Two weeks ago, I started reading "Facebook Marketing: Design Your Next Marketing Campaign," a new book by Justin R. Levy (2010). Justin Levy is the Director of Business Development, Marketing, and Client Relations of New Marketing Labs, a new media marketing agency. He wrote this book to help businesses navigate the unknown sea of new media marketing including how to use social media tools, blogs, community platforms and audio tools to achieve added value.
Facebook has become popular with not only individuals, but an increasing number of companies as well. The reason is simple. This unique took provides a suite of features that allow companies to develop communities, humanize their brands, engage with their prospects and customers, and many other benefits.
More than simply teaching the techniques to use the tool, the book digs into concepts of establishing a corporate presence, extending communication into the interwebs, Facebook advertising, privacy concerns and common good of the community. The book has brought social media from a personal level to a wider scope. It embraces the trend of businesses' approach to use social network.
Social media is the collective term for online engagement tools such as social networks, blogging and microblogging. These tools enable people to easily share information and network with like-minded others on the Internet.
To me, I think it is interesting to see the potential of local farmers markets to apply social media to reach their core audience segments and communicates meaningful messages to them. In March 2010, the Missouri Value Added Center at the University of Missouri conducted an online survey of Missouri farmers market organizers to discover how they perceive and use social media. The response from 40 survey participants indicated that when selecting marketing tools, farmers market organizers should consider the potential of social media for reaching current and potential customers and building relationships with new and existing vendors. The new strategy requires market organizers to make necessary changes in their marketing activities and can better craft marketing plans and messages to achieve their marketing goals.
This was an significant move in the media market because farmers are a group who have less active access to the Internet on average. I ever talked with several vendors in the Columbia Farmers Market. Usually they would get online only once every three days because they spent most time in the field. The social media marketing approach would offer a good start for these people to be more involved in the information society.
According to the survey,about half of the Missouri farmers market organizers surveyed said website development would be a promotional tool they would like to learn more about for use in expanding their markets. The social media tools they most want to learn more about are Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and blogs. They were least interested in learning more about MySpace, Ning, Meetup, Flickr and Wikipedia. Only 22% of respondents were not interested in learning about using any social media as promotional tools. Among all the purposed to be achieved, generating awareness was a goal of 87% of the respondents and distributing market news and building relationships with customers were goals for about 3/4 of the respondents.
One advantange of social media is that in general it can help learn about consumer needs and preferences, provides specifics on product information and details for using certain stuff via a more personal channel than traditional ways. It enhances the establishment of a friendly relationship between the suppliers and the shoppers, as well as enable local people to enjoy a strong sense of community.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Ethical Issue of Citizen Journalism
Today, during the discussion on the future of media convergence, a visitor from China raised a question – how can media outlets that strive to win audience engagement ensure the accuracy and truthfulness of user-generated contents?
This is a good, and also a hard question. Something like a code of ethics of citizen journalism, or participatory journalism as a newer term, is really a complicated and controversial issue that have aroused heated debate. It is a general issue that need to be look into, not only in the more developed media markets such as the United States, but also in developing societies where new technologies are emerging and enable the traditional audience to start contributing to the news contents.
As far as I'm concerned, the trend is not simple reflected by the fact that Facebook has as many as 500 million users in the U.S., the popularity of Renren.com in China also demonstrating that new tools like social media has facilitating the free flow of information in a larger extent. Ethical citizen journalism is not simply limited to the fact-check of the news contents, but is supposed to be inclusive of all the basic values of journalism in broader sense.
Traditional journalism has pretty clear code of ethics for journalism professionals, including thoroughfulness, fairness and credibility. Generally speaking, the duty of the journalist is to enlighten the public to uphold the justice and build the foundation of democracy by seeking truth and providing a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues (Society of Professional Journalists). However, with the speedy advancement of new technologies, especially the wide application of the Internet, the audience in the traditional sense has transformed into active contributors to news stories, which has put the traditional standards in jeopardy. Anonymous Ruthless and rude comments from the readers were impossible to be put in print in the past, but now they are very likely to appear in the online comments. Fake stories or fabricated images submitted via social media may easily screw up the credibility of reputed news organizations. How can we maintain the creed of journalism as a profession while embrace the trend of interactive information sharing?
The first question we may ask is whether professional code of ethics are generalizable to non-professionals. Should citizen reporters or bloggers obey those basic principles? Well, put aside the argument whether citizen journalists, bloggers or free lancer reporters are exactly professional personnel, my logic is like this:
More than one hundred years, when Walter Williams founded the world's first journalism school, his belief was that well-educated journalists will bring quality news to the public and make the news market vital. Today, technology and education has changed the situation a little bit--"Every citizen is a reporter (OhMyNews.com)" However, being non-professional doesn’t mean there is no need to have a code of ethics or standards. If citizen journalism is to sustain, citizen journalists are subject to social audit. A code of ethics and standards should be adopted for citizen journalists around the world so news organizations can employ these citizen journalists and expect the same kind of honest reporting from them that they get from their legacy journalists.
Maybe the experience of OhMyNews may shed light on how to balance the two sides of the stories. Englis.OhMyNews.com pioneers in cultivating citizen journalism. However,citizen reporters' responsibility are clearly stated on the website http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?no=171638&rel_no=1. This may also well explain why this Korean citizen journalism Web site has been developed sustainably in the last few years. The practice to lay out the ethical requirement for citizen journalists or online contributors really worth thinking and trying.
This is a good, and also a hard question. Something like a code of ethics of citizen journalism, or participatory journalism as a newer term, is really a complicated and controversial issue that have aroused heated debate. It is a general issue that need to be look into, not only in the more developed media markets such as the United States, but also in developing societies where new technologies are emerging and enable the traditional audience to start contributing to the news contents.
As far as I'm concerned, the trend is not simple reflected by the fact that Facebook has as many as 500 million users in the U.S., the popularity of Renren.com in China also demonstrating that new tools like social media has facilitating the free flow of information in a larger extent. Ethical citizen journalism is not simply limited to the fact-check of the news contents, but is supposed to be inclusive of all the basic values of journalism in broader sense.
Traditional journalism has pretty clear code of ethics for journalism professionals, including thoroughfulness, fairness and credibility. Generally speaking, the duty of the journalist is to enlighten the public to uphold the justice and build the foundation of democracy by seeking truth and providing a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues (Society of Professional Journalists). However, with the speedy advancement of new technologies, especially the wide application of the Internet, the audience in the traditional sense has transformed into active contributors to news stories, which has put the traditional standards in jeopardy. Anonymous Ruthless and rude comments from the readers were impossible to be put in print in the past, but now they are very likely to appear in the online comments. Fake stories or fabricated images submitted via social media may easily screw up the credibility of reputed news organizations. How can we maintain the creed of journalism as a profession while embrace the trend of interactive information sharing?
The first question we may ask is whether professional code of ethics are generalizable to non-professionals. Should citizen reporters or bloggers obey those basic principles? Well, put aside the argument whether citizen journalists, bloggers or free lancer reporters are exactly professional personnel, my logic is like this:
More than one hundred years, when Walter Williams founded the world's first journalism school, his belief was that well-educated journalists will bring quality news to the public and make the news market vital. Today, technology and education has changed the situation a little bit--"Every citizen is a reporter (OhMyNews.com)" However, being non-professional doesn’t mean there is no need to have a code of ethics or standards. If citizen journalism is to sustain, citizen journalists are subject to social audit. A code of ethics and standards should be adopted for citizen journalists around the world so news organizations can employ these citizen journalists and expect the same kind of honest reporting from them that they get from their legacy journalists.
Maybe the experience of OhMyNews may shed light on how to balance the two sides of the stories. Englis.OhMyNews.com pioneers in cultivating citizen journalism. However,citizen reporters' responsibility are clearly stated on the website http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?no=171638&rel_no=1. This may also well explain why this Korean citizen journalism Web site has been developed sustainably in the last few years. The practice to lay out the ethical requirement for citizen journalists or online contributors really worth thinking and trying.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Snow, Snow, Snow - at the beginning of Chinese Rabbit Year
It was the end of January. Chinese people were expecting a special holiday - the Spring Festival. According to the lunar calendar, 2011 is the Rabbit Year. Though my 3-and-a -half-year-old daughter Joyce has never been to China to experience the atmosphere of the festival, she was the most excited one in the house since I had kept telling her all interesting stuff about the Spring Festival. This year is very special for us whole family as well. My parents came to Columbia to stay with us and it was a family reunion time in the foreign country.
We scheduled a get-together for the celebration of our unique tradition on the New Year's Eve and invited as many as 10 friends to come over to my place, including several Americans in town. It is such a honor to have people who have helped us Chinese students and visitors a lot all year round. I really appreciate those native English speakers with high respect and better understanding of Chinese culture.
The weekend before the Spring Festival involved a lot of preparing and cooking for the get-together. Joyce was willing to help me around. The last year has been busy and hard for my family. So many changes. My husband moved to NY for his new job and Joyce came from St. Louis to live with me. She started preschool as a non English speaker. I myself have been trying the best to be a good mother, a dedicated graduate student, and a reliable employee. Everything went well so far. After several months in the preschool, Joyce has picked up English very fast and learned how to communicate with people from outside of my family. She is not much intimidated by the English environment anymore. At the turning point to a new year, we really need to celebrate - for all the achievement we have made.
The unexpected blizzard comes one night before the New Year's day, causing quite much trouble. My friends are trapped in their homes unable to come out! Few would like to brave the road for the party. As a result, our get-together was called off. The snow was such an upset for us, but, Joyce can always have fun, even in the freezing weather!
While I was sweating to dig my car out from the 13-inch snow, Joyce and her grandparents decided it would be great fun to slide down the slope in our back yard. Fortunately, my neighbor lent her sled to them. I bet that Joyce is only one of hundreds of kids who "enjoy" the weather. Schools are closed. Travel was almost impossible (though I still drove to KOMU-TV Tuesday night for my web shift). But it doesn't matter. Heavy snow often brings enjoyable time to kinds who are not deterred by the cold.
In Chinese belief, the snow coming around the New Year indicates prosperity in the coming year. We are lucky enough to see and feel the snow - probably the heaviest one in the last 30 years. When the sky clears after the storm, the sunlight is just so cozy and lovely.
Snow, snow, snow - just to welcome the Chinese Rabbit Year. Here you may see the precious moment I captured :)
We scheduled a get-together for the celebration of our unique tradition on the New Year's Eve and invited as many as 10 friends to come over to my place, including several Americans in town. It is such a honor to have people who have helped us Chinese students and visitors a lot all year round. I really appreciate those native English speakers with high respect and better understanding of Chinese culture.
The weekend before the Spring Festival involved a lot of preparing and cooking for the get-together. Joyce was willing to help me around. The last year has been busy and hard for my family. So many changes. My husband moved to NY for his new job and Joyce came from St. Louis to live with me. She started preschool as a non English speaker. I myself have been trying the best to be a good mother, a dedicated graduate student, and a reliable employee. Everything went well so far. After several months in the preschool, Joyce has picked up English very fast and learned how to communicate with people from outside of my family. She is not much intimidated by the English environment anymore. At the turning point to a new year, we really need to celebrate - for all the achievement we have made.
The unexpected blizzard comes one night before the New Year's day, causing quite much trouble. My friends are trapped in their homes unable to come out! Few would like to brave the road for the party. As a result, our get-together was called off. The snow was such an upset for us, but, Joyce can always have fun, even in the freezing weather!
While I was sweating to dig my car out from the 13-inch snow, Joyce and her grandparents decided it would be great fun to slide down the slope in our back yard. Fortunately, my neighbor lent her sled to them. I bet that Joyce is only one of hundreds of kids who "enjoy" the weather. Schools are closed. Travel was almost impossible (though I still drove to KOMU-TV Tuesday night for my web shift). But it doesn't matter. Heavy snow often brings enjoyable time to kinds who are not deterred by the cold.
In Chinese belief, the snow coming around the New Year indicates prosperity in the coming year. We are lucky enough to see and feel the snow - probably the heaviest one in the last 30 years. When the sky clears after the storm, the sunlight is just so cozy and lovely.
Snow, snow, snow - just to welcome the Chinese Rabbit Year. Here you may see the precious moment I captured :)
Friday, January 28, 2011
Application of social network to keep audience for local news engaged
Recently, Pew Institute released a report of its Internet Project Surveys on the use of social networks by older adults. The document reveals that older adults have been especially enthusiastic about embracing new networking tools. According to the report, social networking use among internet users aged 50 and older nearly doubled—from 22% in April 2009 to 42% in May 2010 (http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Older-Adults-and-Social-Media.aspx).
Though currently teens and adults are still the heaviest users of social media, the surge in the number of older social network users outpaced the increase in that of the younger generation. The new trend is interesting and exciting enough to bring our attention to the potentials for media outlets, especially TV stations, to take full advantage of social networks to keep in close interaction with community members, most of who are also viewers of local news.
As KOMU-TV advances in building its outreach by using both Facebook and Twitter to attract the maximum size of local audience and provide the most updated information, I would see the system not only as a tool to disseminate information, but also a source to utilize the wisdom of the crowd. The rise of social journalism in the past few years have demonstrated that consumers are more interested in news that they are closely related to, and are more engaged to the contents to which they have contribute to. With popularity of new technologies with older groups, we may use crowdsourcing to obtain some information that our reporters have yet to obtain, or check the facts that are yet to be confirmed. The point of crowdsourcing in the process of news producing is that the talent and work of a group of people, who are simply audience in the traditional settings, is superior to that of a single reporter or a few. The individuals among the audience, especially older viewers, may be expertise in some area. And that knowledge can help our station gain ratings and produce higher quality news.
The other insight social network offers us is that we can use them to grow up our audience. Since younger adults have social networks as a tool for daily communication, they obtain a significant amount of information (news) from the resource as well. Studies have shown that younger people tend to watch TV for less time. But TV news may cut into this particular group with developing its social networking system. If the young become loyal followers of TV stations, hopefully they will become viewers of the same channel when they turn into TV news viewers.
Though currently teens and adults are still the heaviest users of social media, the surge in the number of older social network users outpaced the increase in that of the younger generation. The new trend is interesting and exciting enough to bring our attention to the potentials for media outlets, especially TV stations, to take full advantage of social networks to keep in close interaction with community members, most of who are also viewers of local news.
As KOMU-TV advances in building its outreach by using both Facebook and Twitter to attract the maximum size of local audience and provide the most updated information, I would see the system not only as a tool to disseminate information, but also a source to utilize the wisdom of the crowd. The rise of social journalism in the past few years have demonstrated that consumers are more interested in news that they are closely related to, and are more engaged to the contents to which they have contribute to. With popularity of new technologies with older groups, we may use crowdsourcing to obtain some information that our reporters have yet to obtain, or check the facts that are yet to be confirmed. The point of crowdsourcing in the process of news producing is that the talent and work of a group of people, who are simply audience in the traditional settings, is superior to that of a single reporter or a few. The individuals among the audience, especially older viewers, may be expertise in some area. And that knowledge can help our station gain ratings and produce higher quality news.
The other insight social network offers us is that we can use them to grow up our audience. Since younger adults have social networks as a tool for daily communication, they obtain a significant amount of information (news) from the resource as well. Studies have shown that younger people tend to watch TV for less time. But TV news may cut into this particular group with developing its social networking system. If the young become loyal followers of TV stations, hopefully they will become viewers of the same channel when they turn into TV news viewers.
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