Location, Location, (social media) Location
Posted by MattHurst in Social Media on February 4th, 2010
Everyone is checking themselves in, but this is hardly rehab; it’s Social Media Week in New York City. On Foursquare, Gowalla, and now even on Yelp, people are sharing where they are and vying to become the “Mayor” of venues they frequent. They say that all news is local, but instead this is Where word-of-mouth, real-time, and overshare intersect.
Location-based social media have become the next-big-thing as opinion leaders look for new ways share their influence. Over the last year Twitter has cemented our collective desire to share what we’re doing, who we’re with, and increasingly where we’re doing it. When individuals share their ideas using hashtags for events (or HotPotato), they’re telling us more than which venues are hip by adding an online dimension to reputation management. Just ask any restaurant owner how Yelp has changed their business.
As a rule people tend to trust the opinions their friends and neighbors better than any agenda setting news source. In the new media landscape we can find out instantly if any of our friends share their impressions of places (and business). It’s a mental shortcut that’s easy to fall on; almost a year ago I wrote about how becoming a DC transplant was impacted by social media:
I ended up in Glover Park not just for the rent, but probably because Wikipedia gave me the clues that the location was right. Google Maps helped me find an apartment within walking distance to the grocery store. (This move would not have worked so well for me only 10 years ago)
Once I moved in, I could use HopStop to find the right Bus/Rail times. Later I found the WMATA’s site worked a little better. I found out the sort of places other locals would like using Brightkite. I traded in for an iPhone with GPS . Yelp is still pretty invaluable for me.
Of course the importance of location to communication is nothing new: newspapers, the phonebook, and whole publishing businesses are built around guide books. But social media has changed where we get our information from has opened up new kinds of influence, amplifying word-of-mouth discussion into sacrosanct reputation management.
With new technology come new opportunities; as with real estate before it, the value of both location and networking become readily intertwined. Every real estate agent already understands that our social networks reveal which place might be the right fit for us, whether in real life or online communities. These new location-based social media in turn mirror the patterns of individuals to settle in like-minded communities where they feel most comfortable.
Where only a decade ago the internet opened up opportunities to connect with others over common interests, no matter how strange or remote they might seem, today social media has introduced us to common interests of our own neighbors. Local bloggers understand the value of neighborhood news, and so does Google while they roll out local search as a key feature for their service: what you’re looking for online may already be in your own backyard.
January’s 7
Because every other meme or trend ends up getting shared on Twitter, each month I offer at least 7 new ideas worth remembering. In celebration of the new year here are 10 important ideas I want to share.
Application: Red Laser. I think of Sales as framing devices that convince me into buying things I don’t really need. Red Laser turns my smart phone camera into an barcode reader, from which it can search online for the best prices on each item. By adding much need price context to my shopping, I needn’t miss out on saving money on a good deal any longer.
Colleague: Kristin Arena. I met Kristin through mutual friends who (like her) studied broadcast journalism at Mizzou’s J-school (which is widely reputed to be the top school in the country). I’ve come to know Kristin even better through Twitter and Social Media. She is in the enviable position to take advantage of this convergence, having transitioned towards a career in PR. She would make a great addition to any organization interested in its future.
Game: The Simpsons Arcade. This is the arcade game you remember playing in your movie theater’s arcade, bumping elbows and all, lovingly recreated as a new solo adventure on your iPhone or iPod touch. Easily the best liscensed Simpson’s game I can remember and worth the few bucks it costs.
Nostalgia: the Gawker decade. Because journalists love retrospectives, we’ve experience a deluge of nostalgia leading up to 2010. I think Robot Chicken got it right; today’s rampant materialism and memes are just tomorrow’s sitcom fodder. Sorry BoingBoing.
Social Network: Tumblr. OK so maybe Tumblr is more like a blog than a social network, but the same might be said of Twitter. Although it’s nothing new, I’ve only started to use Tumblr to it’s full potential recently. Besides The Brew Noob, you can follow my status blog Retweet This or my photoblog Speaking in Megapixels.
User-generated thingie: Waze. This GPS enabled app for smartphones combines the usual map/routing capabilities with crowd-sourced traffic data. There’s also a gaming element to Waze that has me hooked. Waze encourages me to use my iPhone while driving about as much as the TomTom app would, except I get to keep the $100. Now if only I had a car…
Video: Simon the IT Dummy. Full Disclosure: I helped promote this video series as an intern with 2ChicksInc. I’m sharing it of my own volition now, because I LOL’d. And because Simon is a Geek Stud.
This Blog’s for You: How Beer indicates a Changing Marketplace.
Posted by MattHurst in Blogs, Influence, Social Media, Uncategorized on December 23rd, 2009
When Anheuser-Busch’s sale to InBev was announced, years of branding began to unravel for the King of Beers. The maker of the Great American Lager (their slogan) was a family-owned business based in the American Midwest which had spent decades creating their brand based around nationalism and tradition; they were being purchased by a foreign corporate conglomerate. Almost immediately columnists were writing about how the sale was indicative not of globalization but of the American economic recession.
In spite of how the stories were framed, A-B products Budweiser and Bud Light continue to be the best selling beers in the United States (if not the world). The sale is only the latest consolidation between the world’s largest brewers; in the years prior rivals like Miller and Coors had combined into SABMiller, not to mention A-B’s own acquisitions before their own sale. The beer business is as complex as any other industry, but major brewers like Anheuser-Busch have relied on a wide national market empowered by mass market advertising to drive up demand for their product.
The rising popularity of Craft Beer parallels the changing media landscape of the past decade; as audiences become fragmented, their consumption choices are changing. Once mass market advertising for brewers would create print and broadcast ads designed to appeal to the widest audiences where they converged in a limited media market. Brand loyalty was thought to begin when young adults learned about their products, and like their beers these branding techniques were meant to reach the largest audiences. However this same target audience no longer converges in the same mass media sources, often turning online to learn about new products across a ever wider range of new media; about the only place this market would still see their ads might be watching the Superbowl, during which only the largest brewers can afford to advertise.
Consumers today have more choices in where they get their media from, especially online, which have opened up opportunities to build niche audiences like those in the craft beer market. Along with a growing audience of beer lovers, craft breweries have taken to blogs and social media to promote their products. This audience is passionate about their interest in craft beer, inspiring brand loyalty among those who are reached out to directly by brewers who share their values, not unlike the nationalism appealed to in Budweiser’s branding. Most importantly this passionate audience of craft beer advocates likes to tell others about the beers they love, usually acting as opinion leaders within their network of friends and thusly growing the market for tasty craft beer every year.
Of course mass marketing still works in many markets; many consumers of Blue Moon (a SAB Miller/Coors product) believe it is a craft beer, and niche beers like A-B’s Michelob brand enjoy limited popularity. But the mass media advertising techinques do not work as well online, as demonstrated by the expensive failure of Bud.tv and other websites. It has been suggested that beer in America’s national beverage, and as America changes so will it’s tastes.
You can learn more about Beer marketing and the craft beer movement by reading my blog The Brew Noob (on Twitter @BrewNoob).
December’s 7
Every month I share a short list of ideas that I think deserve your attention, or at least commander my own. This month I’ve included a few extra as an early holiday gift to readers. I want to wish everyone a Happy Holidays, and hope to see you in the new year.
Blog: Framing Science. Matthew Nisbet will change how you understand science. We take for granted that the facts should speak for themselves, but our understanding of these complex subjects are largely a matter of communication. His blog covers so much of what I learned in his classroom, and it is recommended reading if you care about climate change, public policy, or evolution.
Colleague: Nina Keim. I met Nina as a Graduate student at American University (maybe Classmate is a better title), and have always been impressed by her initiative. Unlike some of my peers, Nina displays an endless curiosity; she seeks out new ideas in communication and isn’t afraid to try them out for herself, often before their value is readily apparent. Rather than merely acting as an informer, Nina embodies the role of an opinion leader in her own right.
Meme: PR does not equal “Press Release”. Sure Press Releases still work, but the question is “should you send one?“ At #PRCamp we first realized that the words Press Release should never be used near anything Social Media. PR practitioners build relationships and tell stories, and in today’s media landscape that cannot be limited to broadcast and print news releases.
Music: Bob Dylan’s “Christmas in the Heart”. I’ve made many jokes over the past month about the music video, which I’m convinced will soon become another Rick Roll. What convinced this unassailable icon to record his first Holiday album may have been a favorite charity, but I’m convinced it must’ve been Santa.
PR Agency: 2ChicksInc. Full Disclosure – I’ve been working (as an intern) with this start-up PR group over the last month. Working with the women for are its namesake founders, I’ve learned how a boutique PR firm can use their expertise to innovate online campaigns. And their generous part-time position has helped me continue my own career search (thanks again for the opportunity).
Shameless Plug: The Brew Noob. My side project has evolved from 140 charecter beer reviews on Twitter into a Tumblr blog of own right. As usual, I’ll test the brews so that you can enjoy tasty beers.
Social Network: Hot Potato. Why use hashtags or checkins if you only want to talk about an event while it’s happening? It’s not meant to replace Twitter or Foursquare, but its a new take on an old idea. Another revelation we made at #PRCamp was that not everyone will use Twitter (the brand), but that SMS/mobile messaging (the idea) were here to stay. Try it.
I’m LinkedIn, but why?
Posted by MattHurst in Social Media, Uncategorized, Work on December 1st, 2009
It has been said that 8 out of 10 job opportunities come from sources outside of those advertised. So it might be assumed that social networks, especially those centered around professional relationships like LinkedIn, would be ideal tools to find jobs and recruit new talent. Yet in the experiences of many job hunters, including myself, social networks like LinkedIn have yet to live up to this promise.
Social networks are a great tool for HR professionals and other job recruiters, making it easier than ever to search for employees with the right experience and skills. Besides Facebook and Twitter, social networks such as LinkedIn, Plaxo, Brazen Careerist, and Xing have become popular places to post resumes and connect with like minded professionals. Sometimes these professional networks have been known to generate new business opportunities, but for many job seekers these sites offer no greater a resource to find employment than Monster.com.
Part of the problem lies in how LinkedIn is used differently than other social networks. Once you’ve finished setting up your profile with your resume and begin to connect with other professionals, there is little else to do on the site. While LinkedIn has 50 million registered accounts, less than half are active at least monthly (according to Quantcast).
Besides expanding your network of connections, LinkedIn confines interaction between its users to those who are already connected. Even with the integration of Twitter into the LinkedIn platform, interactions between members of a network are largely limited to interpersonal discussion. By comparison to the open/public conversations that make Facebook and Twitter so popular, the end effect is to make discussion seem closed-off or private, further discouraging discovery and interaction between its members.
To be sure these social networks are becoming more popular as professionals look for meaningful ways to network online, or at least in a different (less personal) way than Facebook or Myspace promotes. According to a Pew report the median age of a LinkedIn user is 39, significantly older than Twitter (31) or Facebook (33). Perhaps this better explains why these communities interact differently; LinkedIn users might feel they are finished using the network once they’ve set up a profile, rather than integrating social media as part their everyday lives.
In my own job search, LinkedIn could be playing a pivotal role, although so far its just a supporting piece of the puzzle. To be sure I’ve written recommendations for colleagues, networked in groups like #PRStudChat, and reached out through mutual connections, all of which have expanded my network. So far LinkedIn has yet to land me any meaningful job opportunities, at least compared to board-based services like Mediabistro and Craigslist. Until LinkedIn can leverage of their social network to create opportunities, especially for individual users, its potential will continue to yield diminishing returns on investment for organizations.
November’s 7
Since moving to New York City I’ve kept busy; enough so that I skipped the month of October with this recurring feature, in which I share the ideas currently shaping my life. Between applying for jobs, connecting with professionals, and getting acquainted with the neighborhood, I have more to share than ever.
Blog: Scouting NY. At the last Future of Local Media NY event we talked about finding a niche for your blog; I think Scouting NY has an appeal to an audience outside this city. By treating New York not as a tourist or resident, but as a scout for film locations, it reexamines the metropolis as though for the first time. Be sure to check out their series revisiting locations from famous films set in NY, including my favorite “Ghostbusters”.
Colleague: Jonathan Coffman. I connected with Jonathan not as a professional, but as a peer; he was one of the first people IRL from Twitter. Since then he has made himself available as a professional resource, but with a personal touch using social media . Jonathan seems unafraid of ambitious projects, and inspires others to try the same through his personal example; to say he has developed a personal brand is an understatement.
Group: #PR Breakfast Club. Of all the professional networks I’ve been connecting with, this online group must be the most friendly. Almost immediately I was welcomed into this tight-knit club upon joining their happy hour on Twitter, and IRL that courtesy was returned. This club is connected in every sense that a group should be.
Meme: BAD09. I had the opportunity to participate in the third annual Blog Action Day, and I’m glad to say I wasn’t alone: 13,604 blogs helped spur discussion of Climate Change. This 500% increase in blog posts were read by over 18 million estimated readers, demonstrating the power of individual bloggers to organize and influence others online.
Music: The Beatles RockBand. Since September it seems like The Beatles have been everywhere, and now they finally come together again through this special edition of the music game franchise. Playing as the fab four might seem intimidating, but this game manages to pull it off; I have been singing along the whole game. You will respect Ringo after playing the game, and It’s still the only way you can (legally) download The Beatles music.
Social Network: MyPRSA. If all social media is based on building relationships, who better builders are there than PR professionals. Rather than trying to reinvent the wheel by competing with other social networks MyPRSA incorporates them into a professional network that better connects colleagues, so this relaunched network is indispensable for job seekers like myself.
Website: Craigslist. We all will need to use this site at one time or another, because it is the closest thing to a monopoly on the internet. Many sites do specific aspects of Craigslist better (and make more money), but if you want to find an apartment or job, this is usually the best place to start. For a site that looks almost the same as it did 10 years ago, Craigslist has developed a model for web 2.0 communities.
Blog Action Day: Changing Minds (and Climate)
Climate change is a fact, but it’s also a choice. Everyday we make decisions about our energy consumption, most of which will have an effect on global warming. Sometimes these decisions are impacted by policy, but climate change is not inevitable; we can slow and maybe prevent its effects through our own energy conservation choices.
This year’s Blog Action Day is a call to speak out about climate change, but by now most of us know what we should say about global warming. Probably the biggest contribution individuals can make is to turn their attitudes into behavior, at least by adopting energy conservation as a way of life.
In my Master’s thesis I compared different strategies to promoting energy conservation through case studies of three communication campaigns, including We Can Solve It, Flex Your Power, and Energy Star. As an example the above advertisement, from the Flex Your Power program in California (following their energy crisis in 2000), is only one part of a comprehensive social marketing campaign which has successfully reduced total energy consumption by at least 14%. These ads go further than merely providing all the reasons you’d want to save energy, because they give people actions to use in a way which make them seem fun and easy.
Of course no one approach to this issue works with every audience, and energy conservation is only part of the solution to climate change. In the future I’ll be posting more about my original research into energy and communication, but on Blog Action Day I would encourage you to do your own research. My former professor Matthew Nisbet has studied communication about climate change, which he blogs about extensively, which helped inspire my own study of energy conservation. Perhaps leading your own study about what you can do would be the best use of your energy today…
Moving On
No I’m not moving my web address, but in real life from DC to New York City. Following graduation from American University and an internship at New Media Strategies, I’ll be moving to New York City (or Brooklyn rather) to seek employment as a communications professional.
As a long time proponent of location-based media, this move is more than simply a personal transition for me. This last week marks one year since I entered a Youtube video contest sponsored by WMATA (which I went on to win) documenting my commute in celebration of Car-Free Day in Washington, DC. I’ve been preparing for my move by writing a review and tribute to my neighborhood, Glover Park, on my local blog Pedestrian Capable DC, which specializes in transit and local issues.
Of course writing about local interests has been a professional interest of mine long before moving to Washington, DC. While still a student at Webster University in Saint Louis I established another local blog, Highway 61 Revised, which created original news stories for college audiences within the metro area. Alongside a team of other young journalists and engaged writers, we created original blog posts, mixtapes, videos, photo essays, and event listings which engaged a local audience of blog readers through its website and social media tie-ins.
I learned about building relationships with local media and other bloggers through my blog, and had a few adventures along the way. Being a blogger has introduced me to a whole ecosystem of location-based social media that I still use everyday, from the Craigslist postings that helped me move to the marketing opportunities of newer networks like Brightkite and Foursquare. Without these services I might have had a harder time finding out where to move, much less discovering my own neighborhood through the word-of-mouth recommendations of my neighbors.
As I prepare to move into my new home in New York City, I know I will use location-based social media to discover the landscape once more; reading local blogs and checking consumer-review websites like Yelp are only the beginning. In the meantime I’m still addicted to blog feeds from STL and DC, now augmented by new media in New York City. I’m looking forward to beginning a new adventure in New York, learning from my experience using location-based social media in order to discover what’s worthwhile and new wherever life takes me.
The Birthday Challenge
Posted by MattHurst in Facebook, Non-Profit on September 11th, 2009
What difference can one person make simply by asking their friends to make a charitable contribution? Any individual can help change the world, and this story is just another example to prove that (click here to play the video).
For my last birthday I challenged my friends to donate to a cause, People To People International (PTPI), instead of buying me a gift. I used the Causes application on Facebook for fundraising, and was overwhelmed by their support. I’ve written about my efforts before, and have since raised a few hundred dollars for PTPI.
My efforts earned the attention of People To People, who like most non-profit organizations are exploring all the new opportunities for fundraising that social media can offer. We connected though Facebook, where an interview was published highlighting my fundraising efforts in addition to how PTPI has impacted my life both personally and professionally.
We wanted to share my story and inspire others to try the same challenge for themselves, so I flew to Kansas City, Missouri to shoot this video. The birthday challenge has also been the subject of another recent interview accompanying the video, as part of a series highlighting the accomplishments of young people working with PTPI.
Thanks to Scenic Road Productions for creating this video promoting a good idea for a a great cause. And Happy Birthday for my friends at People to People, which celebrates their 53rd year of fostering peace through understanding this week!
September’s 7
Every month I share a list of trends and great ideas, because of the benefits they have brought into my life. This last month has been filled with personal triumph and tumult in which I’ve finished an internship in DC, visited friends far away in Kentucky, and celebrated a 3rd-anniversary in NYC (where I’ll be living by the next time I write this feature next month). For extra credit, and because this assignment is late, please keep reading after the bump for a few more good ideas worth sharing this month.
Blog: Lifehacker. Whenever I’m in search of inventive solutions to everyday problems, (including some I didn’t think were problems), this blog is my default resource. Apartment hunting? Check. Turn an old PC into a NES arcade? Ditto. Going paperless in the home and office? Indeed. Lifehacker makes the impossible seem practical with it’s a DIY aesthetic.
Colleague: Renan Borelli. As a colleague at NMS, Renan was an exemplary addition to every team: innovative, analytical, and fiercely ambitious. As a mentor of my own he demonstrated climbing the ladder through his own example, and shares my passion for social media. I’m also happy to call this colleague a friend of mine.
Comic: Toothpaste for Dinner. I LOL’d.
Location: Louisville, Kentucky. This river city is is more than a one horse town; it’s a metropolis of burgeoning home-grown food, culture, and is the home to many of my esteemed colleagues. On my recent visit I rode in a VW Karmann, tasted inventive brews, listened to a coffeehouse concert, and attended the Kentucky State Fair. I would visit again.
Meme: Auto-Tune anything. This should be old news, but in spite of Jay-Z’s wishes this vocal gimmick refuses to go away. It has been the subject of much debate between me and my colleagues lately. And now with the “I am T-Pain” iPod app, this fad is irrevocably bound to this time in history (or at least news coverage of it).
Politics: Health Care Reform. Regardless of what you think the best solution would be, the status quo in is unsustainable. Those who believe in shutting-down necessary changes, through the undemocratic tactics of an angry mob, only serve to