Jurassic Park 4 is happening

Despite being over a decade since the last entry, Universal is reviving the Jurassic Park franchise, with June of 2014 seeing the release of a fourth movie.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the first Jurassic Park, which is causing me no small amount of hand-wringing and consternation. I remember going to a now-defunct theater in Oakbrook Terrace, IL (last I checked the location was now a huge Cheesecake Factory) to stand in line hours before the first showing on opening day (ahhh…1993, when I had nothing better to do on a weekday morning) with a bunch of my movie geek friends. We eventually decided the second entry was a better movie and that holds up in hindsight. Not that the first movie wasn’t good, but let’s be honest and say that Spielberg’s heart wasn’t really in either this or Hook two years prior

Social Network Usage Continues to Increase

People spent 37 percent more time interacting with social media in July of 2012 than they did in July 2011 according to a report from Nielsen. While the majority of that time is spent on computers, the amount of time devoted to mobile devices is also increasingly, though not nearly at the same pace that time spent within apps is.

Facebook remains tops across all categories – PC, mobile web and apps – with Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and others also accounting for significant amounts of time spent. Blog platforms like WordPress and Blogger, which are counted here as social networks, are also quite popular, though they appear only on Nielsen’s list of top PC and mobile web destinations.

Live Blogs Engage Readers More Fully

The Guardian recently revealed that it found live blogs of breaking news events outperformed conventional news stories by 300 percent when it came to pageviews.

The analysis of the traffic differences found live blogging to be more engaging and more interesting to readers than the stories that came later, after the news event – whatever it was – was over. The spur-of-the-moment nature of such coverage appealed to those reading news at work, those looking for the juiciest gossip fodder and more. Part of the reason they were seen as more trustworthy by readers is that the live-blog format conveyed authenticity, something that trumped other considerations.

For brands who are publishing live blogs of conventions, conferences, announcements and other events many of these same factors and considerations likely come into play. The live blogs bring those events to the audience in an immediate and seemingly unfiltered way and are therefore more engaging to the readers.

Quick Takes: 11/03/12 (Part 2)

• NASA creates compelling content by opening the intake flow to all departments, yes. They also went to Mars, which is a great news hook. But I digress.
• I’m fascinated by the notion that the number of self-published books has risen 287% since 2006.
• Note to NHL (and every other company): When there are vast swaths of people out there who are tremendously honked off at you and want you to stop whatever it is you’re doing that’s making them angry, don’t tell them to keep calm, no matter how tongue-in-cheek you meant it.
• Yeah, Eventbrite may be building its own social network based around people’s activities but it’s still a big leap to getting those people to do more on that platform that would make it a viable stand-alone community.
• Shorter version of this post: Have lots of evergreen content in the queue that you can use for when it’s a slow news day and there isn’t much in the way of breaking news to talk about. Always been good advice (that’s why I’ve been giving it for 6+ years to clients) and that doesn’t necessarily mean you need a whole newsroom culture/structure.
• Pinterest is launching verified profiles, something that could be of major interest to businesses who are beginning to dip their toes in the Pinterest waters.

Shirky on Truth in Digital Media

Update to yesterday’s post. Here’s the video of Clay Shirky talking about truth in the digital world at Poyner’s ethics seminar, courtesy of Poynter’s own Storify recap. You can also read great recaps of the session and its topics by Mathew Ingram and Shirky himself in a post published prior to the event.

Shirky & Others: Finding Truth in Era of Digital Media from The Paley Center for Media on FORA.tv

Endless Opinions are the Problem, Not the Solution

Dan Lyons, who made a name for himself by posting as “Fake Steve Jobs” for (at least in internet terms) a good long while has been named the new editor-in-chief of ReadWriteWeb, which is relaunching as ReadWrite and getting a makeover both visually and editorially. On the latter front Lyons has this to say:

As for the tone: We want to turn our writers loose and let them write from the heart, in ways that are more personal, passionate, provocative and fun than ever before. We want ReadWrite to be a lively place filled with wit and energy, a place where you find great stories told in a convincing, engaging way, with brains and a point of view.

While I like the idea that writers will be able to bring more of their personalities to what they write I’m also automatically wary of anyone saying their turning their writers “loose” since it reads to me like they are then being pushed to take strong opinions in an effort to ramp up the controversy. It’s a tactic that has worked for Weblogs Inc, Gawker and other online media companies in the past.

There was a lot of conversation going on around the Poynter Ethics seminar about whether or not truth and objectivity are even possible in a digital world where everyone can find their own set of facts. That seems like it shouldn’t be a point of discussion (the truth is the truth, regardless of what “support” you can find for your point of view) but it does bring into stark relief that fact that a lack of opinions is not what the web is lacking. And, if anything, saying that another media site will be moving away from some semblance of objectivity to one that’s more personality driven is inherently hurtful to the overall discourse.

I’m not actually advocating that all sites that operated under a media brand name should take the much-derided “view from nowhere” perspective since that leads to bland, uninteresting reading. But the personality-infusion does need to be tempered by solid reporting and a clear differentiation of what is opinion – both from the writer and anyone else mentioned in the story – and what is “fact.”

Yes, I know I’m taking an opinion here. But that’s what this site is for me: An opinion outlet. Anything that calls itself a news outlet needs to put that first, with op-eds clearly labeled as such. That’s the beginning of a better era of web discourse.

If You’re Anonymous (For No Reason) I’m Assuming You’re a Coward

This: 

Blogging anonymously is like playing a video game in “God Mode.” It’s blogging without risk or consequences. Without accountability, the anonymous blogger can present whatever version of the truth he/she wishes without risk. I’m guessing that anonymity gives those people some level of comfort and safety to “speak their mind” that they wouldn’t feel otherwise. However, blogging isn’t only about being comfortable…it’s about being real and authentic.

I’ve been in more than one verbal jousting match over the years about whether online anonymity is valuable or not. Without fail I’ve come down on the side of saying that unless there’s a legitimate fear for your life have the courage to put your name on what you write or otherwise produce. I put no trust in something that’s written by someone hiding their name since it means I can’t suss out what their agenda, be it positive or negative, might be. 

I’m proud of the fact that, with one situational exception, I’ve put my real name on everything I’ve written since I started writing online upwards of eight years ago. The one exception to that rule was my time at MarketingVox, where author names weren’t published. If I had the capability, though, to republish that material under my name I’d gladly do so without a moment’s hesitation. 

If you feel otherwise I’m going to, as the title of this post states, assume you are coward with an agenda that you’d like to keep hidden. If you’re trying to expose some great injustice, file it with the right authorities or find someone who will tell your story. Hiding behind a pseudonym or going completely anonymous means you’re trying to avoid the consequences of your actions, in which case you need to question the actions you’re taking in the first place. 

Adventures In Missing the Point: Organic Food Edition

Researchers found that, while the consumption of organic produce did limit exposure to potentially toxic pesticides, organic foods were generally not more nutritious and did not “carry fewer health risks” than their non-organic brethren—and FDA-approved “organic” foods aren’t 100% pesticide-free either! Researchers were, by their own admission, “a little surprised” by these results.

via Is ‘Organic’ Food a PR Scam? – PRNewser.

Apparently no one considered that limiting exposure to potentially toxic pesticides is kind of the point of eating organic foods.

Also, this story (not just PRN’s version but the whole point of view that’s being espoused in the story) reads very much like it was generated by the PR team at a trade group that wanted to do some counter-narrative messaging.

Watch the State of the Word: 2012

Some interesting stuff dropped by Mullenweg at the recent WordCamp San Francisco 2012.

State of the Word 2012

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Facebook users, marketers differ on why customers connect with brands on Facebook

If I’m reading the results of this Colloquy study correctly, it’s not social media that the survey focused on when it asked consumers how brands could best engender their loyalty. Instead it was more general and looking at brand behavior overall, though most of the tactics that come back as good ideas – exceptional customer service, a rewards program of some sort and more – that have definite applications in the social media world. Meaning good customer service on social media isn’t all that different from good customer service offline.

More immediately relevant is the CMO Council survey that’s shared after that and which shows the gaps that exist between marketer’s perceptions and beliefs about why people connect with them on social media and why people actually do. The biggest disparity exists around content, with 57% of marketers believing that’s a big reason for customers to follow them – we like to think every word we produce is golden – compared to just 30% of customers who said that’s an important reason they’ve done so.

In a close second, though, is the idea of someone being a “Loyal Customer.” But there the disconnect goes in the opposite direction, with more Facebook users saying that’s an important reason than marketers who see it being a deciding factor.