With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

The Supreme Court famously quoted Peter Parker’s dear, departed Uncle Ben in a recent 2015 case ruling regarding patent laws: “In this world, with great power there must also come great responsibility.”  “Great power” and “great responsibility” are two key phrases I think about when I think about Mobile as an emerging media.  While it certainly isn’t recent (Mobile technology has been around in some iteration since the late 80s) its use in today’s developed societies has completely changed day to day life for many of us. Mobile still has the potential to change the rest of the world as well. In 2012, nearly 2/3 of the world’s population was still not technically a part of the internet population. By 2015, that number had jumped to ½ (The Future of Mobile.) Mobile technology has and will continue to provide fundamental change in parts of the world that are still developing.

One of the biggest questions currently facing strategic communication professionals is how can we use Mobile technologies (platforms, applications, the Web, SMS, voice, etc.) in an efficient and ethical manner? We have a responsibility as communicators to reach as many as we can, as efficiently as we can, and as ethically as we can, regardless of the medium. So how can we channel Mobile (“Great power”) and wield it in our communications plans effectively (“Great responsibility?”)

Let’s start with how Mobile is helping people get connected (many for the first time.) Mobile’s biggest area of potential has always been how it can connect us. It has the power to bring about positive change for underdeveloped or still developing countries through its capabilities of connecting people with the Web, and thus the rest of the world. Having access to Mobile features, such as SMS and Web applications, has the potential to improve the lives of those in rural communities by giving them access to information they have never had before.  Though it has been argued that introducing Mobile can do more harm than good in some cases, if these communities are educated on how these processes work and how they can utilize them within their own communities, we could see serious improvement and positive impact in the developing world (The Mobile Web to Bride the Digital Divide.) And it’s all thanks to Mobile.

Mobile has already demonstrated how important a tool it can be for connecting us and enriching lives by giving ready access to information via the Web but it also has another component – one with both personal and political applications. Every smart phone now comes equipped with a camera of some kind. Even older model phones from ten years ago have them, and with the way second hand and older generation phones find their way into developing countries, it’s not ridiculous to assume that half of the world’s population have the capability to capture what they’re seeing, hearing, or thinking in real time via Mobile technology.  This means big change for governments, news networks, and the general population, for better or worse. (Mobile Phone and the Public Sphere.) Every event and conversation now has the potential to end up online on some form of Mobile Web application for the world to see. We as communicators have to be aware of this and start to think about Mobile when we map out strategic communication plans.

Mobile can function as one of the best tools professional communicators have in our arsenal (as demonstrated by its ability to connect us and help us document our lives,) however it has be used in efficient and ethical ways (used for the “greater good”, so to speak.) The biggest example of this that I can think of currently is the Black Lives Matter movement. This movement began because of citizen journalists taking pictures, audio, and video recordings of instances of police brutality on minorities. These breaking news stories would not occur as rapidly, nor would they have been able to inspire a new Civil Rights movement, if mobile was not a tool offered to the general public of the United States. Think back to those developing countries I mentioned earlier, particularly those in Africa. Unspeakable tragedies occur there, much like here at home, but they are under reported, under represented, because they lack the real, tangible evidence that mobile can provide. Mobile can be used for accountability (with ourselves and our societies,) it can connect us with information we might have never had access to before, and it can provide us with various means to get messages across to each other.

Now that I’ve talked about Mobile’s “great power” and a little about it’s “great responsibility,” let’s talk about using it in our communications plans. Harnessing the power of Mobile and making it work how your organization needs it to be is an entirely personal thing. Much like Mobile and Social Media, it is all about the personalization. As communicators, we don’t want the messages we send out on behalf of our organizations to be annoying, tacky, or deemed worthless by the masses we are trying to reach. We have to make our Mobile strategies count. We also have to make them valuable to everyone, from the owner of the new iPhone 7+ to the owner of the old Android phone that still works just fine, even if it can’t show GIFs. With that in mind, we have to always remember that it is not always about the medium, but rather, always about the message. Maintaining an ethical, reliable voice for our organizations (and thus our audiences) has to always be a top priority.  “See something, say something,” right? What good is a fully developed medium (a user friendly app for instance) if there is no valuable content for users within it? Much like this section of my post you can throw in something shiny or adorable to catch your user’s eye...

Look! Puppies! 

 but if there is no substance they won’t come back. (I hope you don’t think that about this blog!) “Mobile First” logic only works if you are mobile centric, meaning you are an app start-up of some kind. If you will not be exclusively on mobile you should not be “Mobile First.” There are ways to make money and connections through mobile, as through every channel of communication currently on the market. Native Advertising on Twitter feeds and Facebook timelines is one great way to start. Also the intuitive nature of mobile helps advertisers connect. You could have searched for a dress on Instagram, an ad for the dress shop you followed on Instagram pops up on your Facebook feed, and the company’s ad is on your Twitter Feed asking you to follow them for deals. Mobile shouldn’t be forgotten about in strategies but it shouldn’t be top priority either.  For me, the biggest advantage of Mobile are its timeliness and relative ease of use. We can get messages out to the public accurately and fast, and we can make those messages as dressed up or dressed down as we want to ensure that all audiences, no matter how they come to us, find what they need and are looking for.

I hope you enjoyed this week’s post! See you next week!

Video killed the radio star

Is that song stuck in your head now? If so, I apologize. But what The Buggles talked about in their 1980 hit single is still true today, though I think now it would go more like “The Internet killed the TV and Radio star.”

Let’s talk about media convergence. Whether you’ve known it or not, you benefit from media convergence every day.  (It’s what actually killed the Radio star.) We are in the midst of the latest information revolution that so often comes with media convergence; when you turn on the morning news, get a Twitter notification from the BBC, or get an emailed newsletter from favorite TV chef, you are an active participant in the digital revolution. To me, the term “media convergence” conjures a rather amusing mental image of TVs, radios, computers, and cell phones colliding in a kind of media explosion fireball. Or maybe just a big martini shaker full of information ready for consumers to digest. 

http://mas110sem22012-lab08.blogspot.com/2012/08/digital-media-convergence-in-new-media.html

Media convergence has been happening in one form or another since the earliest civilizations.  Media convergence, in layman terms, is basically all the ways we use technology in our daily lives. In today’s modern era, it’s the combination of traditional media and the new technologies that are slowly (or not so slowly) usurping them. Like I said before, it’s been happening quite literally forever. When Gutenberg brought out the printing press, it ignited a firestorm. For the first time, anyone could have access to printed information. It took away control from the ruling clerical class and allowed the average person access to once highly guarded information. It literally changed the world. Then came railroads, followed closely by the telegraph and telephony. Now we are in the midst of yet another revolution, with one major change. Rather than users having to come to the new technology, the users this time around are dictating and running the show for themselves (Net Effects.) Fully wireless access has meant that content creators now must produce what the user wants, when they want it, and how they want it. The need for a seamless experience is compulsory, a non-negotiable.  But how did we get here and what does the future look like for communicators?

Many reports exist that detail how we get here. I’ve given a brief description of that above. But what does it all mean for journalists and professional communicators going forward? That is the big question, one which still doesn’t have an exact answer. In Tom Wheeler’s “Net Effects” book, he details how he thinks we got here and what we have to do going forward in order to maintain and preserve this new technology for future generations. He makes a great point when he says that “the…dislocation…and uncertainty that dog us today repeat similar experiences” of people who lived through the first three great changes in technology and networks (Net Effects.) It’s ok to be feel a bit uneasy about all of these changes. Change is among one of the hardest human experiences we go through, in my opinion. But that uneasiness doesn’t have to lead to setbacks. Too often you see companies failing to change with the times, laboring under the false assumption that the systems that have worked “just fine” for years will outlast anything new that comes along. I’m sure that’s what everyone said about the telephone too when it was first invented and now that technology has completely transformed and is now an invaluable part of modern life.  Thank you, Apple.

What we have got to realize is that media convergence is our friend, not our enemy. While it may seem daunting to have to incorporate so many different mediums into our communications plans, it’s worth it. The only way to survive this new revolution is dive head first into the fray, to fully embrace digitization from now on. One of the best examples of this that I know of is the advent of the Internet and the Web itself.  While we all use the Internet, we don’t all use the Web every day. With the advent of apps for everything (literally everything – check out the app store if you haven’t in a while, it’s a hoot) we are utilizing the actual Web less and less. (For a great article about how these semi-closed platforms have taken over check out Chris Anderson and Michael Wolff’s article in WIRED titled “The Web is Dead. Long Live the Internet.”)  While I can understand how these semi-closed platforms do create some cause for concern, I don’t think they are necessarily a bad thing. I think of them as the next innovation, even the next step in this revolution. They are the evidence left behind of the people who chose to embrace the new era of technological change, rather than fighting or ignoring it.  They chose to create tools that utilize the Internet in a way that had never been thought of before.  These new tools are allowing people to not only communicate, but drive conversations on a scale never before seen. On a journalistic level, think about how these apps have changed how journalists collect information for stories, write their stories, and even what they deem worthy of being written about. (Think about how all the major networks now report on the White House – they have to check Twitter first to see what they’ll be covering that day!)  These third-party applications are allowing us to reach consumers, audiences, users wherever they are, whenever they are.

Think about that for a second in relation to what we all do on a daily basis.  We can execute crisis communications plans more effectively now than ever before. With a tweet or Facebook post, we can communicate with our audiences within seconds of an event occurring, getting the important information to them as soon as possible. No longer do we have to wait for somebody to go to our websites and read our press releases to get the most up to date information. We can communicate with people so much faster than before and this I think is the biggest takeaway. We have the power now to get our messages out there faster, in an effective way, in front of larger crowds of people. This isn’t going to change and it certainly isn’t going to slow down any time soon. And it’s all thanks to media convergence. Without this apex of technology and network change occurring we wouldn’t have the opportunities we do now to communicate quickly and effectively with those that need our particular communications.

What do you guys think about media convergence? I would love to hear others thoughts on this...it's such an interesting topic and certainly one that isn't going away any time soon. Until next week guys!

"I am not throwing away my shot"

Any Hamilton fans out there?! Regardless of how you came to be at http://paigewester.blogspot.com/, I thought I would start off by introducing myself and my credentials so I don't end up "throwing away my shot"...to make a great first impression! (I hope everyone likes cheesy quotes and puns because otherwise this is going to be a long 9 weeks folks!)

I feel like I have worked in communications for most of my working career. I started out communicating to kids my age about how cool they would look in overpriced jeans and t shirts from a traditional mall chain store at the tender age of 18 and now I work in higher education, helping recruit, improve and retain enrollment numbers for a state university. I also network constantly with other business leaders and professionals about how higher education can benefit themselves and their workforce. I communicate in so many ways every day sometimes it gets hard to remember how I originally spoke to someone. A prospective student may have filled out an application via our website, sent me an email, but then texted me later that day with a question, and then followed up with a Facebook Message to make sure I got the text. So many different forms of communication exist today but I'm still a big fan of the good old fashioned phone call to get things done. It makes me a traitor to my fellow 20-somethings to like making a phone call.  I am currently enrolled in my fourth class for my Masters in Strategic Communications program and have been loving the experience. After being out of college for 5 years, it has been so rewarding to get back in the swing of things and I am really looking forward to writing this weekly blog post! (If you would like more information about me, check out the Meet Paige section of the blog!)

In case it's not obvious, I am a member of that unlucky generation that everyone likes to blame for everything...the Millennials. That's right, we killed everything! The grocery store, diamonds, newspapers, public libraries...we're a busy bunch. I can remember when having a desktop computer with dial up internet was the height of cool as was having access to AOL. Now you say dial up to a tween and they're likely to respond by giving you a withering look and saying "Did you mean to say 'turn up'?" No I didn't, youths. But I digress. I grew up in that weird in-between stage in terms of traditional mass media and the new emerging media quickly replacing it. The 24 hour news cycle had only really just begun but by the time I entered my early teens it was already outdated by things like MySpace and LiveJournal. These were places on the internet where we could do surveys and "subtweet" people we didn't like before "subtweet" was even a thing. We were the guinea pigs for the social media world we all live in now. And we're the ones with the proverbial blood on our hands for the death of traditional media. But is it really dying or is it just failing to change with the times fast enough? By the time hometown newspapers like my own local read The Dothan Eagle get a Facebook and Twitter, those are already outdated ways of getting news. We've all moved on to Instagram Stories (which is way better than Snapchat and we all know it!)

There is an abundance of research to suggest that I'm completely wrong and we are witnessing the first truly great industry death caused by the digital age. It's common knowledge that news sources are competing with social media every day to attract readers. According to a 2012 study published by Poynter more people use sites like Facebook than get news from all other available news sources combined. Another factor to consider in this supposed death march for the industry is my generation - the so-called Digital Natives. In a 2013 presentation by Mary Meeker, she noted the mindset of this generation, which is to be "asset-light." This simply means that we like to travel light and have flexibility in all aspects of our lives meaning we aren't too thrilled about carrying around 10 newspapers and magazines when we can have all of that and more from the App Store.  While social media and the Millennial generation who invented it has certainly been cause for concern and disruption to the industry I don't think it means its demise - in fact I think it should give them hope.

There are bright spots happening right now. Pew Research Center's State of the News Media report for 2014 found that there are new opportunities in journalism in regards to new demographic targets and types of coverage (global coverage for instance.) It's certainly a good sign to me that big-time moguls such as Warren Buffet and Jeff Bezos are buying into the business. It means there is a game plan again for the industry. There are opportunities out there for newspapers and magazines to survive and thrive they just need to find their footing first...and that footing could begin on social media. Think about 2016 and the recent election cycle. Twitter was such a vital component to Donald Trump's campaign and will more than likely continue to play a major role in his presidency.  There is a huge problem with clearly fake news sites on social media influencing how people think and speak with each other. While it's true that most of my generation use social media to check on news stories, we are highly critical of what is being posted. This is a huge opportunity for growth! If credible news sources can re-establish themselves as the true authorities they are they can win back some of that coveted ground.  Let's face it...we are going to need true journalists now more than ever. It is my hope that the industry can get back the quality they once had before the cutbacks and decline in staff that occurred over the past decade and a half.  There have been upticks in smaller newspapers across the country, ones that are serving local, niche populations. It's possible for the industry to thrive again, not just merely survive, and I am looking forward to watching how it unfolds.

This is just a taste of what I hope you will enjoy reading over these next few weeks. I hope you come back next week to see what topic I tackle next!