Dan Zarella’s published new research today on the performance of a company’s site versus its Klout score. It seems that “not only does Klout-measured social media influence translate into more traditional measures of web marketing effectiveness, but also that the web is a very winner-take-all kind of place.”
He points out this is a correlation, not causation. I suspect that the causation is COOPERATION between social media and digital media teams.
Amber Case gave a great TED talk in December 2010 about how we’re all cyborgs. Our computers, mobiles and the networks behind them have become extensions of our mental selves. It’s an idea that makes you re-think your personal conception of self, but should also spur us to consider our customers in the same way. Questions to ask:
The eight-minute speech is below, but I warn you, the thought process it will spur will last much longer.
Some books tell stories. Others offer instructions. Others still are collections of brilliant insights expressed to a depth that tries your patience.
Guess which one The Information is?
The book has already been given the New York Times book review treatment…
“Gleick ranges over the scientific landscape in a looping itinerary that takes the reader from Maxwell’s demon to Godel’s theorem, from black holes to selfish genes. Some of the concepts are challenging, but as in previous books like “Chaos” and “Genius,” his biography of Richard Feynman, Gleick provides lucid expositions for readers who are up to following the science and suggestive analogies for those who are just reading for the plot.”
…so my job here is to share 1) why social media pros should read it, and 2) tell you it’s ok to skip the esoteric sections to get to the useful parts. With that in mind, here are the three reasons why The Information is worth the effort.
1. Perspective: Gleick takes you through the evolution of technologies that undergird social media, including writing, telecommunications and computers. He not only gets into the guts of each breakthrough, but also the conceptual, cultural and legal hurdles that had to be jumped for them to come to fruition.
Takeaway: A 5,000-year-long measuring stick that lets you evaluate the relative importance of social technologies. Again, not just the tech specs, but the societal elements. That’s invaluable context.
2. Stepping stone to a discovery (No, really.): “Information” is a word we use but don’t understand. The book chronicles the struggles and successes that linguists, programmers, philosophers, cryptographers, psychologists and so many others have had in discovering its meaning.
Takeaway: The good news is that these people have made progress, and people who make their living watching Radian6 dashboards have a good shot at building on their work by standing on their shoulders.
3. Construct-shakers: Tree rings store information like hard drives. The alphabet was one of the world’s first search engines. People complained of information overload when books (books!?!) first became popular.
Takeaway: While each factoid is interesting, as collection they free of constructs you didn’t know you had and that limit your ability to analyze change. Times like these require breaking out of calcified perspectives.
So go on and read The Information. And if you’ve already enjoyed it, please share your favorite take-aways below.
From Mashable’s not-to-be-missed Social CEO Series, an infographic summarizing how CEOs use social. (Top of the hat to Burson colleague Ezra Rich for finding this.)
I’m learning something new about every 20 seconds or so, so rather than live-blog (or even tweet), I’ll write up a summary. But basically, this is awesome. Check back later tonight.
Interesting event happening tonight at CUNY. Jeremy Caplan will be reviewing 33 new sites and tools and there are sure to be some gems for use integrated communications. Looks like there are even some tix still left. See you there!
Some observations about the coming Flipboard for iPhone app…
1. You’d think there’s some kind of natural limit to what could be done with a small screen. One look at how Flipboard for iPhone works will assure you we’re just scratching the surface. Check out the video demo here.
2. Their information collection strategy embraces the fact people switch back and forth between personal news and “real” news. Or as Flipboard’s CEO Mike McCue nicely puts it, “It’s a mix of what’s going on in the world and what’s going on in your world, fused together.” As much as we in B2B tend to focus on the “B” with our social media strategies, we can’t forget about how our channels live alongside people’s personal ones.
InSights Consulting has a new study out that “42% of American companies are still in their infancy when integrating social media in their company,” reports PR Daily.
So that means:
NASA’s confirmed 2012 won’t be a disaster, but that doesn’t mean bad things won’t happen. Things like being out of the loop on 2011′s top social media stories, technologies that waste your time instead of giving it back to you, and missing out on ways to help yourself, your team and your community. Here are 50 ways to get ready for the new year.
Catch Up on the Most Important Stuff You Missed
1. 2011 started with a bang in December 2010 when digital media graced the cover of Harvard Business Review. Here is that piece, plus five others from HBR this year that helped turn the c-suite social (Social strategy; Strategy categories; Social & sales; Viral products; Executive attitudes towards social)
2. Most viewed TEDs in 2011.
3. Most Reddited “social media” post of 2011.
4. Most dug social media stories at Digg.
5. The best, free and briefest Scribd docs on social media.
6. Still haven’t read Technorati’s 2011 State of the Blogosphere? Read it now and you’ll see the shifts clearly when 2012′s report comes out.
7. Sync the Kindle, load up your 2011 social media books and read through the “most popular highlights” to learn what other people found useful.
8. Pew Internet puts out a ton of stuff. Here are the 2011 reports most likely to be of interest (Who uses social; 2nd Who uses social; Why we use social; Twitter; Mobile Social). And if you missed Pew’s 2011 State of the Media, well, read that too.
9. Read Jim Stern’s book on social media analytics. Hands down, the best on the topic.
10. And of course, Mashable’s top stories of 2011.
Get Context
11. It’s 2012, so how many years have certain social media channels been mainstream? Blogs: 7; Wikipedia: 7; Google: 6; Digg: 6; YouTube: 5; Facebook: 4; LinkedIn: 4; Twitter: 3; Scribd: 3; Tumblr: 2; Foursquare: 2; Yelp: 2; Reddit: 2; Slideshare: 2; Quora: 1. Here’s a chart showing the public’s interest in all of ‘em.
12. Is your profession on the upswing or downswing? Google Trend it. For example, here’s Public Relations v. Social Media
13. The next time someone tells you a social media person is a “genius,” think about this guy or that guy or Charles Babbage. (More ideas welcome!)
14. As you’re reviewing this year’s social media metrics, don’t forget that they reflecting both an unprecedented tool adoption boom and the worst economy in 70 years. We won’t know how those factors have skewed the numbers for years, but it’s a reasonable bet to say they’re skewed.
Save Time in 2012
15. Go through email attachments and pluck out best stuff. Create a folder called “wheels” as in, “don’t reinvent.”
16. Search “PPT.” Start deleting. Doesn’t that feel nice?
17. Sync your office, home and mobile apps. I recommend Chrome’s sync feature.
18. It’s December 24th and your stuck at the office. Time to scan in that stack of business cards. I recommend the Business Card Reader app.
19. Stop taking the extra step of visiting Klout.com to look up someone’s score. Install the Klout plugin for Chrome and it’ll embed the number automatically. This saves me hours of time/year.
20. Delete the LinkedIn Contacts (howto) that aren’t adding value. Remember, the more fine-tuned your network is, the better filter it will be for your LinkedIn Today.
21. Leave those LinkedIn Groups that you don’t participate in and keep clogging your inbox with updates (howto)
22. Setting up a social media training program? Use the phenomenal resource Laurel Hart has set up: a delicious stack of social media syllabi!
Protect Yourself in 2012
23. All that online socializing has left a bacterial mess on your desk. For Pete’s sake, clean it.
24. If you haven’t gone full cloud, buy an encrypted USB stick (10 reviews). Don’t let 2012 become a data disaster.
25. You might be using new social networks in 2012. Claim them with your handle now. Namechk lets you search 159 simultaneously.
26. Back up your social media channels.
27. Update privacy settings on all your social networks.
28. Change your passwords.
Open Yourself Up to New Stuff
29. You’re probably in a Twitter rut. Delete the people whose topics you’ve moved on from. Find new ones. Klout’s categorization of influential people by topic is quite good.
Help Someone
30. Write a really nice thank you email to the blogger that gave you the most in 2011. It’ll give them the fuel to keep going for another year.
31. Become an organ donor. THAT’s sharing.
Time for a Terminology Check-Up
32. Zuckerberg’s Law
23. Social Graph
34. Let’s
35. XFN
36. Ushahidi
37. Early Warning System – Let’s stop calling social media monitoring an “early warning system,” as if what happens on it is less real and has less impact on the bottom line than when bad news hits the broadsheets.
Help your social media team/department
38. Install Google Toolbar which shows the PageRank of every page visited. Helps get people acclimated to SEO.
39. Take your IT people out to lunch. You owe them for 2011 and will need them even more in 2012.
40. Did your CFO take you to lunch? If nor, read this.
41. Something’s not working in your social media program. Cut its funds and put half into an experimental bucket and half into something that IS working. Proudly tell someone you conducted an experiment, confirmed a hypothesis, learned something and are now using that new information.
42.Between Google trends, keyword tools and blog citations, there’s enough data to tell you which thought leadership ideas are working. Run the numbers and make the call.
43. Ask your online communities what the company did well on, where it failed and how it can do better.
Personal Brand Upgrades
44. Update your profile photo.
45. Update your email signature with your social networks.
46. Add Amazon’s Reading List application to your to LinkedIn Profile. Tell your network what books are worth reading and save lots of people lots of time.
47. Have you changed what you tweeted about over the year? Update your keyword entry on WeFollow.com.
Protect Your Company
48. Stress test your digital crisis plan. Burson (disclosure: my employer) put out a study this year that found 65% of companies say new media makes crises more difficult to manage. And check it: 55% say digital also makes it easier to recover.
Re-Read Cuz They’re Super Important
49. Cluetrain Manifesto’s 95 Thesis
50. Creative Commons (3-minute video)
What are YOU doing to get ready for 2012?
Director, Corporate-Financial Communications practice at Burson-Marsteller. Fusing social media, SEO and media relations into integrated PR programs. More...
212-614-5272
david.rosen (at) bm.com.
Skype: david.h.rosen
Opinions expressed are my own and don't necessarily represent those of my employer.
Bulldog Reporter's "The Future of PR: 2010 Edition," is on sale now for $149. Features chapter I contributed on Tweetups for B2Bs.
Selling Tomorrows explores the use of futuristic images and archetypes in public relations and marketing.
