just coming ‘over the wire.’

If these news sources thought of Twitter as a wire service and their followers as their journalists who disseminate the information, they wouldn’t have to worry about the 500 million Facebook users. Instead, these sources would be part of it. The information would start with them and their followers distribute it.

Twitter users, for example, don’t just rely on their friends and followers for their information, but they go back to the traditional news source in a non-traditional way. And instead of being on the sidelines, everyone gets in the game – 24 hours a day.

Posted in Public Relations | Comments

Newer Entries »
0