You might be in it. But if you’re not, this growing social network that goes by the saying, “Show, don’t tell,” is an interesting social experiment that is taking the Americans by storm. Will this be the next “Facebook?” Perhaps not. But as we hit a plateau in the web 2.0 (we’re still at that stage?!), we will see more social networks breaking into smaller communities.
Why?
Human nature dictates that we will soon stick with people who have similar interests. Also, there’s more discussion if there are only a few of you. In Path, the mobile app that is also attracting a smaller crowd (including me), the “smallness” aspect of it attracts me a lot because I can only comprehend so much now. There’s too much noise (and spam).
I’m new to Pinterest and have not been actively “pinning” my interest just yet. I am still a tourist. But by the looks of it, this service seems designed for women. Just look at the “most popular” section, it’s heavy on women’s interest. And oh, did I say that you need to be invited to be in Pinterest?
So, yeah, at this point, I still need to figure out what would make me pin more.
More on this as I dive into another social network.
Last year, my daily news habit involved turning on the television, then while that’s on, I grabbed my Blackberry and I started wading through Twitter.
Today, a lot has changed thanks to Apple and an app called Zite.
This morning, I woke up with tons of thoughts in my head (what’s keeping me awake these days is another topic altogether). So what do you do when you’re up early? Exercise? Nah, perhaps not this time. Sleep more! Yes, I can do that. But as thoughts started percolating into ideas–I found myself grabbing my iPhone 4s. I tapped (we no longer click with a mouse these days too!) my News app folder, and fired off Zite.
To those unfamiliar with this mobile app (and I’ve had this argument before that apps will increasingly become the next good thing that happened to mobile), Zite is a mobile app aggregator, which wades through the web and “curates” content for you, based on categories or topics you’ve chosen. In short, this is now my one-stop for news that I want, and need. As one journo told me in a conversation, it’s my daily dose of news.
As you can see, our daily news habits are changing with technology. I was born in an analog world. I always tell my class that they’re lucky to be in an era where information is abundant–in fact, there’s too much information that we now need to find the best from all the grime.
Enter “Social curation” or social content and apps like Flipboard and Zite. These developments are riding on the idea that our info-overloaded society needs help in identifying content that we can share, save, tweet, copy, and e-mail to friends and peers. Today, Facebook serves this purpose somehow, but in my case, this social network is that, a distribution network + an online community that serves a different purpose.
We are turning to “smaller” social networks and even mobile apps to help us make sense of the world. This is both a good and bad thing. This talk from Ted Talks, for one, warns of a world where “filter bubbles” will threaten discovery of information that is also as important as the one we’re being served in a digital platter.
But back to the point. There’s debate now on whether journalism in an online world should serve the purpose of a bigger mass (it’s massive than TV or radio) or should focus on churning quality stories. It’s age-old rule of ”less is more,” online publishers should be focusing more on churning out quality stories instead of producing commodity news.
In an ideal world, 100 blogs will translate to more page views than one single, and well-researched report. For an online publisher that thrives on pushing numbers up and attracting audience, that’s good news. But in reality, 100 blogs don’t necessarily translate to more page views or even more readers. How much stories do you think visitors to your website read?
Another question, do you think they read everything on your site? Answer: no. They scan and pick what they want, then move on. If you can catch their attention in 6 seconds, then you’re making a lot progress. So it’s such a tricky world. And because the web is hyperlinked, it’s easy to jump from one page to another–so if there’s any good gauge of online engagement, it is time-spent and PV/UU, roughly translated as “how many pages do you view as a reader.”
To understand how news websites are evolving these days based on the evolving habits of readers, you can start with your own as anecdotal evidence. It’s clear, the next battlefield –and it has been for sometime now–is the mobile space. How are news organizations responding to apps like Zite and Flipboard?
Of course, all these are moot if you really care about your readers. As journalists, we’re all molded with a higher calling– to deliver the truth and worldview that machines and algorithms cannot do. Yes, we do need to make sense of the world with technology. But we also need people, trained ones, to help you understand the world. These people are hard to find. They don’t grow on trees! They’re not out there for the picking. The skills that we need are changing, that we ourselves need to upgrade fast to keep up.
To end, I found this interesting but anonymous quote:
Journalism is an art, not science. Sure, a machine or an algorithm can be coded to do things in a certain way, but unless it has some true intelligence and a taste for artistic senses, it always possess only the qualities of a MACHINE. Which are pretty much redundant. It’s not the 99% of the time of recycled material that matters. It’s that 1% of innovation sparks that come and totally flip a story around. Unless machines think like people, they will always be machines. And people will always have the POTENTIAL of turning out better output.
Having been working for an online medium for years, it has always been a challenge to deliver what your audience wants versus what they need. There have been debates over these two opposing points. One delves on the philosophical, which has served as the guiding principle of journalism. The other dives into data mining, which aims to turn behavior into statistics, dubbed as PVs, UUs, and TS.
As journalists, we have been trained to know what our audience wants. Years of experience–hopefully backed by good data and a lot of sleepless nights–you’re now able to pinpoint with accuracy what works, what doesn’t. It’s “sixth sense” that you embrace and later this serves as a guiding light when chasing stories, writing headlines and choosing photos. To many, it’s called the “Nose for News.”
Today, this still applies. But this type of “gut” thinking can sometimes lead to poor results. Thus, we now have seen our jobs as journalists evolve. We have to evolve or else, we suffer the same fate as dinosaurs.
So what is expected of a journalist working in a digital environment. A lot. Not only are you expected to write, you also have to be immersed in social and digital media. You have to understand the basics of the web–not just HTML, but it helps if you have a grasp of the basic concepts.
You also need to know how to look at numbers and spot trends, behavior and even insights that can help you decide what to do the next day. Perhaps, it is only now that many journalists who write for an online medium are obsessed with numbers–not the pay, but the volume of comments they get, the number of shares on social network, and the amount of retweets.
Today’s digital journos are also starting to explore other devices to deliver news in different forms, shape, size and voice.
Audience is still top of mind, but at the same breath, so is feedback and community management. There’s so much to do, but little time is available.
Also, tools are now available to everyone. And it is painful that amateurs have better handle of these technologies than journos.
There is also a shift in how we deal with audience. Check out this Poynter Institute column on how a journalist responded to a hate tweet.
There are no easy answers to my questions. There are also no standard skills required when you work in a digital media environment. The key trait here is humility. No amount of journ courses and books will amount to immersing yourself in the medium. The lessons you learn from doing is priceless–including the mistakes that you will commit along the way.
That’s why we blog. That’s why we continue to evolve. That’s why you listen more to your audience. That’s why we break the rules and figure out ways to disrupt the status quo. That’s why we chase big ideas, but still grounding ourselves on reality.
Yahoo! Southeast Asia is looking for a news producer based in the Philippines. This candidate must have at least 5 years of experience in covering Philippine politics and other hard news-related topics, and must be web savvy and active in social networks. The candidate must also have an experience in commissioning content and managing a group of contributors. The candidate will report to the Yahoo! Southeast Asia country editor for the Philippines.
The News Producer reports to the Yahoo! Philippines country editor and generally runs the daily operations of the Yahoo! news property. The producer is expected to do the following:
1. Run the daily operations of the news property, which includes writing, editing, curating and publishing content from various sources
2. Develop “special coverage” sections under News and commission stories to contributors
3. Manage a group of bloggers and contributors
4. Manage and curate social content
5. Develop web-based “special events” targeting a younger audience
6. Onboard fresh, young-oriented content
Candidate must also be able to:
1. Work with a team of various interests
2. Make and own decisions
3. Network with younger audience and mentor younger contributors
4. Have fun at work
If you’re interested, send your CV to eoliva@yahoo-inc.com or talberto@yahoo-inc.com and please include a cover letter stating your interest in this post. Also, please include links to sample of works (preferably online) and references.
Yahoo! Southeast Asia is looking for a sports editor based in the Philippines. This candidate must have at least 5 years of experience in sports journalism, must be web savvy. The candidate must also have an experience in commissioning content and managing a group of contributors and must be active in social networks. The candidate will report the Yahoo! Southeast Asia country editor for the Philippines.
The candidate is also expected to do the following:
1. Run the daily operations of a sports property, which includes editing and writing content
2. Curate content from existing sources and publish them
3. Develop “special coverage” sections and commission content
4. Manage a group of bloggers and contributors
5. Manage and curate social content
6. Develop web-based “special sports” events targeting a younger audience
7. Onboard fresh, young-oriented content
Candidate must also be able to:
1. Work with a team of various interests
2. Make and own decisions
3. Network with younger audience and mentor younger contributors
4. Have fun at work
If you’re interested, send your CV to eoliva@yahoo-inc.com and please include a cover letter stating your interest in this post. Also, please include links to sample of works (preferably online) and references.
You usually start a 2012 list at the start of the year. But considering that I now rarely have time to sit down and write for this blog, am going to do this now.
Okay, what has happened in 2011? A lot. Last year was full of life lessons. It was a roller coaster ride that ended with a high note in December. But what kept me going is my family who is always there to remind me that they are the reason why we work so hard. As a father to two amazing daughters (one is a geek, the other is just like her mother ), you need to find ways to keep their attention from straying. Not to say that they are often distracted by computer games. They are quite a handful sometimes. But as my friends say, keep them close now. Next time, they will feel awkward spending time with you as they grow older.
Work in 2011 was amazingly difficult. But the lessons you learn from doing new stuff is something very valuable. Of course, you’ve seen good people come and go. But many have become good friends–and in this world of social networks–it’s not hard missing them.
Now, 2012. I believe this year is a turning point for me. A lot has changed–my life, my work, my interests. I still get to play my guitar from time to time. But I also have been spending Saturdays teaching students about what I do. (Most of the lessons I share, I draw it from experience). Waking up early in the morning to give young minds a piece of your mind is no cakewalk. But this offers an opportunity for me to reflect on what I have done, where I have been, and where I am now. From that, you have better appreciation of your life.
Back to 2012 and my list. So here we go. These are statements I have written in my whiteboard at work and I’m keeping them close and handy.
1. Always provide context. As my current mentor and boss would often tell me, you have to over communicate. Not everyone will be able to get your message in one go. If it needs be, repetition is key to getting understood. It is also the best tool in teaching and learning. That’s why most musicians would say the key to being best at your craft is practice, practice, and practice.
2. Own it. Don’t hesitate. Own it. Make a decision. If it’s a bad one, then apologize. Try again. It’s okay to make mistakes. What’s more important is you learn from them. So at the start of the year, the word “post-mortem” is right up there.
3. Be Paranoid. Remember this saying, “Only the Paranoids Survive.” That’s an Intel mantra that remains true especially in a world that is fast-changing. But don’t get me wrong. You also have to pace yourself. But always keep in mind, that complacency will bring you nothing but trouble.
4. Exercise, exercise, exercise. I couldn’t just stress that enough. Yesterday, I just realized that the old folks that I knew when I was a child are dying one by one. Seems morbid, but yes, that’s gonna happen soon if you don’t take care of your health.
5. Travel with the family. We have not been traveling so much last year. So this year, we’re finally going to do it more, even it only involves driving to a nearby park or museum.
6. Focus. I tend to juggle a lot of things in the air. So this year, I will focus on accomplishing a few great things. I have 3 in mind. And I won’t stop until I become great at it. That’s how I will rock and roll.
7. Giveaway books. Yes, I have accumulated a lot. I need to give them away soon. E-readers were invented to keep the trees.
8. Look for a bigger place. Convenience has its disadvantages. Yes, I’m nearer my workplace but I’m living in a cramped apartment. My home which is by far spacious, I sorely miss.
9. Save and get rid of liabilities. Yes, this is quite simple, but not an easy task. First target: credit card expenses should be at a low. Spend cash than getting credits. Save the credits for bigger expenses. (Read: don’t buy too many apps).
10. Be closer to my creator. I have been away too long.
You might be in it. But if you’re not, this growing social network that goes by the saying, “Show, don’t tell,” is an interesting social experiment that is taking the Americans by storm. Will this be the next “Facebook?” Perhaps not. But as we hit a plateau in the web 2.0 (we’re still at that stage?!), we will see more social networks breaking into smaller communities.
), you need to find ways to keep their attention from straying. Not to say that they are often distracted by computer games. They are quite a handful sometimes. But as my friends say, keep them close now. Next time, they will feel awkward spending time with you as they grow older.
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