In June Google revealed that 45 countries had asked it to block content in the last six months of 2011. Some requests were easily rejected. Officials in the Canadian passport office asked it to block a video advocating independence for Quebec, in which a citizen urinated on his passport and flushed it down the toilet.
Most firms do accept that they must follow the laws of countries in which they operate (Nazi content is banned in Germany, for example). Big internet firms can prevent users accessing content their governments consider illegal, while leaving it available to visitors from countries where no prohibition applies. Some pledge to be transparent about their actions—Twitter, like Google, releases six-monthly reports of government requests to block information. It also alerts citizens when it has censored content in their country.
Legislators in America want more firms to follow suit. In March a congressional subcommittee approved the latest revision of the Global Online Freedom Act, first drafted in 2004. This would require technology firms operating in a designated group of restrictive countries to publish annual reports showing how they deal with human-rights issues. It would waive this for firms that sign up to non-governmental associations that provide similar oversight, such as the Global Network Initiative. Founded in 2008 by Google, Microsoft, Yahoo! and a coalition of human-rights groups, it has since stalled. Facebook joined in May but only as an observer. Twitter is absent, too.
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Saturday, December 1
Friday, November 30
The Key To Social Media Marketing? Focus, Focus Focus
When it comes to social media marketing, small to medium-sized businesses often make the mistake of dedicating boundless resources trying to be all things to all people.
“Don’t overstretch yourselves trying to do everything, you’ll just get exhausted,” panelist Scott Gerber of Young Entrepreneur Council directed the crowd.
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“Don’t overstretch yourselves trying to do everything, you’ll just get exhausted,” panelist Scott Gerber of Young Entrepreneur Council directed the crowd.
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Why 'Tweeting Like Crazy' Doesn't Always Boost The Bottom Line
“I’ve been tweeting like crazy, and my business still isn’t booming!” Heard that before? It’s a common mistake made by many small to medium-sized businesses – you tweet every hour and update Facebook every 10 minutes; you’re on LinkedIn, Foursquare, Pinterest AND Quora. All this social media is bound to yield results, right? Wrong.
Social media is just part of the marketing equation. All three panelists agree that a business’s social media efforts must be meaningful and purposeful, or else they can become a useless and time-draining exercise.
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Social media is just part of the marketing equation. All three panelists agree that a business’s social media efforts must be meaningful and purposeful, or else they can become a useless and time-draining exercise.
Read more here
Social Media Breathes New Life Into Branded Content
Branded content (is) a strategy that lends itself perfectly to social media. In early August, for example, General Mills teamed up with AOL to launch its new site Live Better America. Lifestyle articles from AOL’s Huffington Post and recipes from General Mills pepper the sponsored site, which aims to create conversations about healthy living. Readers engage and spread the word through social media: tweeting, pinning and discussing things they’ve seen there. And who is most often featured somewhere in the conversation? Why, General Mills, of course. This is an example in which branded marketing has made a perfect transition into social media marketing.
If you’re thinking about diving into the creative world of branded content and social media, it might be a good idea to keep these pointers in mind:
Develop a voice. You don’t mess around with your logo, so be focused in creating a pitch-perfect social media presence.
Embrace the nuances. Consumers are smart, so branded content should be subtle.
Be seen at all the right parties. Where your content is published matters. Be sure to research the sites and outlets your customers frequent and respect.
Get it out there. This is where social media is your best friend. Get a real distribution plan for your branded content and execute it well — in some cases, you may even want to consider using a content distribution platform.
Read more here
If you’re thinking about diving into the creative world of branded content and social media, it might be a good idea to keep these pointers in mind:
Develop a voice. You don’t mess around with your logo, so be focused in creating a pitch-perfect social media presence.
Embrace the nuances. Consumers are smart, so branded content should be subtle.
Be seen at all the right parties. Where your content is published matters. Be sure to research the sites and outlets your customers frequent and respect.
Get it out there. This is where social media is your best friend. Get a real distribution plan for your branded content and execute it well — in some cases, you may even want to consider using a content distribution platform.
Read more here
Wednesday, November 28
‘Just the facts’ isn’t good enough for journalists anymore, says Tow Center’s journalism manifesto
Of the dozens of assertions in a wide-ranging “manifesto” about the altered state of journalism from Columbia’s Tow Center for Digital Journalism, this one stands out:
Journalists are not merely purveyors of facts.
The authors can foresee a world where 90 percent of news reports are written by computer algorithms that convert data into narrative structures and where many newsworthy events are first described by connected citizens rather than journalists.
The result:
The journalist has not been replaced but displaced, moved higher up the editorial chain from the production of initial observations to a role that emphasizes verification and interpretation.
Working between the crowd and the algorithm in the information ecosystem is where a journalist is able to have most effect, by serving as an investigator, a translator, a storyteller.
Read more here
Journalists are not merely purveyors of facts.
The authors can foresee a world where 90 percent of news reports are written by computer algorithms that convert data into narrative structures and where many newsworthy events are first described by connected citizens rather than journalists.
The result:
The journalist has not been replaced but displaced, moved higher up the editorial chain from the production of initial observations to a role that emphasizes verification and interpretation.
Working between the crowd and the algorithm in the information ecosystem is where a journalist is able to have most effect, by serving as an investigator, a translator, a storyteller.
Read more here
Tuesday, November 27
Why old media stocks are on top today
Big media companies were supposed to die outright along with the old tube TV set. At least that was the thinking a few years ago as up-and-comers Netflix (NFLX) and Hulu let you bypass commercials, and Facebook (FB) and YouTube made it possible to create and share your own material. Given that, the recent performance of old- vs. new-media stocks might surprise you. This year the legacy players have shot up 34%, more than twice the gain of the S&P 500. Yet Facebook has fallen 45% since it went public in May. Why are the old guys ahead?
In short, Americans still like to watch television, especially live sporting events and buzzed-about series. Average time in front of the TV is up since 2003, from 2.6 hours a day to 2.8, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. What's more, even as more consumers watch shows online, traditional media are finding ways to earn money off that shift by creating live streaming tools and cutting deals with Netflix and Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500). Social media firms, on the other hand, are still struggling to figure out a profitable business model.
To cash in on the majority of Americans who still watch TV, favor broadcasters with must-have content. Traditional broadcast networks are thought of as the industry laggards: too dependent on ads, audiences shrinking. CBS (CBS, Fortune 500), a true pure play, is off 13% since the start of a disappointing fall TV season. But therein lies an opportunity. CBS leads its peers in potential syndication deals and has nine of the top 20 shows.
"The value of broadcast is enormous," says David Bank, equity research analyst at RBC Capital Markets.
Read more here
In short, Americans still like to watch television, especially live sporting events and buzzed-about series. Average time in front of the TV is up since 2003, from 2.6 hours a day to 2.8, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. What's more, even as more consumers watch shows online, traditional media are finding ways to earn money off that shift by creating live streaming tools and cutting deals with Netflix and Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500). Social media firms, on the other hand, are still struggling to figure out a profitable business model.
To cash in on the majority of Americans who still watch TV, favor broadcasters with must-have content. Traditional broadcast networks are thought of as the industry laggards: too dependent on ads, audiences shrinking. CBS (CBS, Fortune 500), a true pure play, is off 13% since the start of a disappointing fall TV season. But therein lies an opportunity. CBS leads its peers in potential syndication deals and has nine of the top 20 shows.
"The value of broadcast is enormous," says David Bank, equity research analyst at RBC Capital Markets.
Read more here
Old Media, New Tricks: R&D
the seven-year-old New York Times R&D Lab acts as a tech startup of sorts inside the New York Times Co. With 20 staffers, the lab’s mix of crazy smart technologists, programmers, designers and business brains are charged with the Sisyphean task of developing tech innovations and new business models to help the struggling Times weather an uncertain future.
(A project called) Ricochet appears to hold the greatest marketing potential. The program allows brands to buy ad space around articles relevant to their messages that can be then distributed via a unique URL. The highly targeted program could potentially revolutionize now-imprecise ad exchange audience targeting.
Following the Times’ lead, the Washington Post Co. last fall launched WaPo Labs, which also focuses on emerging technologies. The Philadelphia Media Network, publisher of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News, this year launched the Project Liberty Digital Incubator with a $250,000 grant from the Knight Foundation. Meanwhile, the incubator project infuriated members of the Newspaper Guild union, as it coincided with the March layoff of 19 staffers plus 21 buyouts.
Read more here
(A project called) Ricochet appears to hold the greatest marketing potential. The program allows brands to buy ad space around articles relevant to their messages that can be then distributed via a unique URL. The highly targeted program could potentially revolutionize now-imprecise ad exchange audience targeting.
Following the Times’ lead, the Washington Post Co. last fall launched WaPo Labs, which also focuses on emerging technologies. The Philadelphia Media Network, publisher of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News, this year launched the Project Liberty Digital Incubator with a $250,000 grant from the Knight Foundation. Meanwhile, the incubator project infuriated members of the Newspaper Guild union, as it coincided with the March layoff of 19 staffers plus 21 buyouts.
Read more here
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