Lifestreams Channel Online Activity, Creating Rivers of Relevance

Lifestreams are back in the spotlight again thanks to the most recent meme started by Steve Rubel, except this time, the popularity of flow, aka presence applications, such as Twitter, Pownce, Jaiku, and Tumblr is much greater and expansive than the last time the topic circulated the blogosphere.



As the idea starts to move along the bell curve, people are realizing the potential for aggregating information and broadcasting a focused channel of relevant content - on both sides of the pipe.

I'm surprised however, that several folks new to the subject are actually taking or accepting credit for being among the first to launch dedicated lifestreams. The truth is that lifestreams aren't new at all. I've been writing about lifestreams and various platforms since 2006 and launched two separate experiments on Jaiku and Tumblr in early '07, and I'm sure there are other edglings who can document their evolution well before that.

Back in February 2007, Emily Chang explored a series of options for manually creating a solution for aggregating content into one data river, "After a year and a half of using social applications heavily, I recently had to revisit the plan to aggregate all my activity into one data stream... kept wishing I could look at all my social activity from 2006 in context: time, date, type of activity, location, memory, information interest, and so on. What was I bookmarking, blogging about, listening to, going to, and thinking about? I still had the urge to have an information and online activity mash-up that would allow me to discover my own patterns and to share my activity across the web in one chronological stream of data"

Her data stream is here.



Jeremy Keith wrote about "Streaming His Life Away" in November 2006, which also served as inspiration to Emily, "I’ve mocked up my own little life stream, tracking my Twitter, Flickr, Del.icio.us, Last.fm, and blog posts. It’s a quick’n’dirty script that isn’t doing any caching. The important thing is that it’s keeping the context of the permalinks (song, link, photo, or blog post) and displaying them ordered by date and time."

Stowe Boyd had this to say about data streams in response to Emily's post, "...This traffic flow -- made more liquid by RSS and instant messaging style real-time messaging -- is the primary dynamic that I believe we will see in all future social apps. My sense is that small advances like Emily's single stream represent the inchoate and pent-up need for a traffic and flow model to crystallize, and change the web, fundamentally."

The difference today, however, is that the advantages of lifestreams are now more apparent in today's social economy, setting the stage for adoption among the early market majority. Tools are readily available today that can create dedicated lifestreams with zero programming required.

RSS is the riverbed for data streams. It enables people to not only subscribe to content, but also to common topics, ideas, and interests. And, microblogs aka flow applications, are the new platforms that facilitate the broadcast of these streams by anyone, for everyone.

Lifestreaming, in essence, is a site dedicated to collecting and publishing online activity - all in one place. In its most basic definition, lifestreams are information aggregators that funnel RSS feeds to create a concentrated river, stream, or flow of life represented through content.


(c) Brian Solis

But it's much more than narcissism and the belief that our thoughts and activities are so important that we are required to publish everything we do for you to follow.

This is about communication. It's about people staying connected with each other in new ways that are radically different, but no less important, than the tools we used to keep in touch in the past. Remember, tools change...people don't.

This is an extension of traditional one-to-one conversations allowing people to become their own information broadcast networks.


My lifestream on Jaiku

As discussed by several people over the last year, flow applications are also representative of something much more powerful than simple lifestreams.

The same technology can also create channels that broadcast ideas, topics, key words, tags, etc., creating a variety of streams that build channels around clusters of relevant information.

Steven Hodson of WinExtra is on the right track in his discussion on Ideastreams, "Currently tags are used as a link back to the Technorati service which allows you to see what other blogs out there might be using the same tag as a way to identify their posts...But they could very well form the basis of idea streaming if they were fully developed into a universal way to identify not just the topic or content of a post but also ideas or concepts brought about by the posts."

Tags are one way to do it right now, however the folksonomy of tagging is far from perfect. Not everybody tags things the same way and in some cases many tag things incorrectly (which is an entirely different subject for another time).

There's nothing stopping any person from creating topical or idea channels based on the power of people and day-to-day content review. For example, I am constantly reading about Social Media and therefore I could create and publish an idea or data stream based on the interesting things I find in social networks, blogs, and other online venues through a variety of social tools that will then send the filtered content to my platform of choice.

And aside from ideas, there are also incredible opportunities for data streams to connect people and communities together with flow.

For example, there are more and more companies, non profits, politicians, artists, and organizations participating in the world of Social Media everyday. They could each greatly benefit from collecting and broadcasting focused and comprehensive data streams to share activity with their community in ways that weren't before possible.

The most exciting thing here is that lifestreams are gaining traction, but they are just the start. The capabilities and implications of lifestreams and data streams are wide and varied, left only to the imagination and vision of people to define and build. The evolution of these streams will continue to change, enhance, and extend how people communicate with other people. And, it allows everyone to share so much more than just words. Lifestreams and data streams are windows into the activity, communities, ideas, content, beliefs, passions, words, thoughts, and topics that help define who we are.

Recent posts on lifestreams:

Rich Mahn

Dan York

Josh Bancroft

David Armano

Rex Hammock

Fred Wilson

Click here to see a larger view of each screen shot.

For more on Tumblr and tumbelogs read my previous post at PR 2.0.

Connect on Twitter, Jaiku, Pownce or Facebook.

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Social Media is About Sociology Not Technology

The future of communications introduces sociology into the marketing strategy. Technology is just that, technology. The tools will change. The networks will evolve. Mediums for distributing content will grow. The tools will change, but in most cases, people don't.

In the era of the attention crash and social network fatigue, it is absolutely critical that we step back to realize that we are the communication bridge between companies and people. However, we also must realize that in the era of social media, people also have amplified voices and are now a powerful channel of peer-to-peer influence - for better or for worse.

The future of marketing integrates traditional and social tools, connected by successful, ongoing relationships with media, influencers, and people. That's right...it's about relationships and it's about people. Relationships serve as the foundation for everything, whether its traditional or new media, and the constant reminder that we're reaching people, and not audiences, will keep us on a path to relevance.

The tools we use will evolve and multiply over time; some will win, some will thrive and others will fly under the radar (but they're still important). However, it is imperative that we not let the tools overwhelm us, or on the other side of the coin, not underestimate them - especially so soon out of the gate.

Almost daily I hear, "There are so many tools out there that I don't even know where to jump in" and "I don't get why any of this matters, maybe I'm just too old."

This is a classic representation of the gap in how different generations communicate. First, understand that there will be no shortage of tools lunging into the market. To bystanders, it will only become daunting. Younger generations are already communicating with each other though social networks and social tools, and once properly guided, have an advantage for joining more strategic conversations online. However, hope is not lost for the rest of us. We just have extra work to do in order to catch up.

Why? Because how we do things today is long overdue for a complete overhaul and social media is only forcing the evolution that should have happened long before. Whether you jump on board or not, evolution will happen without you. And, not everyone will survive the transition...which is a good thing for our industry.

But let me remind you, social networks are defined by the people within them. In turn, each network flourishes as its own island, and over time, a somewhat impenetrable culture emerges - which helps to insure a more meaningful and commercial-free experience among its residents. Now, of course networks need to sustain themselves through revenue, and many sell advertising. But advertising is different than direct marketing.

Transparent and genuine participation is now a very effective form of marketing, without the snake oil.

The bottom line is that we have to understand the sociology of social networks before we can either write them off as a useless tool or more importantly, participate in them.

OK, so you decide to jump in. Well, STOP. Underestimating social networks is also very dangerous. I've already witnessed far too many companies attempting to spark conversations by "marketing" to "audiences" through "messages" within social networks, insulting everyone they try to reach along the way. It can have disastrous consequences to you and the brand your represent.

The conversations that drive and define Social Media require a genuine and participatory approach. Just because you have the latest tools to reach people, or have played around with them, doesn’t mean you can throw the same old marketing at them. And, it doesn't qualify you to attempt to do so without first thinking about why and how, as it relates to the people you're trying to reach..

Today, conversations are markets and markets are conversations. And the forums for these conversation cultivate a tight, unswerving and mostly unforgiving community and culture. Participation requires observation in order to understand the the sociological landscape and the dynamics that define each community. They are after all, populated by people, not audiences.

The difference is that by listening, reading, and participating, corporate marketing will be smarter and more approachable than ever before. This is how we humanize brands, create loyalty, and earn customer’s business.

Yes, there are many networks. Yes, they're thinning our attention. And, yes, this is the new form of media and influence, and it is transforming corporate communications, traditional media, and how people communicate with each other.

The future of communications is already upon us. Get used to it.

Connect on Twitter, Jaiku, Pownce or Facebook.

For more on the subject, visit Now Is Gone.

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Channels Will Improve the Twitter Experience

I've been following Chris Messina's and Stowe Boyd's discussion on creating pseudo channels for Twitter. I find this extremely interesting because the volume of users and tweets are well beyond overwhelming it it makes it difficult to track, discover, and participate in relevant and interesting conversations.



Messina and Boyd aren't talking about groups as we know them in other social networks per se, but more along the lines of parsing information to specific assemblies of people around a common topic. This is sort of along he same track as Channels on Jaiku, but more of a user-driven magnifying glass into conversations specific to communities.






As Chris points out, we should get the vocabulary clear before moving forward with this discussion (cut and paste from Messina's post).

Stephanie Booth:
- “groups” or “shared-interest groups” (”Flickr-groups”)
- “groupings” (”ad hoc assemblages of people with similar interests” — Stowe Boyd)
- “contact groups” (organising my contacts)

Brian Oberkirch:
...we are talking about 3 kinds of groups: public groups you ‘join’ a la FB groups. Ad hoc groups users control whether via grouping management (Pownce) or tagging. And then we have context specific groups based on location (@ South Park, anyone want to walk to Philz?).

Messina calls them channels. Stowe Boyd calls them groupings. Both agree on Hash Tags (#this isahashtagexample). Whatever we call it, Twitter's evolution is rampant and the noise will only increase to a deafening level. The ability to have instant access or simply listen to specific conversations, information or people is critical and an important next step. It's no longer related to answering a specific question, "what are you doing?" The edglings have pushed the applications for Twitter so far forward that Twittersphere aka Twittosphere has outgrown its simplicity.

Messina points out, "...I’ve realized is that this “channel” concept meets many of the aggregate desires expressed in various “Groups for Twitter” discussions while not inheriting a lot of the unnecessary management cruft that most group systems seem to suffer from, it is easily accessible adapting current Twitter syntax and convention, it’s easy to learn and lightweight, it’s very flexible and entirely folksonomic and works with people’s current behaviors, rather than forcing anyone to learn anything radically new."

Boyd observes, "My sense is that tags in Twitter, as elsewhere, define shared experience of some kind, involving all those using the tag. And the use can be either actively putting a hash tag (like "#hashtag") into a tweet, or more passively opting to follow a stream of tweets related to a tagged theme."

If you think about it, even Technorati hasn't truly mastered this art of granting access to themes. Don't get me wrong, today you can track conversations related to key words and tags, but I just feel that much in the same way techmeme tracks certain blogs around particular conversations, Technorati - and Twitter - could provide the ability to do something similar.

And, what if you could pull an OPML file or RSS feed based on these adhoc groups or discussions so that you could be notified with every new update? Well perhaps then Twitter could mature without losing its beloved simplicity.

Stowe also brought up Tagspaces, a term I haven't heard for a while. The intent was to bring a standard to tagging across all online communities that would help people discover others, along with content, without requiring database network-specific "rel" tags. For example, a tag for "twitter" in Technorati, looks something like this: "twitter"

I think back something that Chris Heuer wrote in a post from 2005, "...tagspaces are the glue between people identifying something and those seeking it out..."

Either way, I really think that Chris Messina, Stowe Boyd, and the others that are discussing this in the open will cause change, and it will make Twitter an even more important platform for communication.

On a side note, take a look at Joseph Smarr's interesting post on how the voices of less frequent users are getting drowned out by more active participants.

Connect on Twitter, Jaiku, Pownce or Facebook.

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Pinger Brings Voice to Mobile Text Messaging

Text messaging has many business advantages, and unlike Trix, texting is not just for kids.

The only frustrating thing I think we can all attest to however, is that most of the time, texting isn't the fastest form of communication, even these days with shortcuts or mini qwerty keyboards - especially when we're driving. What? Texting while driving? Come on, you know you do it too...

OK, so to communicate faster, and do our part to keep the roads safe, new voice applications are starting to hit the mobile market. That's right, say the name, your message, and hit send. That's the promise anyway, and some companies are actually worth trying today.

For example, Nuance's Dragon Mobile offer the most sophisticated application on the market, but I'm waiting until I can experience it with the iPhone until I can comment on the experience. SpinVox is also worth a look at as well. It converts voice messages, from any phone, to any screen: making messaging natural and accessible for everyone. SpinVox Voice-to-Screen Messaging converts your voice into text-based messages for use voice-to-text memos, voicemails, group communications, and also blog posts. I've signed up for this service (although the process doesn't mention anything about the iPhone or AT&T as a service provider, so we'll see.)

Today I stumbled upon an interesting free service and decided to give it a try.

Pinger lets you send text messages using your voice, to anyone in your contact list. Yes, it's that easy, but it does require a small time investment upfront before you can send your first voice text. When you register, you receive a dedicated phone number for calling in your texts. Also, your Pinger profile is the main hub for managing your contacts. Pinger does make it easy to import your address books and is compatible with Yahoo, Gmail, Palm, Outlook, Hotmail, .Mac among others.

First, let's talk about what Pinger isn't. I say this, because some of the marketing material I reviewed left me with a different impression...you can say a contact name, vocalize your message, and then have your words automatically converted to text so that your friends see a regular text message from you. For example, if you use Guy Kawasaki's Truemor's phone-in service, the software converts your words into text to post directly in the Truemors comment river. I believe this capability is enabled through SpinVox.

Instead, with Pinger you say a name, verbalize your text, and then your friends receive a text from Pinger that lets them know they have a new voice message from you. But, they have to dial the number in the text box to hear it. And, they can't reply to it via text...for example, "10x, got ur msg." But, then can reply via voice over SMS...which is cool, but it really starts to mimic voice mail tag in some ways.

So, once you understand how the process works, you may or may not find Pinger ideal for one-to-one text messaging. If you look a bit deeper into the service capabilities though, you'll discover a powerful feature for enabling one-to-many communications. Pinger Groups allows you to record one message and have it sent to an entire group of people instantly.

Now this is cool.

You can easily create groups in your account at Pinger.com. For example, I can create a group of my top blogger and press contacts who prefer early or breaking news announcements via text to let them know that something is about to drop. Please note, I prefer direct communications and relationships with important contacts. I am not condoning or promoting spam blasts here, nor should you.

When I travel to events, meetings, briefings, etc., I can use client specific Pinger groups to update everyone on the latest activity, simultaneously.

I can also create various lists of chapters and organizations that I belong to for the times I need to share a quick message or thought with them or call a last-minute meeting while I'm on the road without having to manually group text everyone.

Or, if I'm out of the office, one voice text message, alerts the managers back at the office so they know where I am or what I'm doing.

I think you get the picture.

One call. Say the name or names of people or the group you want to reach. Voice your message. Hang up.

It's very cool indeed. I just need to figure out how to have people acknowledge the receipt, without having to first establish a Pinger account. I also hope Pinger explores the possibility of using voice-to-text software to extend the capabilities of the service.

OK, while I'm on the topic of voice, I've been also meaning to cover Dave Winer's TwitterGram application.


TwitterGram is a neat little service that allows you to record and upload voice messages to share directly with your Twitter friends. Or, you can also call them in using BlogTalkRadio (link) to send TwitterGrams instantly from anywhere you have access to a phone.

Both services place an update for you in the Twitter stream with a link to your voice message for your friends and followers to enjoy. I'm pretty sure that if Dave felt so inclined, he could easily adapt this application to work with those using Jaiku and Pownce.

Connect on Twitter, Jaiku, Pownce or Facebook.

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Now is Gone Set to Publish in Late October

Several months ago, good friend Geoff Livingston asked me to work with him to develop a book that helps communications professionals understand and embrace new media. Geoff's a smart guy and probably didn't need my help to write this book, but I welcomed the opportunity to work with him.

The result is Now Is Gone – A Primer on New Media for Executives and Entrepreneurs and it's set to hit the market in October 2007.

This was a very revealing process for me as I realized that it would take a traditional form of media to reach the people that would most benefit from the ideas and strategies shared in this book.

Now Is Gone explores how New Media (and Social Media) are forcing the evolution of PR through a rich set of meaningful interviews, case studies, and comprehensive discussions.

The difference between this book and the other "new media" books on the market is that it contains zero BS, spin, old school marketing dressed up as something new, nor does it borrow the ideas of others and claim them as our own.

This week we launched a new blog to provide details, excerpts, references, and updates on the book before and after its debut.

Stay tuned.

Connect on Twitter, Jaiku, Pownce or Facebook.

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Crisis Communications 2.0 - The Skype is Falling

Take a deep breath.

On August 16th, the unthinkable happened for the millions of Skype subscribers around the world. For two days, they were left stranded without the ability to make Web-based phone calls or even chat with one another, sending everyone back to the very communications devices they were so intent on leaving behind - email, phones, and instant messaging.

For two days, basically everyone subscribed to the Skype "Out" service literally.

So when your service goes down, what do you do?

Well, Skype did things by the book, but in doing so, the company may have lost precious brand credibility, paving a long road ahead in order to restore the confidence which helped it grow so diligently over the years.

Let's analyze the process...

Something went wrong.

They responded quickly.

They were proactive.

They talked to the community.

So what went wrong?

Skype basically used the 1.0 playbook to address issues in a way that meant very little to six million sophisticated, enthusiastic, social media savvy Skype customers.

The underlying issue is that the initial series of corporate responses were mechanical, monotone, as if generated by the ebay corporate communications team instead of people talking to people on their terms. This so called "voice" made it difficult to discern any sense of urgency, passion, or commitment to satisfy the hunger of those seeking insight and answers.

Formulaic responses aren't genuine, nor are they welcome in a time of frustration. Crisis communications is relative to the industries in which they occur. In this case, we’re not talking about a life and death catastrophe. Toxic sludge isn’t seeping into water lines. Oil isn’t spilling into the oceans.

But to Skype customers who were left without a fundamental service, many of whom use to communicate on a daily basis, this was indeed a crises. And, the job of any crises communication program is to address people to provide assurance, comfort, answers, and most importantly, to prevent widespread panic and minimize any loss to the brand value (in some cases, many companies have turned a crises into an opportunity to strengthen its brand.)

In the business world, I would assume that Skype would love nothing more than to rival traditional bell companies. However, in order to do so, it has to adopt an entirely new customer service mindset.

Instead of opening up the kimono and allowing people into the conversation, the company stood at arm's length and published several statements that fueled speculation and left others scratching their heads.

Finally, in a statement posted on its website, Skype said the widespread outage began after subscribers' computers around the world re-started following a security software upgrade issued by Microsoft.

In an almost frigid corporate acknowledgment of the obvious, the company said, "as a result of this disruption, Skype was unavailable to the majority of its users for approximately two days." It continued, "...we'd like to apologize and thank you."

While this is an apology, it really isn't representative of any form of culpability or reassurance that this won’t happen again. Basically we're left with a finger pointing game that blames Microsoft.

As we all know, Microsoft issues patches more than the collective of doctors trying to help people quit smoking...so what was different about this patch? What will prevent this from happening in the future?

So, here's an interesting predicament. Basically, Skype's login problems are solved, but its branding and PR challenges are only just beginning. Ane hopefully, at the very least, the Skype "out" issue will inspire new and innovative ways of reaching out to people to help them understand what's really going on using the tools that they use to communicate with each other.

As Skype Journal's Phil Wolff pointed out in his post, Dialtone is a Promise, "Skype's motto for years was 'It just works.’ Mostly."

So for a company that did everything seemingly right, what could Skype have done in order to not only communicate the status of the outage, but also instill confidence and loyalty to the company brand?

First of all, where's the customer service? Where's the mea culpa? Where’s the reassurance?

After all, this isn't representative of the behavior required for any company actively trying to rival old fashioned phone companies.

Phil Wolff reminds us, “Dialtone is a promise and Skype broke that promise”

Larry Dignan of ZDNet also shared an important opportunity for Skype to rethink its corporate response, "Skype’s goals are unclear. If Skype is supposed to be a phone service that could replace a land line this line should probably been edited...This disruption was unprecedented in terms of its impact and scope. We would like to point out that very few technologies or communications networks today are guaranteed to operate without interruptions.”

GigaOm's Om Malik observed, "Ebay CEO Meg Whitman, Skype co-founder Niklas Zennstrom, and other Skype management made no statement, gave no assurances to their community, leaving their PR agency and the blog to keep people informed. Of course, this led to even more speculation, rumors and innuendoes.

Andy Beal griped, "I’m a heavy Skype user and was appalled that I didn’t get a single update from Skype. In fact, if it weren’t for the blogstorm, I wouldn’t have had a clue as to what was going on.

The official reponse was nothing short of unbelievable.

I'm sure that there are scores of people that suffered real economic consequences during this outage, but where is the support for them? Where's the action plan to ensure that this doesn't happen again?

Although Skype’s communication of the status and the fix through blogs was smart, it wasn't enough. It used basic Social Media to get a conversation started globally and within seconds, the world was already talking about and referring to their words. But in this case, it looked, smelled and felt disingenuous.

If it's anything we're learning about the world of Social Media, is that transparency is fundamental to participation. It redefines how companies should communicate with people. It’s not just about the technology platforms and the tools to do so, but from a sociological view, it necessitates a different, more genuine conversational culture.

Transparency isn't only important when communicating with people when times are good, it's even more critical when things go wrong. In this case, there is process transparency and subject transparency. The balance between showcasing the process of rectifying a problem without inadvertently exposing the company's infrastructure to competitors or those who seek to inflict malicious attacks is a thin line. But, it’s not impossible to navigate.

While there are several relative crisis communications programs to point to here, let's take a look at when up-and-coming photosharing site Zooomr recently went down for several days. Now before I jump in, there is a debate as to whether or not this is an example of success or also a failure in crises communications. I'm not analyzing their words or actions, only highlighting the social tools available to all companies today. In order to do this right, there's still a need for social-savvy communications and service pros to step in to help guide the process. Combining the right voice, intelligence, sincerity, and social tools, represents a powerful platform for engaging in crises communications 2.0.

In the case of Zooomr, thousands (not millions) lost access to their pictures and at the time, it was unclear if they also might face losing their digital memories forever. While the subscriber base pales in comparison to Skype, company executives, Thomas Hawk and Kris Tate, offered a social looking glass into their world and their steps to uncover the root of the problem and rectify it. Zooomr tapped some the most popular social tools of the trade in order to reach and communicate with members. However, it the company neglected the blog during these times, which would have greatly assisted during these trying times.

Like any good crisis communications program (whether they knew it or not) the goal was to reach people, on their terms, to not only provide answers, but instill trust and support. The duo needed to find other ways to reach out to people in ways that would not only communicate that they were working on the problem, but also reassure them that their photos were safe.

Twitter allowed the company to instantly and frequently send updates to followers and peers either affected by, or watching, the latest developments.

Kris and Thomas also hosted a series of livecasts via ustream.tv to offer a firsthand glimpse into the process. Ustream.tv not only facilitated instant live video feeds, but also served as a realtime chat room for company execs to talk with people directly. In a sense Ustream.tv served as the company’s vehicle to conduct impromptu press conferences – but instead of just reaching out to press, Zooomr also reached people directly.

But sometimes everyone needs help, and thus the true power of community was realized.

Zooomr posted a request for donations. Robert Scoble followed with a call for help. Other bloggers also jumped in offering and calling for assistance. Users showed up at all hours of the night to drive Kris from San Francisco to the data center. Zoho offered up servers and spent an entire day working with the Zooomr team. Sun also offered one of its ultra high performance servers to help out during the outage. And when Michael Dell discovered that one of the original servers that died was a Dell, he personally emailed a tech to get over to Zooomr and fix the problem.

According to an excellent documentation of the Zooomr launch fiasco, Zoli Erdos surmised, “Zooomr users, at least the more vocal ones still did not lose their faith; they kept on cheering Kristopher, thanking him for his heroic effort… it looks like in the Zooomr world trying hard is good enough.”

Ultimately their efforts drew support and compassion from the community. It humanized the problem and made people care. While some may argue their tactics during the outage, I would say that Zooomr wound up a winner and also boosted the brands of the companies and people that chipped in to help.

Could they have done it better? Absolutely.

That's my point. We can always do things better. And, by learning from these examples and understanding the landscape for social tools and the people who use them, we can communicate more effectively with our customers.

As Chris Heuer and I discussed at BarCampBlock before his track on the topic, intention matters now more than ever in business.

Skype may have indeed benefitted from Social Media and the incredibly powerful community tools available to companies today. But what’s most important though, is that the entire socially-focused process would most certainly have forced Skype to adopt a different, more human, tone, platform, and position for how it communicated with the people actively following the story.

All I’m trying to point out is that there are new tools and new “voices” required to instill confidence and support within the community. It doesn’t take away, that you still need to be smart and sincere about how you use them.

To read this version in with a white background, click here to go to ThinkFree Docs.

For a deeper look at some of the social tools available, please read The Future of Communications – A Manifesto for Integrating Social Media into Marketing

--

Update: Skype responds to the criticism, "Yesterday, we posted an explanation of what happened to Skype on August 16. Some reactions to the explanation, however, have reminded us of one of the basic tenets of communication: It’s not what you say. It’s what they hear. We’d therefore like to clear a few misunderstandings that emerged in yesterday’s reactions to our explanation of what transpired last week."

Om Malik comments, "After no one bought their first explanation, Skype is trying one more time, this time elaborating on the Microsoft connection."

Update #2: Phil Wolff writes about Skype and Crisis Communications 2.0 and invites everyone join the conversation, "Blog about it (tag "crisis+communications") or join the Crisis Communications 2.0 public chat. What assumptions in textbook crisis communication have changed? What are the new assumptions and best practices? What role do tools like Skype play? What can we learn from Skype's response to this outage? What did their messages reveal about the company, its values, its identity and brand?"

Update #3: Skype tries again, but still doesn't get it. In its first direct communication with subscribers, a humbled Skype finaly directly acknowledges the outage by starting its email with, "You may or may not know, but last week Skype wasn't available for a couple of days."

It continues, "When the unexpected happens, it's important to remember the people who stuck behind us and whose loyalty humbled us. I want to thank everyone for their support, patience and being part of the Skype community. And for those of you who missed out on using Skype last week - I want to especially thank you as well. As a goodwill gesture to all you faithful Skype Pro, Skype Unlimited, SkypeIn or Skype Voicemail customers, we're adding an additional seven days to your current subscription, free of charge. And even if you didn't miss out on using Skype last week - you can still have a week free on Skype, on the house!"

Are you kidding me? While this may seem like a solution, I just don't feel like it's enough. There's more to this than trying to satisfy the minority of people who feel that they need credit for the down time.

Skype, it may be time to softboot the corporate communications playbook - here's a start, hit ctl-alt-del. Seriously, the intent is respectable but the execution is off target. Open up and apply some customer service tactics. Read the history books. How does an extra 7 days help the people who may have experienced a real struggle during the outage? How does this fix the dings to the Skype brand?

More at Download Squad, Deep Jive Interests and Skype Journal.

---

For more on the original outage, take your pick from the voices below:

CenterNetworks, Ars Technica, Digital Trends, BetaNews, CyberNet Technology News, Todd Watson, Download Squad, istartedsomething, Ryan Naraine's Zero Day, TechCrunch, CrunchGear, Disruptive Telephony, Dare Obasanjo, Incremental Blogger, Mark Evans, TechSpot News, GottaBeMobile.com, Skype-watch.com, O'Reilly Emerging Telephony, VoIP & Gadgets Blog, Skype Numerology, TechBlog, VoIP Blog, AppScout, PalmAddicts, Macsimum News, Compiler, NevilleHobson.com, Valleywag, Stowe Boyd's /Message, Digital Inspiration, HipMojo.com

Connect on Twitter, Jaiku, Pownce or Facebook.

skype phone telephone voip telephony pr pr2.0 pr+2.0 public+relations publicrelations media2.0 media+2.0 media 2.0 socialmedia social+media crisis+communications crisis communications

PRWeek Interviews PR Pros on the Ascendancy of Facebook

PRWeek recently interviewed me, along with a few other PR pros including, Gerald Kimber White, John H. Bell, David Almacy, B. Bonin Bough, and David Haase to discuss Facebook's impact on the PR industry. It would have also been interesting to include Facebook's inhouse PR spokesperson, Brandee Barker - I wonder if she's had a chance to read this yet.


PRWeek is the primary (traditional) source for news and information in the PR industry. Author, Alexandra Bruell, explored why PR people think Facebook is an important social network. The answers are revealing, giving us a glimpse of how the PR industry is already experimenting with social networks as a platform to communicate with media and people directly - whether or not they participate transparently is a whole other story however.

I recently wrote a in depth post about Facebook and how it has rapidly evolved into an online hub for connected professionals. If you haven't read it yet, jump in. It may help you make the most out of your Facebook expereience.

Through a broader lens, Facebook at its core, is a profile and presence aggregator, channeling all of my online activity through one main hub, combining almost every online “social” tool that I use currently. And as a communications professional, especially in this social economy, it’s our job to monitor online conversations and the networks in which they take place.



Excerpt from PRWeek (Note, this was a phone interview. My answers have been greatly condensed):

Brian Solis Future Works, president; PR2.0, blogger

Facebook should first be viewed as a personal reputation management system. It really is, in its most simplistic sense, an online hub for your personal brand for you as individual or person within a company.

It happens to be the network of the moment that brings the people together in a way that we’re used to doing things and wanting to do things. It became that hub, not necessarily by doing groundbreaking or new things, but when it opened its API, people began developing tools within it – it made it stand out.

Everyone jumped into Facebook almost overnight; it’s been explosive ever since. If you’re in PR, jump in there and be a person, learn the culture of Facebook. Get friends, and widgets, and bring together your reputation where you understand the dynamics of a network. When you have that, you’re participating as a person and not a marketer; no one wants to be marketed to.

Many times it’s only used for relationship building. For products not publicly released yet, we’ll research throughout the community and see who’s talking about this. Certain people can be reached differently. I have seen PR people create a group or go to an existing group.

Do research, find the right people, and reach out one by one. If you’re part of the social media group and I want to reach you, I can reach everyone - Spam the group, that’s one way to do it.

For example, Robert Scoble, tech blogger, said, if you want to reach me, write on my Facebook wall. He’s been pretty responsive.

We now have the tactics and tools to reach people directly.

Update: Robert Scoble isn't the only writer/influencer seeking contact from PR via Facebook, NY Times writer, Jason Pontin has also put the call out via his Facebook profile.



Hat tip to Geoff Livingston for the referral to PRWeek.

Connect on Twitter, Jaiku, Pownce or Facebook.

prweek facebook social+media social+networks social media networks media+2.0 media2.0 2.0 pr2.0 pr+2.0 pr public+relations public relations marketing communications

Building a Bridge Between Your Story, Bloggers, and People - Part I

To all of you advanced new media PR professionals, this post may seem a bit remedial in comparison to some of more technical and exploratory subjects we usually cover.

Last year I ran a series covering blogger relations Forward Moving, a specialized blog dedicated to PR education. Due to unexpected demand, I’ve been asked to update these posts and re-run them as an ongoing series.

I’m happy to do so. I’ll try to double up on posts to make sure that we still review Social Media and other new communications subjects to advance and expand the conversation.

Before I jump in, let me just say that even though we’re talking about blogger relations, we shouldn’t forget that at the end of the day, we’re talking about reaching out to people. This is not unlike talking to reporters. It’s all based on building, investing in, and cultivating relationships. And, relationships are built on respect, understanding, communication, and information (among many other things.)

The difference between bloggers and journalists is only the medium they use to reach people. Wait. That statement is loaded! But think about it. I know I should say that the difference is a formal education in journalism (which I have, even though I’ve been in PR since 91), experience in the print business (or online too), and circulation through traditional channels. This is why blogging is one of the great disruptors in media. It, at its very foundation, gives a voice to anyone with an opinion and an internet connection.

In a general view, the blogosphere is simply powered by people, whether they’re journalists, enthusiasts, pundits, or simply writers.

And to all those who still have yet to admit the importance of blogging, please eradicate your impression that the blogosphere is simply comprised of self-important ranters who simply keep an online presence in order to satisfy their own egos. You brush them off at your own peril.

So with that said, as one of the main drivers in the new world of Social Media, blogging has done nothing less than change everything. Even though, to this day, I am still questioned by various folks as to why I place such great emphasis and resources on bloggers, in addition to top tier press. How are they even capable of moving the needle for companies?

Well, the are bloggers in every market segment that have the sheer numbers behind them and have the ability to not only influence the people you want to reach, but also drive reporters in traditional media to cover the same topics. BusinessWeek, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Time, Forbes, Fortune, and USAToday, among many, many more, dedicate editorial resources to monitoring the blogosphere.

Why? Because blog readers are very loyal and enthusiastic and it shows in the internet metrics and analysis each month. While others may not have volume, many smaller communities can pool together to make a big difference.

For those who are unfamiliar with the almost immeasurable level of clout many blogs carry today, they have substantially grown from pockets of disparate musings, personal experiences, enthusiast rants, and op eds to full blown reporting across every category you could imagine – with influential pundits defining and stimulating activity in every demographic possible. And, the interconnectivity between bloggers has formed an incredibly powerful network of authority that changes how people find information and make decisions in every facet of life.

Bloggers are ranked based on the links back to them, the traffic to their site, the amount of subscribers to their feed, as well as how well they grasp the industry they represent. There are a variety of online tools (which we’ll cover) that help define their reach, not necessarily their ability to impact decisions.

Remember, don’t gun simply for the top ranked bloggers, they’re not the only game in town, nor are they the always most beneficial or necessary target in your overall communications strategy.

Top ranked bloggers usually represent the thought leaders, held in high regard by their readers, with many creating a dedicated following that look forward to every post. When they cover a topic, it sends a flurry of online traffic, almost instantly, inciting a series of online discussions that usually extends across the blogosphere – lasting several days to several weeks. In my business, which is technology, one of the top targets is TechCrunch, which is capable of sending upward of 10 - 50,000 visitors to any given Web site within 24-48 hours.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying to overlook this group. Obviously, they lend credibility to your brand, or the brand you represent – that is, as long as the exposure is representative of the story you helped to cultivate. In my experience, however, this group typically jumps from topic to topic and product to product, with very little investment in dedication or loyalty, simply because their focus is driven by activity. For the right product, story, or service, you will find that a decent percentage of these bloggers, and their readers, will keep their partial attention with you – if they like what they see.

But sometimes, it may be more meaningful, or additionally beneficial, to reach the “magic middle,” a group of passionate people dedicated to writing about topics and issues that are relevant to them peronsonally. They tend to inspire real world customers to explore and experiment with new products and services based on the word of their peers.

Customers and people are influenced, inspired and driven by unique channels and communities. Figuring out who we want to reach, why they matter to us, and why we matter to them, is the ante in order to buy into this game. Then we reverse engineer this process of where they go for their information and discussions to learn about how to reach them. And, while there may be several horizontal mediums that overlap, the vertical avenues are usually distinct and dedicated.

BUT WAIT. Please don’t think that this is your last step before you reach out to bloggers.

Be respectful and honest. Listen and read before you engage.

There's much to learn about each of the conversations, information and communities you wish to jump into. You'll find that more often than not, you'll change your story based on the insight garnered from simply observing. It's the difference between speaking in messages and relevance and most importantly, honesty.

This entire process is invaluable to the new world of marketing, traditional and social media alike. It forces PR to think like a customer instead of competitor.

Read this important and timely post over at CityMama and Kimchi Mamas. This is an invaluable lesson of why you have to be honest, transparent and smart about how and why you’re reaching out to any given blogger.

"We all know PR people don't read our blogs. I mean, if one more PR person starts and email with, 'Hey! How was Hawaii!' because a quick glance through last month's posts mentions my trip, I'm gonna scream…Tell me you looked up my stats on Alexa. Tell me you picked me because you *think* I may be influential. Tell me that you know mombloggers get pitched to all the time but that you'd *pretty please* like me to listen to you. Just don't bullshit me by telling me 'you read my blog.' I know you don't.” - Stefania Pomponi Butler.

Don’t be that PR person.

Here is a historical review of past discussions on the subject:

TopRank

TechCrunch

Andy Lark

LiveDigitally

Jason Calacanis

Technosight

Connect on Twitter, Jaiku, Pownce or Facebook.

Click here to read this story with a white background via ThinkFree Docs.

blog blogger relations blogger+relations pr pr2.0 pr+2.0 public+relations public social+media socialmedia publicrelations social media media2.0 media+2.0 blogs bloggers marketing online

Rick Mahn Names PR 2.0 in His Top 10 List of Daily Blogs to Read

Rick Mahn is calling attention to the fact that we have a lack of it - attention that is, and he's doing something about it.

Per Mahn's recent post:

Recently I’ve mentioned on Twitter about getting tired of the information overload. What it really is, is that I’ve jammed almost 200 feeds in Google Reader and am having trouble getting value out of all the information.

To rectify this, I started by identifying my Top 10 bloggers. Why? Because I get the most value out of their writing. I’m going ”old-school” on them and actually visiting their blogs every day and reading their content in it’s “native environment” instead of the text in a feed reader.

He named PR 2.0 in his top 10, er, 11 blogs. It's an honor to stand in such amazing company, as I have looked up to, and been inspired by, many of the writers on the list.

Chris Brogan
Kent Newsome
Mathew Ingram
Brian Solis
Liz Strauss
Doc Searls
Brian Clark (CopyBlogger)
Darren Rowse (ProBlogger)
Dan Schawbel
Chris Cree
Jeff Pulver

Thank you Rick! Just FYI, I'm trying not to post daily, but feel I need to increase the frequency if you're going to be stopping by more often :)

pr blogs blogging blogger pr2.0 pr+2.0 brian+solis liz+strauss doc+searls

Social Media Manifesto Makes Junta42's Most Popular Articles of the Week

The Future of Communications – A Manifesto for Integrating Social Media into Marketing is still going strong, and I hope it continues to do so.

Things have such a limited lifespan in the blogospere these days, that I am happy to see that it is still making the rounds. Junta42 promoted the article as one of its featured articles for the week in an email newsletter that was sent to site members.


Junta42 is new expert and user-generated search engine providing popular resources for content marketers. There are some really incredible articles in there covering topics from Social Media, PR, B2B, measurement, video, emarketing, among many others.

The essay is described as:

A must read for anyone trying to figure out marketing in the age of social media. Here's one paragraph from this excellent essay.

"What does the future of integrated marketing and communications look like? It’s a mashup of new media and traditional media – all with the common goal of engaging people and influencers on their terms. The difference is that by listening, reading, and participating, corporate marketing will be smarter and more approachable than ever before. This is how we humanize brands, create loyalty, and earn customer's business."

Click here to read the Social Media Manifesto using ThinkFree Write or click here to download it.

pr2.0 pr+2.0 pr 2.0 web media 20 media+2.0 manifesto public+relations publications marketing advertising briansolis brian+solis social+media social socialmedia media2.0