I watched an episode of the Gadget Show from Monday the 12th December.
In it, Suzy Perry performed a test, whether or not standalone technology was better than the iPhone 4S which contained all of the standalone tech's attributes.
She carried around the bag of tech in a rucksack and test each piece of tech then the iPhone version.
At the end of test, the iPhone won hands down.
Wednesday 14 December 2011
Tuesday 13 December 2011
A novel being adapted for film... Again
I started reading The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo last night so I can go to the cinema to watch it upon its release on the 26th of December.
It has already been adapted once before in Sweden.
This adaptation is the Hollywood version.
It has already been adapted once before in Sweden.
This adaptation is the Hollywood version.
Louis' Online Reading List
- Facebook: 350M People Using Messaging; More Than 4B Messages Sent Daily | TechCrunch
- BBC News - Facebook revamps messaging system
- A sign of Facebook's domination of the online instant messaging market
- BBC - Radio - Site Usage
- How many people are consuming BBC Radio and how?
- Email Evolution: Web-based Email Shows Signs of Decline in the U.S. While Mobile Email Usage on the Rise - comScore, Inc
- Email Shows Signs of Decline in the U.S. While Mobile Email Usage on the Rise
- Shareable: The Future of Peer Production [Event]
- More people than ever are using Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn
- ABCs: National daily newspaper circulation September 2011 | Media | guardian.co.uk
- The declining circulation figures for UK national newspapers
- BBC - Podcasts - John Peel Lecture
- "Pete Townshend examines the current state of music media and asks the question: Can John Peelism survive the Internet? In an age of free downloads and a disposable attitude to music, can creative people earn a living, and without radio how can the "unpolished" music that John Peel championed find an audience?"
- Baird Lecture 2011: Digital Journalism Is In Golden Era, Says Sky News Boss John Ryley | Technology | Sky News
- A great piece about why digital journalism is thriving
- Why do children learn things much faster than adults do? - Sharecare
- A brief explanation of why children learn things faster than adults.
- BBC News - Third of adults 'use smartphone' says Ofcom report
- Social Media Marketing Stats
- If Facebook Were a Country…
- The amazing stats about Facebook's user popularity
- Clearing up those digital radio listening figures - James Cridland
- Is digital radio actually making a big impact?
- It's a matter of privacy
- Interesting article about what is private these days.
- Peter Hirshberg on TV and the web | Video on TED.com
- Peter Hirshberg shares some crucial lessons from Silicon Valley and explains why the web is so much more than "better TV."
- James Surowiecki: When social media became news | Video on TED.com
- James Surowiecki pinpoints the moment when social media became an equal player in the world of news-gathering
- Chris Anderson of WIRED on tech's Long Tail | Video on TED.com
- Chris Anderson, the editor of WIRED, explores the four key stages of any viable technology: setting the right price, gaining market share, displacing an established technology and, finally, becoming ubiquitous.
- Average home broadband user downloads 17 gigabytes a month | Technology | guardian.co.uk
- Oregon Court Rules Blogging Isn’t Journalism | Techland | TIME.com
"The web is what you make of it"
Google's viral videos promoting Chrome are a great visual representation of how anybody can make use of so many media platforms that are now so readily accessible online.
Monday 12 December 2011
The Effect of Media Convergence on Creative Industry
Continually these days we're seeing media organisations making use of convergent media. From an academic perspective it sounds like industry is making real progress with targeting audiences on a large scale across multiple platforms.
However, whilst in theory, advances in technology and media platforms may appear to benefit media companies, Alistair and myself wanted to speak with an industry professional in the television sector about whether the future does in fact look bright.
Do the opportunities of convergent media outweigh the challenges, and what infact are the various implications (good or bad) of cross-media production.
This is Darren Hutchinson from DreamscopeTV who are actually based at MediaCityUK in The Greenhouse, a facility where small media companies can operate at the heart of the UK's most exciting Northern media development.
Darren gave an insightful account of what he believes to be the key opportunities and challenges of media convergence. Social media appears to be an advantageous resource for creative industry, however technology overload is proving to be difficult, with new equipment continually being produced.
Louis.
However, whilst in theory, advances in technology and media platforms may appear to benefit media companies, Alistair and myself wanted to speak with an industry professional in the television sector about whether the future does in fact look bright.
Do the opportunities of convergent media outweigh the challenges, and what infact are the various implications (good or bad) of cross-media production.
This is Darren Hutchinson from DreamscopeTV who are actually based at MediaCityUK in The Greenhouse, a facility where small media companies can operate at the heart of the UK's most exciting Northern media development.
Darren gave an insightful account of what he believes to be the key opportunities and challenges of media convergence. Social media appears to be an advantageous resource for creative industry, however technology overload is proving to be difficult, with new equipment continually being produced.
Louis.
Presentation
We have all been researching various aspects of media convergence - firstly, what is it? Then the opportunities and challenges it presents to society and creative industry and also the impact of convergence in this digital age.
We delivered a presentation in the primary lecture theatre at Salford University at MediaCityUK last Thursday that made up part of our assignment:
These are the slides that accompanied our presentation:
I feel the presentation really delves into the critical points and arguments surrounding media convergence.
Louis.
We delivered a presentation in the primary lecture theatre at Salford University at MediaCityUK last Thursday that made up part of our assignment:
These are the slides that accompanied our presentation:
I feel the presentation really delves into the critical points and arguments surrounding media convergence.
Louis.
Monday 5 December 2011
Remix Theory
Really enjoying these videos by Kirby Ferguson on Remix Theory. The content doesn't explicitly link in with my area of the essay or presentation but none-the-less, what excellently produced content here. So informative as well.
Everything is a Remix Part 1 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.
Everything is a Remix Part 2 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.
Everything is a Remix Part 3 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.
Everything is a Remix Part 1 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.
Everything is a Remix Part 2 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.
Everything is a Remix Part 3 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.
How much tech can children take? | Analysis | Features | PC Pro
How much tech can children take? | Analysis | Features | PC Pro
This is an article I found in PC Pro that links in with my previous post about technology overload on the youth generation.
Louis.
This is an article I found in PC Pro that links in with my previous post about technology overload on the youth generation.
Louis.
Technology is affecting today's youth
This is a point I've addressed in detail in my section of the academic essay about challenges to society. Kids and students are growing up and adapting into an education system that champions the use of VLEs, online resources, educational television channels, podcasts, e-learning websites like BBC bite size too. Through using all this new media content online, this youth generation is becoming a lot more tech savvy and thus they have more knowledge of technology and media than their elders.
This is a real challenge because without so much life experience, this youth generation is more naive than their elders, but without well-informed support from their elders, the media can work in a way similar to the hypodermic syringe theory and infuse the youth with questionable ideologies.
Also, with so much social media and technology like video games converging so that high scores can be posted online in a 'braggodocian' manner (as Eric Qualman states in Socialnomics, with today's social media users competing for the best status), sure there is a competitive element but ultimately this communication and activity is happening alone, with the youth generation failing to develop sound social skills. It links in with technology overload.. there is so much choice of content/media to consume, it is acting as a real distraction.
I feel this video is a great illustration of behaviour that varies across the world but behaviour that is informed by different cultures, and I think what we are seeing the UK is similar to the USA. Do enjoy.
Louis.
This is a real challenge because without so much life experience, this youth generation is more naive than their elders, but without well-informed support from their elders, the media can work in a way similar to the hypodermic syringe theory and infuse the youth with questionable ideologies.
Also, with so much social media and technology like video games converging so that high scores can be posted online in a 'braggodocian' manner (as Eric Qualman states in Socialnomics, with today's social media users competing for the best status), sure there is a competitive element but ultimately this communication and activity is happening alone, with the youth generation failing to develop sound social skills. It links in with technology overload.. there is so much choice of content/media to consume, it is acting as a real distraction.
I feel this video is a great illustration of behaviour that varies across the world but behaviour that is informed by different cultures, and I think what we are seeing the UK is similar to the USA. Do enjoy.
Louis.
Thursday 1 December 2011
Louis' Reading Material
As I've been researching for my 'Challenges that media convergence presents for creative industries and society' section of the group essay, I've been engrossed in various books and I've been actively reading a number of websites' content.
One of the key books that has informed my writing is Socialnomics by Eric Qualman. The book explores how social media is transforming the way we live and do business. It delves into how social media actually makes us more productive, how it can be used to market products and keep in contact with friends. It offers a real insight into the ever-developing online social landscape and it is interesting to deduce the opportunities and challenges it presents to both the individual and the business.
Another piece of literature I've particularly enjoyed is a book called Get Noticed by Marcus Taylor and Rob Lawrence. Marcus is a pal of mine anyway and it was a joy to read his new book - a great follow up to "The Musicians Guide To World Domination": a really insightful book into how up-and-coming musicians should go about promoting themselves in the music industry. One of the sections in The Musicians Guide actually talks about mailing lists and fan groups on social media so that is relevant to today's project.
Get Noticed, however, is totally relevant to my research on social media. The ethos of the book is to teach and inform readers how to get noticed in a world where 'who you know' plays a crucial role in getting anywhere. The chapter for getting noticed online was particularly helpful and I did pick up an incredibly useful statistic about how crucial human communication is, rather than communicating through a computer where you loose a massive amount of communicative power through body language.
Other reading materials that have influenced my viewpoint on media convergence include the new 'Creative Documentary' book by Wilma De Jong, Eric Knudsen and Jerry Rothwell. I learnt a great deal about technological convergence and how film-makers can harness new technology to produce excellent content in the digital age.
Slightly aside from the Media Convergence subject I have been enjoying a new book by Paul Hollins and Paul Chandler called Hang the DJ?, which, as a Radio Presenter, is a crucial read! It offers an insight into the potential pitfalls a presenter could make on air that can result in huge court cases and financial settlements. What comments could be considered libellous? What is acceptable on air conduct? It's a read that goes hand in hand with the Ofcom Broadcasting Code, but having the real life examples of where thing's have gone wrong illustrates how crucial it is to know the game and play it faultlessly.
It's also interesting to read that book alongside the media convergence course, with:
One of the key books that has informed my writing is Socialnomics by Eric Qualman. The book explores how social media is transforming the way we live and do business. It delves into how social media actually makes us more productive, how it can be used to market products and keep in contact with friends. It offers a real insight into the ever-developing online social landscape and it is interesting to deduce the opportunities and challenges it presents to both the individual and the business.
Another piece of literature I've particularly enjoyed is a book called Get Noticed by Marcus Taylor and Rob Lawrence. Marcus is a pal of mine anyway and it was a joy to read his new book - a great follow up to "The Musicians Guide To World Domination": a really insightful book into how up-and-coming musicians should go about promoting themselves in the music industry. One of the sections in The Musicians Guide actually talks about mailing lists and fan groups on social media so that is relevant to today's project.
Get Noticed, however, is totally relevant to my research on social media. The ethos of the book is to teach and inform readers how to get noticed in a world where 'who you know' plays a crucial role in getting anywhere. The chapter for getting noticed online was particularly helpful and I did pick up an incredibly useful statistic about how crucial human communication is, rather than communicating through a computer where you loose a massive amount of communicative power through body language.
Other reading materials that have influenced my viewpoint on media convergence include the new 'Creative Documentary' book by Wilma De Jong, Eric Knudsen and Jerry Rothwell. I learnt a great deal about technological convergence and how film-makers can harness new technology to produce excellent content in the digital age.
Slightly aside from the Media Convergence subject I have been enjoying a new book by Paul Hollins and Paul Chandler called Hang the DJ?, which, as a Radio Presenter, is a crucial read! It offers an insight into the potential pitfalls a presenter could make on air that can result in huge court cases and financial settlements. What comments could be considered libellous? What is acceptable on air conduct? It's a read that goes hand in hand with the Ofcom Broadcasting Code, but having the real life examples of where thing's have gone wrong illustrates how crucial it is to know the game and play it faultlessly.
It's also interesting to read that book alongside the media convergence course, with:
- Technology convergence
- Economy convergence
- Audience convergence
- Content convergence
It doesn't matter how much advance is made in these areas, if something is said out of place, it could upset the whole balance.
For online research I've been actively searching the MediaGuardian website which is crammed full of the latest and biggest media stories. I like the Guardian's standpoint on these issues as well. Interestingly the comment section is useful to take a look at because it goes hand in hand with our studies on participatory audiences.
I've also been really captivated by the recent episodes of two podcasts, The Media Show from Radio 4 and RadioTalk from the Radio Academy. Both shows are extremely well produced and feature excellent guests, who's opinions on complex media and radio topics create a really engrossing listen.
All of the various resources I have mentioned above have really helped my studies into media convergence.
Louis.
Source material:
Qualman, E (2009.) Socialnomics. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Taylor, M., & Lawrence, R. (2011.) Get Noticed
de Jong, W., Knudsen, E., Rothwell, J. (2012.) Creative Documentary. Hawlow: Pearson Education Limited
Hollins, P,. & Chantlet, P. (2011) Hang The DJ?. Marston Gate: Amazon.co.uk, Ltd.,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media
http://www.radioacademy.org/podcasts/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/media
Group Meeting
The group had a meeting today to discuss plans for the presentation next week. Each group member has been working on a section of an academic essay about the opportunities and challenges media convergences presents.
The breakdown of sections looks like this:
What is Media Convergence? - Alistair Dickson
Opportunities - Dorit Vaknine
Challenges - Louis Chadwick
Impact on Society - Steven Alex Quinn
It's going to be great to translate the essay writing into a presentation, adding more information, graphics, audio and video to make really enhance the visuals of the keynote.
The breakdown of sections looks like this:
What is Media Convergence? - Alistair Dickson
Opportunities - Dorit Vaknine
Challenges - Louis Chadwick
Impact on Society - Steven Alex Quinn
It's going to be great to translate the essay writing into a presentation, adding more information, graphics, audio and video to make really enhance the visuals of the keynote.
Wednesday 23 November 2011
Interview completed
Alistair and Louis went along to Dreamscope Production yesterday to film with Darren Hutchinson. They were keen to ask Darren about his projects and explore whether the way he works these days is different to that of a decade ago.
They questioned Darren about the impact of social media in the television and radio landscape of today, they also explored the challenges that face broadcasters at this current time. The interview is now being edited, here is a little peek at some of the content
They questioned Darren about the impact of social media in the television and radio landscape of today, they also explored the challenges that face broadcasters at this current time. The interview is now being edited, here is a little peek at some of the content
Media convergence is your friend... if you're Radio 1
The last blog I posted, about the impact of social media marketing for radio, was an insight into how one avenue of todays new media arena has provided an opportunity to benefit broadcasters. But just the one avenue: social media.
I’m quite keen to probe into how two successful broadcasters are using (or not using, quite incidentally) and them delve into how one of them is leading the way in online and interactive presence.
The two stations I’d like to look at are actually BBC ones, but I feel their audiences represent two distinct demographics, which in turn will illustrate who is responding not just the rudimentary output on air, but also their cross-media content.
Let’s begin:
Criteria | BBC Radio 1 | BBC Radio 2 |
Target audience | 15 - 29 | 25+ |
Audience share (of 51,951,000 in UK -RAJAR SEPT 2011) | 9.1% | 15.9% |
http://www.rajar.co.uk/listening/quarterly_listening.php | ||
How much of that audience has listened/is listening online? | 7,852,484 live listening requests in Sept 2011 | 5,197,388 live listening request in Sept 2011 |
Average unique website browsers (web surfers) | 2,314,357 in Sept 11 | 382,988 in Sept 11 |
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/siteusage/#notes | ||
Facebook fans | 921,848, with 12,532 people ‘talking about this’ at time of writing | 13,241 with 817 people ‘talking about this’ at time of writing |
Twitter followers | 274,126 | 44,343 |
Visualisation | Webcam stream for shows, interviews, live lounge streams. Videos available on demand access to content after broadcast. | Pre-packaged videos available after certain events. Prominent gig features available – eg. currently Jo Whiley’s special with Elbow. |
BBC Red Button visuals | Regular use for Chris Moyles’ one-off shows and special outside broadcast / live events. | Nothing springs to mind… thoughts? |
Blogs | Active blogging from presenters, inc Greg James, Chris Moyles team. Specialist music blogs too. | Chris Evans and Simon Mayo blogs prominent. Specialist music blogs available. |
Podcasts | Chris Moyles, Scott Mills, Zane Lowe and other specialist shows. | Chris Evans, Steve Wright, Wogan and other specialist content |
Interactivity on air | Texts, tweets and facebook comments, phone calls. | Texts, tweets and facebook comments. Also letters and emails sent in, phone calls too. |
Right let’s cut that for the moment, what are we learning here? There’s a lot of information there that gives a good overview of how Radio 1 and Radio 2 are spreading themselves across multiple platforms.
Both of them are doing excellently considering you don’t have to go back far until you hit a point where radio was just radio. Social media hadn’t even been thought of and what you heard on FM was the be all and end all.
However looking at things now, it’s absolutely clear to see that Radio 1 are leading the way when it comes to sharing content. We’ll leave Radio 2 aside for just a moment… Like I said in a previous blog post, ‘Listen, watch, share’ (their new slogan) are three words that capture everything Radio 1 currently champion.
- Listen: I tweeted earlier this afternoon –
@sirchaddy: post for our media blog: social media is your friend, if you're radio 1. Amazing stats..but they're empty stats- love the output regardless
Radio 1’s output has always been at the top of its game when it comes to providing exciting, relatable content for an audience of 15-29yr old people. No amount of technology, social media or cross-platform content is going to change the great on-air sound (it may enhance it, or give them a different angle for broadcast) but at the end of the day, you need the base of a cake before you sprinkle the sweets on – in essence, you need the quality radio to start with.
- Watch: This is where technological convergence is entering the radio environment. Over the last 5 years, you’ll have noticed a dramatic increase in the amount of air-time that is given to the promotion of Radio 1’s online videos, their red button stream and the webcam. Every other link seems to be: “go to our website and see the video of this”… “hit the red button and see us doing that”, and so on. Take the Marathon show – I sat there, avidly watching Moyles and his team attempt to stay on air for 50 hours for Comic Relief, what a great achievement. But would it been as emphatic if we couldn’t see their emotions, struggles and guests on television or online? I doubt it. The visualisation team at Radio 1 are enhancing the experience of radio quite dramatically and I think it’s making for, overall, more enjoyable consumption of radio.
- Share: “Go to our website and see the video of this”… “hit the red button and see us doing that” – It’s only any good producing all this fantastic content if audiences are going to go and consume it! The beautiful thing for Radio 1 is their tech-savvy young target audience - this is where the stats for web listening, browsing, facebook fans and twitter followers really play a part in Radio 1’s ethos. I don’t think Radio 2 could pull off half the visualisation projects that Radio 1 can because they haven't engaged their audience in a receptive way, yet..
However, in a world where ‘two-screen media’ is the norm (ie. when you watch the TV, do you have your laptop on too?) it’s a similar principle with radio. When you listen to the radio over breakfast, are you checking twitter and facebook on your phone or laptop? The answer, on the whole, is yes, and that yes probability is significantly heightened if you’re a 15-29yr old Radio 1 listener. In this respect, the Listen, Watch, Share branding is spot on and their current ethos is seriously resonating well with the audience they have.
Okay, time to flip this on it's head for just a second. Radio 1's average listener is 32 years old - that fits in Radio 2's bracket, and if they're sharing content readily, then Radio 2 could potentially be missing out on a whole gold-mine of listeners who would happily re-post, re-tweet and generally share their amazing content. To push that thought even further, in todays world, who even knows where sharing stops? This links back to the point I made in my last blog about Facebook users - the largest growing segment of users on Facebook is over 35... http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090330091555.htm Surely there's some work to be done here for Radio 2.
So where media convergence is an opportunity for Radio 1, it is a challenge for Radio 2 - a station with a bigger audience but less of a grasp of its online interactive market. I don't think we live in a world anymore where any broadcaster can say "our audience is not interested in cross-media content". We have come on so far from those days of purely FM radio and we are continuing to develop how much multi-platform content we create.
If I was a programme controller I wouldn't be looking for standard radio shows, I'd be looking for a cross-media package with the radio show driving it. That seems to be Radio 1's way of doing things, not seeing it so much for Radio 2...
Louis.
Sunday 20 November 2011
Essay plan - Challenges
I did some thinking on the train last night about what I could include in the 'Challenges' section of the essay that I am concentrating on. From the various literature I had on me, I found a couple of sources but highlighted some key areas to comment on:
T elevision is the main platform, integrated with the (mobile) phone platform for audience feedback, and supplemented by the web platform. (see BBC)
Challenges:
- · Technology is confusing
- · Copyright issues for institutions
- · People beginning to lack important social skills as a result of communicating electronically.
- · It’s expensive keeping up with today’s technology
- · Hard for audiences to keep up with advancing tech / more cross-platform media
- · Print industry loosing money year on year
- · Online products inaccessible to some areas of the UK
- o http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/nov/01/home-broadband-download-17-gigabytes
- · Media institutions becoming bullies – eg. X factor exploiting contestants
- · Lack of mediation
- · Increasing competition across all platforms
- · Syndication of programming means job cuts – how do insititutions then expect to improve with less talent at their disposal?
- · Audience fragmentation
- · Confusion between secondary and primary media
- · How does the tabloid press re-establish a good name after scandals?
- · How do small institutions keep up with the advances large companies in the same market are making?
- · Citizen journalism making an impact on large press journalism.
A convergent media infrastructure is composed of practices, artefacts and social arrangements (Star & Bowker).
Redefining resources: 1) audience as a resource; 2) recycle and reuse your resources (assets)
Doyle, G. (2010). From Television to Multi- Platform: Less from More or More for Less? Convergence, 16(4), pp. 431-449.
Louis.
Louis.
Wednesday 16 November 2011
LinkedIn Social Media
Social media and the opportunities that come from today's online networks really captivate me. Reading about social media is something I'd probably do by choice, in a bid to extend my knowledge when it comes to marketing my own 'brand'.
However, this media convergence project gives me an ideal opportunity to explore how businesses and people are marketing themselves through social media on the internet, as a direct result of the proliferation of participatory media platforms.
I joined a LinkedIn group earlier today called Social Media For Radio, which has some really interesting content and posts that are absolutely relevant to the competitive and frugal radio industry that I absolutely love operating in. In Radio Programming: Tactics & Strategy by Eric Norberg (1996 [but still as relevant today as it was back then]) you'll find the author explain that: "commercial radio stations cover their costs from the sale of airtime", "the commercial raison d'être is delivering audiences to advertisers rather than programmes to advertisers". As a broadcaster myself, it's sad to accept that - I am a great champion of creative, programme-oriented radio, especially specialist content. However, to make more money as a radio station, you need a bigger audience so your airtime is worth more and in turn your advertisers pay you more.
Sure you could do a big-money, branded 'Capital FM' style advertising campaign on the television:
However, virtually no stations have the money to throw at a nationwide advertising campaign, let alone get those music stars together for a video shoot! And Capital's brand (the hit music network) is very easy to capture in a video. A small local station whose USP is their local content is slightly harder to market in the same manner.
Also, for a local radio station, even a paid-for online or printed ad campaign could well set them back financially so it's a risky option.... But without alerting the unknowing public to the existence of their sweet sound on the airwaves, how on earth is the struggling station ever going to acquire more listeners and thus a bigger audience for their hungry advertisers?
That's where social media marketing enters the fray. It's free, and there's a huge opportunity (when executed correctly) for a lot of people to hear about the product. It's a cost effective way of delivering a larger audience to the guys the pay - the advertisers.
Look at Radio 1's recent news intro - 'Listen, watch, share'. The 'watch' part is interesting because a lot of Radio 1's key content is being made available to view on the red button or online. Radio 1 make use of a full visualisation department! The way that Radio 1 are spreading themselves across different media platforms highlights the reality of media convergence at work.
But for me, the 'share' part of their ident is crucial. It proves that 'sharing' content, information, music and news in any manner (but let's be fair, probably on the internet) is a massive part of Radio 1's ethos, and it works with their target audience. Young people are so switched on when it comes to sharing links and content with their mates on Facebook and Twitter so the opportunities for a piece of Radio 1's output to go viral are huge. I will revisit all these points about sharing content in another blog I think, there's so much to say!
Quite basically though, social media opens a whole ocean of opportunity for cash-strapped stations to reach new audience members through content being shared.
Yes, Radio 1 have captured an audience who do readily share content, but it is cross-generational, and realistically a lot of middle-aged people are sharing content on social media too. In 2009, a Kansas University Professor, Nancy Baym explored the dynamics of Facebook and found that the "fastest-growing segment on Facebook ... now is people over age 35".
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090330091555.htm
That's where this handy group I found on LinkedIn becomes so relevant. There is a whole community of social media experts dispensing valuable advise for free, meaning the cash-strapped station even gets a walk-through guide on how to achieve a strong marketing campaign online! The opportunities for marketing a product virally are immense, but there is also a flip-side to the opportunity. We'll explore that another time too, for now I'll leave you with a link to this post.
http://www.linkedin.com/news?viewArticle=&articleID=895203908&gid=2753612&type=member&item=80411226&articleURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Echristopherspenn%2Ecom%2F2011%2F11%2F4-vital-search-strategies-for-social-media-marketers%2F&urlhash=DsTc&trk=group_most_popular-0-b-shrttl
As a result of using the online resources that can be accessed so easily just by having a LinkedIn account, I've taken on board the author's recommendation of further reading, a book called 'Content Rules' by Ann Handley and C.C. Chapman. Should be interesting reading.
Louis.
However, this media convergence project gives me an ideal opportunity to explore how businesses and people are marketing themselves through social media on the internet, as a direct result of the proliferation of participatory media platforms.
I joined a LinkedIn group earlier today called Social Media For Radio, which has some really interesting content and posts that are absolutely relevant to the competitive and frugal radio industry that I absolutely love operating in. In Radio Programming: Tactics & Strategy by Eric Norberg (1996 [but still as relevant today as it was back then]) you'll find the author explain that: "commercial radio stations cover their costs from the sale of airtime", "the commercial raison d'être is delivering audiences to advertisers rather than programmes to advertisers". As a broadcaster myself, it's sad to accept that - I am a great champion of creative, programme-oriented radio, especially specialist content. However, to make more money as a radio station, you need a bigger audience so your airtime is worth more and in turn your advertisers pay you more.
Sure you could do a big-money, branded 'Capital FM' style advertising campaign on the television:
However, virtually no stations have the money to throw at a nationwide advertising campaign, let alone get those music stars together for a video shoot! And Capital's brand (the hit music network) is very easy to capture in a video. A small local station whose USP is their local content is slightly harder to market in the same manner.
Also, for a local radio station, even a paid-for online or printed ad campaign could well set them back financially so it's a risky option.... But without alerting the unknowing public to the existence of their sweet sound on the airwaves, how on earth is the struggling station ever going to acquire more listeners and thus a bigger audience for their hungry advertisers?
That's where social media marketing enters the fray. It's free, and there's a huge opportunity (when executed correctly) for a lot of people to hear about the product. It's a cost effective way of delivering a larger audience to the guys the pay - the advertisers.
Look at Radio 1's recent news intro - 'Listen, watch, share'. The 'watch' part is interesting because a lot of Radio 1's key content is being made available to view on the red button or online. Radio 1 make use of a full visualisation department! The way that Radio 1 are spreading themselves across different media platforms highlights the reality of media convergence at work.
But for me, the 'share' part of their ident is crucial. It proves that 'sharing' content, information, music and news in any manner (but let's be fair, probably on the internet) is a massive part of Radio 1's ethos, and it works with their target audience. Young people are so switched on when it comes to sharing links and content with their mates on Facebook and Twitter so the opportunities for a piece of Radio 1's output to go viral are huge. I will revisit all these points about sharing content in another blog I think, there's so much to say!
Quite basically though, social media opens a whole ocean of opportunity for cash-strapped stations to reach new audience members through content being shared.
Yes, Radio 1 have captured an audience who do readily share content, but it is cross-generational, and realistically a lot of middle-aged people are sharing content on social media too. In 2009, a Kansas University Professor, Nancy Baym explored the dynamics of Facebook and found that the "fastest-growing segment on Facebook ... now is people over age 35".
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090330091555.htm
That's where this handy group I found on LinkedIn becomes so relevant. There is a whole community of social media experts dispensing valuable advise for free, meaning the cash-strapped station even gets a walk-through guide on how to achieve a strong marketing campaign online! The opportunities for marketing a product virally are immense, but there is also a flip-side to the opportunity. We'll explore that another time too, for now I'll leave you with a link to this post.
http://www.linkedin.com/news?viewArticle=&articleID=895203908&gid=2753612&type=member&item=80411226&articleURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Echristopherspenn%2Ecom%2F2011%2F11%2F4-vital-search-strategies-for-social-media-marketers%2F&urlhash=DsTc&trk=group_most_popular-0-b-shrttl
As a result of using the online resources that can be accessed so easily just by having a LinkedIn account, I've taken on board the author's recommendation of further reading, a book called 'Content Rules' by Ann Handley and C.C. Chapman. Should be interesting reading.
Louis.
Thursday 27 October 2011
Thursday meeting
Hello again,
We've had a meeting today to discuss what to progress with next. Firstly, we're sorry to announce the departure of Brooke from the group, she has moved on to pastures new!
We have bought in Alistair Dickson - who will be working with Louis on sourcing and producing the interview section of our 5-min video and also working on a section of the essay.
The essay has been divided into sections to make it easy for everybody to contribute to. We'll be working on those pieces over the next couple of weeks.
We've had a meeting today to discuss what to progress with next. Firstly, we're sorry to announce the departure of Brooke from the group, she has moved on to pastures new!
We have bought in Alistair Dickson - who will be working with Louis on sourcing and producing the interview section of our 5-min video and also working on a section of the essay.
The essay has been divided into sections to make it easy for everybody to contribute to. We'll be working on those pieces over the next couple of weeks.
Wednesday 19 October 2011
Cafe Nero Meeting
We're in Cafe Nero.. Wednesday morning meeting with the group.
This morning has been about throwing some ideas down and getting the assignment straight in our heads.
This project is going to consist of a 3000 word essay, a 5min video, a 15min presentation and this blog. The subject matter for all of those tasks will be media convergence and its challenges and opportunities for creative industry and society. It's quite an exciting piece of work and we've got some big ideas.
For the next few weeks we're going to be working on the video - which will be documentary style. We've put in an email to an acquaintance at MediaCityUK to try and sort out an interview with an up-and-coming small business in the creative sector - a business based at MediaCityUK would be superb.
Next week we'll get a storyboard going and production should begin within a few weeks.
Louis, Dorit, Steve & Brooke.
This morning has been about throwing some ideas down and getting the assignment straight in our heads.
This project is going to consist of a 3000 word essay, a 5min video, a 15min presentation and this blog. The subject matter for all of those tasks will be media convergence and its challenges and opportunities for creative industry and society. It's quite an exciting piece of work and we've got some big ideas.
For the next few weeks we're going to be working on the video - which will be documentary style. We've put in an email to an acquaintance at MediaCityUK to try and sort out an interview with an up-and-coming small business in the creative sector - a business based at MediaCityUK would be superb.
Next week we'll get a storyboard going and production should begin within a few weeks.
Louis, Dorit, Steve & Brooke.
Thursday 6 October 2011
Welcome
Louis, Brooke, Steve and Dorit - University of Salford students' projects in 2011/12.
Louis, Brooke and Steve are doing BA. Hons Television & Radio and Dorit is studying HND Media Production. They’re collaborating on a media project and all the progress will be posted here.
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