Cross-posted from e.politics
Originally posted on November 3, 2011
Do recent changes to Google and Facebook affect political and marketing communicators? Potentially a lot, so let’s take the sites in turn. First Google, which announced today that it’s making major changes to its search algorithms to update its main search index more frequently. Also, results pages for many queries will feature more recent content (including breaking news) over information that might have grown stale.
Overall, this change in emphasis is potentially really useful for users, particularly if Google can follow through on the idea of separating searches for evergreen content (“learning from Obama online campaign PDF“) from those for ephemeral content and recent news (“Herman Cain harassment suit“). One implication for political communicators: this emphasis on the new and the now gives us even more reason to jump on news stories quickly, since Google’s main search function should have a better chance of highlighting relevant recent content. Crank up those blogs and rapid response machines, kids: catch a news wave, and your words might spread far and wide. (more…)
Cross-posted from Adfero
Last year, Wired Magazine proclaimed that “The Web is Dead.” The authors of the article argued that although the Internet is alive and well, its users are increasingly turning to simple and semi-closed applications. Demand for accessing the wide-open Web through browsers is fading. Instead, we now prefer the type of mobile, streamlined computing available through smart phones and iPads.
One recent marketing trend shows how right the Wired article may be. More and more, companies are moving away from listing their Web addresses in print and TV advertisements. Instead, many top brands are pushing their target audiences to a Facebook fan page.
In Volkswagen’s “Meet the Volkswagens” commercial, the company lists its Facebook address on the final shot of the ad: facebook.com/vw. Procter & Gamble, one of the biggest companies in the world, is now regularly listing Facebook addresses in print and TV advertisements for many of its top products. According to AdAge, P&G now has more than 15 brands with Facebook followings in the six figures. Two of its brands — Pringles and Old Spice — had 9 million and 1.3 million, respectively, as of April 2011. (more…)
Posted by: K Street Cafe Editor
Social Media Ad Spending to Hit $8.3B in 2015 (Mashable)
Organizations will look to harness the power of social media even more over the next few years, increasing ad sales from $2.1B last year to $8.3B by 2015.
Ownership of TV Sets Falls in U.S. (NY Times)
As more consumers go online to fulfill their entertainment needs, television ownership drops for the first time in twenty years.
Cross-posted from Adfero.com
Facebook and Twitter are clearly two very different social media platforms. For advocacy professionals in particular, building a community on Facebook is very different than building an engaged following on Twitter. The Twitter-Facebook divide is best explained by an analogy to two Inside the Beltway publications that represent different but equally important audiences: Politico and National Journal.
Facebook is to Politico…
Although its coverage is focused exclusively on one topic, Politico maintains a broad and diverse audience. It is read by Inside the Beltway professionals and political junkies everywhere, from D.C. to the South to the Midwest. In 2009, Politico reportedly had a circulation of 32,000, with 6.7 million unique visitors to its web site per month.
Similarly, Facebook is used by a wide variety of the American public. Your neighbor, your co-worker, even your mother is increasingly likely to be a Facebook user. According to Facebook, the site now has more than 500 million active users. Fifty percent of those users log in to Facebook on a daily basis. The sheer volume of activity on the site makes it a no-brainer for advocacy professionals looking to build a large and active following. Facebook’s mainstream appeal also makes it an easier sell to management: because executives are also likely to know friends and family members who use the website regularly, it is easier for them to recognize the value of building a presence on the site.
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Posted by: Guest Contributor
By Michael Wm. Schick
For the most part, politicians like cameras (unless, of course, they are in trouble). But assuming they are not, they really do like to be in the spotlight. They come alive when the lights turn on and the cameras flash and roll.
As a former press spokesman for a US Senator, I repeatedly witnessed this phenomenon, especially on State of the Union night. One of my jobs was to escort my boss through the shining sea of network and cable camera crews set up in Statuary Hall right outside the House floor, making sure he took full advantage of the interview opportunities surrounding him.
There is something strangely stimulating about being in front of a camera. It’s like an injection of adrenaline. But during a recent day on Capitol Hill, I witnessed the emergence of a new media stimulant: Twitter. I spent the day shepherding 10 of America’s top mom bloggers to meetings with Members of Congress and their staffs. During the meetings, the bloggers hardly looked at the guest speakers, not because they were rudely checking their emails or texting their friends, but because they were busy transmitting what they were hearing on their smartphones or iPads, tweeting at the speed of light. Some took Twitpics and posted them immediately; some used digital cameras, and then transferred the images from the camera’s memory card to their iPads.
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Posted by: Molly Nichelson
Facebook is getting into the spirit of Election Day with a poll locator widget along with an “I Voted” button that you can post on your page which includes a tally of those that clicked the button.
On the U.S. Politics on Facebook page, they have a post which tallied the number of Republicans, Democrats and Independents that have voted. I presume this information is coming from their members who have self-identified themselves politically and have clicked on their “I Voted” button.
This got me thinking… could a social media widget like Facebook’s help create a larger wave of voter intensity, given that most people friend those they know and share common interests and values with? And what is the impact of one politically savvy friend on Facebook?
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Posted by: K Street Cafe Editor
What’s Next for Politics and Social Media?
(Smart Blog on Social Media)
While social media is becoming more important in politics, its effects are still relatively limited.
The Devolving Meaning of Social Media (Harvard Business Review)
A discussion of how the meaning of “social media” has changed.
Posted by: K Street Cafe Editor
Are Social Media and Politics Hitting the Mark for Young Voters? (Know)
A look at the effectiveness of using social media to influence younger demographics at the polls.
Facebook, Amazon and Kleiner Perkins Start $250 Million Fund for Social Innovation (Mashable)
Investment partners recently announced the creation of the sFund, which will support social innovation.
Posted by: K Street Cafe Editor
How Social Search Will Transform the SEO Industry (Mashable)
A look into how SEO will change in light of recent announcements such as the Facebook and Bing partnership.
Internet About to Hit 2 Billion Users (CNN)
The number of internet users has doubled in the past five years, according to an International Telecommunication Union report.
First published on the Mirsky & Company blog.
FTC enforcement of its new blogger guidelines has involved typically high-profile actions against Anne Taylor LOFT (FTC ultimately taking no action) and Reverb Communications (for allegedly deceptive postings of positive reviews on iTunes for games produced by Reverb clients).
While premature to draw any broad conclusions on the enforcement environment for the new rules, a philosophical problem with the FTC’s new blogger framework is its willful ignorance of the advertising underpinnings of traditional media.
So, for example, while established newspapers like the New York Times and Washington Post depend for their credibility on perceived soundness of the journalistic “church-state” divide, readers are almost never proactively alerted to major advertising support from common story subjects in business and politics. Disclosure more typically comes from investment or ownership relationships, in the form of “full disclosure” statements like that from Ezra Klein when reporting about Facebook (“Disclosure: Washington Post Co. Chairman Donald E. Graham is on Facebook’s board, and The Post markets itself on Facebook.”). Not, though, from advertising relationships, even major advertisers.
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