Social media activity for all broadcast networks increased substantially in May, the last month of the TV season, versus that of a year ago. ABC earned the greatest gain for any broadcast network. Overall, broadcast TV shows garnered the most social media activity, with 71 million social media interactions in May; cable TV shows were at 40 million. Broadcast TV shows' activity was up 32% from the month before. Fox’s “American Idol” was the easy winner when it came to social media messages of a regularly scheduled TV show -- some 1.4 million for its finale, per social media researcher Trendrr.TV. This was more than three times the previous season, when there were some 450,000. The next-biggest social media TV show finale was “Glee,” with around 400,000 versus around 275,000 the year before. “Grey’s Anatomy” followed at just over 300,000; CW’s “Vampire Diaires” had just under 300,000. But when it came to all reality TV, cable network shows shone during May with VH1’s “Basketball Wives” getting some 425,000 messages, MTV’s “America’s Best Dance Crew” was next at just under 350,000; and Oxygen’s “Bad Girls Club” followed, pulling in just under “Dance Crew." When it comes to social media platforms for TV, Twitter commanded the biggest share at 59% in May for broadcast TV shows. This was followed by Viggle, a growing social media site that caters to TV viewers through incentive programs, at 18% share. GetGlue was next at 14%, followed by Facebook at 9%. When it came to cable TV shows, Twitter's results were even better in May, at a 74% share. Viggle and Facebook each at 10%; and GetGlue had 6%. As it did with Nielsen viewing metrics, Fox scored the best of any network for the month -- some 6.5 million social media messages; ABC was at around 5.7 million; NBC, 3.9 million; CW, 2.1 million; and CBS, 1.8 million. ABC made the greatest gains year-to-year. In the May sweep period of a year ago, it pulled in 1.1 million, which grew fivefold in May 2012. Every network grew exponentially, as TV and social media continue to grow rapidly. Social media as it relates to sports on TV continues to be a big draw. The NBA Playoffs pulled the biggest individual results. With games such as the Los Angeles Lakers-Denver Nuggets; Los Angeles Lakers-Oklahoma City Thunder, and Boston Celtics-Miami Heat each drawing close to 1.8 million messages apiece on specific nights in May. For all its games in May, the Lakers-Nuggets series pulled in the most social media activity -- nearly 4.5 million interactions. The Lakers-Thunder series was next at 3.0 million.
Facebook took the wraps of its App Center Thursday with the aim of providing its more than 900 million users with an easier way of finding games and other applications on the social network. First announced last month, the App Center serves as a central hub for Facebook-integrated apps that are available on Facebook.com as well as through the company’s iOS and Android apps. It will recommend apps based on a user’s interests, apps they have liked before, and the kind of apps their friends have installed. People can also browse apps that friends are using. The App Center launches with some 600 Facebook apps -- mostly games, including Nike+ GPS, Draw Something, JetPack Joyride as well as Pinterest -- that Facebook has selected based on user feedback and other quality-control standards. Each app has its own description page with ratings and screen images and titles are organized by familiar categories like games, entertainment, music, news and sports. While many of the same titles so far could be found in Apple’s App Store or Google Play, what should set the App Center apart -- befitting Facebook -- is its social component. The company can tap its vast trove of social data to offer personalized recommendations that can lead people to explore more apps and discover lesser-known titles they may not otherwise have found. At the same time, Facebook has emphasized that it doesn’t want to compete with other app stores on mobile devices including the dominant ones run by Apple and Google. Instead, it’s sending users to other app markets to download apps. Indeed, the company pointed out it drove 83 million users to the App Store directly from the social networking site in May. It also noted that seven of the top 10-grossing iOS apps and six of the top 10 Android apps are integrated with Facebook. The App Center is rolling out to U.S. Facebook users starting Thursday night, and will be available to everyone in the coming weeks. The new app repository comes on the heels of Facebook rolling out carrier-based billing for mobile in-app payments using Facebook Credits. Taken together, the two steps could help to drive more mobile revenue as it pushes to ramp up monetization of its 500 million mobile users worldwide.
Google and digital agency GroupM Next launched a series of events Thursday to focus on specific markets and verticals. Exclusive to the agency's clients, the Spark day sessions will explore ideas on technology, branding and making the Web and mobile work for large companies. The hope is to start more conversations leading to innovations. The first event -- Spark: CPG -- took place in New York with attendees from nine consumer product goods companies. Aside from discussions led by Google and GroupM Next execs, contributors from Kantar, Buzzfeed and Amazon joined in to share insights, research and information on opportunities. The hope is that Spark will provide brands with insights and education they wouldn’t have elsewhere. Torrence Boone, managing director of agency business development at Google, said the series fits in line with Google's ongoing efforts to partner with agencies, especially in education. Google already offers an education service called Think, but the series with GroupM will offer content more closely tied to the agency's services and support. "We have the technology and digital expertise, whereas GroupM focuses on broad-based marketing and media strategy," he said. The CPG event focused on innovating across multiple screens, powering video and building brands, developing virtual gifts for social and capturing brand advocates who share content; mobilizing commerce that connects shoppers to places and products, and keeping apace with digital changes. Today, GroupM supports 13 CPG clients across its portfolio. "I don't think digital has reached its full potential in the CPG market," said Chris Copeland, GroupM Next CEO. Sessions supporting business to business, retail, local, and brands focusing on multiple locations could come next, Copeland said.
Kraft Foods’ Miracle Whip is building on its contrarian “We’re Not For Everyone” campaign with new videos featuring singer Wynonna Judd, actor Jeffrey Tambor (“Arrested Development,” “The Larry Sanders Show”) and comedian Michael Ian Black (“Michael and Michael Have Issues,” “Celebrity Poker Showdown”). The tongue-in-cheek video campaign from Mcgarrybowen, Chicago, dubbed “Keep an Open Mouth,” satirizes the tried-and-true public service announcement approach of celebrities delivering personal appeals for a cause. In this case, the celebs speak to the “injustice” of people being biased against Miracle Whip -- at least when they’ve never tried it -- and urge viewers to take a pledge on the its Facebook page to help end the misperceptions about the brand. The point, of course, is to get more (youngish, in particular) consumers to try the sandwich spread. For example, Black looks soulfully into the camera as he declares that “One out of four people in this country loves the creamy, sweet and tangy flavor of Miracle Whip. Sadly, two out of the other four hate them for it. And one out of those two hasn’t even tried it…Well, we think that one out of two of the original four is being pretty unfair…Let’s declare an end to this injustice, this unfair judgment against a simple sandwich spread. Keep an open mind, and an open mouth. Join the Cause. Sign the Pledge. “ Judd, cradling a jar of Miracle Whip, says: “They’re out there…thousands of them. But we don’t see them. Or worse, look the other way. Turn a cold shoulder. Close our eyes to what’s really going on…won’t you be an angel and help rescue countless others like [her jar]…the worst part…a lot of these naysayers have never even tried it. So do your part -- give a bottle a chance…do your part, and stop the unfair treatment of Miracle Whip.” The videos debuted this week on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Also, starting June 14 and through July, they will be appearing on Alloy Digital’s digital entertainment network (including editorial integration within sites targeting those 25 to 34, plus promos to the network’s Facebook and Twitter fan base), as well as on Hulu and AOL.
Taking pictures isn’t just about capturing the big moments -- it’s also about sharing the smaller ones. In such a spirit, Nikon Inc. has launched the “Small Moments are Huge” online photo gallery, encouraging people (including a number of celebrities) to share their small -- but memorable -- moments. To kick off the effort, Nikon has enlisted its celebrity spokesperson, Ashton Kutcher (along with other celebrities such as Hilary Duff and Derek Hough) to create photo galleries intended to give an inside look into the moments of joy and inspiration in these public figures’ private lives. The photos will all be captured with Nikon 1 J1 cameras. "Nikon encourages people to capture and share memorable moments in their lives, big or small, and with the introduction of the Nikon 1 advanced camera with interchangeable lens system, we're making it easier for consumers to capture these moments through high quality images with confidence," said Lisa Baxt, senior communications manager for Nikon Inc, in a statement. "Through the Small Moments are Huge program, people will get the chance to share the important moments in their lives in an online community where everyday inspiration and fun can be celebrated." In addition, the company is encouraging non-celebrities to add their photos to the gallery on Nikon’s Facebook page throughout 2012. The gallery has been divided into several categories, including Exploration, Accomplishments and Challenges, Love, Humor, Peace & Comfort; Luck; Mischief, and Strength and Power. For every photo uploaded, Nikon has pledged to donate $1 to the Ronald McDonald House of Long Island, with a maximum gift of $50,000.
Jack Daniel’s has unveiled a revamped global site (www.jackdaniels.com). One key change: The site now incorporates responsive design. “It’s been several years since our site was redone, and consumer habits have changed,” Carmen D'Ascendis, director of global marketing for Jack Daniels, tells Marketing Daily. “Just 11% of our site viewers were coming from mobile and tablets, and we wanted to address that.” The responsive site design enables the brand to optimize the user experience based on the device being used, whether desktop/laptop, tablet or mobile, notes Matt Howell, global chief digital officer for the brand’s agency, Arnold Worldwide, which proposed the solution. The site is also being streamlined on other fronts. The former site was translated into 22 languages; the new one –- which will be available in 185 countries -- will be translated into about 12 to 15. (The still-in-development revamped site currently offers seven separate English-language versions for various global markets.) Also, the new site’s structure will enable the brand’s regional markets around the world to feature localized campaign/promotional efforts while leveraging the global site’s traffic, rather than building/maintaining offshoot microsites, as some did in the past. (Overall, the global site’s traffic over the past 12 months averaged about 55% international, 45% U.S., and non-U.S. traffic has been growing at a faster pace, according to D'Ascendis.) The site’s content has also been revamped. The home page now features a scrolling, multimedia-enhanced timeline of key moments throughout the brand’s 137-year history. Other content is now organized into five areas: Whiskey (detailed info on all products in its portfolio); Visit Us (info on touring its Lynchburg, Tenn., distillery, where to stay, etc.); Recipes, Experience (info on Jack Daniels’ current events, including its Zac Brown Band tour); and The Store (an e-commerce area offering a plethora of its branded products, including apparel and home/collectibles items). D'Ascendis notes that mobile users are more likely to access recipes and other functional content on the site, whereas the brand history and other more in-depth content tends to be most accessed by desktop/laptop users. The revamped site’s home-page historical timeline also turns out to be a preview of Jack Daniels’ latest creative direction, in that it prominently features the theme of “independence” -- both in direct relationship to the brand’s history and by offering independence-oriented, inspiring stories of entrepreneurs and well-known “champions.” For example, the timeline includes a link to a “Gentleman Jack” microsite offering a video featuring former NBA star-turned-TV NBA analyst Kenny Smith talking about what inspired him to succeed. Independence has always been one of Jack Daniels’ core values, and is a central concept in the brand’s current, “Here’s to the American Spirit” (or “As American as…”) campaign, says D'Ascendis. But starting in mid-July in markets outside the U.S., and this fall in the U.S., new TV spots and other creative will put an even greater emphasis on independence, he reports. The new ad campaign – along with already-in-progress promotions through the brand’s Facebook presence (in total, its global Facebook pages have about 6 million “likes”, says D'Ascendis ) -- will drive consumers to visit the brand’s site. The campaign’s media elements will vary by country/market. In the U.S., they will include (in addition to TV spots and Facebook promos) banner ads on targeted sites, site takeovers, radio and “giant wallscapes,” according to D'Ascendis. Even before the latest ad campaign has launched, the global site’s revamp is producing lifts in JD’s already-substantial (about 250,000 uniques per month) site traffic, D'Ascendis reports. Jack Daniels’ largest markets are the U.S., U.K., Germany, Australia and France.
Social media activity for all broadcast networks increased substantially in May, the last month of the TV season, versus that of a year ago. ABC earned the greatest gain for any broadcast network. Overall, broadcast TV shows garnered the most social media activity, with 71 million social media interactions in May; cable TV shows were at 40 million. Broadcast TV shows' activity was up 32% from the month before. Fox’s “American Idol” was the easy winner when it came to social media messages of a regularly scheduled TV show -- some 1.4 million for its finale, per social media researcher Trendrr.TV. This was more than three times the previous season, when there were some 450,000. The next-biggest social media TV show finale was “Glee,” with around 400,000 versus around 275,000 the year before. “Grey’s Anatomy” followed at just over 300,000; CW’s “Vampire Diaires” had just under 300,000. But when it came to all reality TV, cable network shows shone during May with VH1’s “Basketball Wives” getting some 425,000 messages, MTV’s “America’s Best Dance Crew” was next at just under 350,000; and Oxygen’s “Bad Girls Club” followed, pulling in just under “Dance Crew." When it comes to social media platforms for TV, Twitter commanded the biggest share at 59% in May for broadcast TV shows. This was followed by Viggle, a growing social media site that caters to TV viewers through incentive programs, at 18% share. GetGlue was next at 14%, followed by Facebook at 9%. When it came to cable TV shows, Twitter's results were even better in May, at a 74% share. Viggle and Facebook each at 10%; and GetGlue had 6%. As it did with Nielsen viewing metrics, Fox scored the best of any network for the month -- some 6.5 million social media messages; ABC was at around 5.7 million; NBC, 3.9 million; CW, 2.1 million; and CBS, 1.8 million. ABC made the greatest gains year-to-year. In the May sweep period of a year ago, it pulled in 1.1 million, which grew fivefold in May 2012. Every network grew exponentially, as TV and social media continue to grow rapidly. Social media as it relates to sports on TV continues to be a big draw. The NBA Playoffs pulled the biggest individual results. With games such as the Los Angeles Lakers-Denver Nuggets; Los Angeles Lakers-Oklahoma City Thunder, and Boston Celtics-Miami Heat each drawing close to 1.8 million messages apiece on specific nights in May. For all its games in May, the Lakers-Nuggets series pulled in the most social media activity -- nearly 4.5 million interactions. The Lakers-Thunder series was next at 3.0 million.
Facebook took the wraps of its App Center Thursday with the aim of providing its more than 900 million users with an easier way of finding games and other applications on the social network. First announced last month, the App Center serves as a central hub for Facebook-integrated apps that are available on Facebook.com as well as through the company’s iOS and Android apps. It will recommend apps based on a user’s interests, apps they have liked before, and the kind of apps their friends have installed. People can also browse apps that friends are using. The App Center launches with some 600 Facebook apps -- mostly games, including Nike+ GPS, Draw Something, JetPack Joyride as well as Pinterest -- that Facebook has selected based on user feedback and other quality-control standards. Each app has its own description page with ratings and screen images and titles are organized by familiar categories like games, entertainment, music, news and sports. While many of the same titles so far could be found in Apple’s App Store or Google Play, what should set the App Center apart -- befitting Facebook -- is its social component. The company can tap its vast trove of social data to offer personalized recommendations that can lead people to explore more apps and discover lesser-known titles they may not otherwise have found. At the same time, Facebook has emphasized that it doesn’t want to compete with other app stores on mobile devices including the dominant ones run by Apple and Google. Instead, it’s sending users to other app markets to download apps. Indeed, the company pointed out it drove 83 million users to the App Store directly from the social networking site in May. It also noted that seven of the top 10-grossing iOS apps and six of the top 10 Android apps are integrated with Facebook. The App Center is rolling out to U.S. Facebook users starting Thursday night, and will be available to everyone in the coming weeks. The new app repository comes on the heels of Facebook rolling out carrier-based billing for mobile in-app payments using Facebook Credits. Taken together, the two steps could help to drive more mobile revenue as it pushes to ramp up monetization of its 500 million mobile users worldwide.
Google and digital agency GroupM Next launched a series of events Thursday to focus on specific markets and verticals. Exclusive to the agency's clients, the Spark day sessions will explore ideas on technology, branding and making the Web and mobile work for large companies. The hope is to start more conversations leading to innovations. The first event -- Spark: CPG -- took place in New York with attendees from nine consumer product goods companies. Aside from discussions led by Google and GroupM Next execs, contributors from Kantar, Buzzfeed and Amazon joined in to share insights, research and information on opportunities. The hope is that Spark will provide brands with insights and education they wouldn’t have elsewhere. Torrence Boone, managing director of agency business development at Google, said the series fits in line with Google's ongoing efforts to partner with agencies, especially in education. Google already offers an education service called Think, but the series with GroupM will offer content more closely tied to the agency's services and support. "We have the technology and digital expertise, whereas GroupM focuses on broad-based marketing and media strategy," he said. The CPG event focused on innovating across multiple screens, powering video and building brands, developing virtual gifts for social and capturing brand advocates who share content; mobilizing commerce that connects shoppers to places and products, and keeping apace with digital changes. Today, GroupM supports 13 CPG clients across its portfolio. "I don't think digital has reached its full potential in the CPG market," said Chris Copeland, GroupM Next CEO. Sessions supporting business to business, retail, local, and brands focusing on multiple locations could come next, Copeland said.
Kraft Foods’ Miracle Whip is building on its contrarian “We’re Not For Everyone” campaign with new videos featuring singer Wynonna Judd, actor Jeffrey Tambor (“Arrested Development,” “The Larry Sanders Show”) and comedian Michael Ian Black (“Michael and Michael Have Issues,” “Celebrity Poker Showdown”). The tongue-in-cheek video campaign from Mcgarrybowen, Chicago, dubbed “Keep an Open Mouth,” satirizes the tried-and-true public service announcement approach of celebrities delivering personal appeals for a cause. In this case, the celebs speak to the “injustice” of people being biased against Miracle Whip -- at least when they’ve never tried it -- and urge viewers to take a pledge on the its Facebook page to help end the misperceptions about the brand. The point, of course, is to get more (youngish, in particular) consumers to try the sandwich spread. For example, Black looks soulfully into the camera as he declares that “One out of four people in this country loves the creamy, sweet and tangy flavor of Miracle Whip. Sadly, two out of the other four hate them for it. And one out of those two hasn’t even tried it…Well, we think that one out of two of the original four is being pretty unfair…Let’s declare an end to this injustice, this unfair judgment against a simple sandwich spread. Keep an open mind, and an open mouth. Join the Cause. Sign the Pledge. “ Judd, cradling a jar of Miracle Whip, says: “They’re out there…thousands of them. But we don’t see them. Or worse, look the other way. Turn a cold shoulder. Close our eyes to what’s really going on…won’t you be an angel and help rescue countless others like [her jar]…the worst part…a lot of these naysayers have never even tried it. So do your part -- give a bottle a chance…do your part, and stop the unfair treatment of Miracle Whip.” The videos debuted this week on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Also, starting June 14 and through July, they will be appearing on Alloy Digital’s digital entertainment network (including editorial integration within sites targeting those 25 to 34, plus promos to the network’s Facebook and Twitter fan base), as well as on Hulu and AOL.
Taking pictures isn’t just about capturing the big moments -- it’s also about sharing the smaller ones. In such a spirit, Nikon Inc. has launched the “Small Moments are Huge” online photo gallery, encouraging people (including a number of celebrities) to share their small -- but memorable -- moments. To kick off the effort, Nikon has enlisted its celebrity spokesperson, Ashton Kutcher (along with other celebrities such as Hilary Duff and Derek Hough) to create photo galleries intended to give an inside look into the moments of joy and inspiration in these public figures’ private lives. The photos will all be captured with Nikon 1 J1 cameras. "Nikon encourages people to capture and share memorable moments in their lives, big or small, and with the introduction of the Nikon 1 advanced camera with interchangeable lens system, we're making it easier for consumers to capture these moments through high quality images with confidence," said Lisa Baxt, senior communications manager for Nikon Inc, in a statement. "Through the Small Moments are Huge program, people will get the chance to share the important moments in their lives in an online community where everyday inspiration and fun can be celebrated." In addition, the company is encouraging non-celebrities to add their photos to the gallery on Nikon’s Facebook page throughout 2012. The gallery has been divided into several categories, including Exploration, Accomplishments and Challenges, Love, Humor, Peace & Comfort; Luck; Mischief, and Strength and Power. For every photo uploaded, Nikon has pledged to donate $1 to the Ronald McDonald House of Long Island, with a maximum gift of $50,000.
Jack Daniel’s has unveiled a revamped global site (www.jackdaniels.com). One key change: The site now incorporates responsive design. “It’s been several years since our site was redone, and consumer habits have changed,” Carmen D'Ascendis, director of global marketing for Jack Daniels, tells Marketing Daily. “Just 11% of our site viewers were coming from mobile and tablets, and we wanted to address that.” The responsive site design enables the brand to optimize the user experience based on the device being used, whether desktop/laptop, tablet or mobile, notes Matt Howell, global chief digital officer for the brand’s agency, Arnold Worldwide, which proposed the solution. The site is also being streamlined on other fronts. The former site was translated into 22 languages; the new one –- which will be available in 185 countries -- will be translated into about 12 to 15. (The still-in-development revamped site currently offers seven separate English-language versions for various global markets.) Also, the new site’s structure will enable the brand’s regional markets around the world to feature localized campaign/promotional efforts while leveraging the global site’s traffic, rather than building/maintaining offshoot microsites, as some did in the past. (Overall, the global site’s traffic over the past 12 months averaged about 55% international, 45% U.S., and non-U.S. traffic has been growing at a faster pace, according to D'Ascendis.) The site’s content has also been revamped. The home page now features a scrolling, multimedia-enhanced timeline of key moments throughout the brand’s 137-year history. Other content is now organized into five areas: Whiskey (detailed info on all products in its portfolio); Visit Us (info on touring its Lynchburg, Tenn., distillery, where to stay, etc.); Recipes, Experience (info on Jack Daniels’ current events, including its Zac Brown Band tour); and The Store (an e-commerce area offering a plethora of its branded products, including apparel and home/collectibles items). D'Ascendis notes that mobile users are more likely to access recipes and other functional content on the site, whereas the brand history and other more in-depth content tends to be most accessed by desktop/laptop users. The revamped site’s home-page historical timeline also turns out to be a preview of Jack Daniels’ latest creative direction, in that it prominently features the theme of “independence” -- both in direct relationship to the brand’s history and by offering independence-oriented, inspiring stories of entrepreneurs and well-known “champions.” For example, the timeline includes a link to a “Gentleman Jack” microsite offering a video featuring former NBA star-turned-TV NBA analyst Kenny Smith talking about what inspired him to succeed. Independence has always been one of Jack Daniels’ core values, and is a central concept in the brand’s current, “Here’s to the American Spirit” (or “As American as…”) campaign, says D'Ascendis. But starting in mid-July in markets outside the U.S., and this fall in the U.S., new TV spots and other creative will put an even greater emphasis on independence, he reports. The new ad campaign – along with already-in-progress promotions through the brand’s Facebook presence (in total, its global Facebook pages have about 6 million “likes”, says D'Ascendis ) -- will drive consumers to visit the brand’s site. The campaign’s media elements will vary by country/market. In the U.S., they will include (in addition to TV spots and Facebook promos) banner ads on targeted sites, site takeovers, radio and “giant wallscapes,” according to D'Ascendis. Even before the latest ad campaign has launched, the global site’s revamp is producing lifts in JD’s already-substantial (about 250,000 uniques per month) site traffic, D'Ascendis reports. Jack Daniels’ largest markets are the U.S., U.K., Germany, Australia and France.
Here’s more proof that video and social media are growing ever more inextricably linked. Turner Broadcasting tapped six tech startups for a 12-week incubator program this summer, and many of those companies include social and video components. That’s not surprising -- given that Turner is, of course, in the TV and video business. Nevertheless, we can follow along and track their success to see if Turner is good at making bets on the next big thing -- companies that may shape the future of media via their work in social TV and transmedia storytelling. Each company receives one-on-one mentorship with TV and film execs from Turner, HBO and Time Warner as well as the chance to “commercialize their business to Turner’s entertainment, news, sports and animation networks,” Turner said. Here are the companies:
When the movie ”Kids” came out in 1995, it terrified me. Not because Larry Clark’s portrayal of a group of kids doing drugs and having unprotected sex was so disturbing, but because it was so easy to imagine myself hanging out with them. I grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. I went to a “good” school. And, like kids everywhere since the dawn of time, we experimented. We didn’t always make smart choices. We often didn’t understand the implications of our actions. By and large, the kids I hung out with weren’t as bad as Clark’s fictional bunch, but seeing us reflected in them wasn’t much of a stretch. It was more of an I-got-off-easy response, a, “Wow, thank goodness I turned left down the hall instead of right on the first day of school.” That feeling -- the feeling that the events of your life so often hinge on a twist of fate rather than on your upbringing or your education or your intelligence -- raised its disconcerting head again this week, when a friend posted a link to Amos Kamil’s New York Times article ”The Horace Mann School’s Secret History of Sexual Abuse.” Over 13 pages, Kamil shares a harrowing series of abuses from his time at Horace Mann in the late ‘70s/early ‘80s. They are not my stories. It was not my experience. But that’s because of luck, not skill or strength. Horace Mann is a neighboring high school, reasonably similar to my own, Riverdale. Riverdale, in fact, gets a mention from Kamil; in April this year, a math teacher there was arrested for having oral sex with a 16-year-old student. Last week, I ran a social media workshop for a school in New Zealand. Predictably and understandably, administrators are concerned for the safety of their students. “What about cyber-bullying?” one asked. “What about grooming?” Fair questions, indeed; we fear the new. But while, on the one hand, social media opens kids up to new risks, the democratization of communication also offers new tools to redress power imbalances and seek justice. Kamil writes: “Today, if faculty members disappeared from campus under suspicious circumstances or if rumors were swirling about predatory teachers, students would be texting about it in real time. Outraged parents would be organizing into networks and distributing action plans.” As citizens, we are relying less on formal structures of authority and more on our own ability to effect change. If there is one thing social media has taught us, it’s that we don’t need anyone’s permission to organize a revolution. Obviously, social media and texting haven’t eradicated the sexual abuse of children; the Riverdale story shows that. But if they’ve made it even slightly easier to seek swift and public justice, they’ve performed a public service. When the administrators at my workshop asked me about online predators, I hadn’t yet read the Horace Mann article, but I told them about “Kids” -- and how there but for the grace go I. We all want to protect children, I said, but we can never control the world. All we can do is teach kids how to make good decisions and safe mistakes, give them tools to handle the inevitable ugliness the world will throw at them, and then hope like hell that the vagaries of happenstance and circumstance don’t exceed their ability to cope. My heart breaks for anyone who has ever suffered from abuse. My hope is that as the tools that empower us evolve, so too do we. We obviously have a lot of room for improvement.
If it weren’t for what happened in Wisconsin, or the latest headlines in the Greek tragedy, social media probably would have led the news in the category of doom-and-gloom this week. A sampling: 1. Facebook Will Disappear by 2020, Analyst Says 2. LinkedIn Confirms That Passwords Stolen, Leaked by Hacker (the hacker behind it also allegedly did the same with 1.5 million eHarmony passwords -- but who’s counting?) 3. Is Social Media Killing You? TrekDesk & BodyMedia Offer Prevention through Motion and Metrics Wow, this social media thing is so over, ain’t it? As I cogitate over what to change my LinkedIn password to, begin to imagine a World Without Facebook, and wonder whether, like that last story says, I am being slowly “rendered immobile” by my computer use, I can’t help but acknowledge that the social media backlash has begun. Given that’s the case, the best thing we can do is not run screaming from the building -- even if that would benefit the cardiovascular health that apparently is being so compromised by social media. Social media enthusiasts, it’s time to remain calm and keep a level head. As to what caused this, I lay it firmly at the feet of the Facebook IPO, while giving a hat tip to General Motors. Frankly, it was the “Facebook Will Disappear” headline that got me the most. Much as I’ve gone on in this space about the immaturity of Facebook’s business model, this struck me as, at best, a complete misread of Facebook -- and, at worst, a desperate grab for notoriety. The analyst in question, Ironfire Capital’s Eric Jackson, appeared on CNBC’s "Squawk Box" the other day and compared Facebook to deadbeats like Yahoo and Myspace (and even Google!), without seeming to acknowledge the underpinnings that make Facebook different from its predecessors. Jackson had already opined about this in a Forbes post in April, where he said: “The bottom line is that the next 5 – 8 years could be incredibly dynamic. It’s possible that both Google and Facebook could be shells of their current selves – or gone entirely.” Jackson’s premise is that each new iteration of digital -- from portals, to search, to social, and, now, to mobile -- has resulted in companies that can’t transfer their success to the next iteration. Take Google and its attempts to build a social strategy, or monetize mobile, to the same extent it’s been able to on the desktop. But the essential piece that Jackson misses when it comes to Facebook is switching costs. As a user, the “cost” of me switching to another search engine, or portal, or a mobile app that serves those functions, is close to zero. Those kinds of sites, for the most part, are one-to-one experiences between the user and the property. Facebook is not like that. While it proudly points to its 900 million users, that number, in fact, says a lot less about Facebook than the same metric applied to other kinds of sites, and predecessor social networks that have never reached the same number of users. Those 900 million users are, of course, interconnected. Therefore, the switching costs of finding another, comparable service are formidable. It’s akin to moving to the next state over, and asking all of your friends to come with you. It would take a long time for that to happen, if ever. The closest comparison you can make is to Myspace, but at its height, it still only had somewhat over 100 million users. Myspace never really got past early adolescence; Facebook is far more mature. So, to get back to Jackson’s theory, he predicts that Facebook won’t crack mobile, which is right, except for one thing: it already has cracked the most important part of it, which is demonstrating that consumers use Facebook on their mobile devices. If fully half of your users access your platform from a mobile device in a given month, you’ve got something to work with. And, by the way, it’s not as though Facebook is alone in not having figured out mobile; just ask almost any company that isn’t either a carrier or a device maker. Which brings me to another interesting headline, from Wednesday: Mobile Ad Problem? Not at Twitter, Says Dick Costolo In fact, when pushed by a CNBC reporter, Jackson backed off his headline-making prediction about Facebook. He said: "In five to eight years they are going to disappear in the way that Yahoo has disappeared. … it's still profitable, still has 13,000 employees working for it, but it's 10 percent of the value that it was at the height of 2000. For all intents and purposes, it's disappeared." Except to all the people who use it, I guess. So, I repeat: as the social media backlash begins, remain calm and keep a level head. A lot of people around you won’t.