MediaResearcher

Wikipedia Needs More Contributors, Not Less

There’s no denying that Wikipedia has become the most popular encyclopedia on the web with a collection of facts on almost every subject in the world. The site has generated over 6 million articles in more than 250 languages – truly a global phenomenon. Not bad for a site that just celebrated its 6th birthday, employs fewer than 10 people, and relies on an army of volunteers to produce content. That’s the power of Wikipedia’s “wiki” format -- anyone who creates an account on the site can contribute and edit existing pages on any topic. However, a recent scandal has placed Wikipedia in the spotlight of scrutiny regarding its stance on contributors to the site.

Last week, it was discovered that software giant Microsoft paid a blogger to edit a Wikipedia entry. Microsoft claims it didn’t want to edit the content directly so it brought in a third party to provide “balance” to it. This has raised serious questions regarding the ethics of the site and what restrictions, if any, can be placed on author contributions. Brian Bergstein of the Associated Press asks “why is it so bad to pay someone to write something on Wikipedia?” After all, isn’t it about providing deep knowledge on a subject, regardless of payment? (Bergstein lends more insight into the situation in a related story here.)

I’ve read that Wikipedia has blocked PR agencies from making contributions on Wikipedia due to presumed bias and unfair advocacy. That’s absurd. What Wikipedia needs is more authors, not less! Truth be told, mass participation is surprisingly low on the site. Eric Goldman points out that 72% of all articles on the site have been written by less than 1% of Wikipedia users. That’s not much of a democracy in terms of content created, if you ask me. I hope that if anything comes from the Microsoft debacle, it’s that scads of people will flock to Wikipedia and post content for the first time. Just make sure content is unbiased and has validity, folks. If not, Wikidumper is waiting in the wings. Billed as the "official appreciation page for the best of Wikipedia rejects," Wikidumper may just take your entry and show the world how ridiculous it really is – like this one about chickenology. (This site is a good laugh)

For those of you who are curious about official Wikipedia guidelines, you can read the “Neutral Point of View” article on the site.

Social Media Gets a Nod from Time Magazine

Time Magazine salutes social media and the impact it's had by making all of us the "2006 Person of the Year.” Time does a great job of incorporating social media themselves; they offer up nine blog columns, 26 RSS feeds, over 160 podcasts, provide search functionality for finding related blog posts via Sphere, and include buttons at the bottom of each article for linking to MyYahoo!, MyMSN, MyAOL, and Facebook. Unfortunately though, Time still does not allow reader comments on its site. With a little searching I was able to find a "Talkback" link with a submission form for feedback on the cover story. Time says it will post some of the comments, but not all - why be so selective? For more insight into the article, see Richard Stengel's foreword. 

Karin McKinnell to Lead Independent Research Network

A quick note of congratulations to Karin McKinnell, newly appointed president of the Independent Research Network. Ms. McKinnell has been a shining star at NASDAQ for several years in the Corporate Client Group serving 40% of the top 25 NASDAQ-100 issuers so it only seems fitting that she move into this role.

The Independent Research Network is an independent company formed by The Nasdaq Stock Market and Reuters to help under-covered companies obtain analyst coverage. While the Independent Research Network does not focus on media per se, the organization is a valuable asset to numerous companies and the investment community in general.

Technorati Upgrade Comes Just in Time

Hope has been renewed for Technorati's future as the kick-ass search engine that pulls the dirtiest of blog posts. Dirty in the sense that raw, unmediated chatter can be yours instead of the auto-generated spew we all know as splogs (spam blogs) commonly found when searching the blogosphere. Technorati has always been a great one-stop site for everything ala blog but its search results have been way off base for some time now. I've come to rely on additional search engines to capture comprehensive results. Recently, blog monitoring has required the need for searching IceRocket and Google Blog Search to get the "big picture" and as an added protection for managing client reputation online. But with Dave Sifry's announcement on the Technorati Blog this week, we're in store for changes that will impact everyone. Read on...

Beta Testers Wanted for "Webtop" Application

I’m currently assisting a client of ours that is testing out a new online service that is launching later this summer. The service or webtop is designed to easily find, enjoy and share digital photos, videos, and mp3s with friends, family and co-workers using any computer. It will also include online storage capacity for accessing and safeguarding your digital files. Right now we’re seeking people interested in reviewing and testing the service over a short period of time - approximately 4-5 hours over the next few weeks. If you enjoy experimenting with new software and would like to be involved, drop me a line. As a token of appreciation for formal evaluations, these lucky people will be given a free year of service once it launches.

News Sites Team with Blog Search Vendors

Two partnership announcements last week signal a big change for traditional news sites as blog search vendors enter the mainstream. First, Time.com reported it has partnered with Sphere to offer links to blogs that tie back its content. In a similar deal, The Associated Press has teamed with Technorati to offer readers blog links that match the stories on its site. This is a huge step toward letting the general public gain easy access to what many call "citizen jounalism." Greg Sandoval of CNET confirms this media shift in his piece this morning as does Jessica Vascellaro of the Wall Street Journal in her article. Expect to see more of these mixed-media deals in the future as online news outlets try to find ways to integrate blogs into their content for added value and perspecitve.

The Impact of New Media

This week, I’m here in New York meeting with my esteemed Cohn & Wolfe colleagues on Madison Avenue regarding new media and its impact on PR. I’ve pulled together an entire briefcase full of information on trends and case studies and have decided to list a few of them here. It goes without saying that I’ve been away far too long from my own blog and am hoping that I will get more time in the coming days to share insight into some of the great things we’re doing. Much of the past few months have been spent developing a proprietary framework with specialized services for online PR and communications. Stay tuned for a formal launch of our new media offerings in the very near future. With that said, here are some very interesting proof points that show the growing impact that new media has on the online world of communications.

• The Number of Blogs Doubles Every Six Month- "The blogosphere is doubling in size every 6 months and our research shows that, on average, a new weblog is created every second of every day. That means the blogosphere is now over 60 times bigger than it was 3 years ago. In addition, 19.4 million bloggers (55%) are still posting 3 months after their blogs are created." - David Sifry, Technorati, April 2006
• Podcasts Outnumber Radio Stations– “We’re seeing 15% growth per month in the number of podcasts that are published. We now manage just under 45,000 podcast feeds, which surpasses the number of radio stations worldwide. And rich media feeds (podcasts and videocasts) currently represent some 20% of the quarter-million of the RSS feeds we manage.” - FeedBurner, April 2006
• Growing Trend in Personalized Content Ushers in New Vocabulary– “Blogs, vlogs, splogs, wikis, podcasts, metaverses, folksonomies – within only a couple of years, a new vocabulary has entered the English language. These new media and media tools herald the gradual transition from one era – that of “mass media” – to a new era of personal and interactive media.” - Andreas Kluth, The Economist, April 2006
• Monitoring Blogs Is a Must– “Marketing folks need to keep a “steadfast watch” on blogs in order to keep tabs on what’s being said about your brands. Although the number of contributors is currently small, their impact and influence can have wide reach.” - Julian Smith, Jupiter Research, April 2006
• Blogs Beget Buzz– “Blogging has flipped traditional PR on its head. It used to be that ink begat buzz. Life was simple then: you sucked up to the Wall Street Journal, one of its reporters wrote about your product, and the buzz began. Nowadays buzz begets ink. Journalists no longer anticipate or create buzz--rather, they react to it.” - Guy Kawasaki, Marketing Guru & Author, February 2006

Marketing Meets Mobile Video

It’s an interesting time for mobile video right now. Even though revenues only amounted to $62 million in 2005, JupiterResearch sees that number rising to $500 million by 2010 - see Tekrati. The US has had a slow adoption growth compared to the UK, South Korea, and Japan in this emerging market. Japan appears to be leading the pack with a new service that broadcasts digital TV to mobile phones.

Apple has pushed into the video market from another direction with a new area on iTunes called “Video Podcasts” for viewing on mp3 players. There are over 100 vcasts available to date and it’s a good mix of comedy, news, sports, and technology among others but no business category yet. A closer look at the video content revealed some interesting clips, like Photoshop TV, that are very clever marketing vehicles. Photoshop TV is sponsored by a number of advertisers and hosted by members of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals. It's an interesting combination of business partners that seems to work. Expect to see more collaboration like this among mobile companies.

The one to watch is Verisign right now. The company has been on a shopping spree and recently bought m-Qube for $250 million in cash. As ClickZ reports, Verisign could emerge as a top leader in the space since it also owns mobile content companies Jamster and 3united Mobile Solutions. The race is on...

Good reading:

·         "Consumers and Convergence" by KPMG

·         “Now Playing on your Cell Phone” by BusinessWeek

·         Mobile Marketing Association for industry news and updates

GIVING CREDENCE TO THE BLOGGER

It goes without saying that bloggers are wielding an increasing influence in regards to a company’s brand identity and the messages that it’s trying to convey (and control). The recent Wal-Mart blogging strategy with Edelman at the helm has brought “blog relations” to the forefront with a bevy of people weighing in on the topic. I’ve been following the conversations and dialogue closely and found some great posts that identify a couple of key issues at hand.

·         Jeff Jarvis underscored the profound shift occurring in the media with bloggers being cast as the new “information gatekeepers” by inadvertently taking control of news filtering from traditional journalists.

·         Paul Holmes takes aim at a double standard whereas the traditional media can reuse and even lift content from corporate press releases but claiming bloggers don’t have the right to do so.

·         I also found Todd Zegler’s post very interesting with his observation that the WalMart outreach program was really a public affairs effort rather than PR at work given the objectives behind the campaign.

·         And Giovanni Rodriguez issued a great post on the “15 minutes of shame” hinting that we can expect to see more trials and tribulation as we learn to navigate this new communication medium.

Even though Edelman has been scrutinized in its outreach to bloggers (see the New York Times article), it’s considered a gray area for many folks. Constantin Basturea raised some great questions and posted an excellent summary of findings. If anything, this whole incident proves that blog relations are a powerful tool. Even though best practices have yet to surface, the need to engage bloggers in transparent communications has now been solidified. The philosophy of “Tell, Don’t Sell” is one that PR and corporate marketing folks will need to adhere to and enforce if we expect our credibility to remain intact.

NewComm Forum Dedicated to New Media Tools and Communication

It's hard to believe that it's already been a year since attending the first NewComm Forum conference in Napa last January. NewComm Forum, for those of you who are unfamiliar, is the pioneering new media conference created by Jennifer McClure and Elizabeth Albright, both experts in the field of business communications and new media tools. The 2006 conference has been relocated to Palo Alto this year and kicks off on March 1. Conference sessions are impressive with four tracks that cover advertising, corporate communications, journalism and marketing disciplines. This first-class event brings together the best professionals in the industry to create a rich learning environment. To say the least, I'm excited to attend, learn from my colleagues, share my client experiences and participate in the group discussions. Hope to see you there...