I’ve been watching the Brian Solis – Robert Scoble discussions here. Twitter continues to generate a huge amount of conversation, which is interesting considering:
So, is Twitter the new attention dashboard? I have my doubts. I think that’s a very limited view of the conversations that are occurring online.
Will the real-time Web be a major influence on communication in the future? Absolutely.
The focus on the newness of things, the tool and its features and the immediacy of information (Twitter beat CNN to the Tiger Woods story this week by 45 mins) is compelling – but only to a point. Beyond that point, Twitter discussions tend to become rather sycophantic, repetitive, tactical and/or theoretical.
This stuff is important though; The immediacy of micro-blogs like Twitter influences the way that we value information and perceive it. It speeds up the news cycle and makes information even more of a commodity.
In a presentation at the recent Media140 event in Sydney Barry Saunders spoke about the danger of not considering context when we use the real-time Web as a primary source of information. This is among the most insightul and interesting things that I’ve heard said about this space. Its a very valid point, which is – along with others - being overlooked in a plethora of hype fuelled conversations about Twitter. Mr. Saunders make some additional points on related topics here.
The Twitter purists consider Twitter to be a conversational tool but many organisations are, in my experience, approaching it is a broadcast medium, as research that we are releasing tomorrow will show.
I will leave you with this analysis from BlogPulse, which shows comparative mentions of ‘Twitter’, ‘Unemployment’ and ‘Iraq’ in all forms of consumer generated media over the past six months:
Tags: Blogging, journalism, online, PR, social networks, twitter, Web
This man, Geoffrey Edelsten, is about to open a medi-hotel complex in Caroline Spings, Victoria. According to this morning’s Sydney Morning Herald, the medi-hotel will provide a range of cosmetic surgery procedures with the idea being that clients can’t recuperate post-op in the Mercure hotel part of the medi-complex.
This conjures up some amusing / disturbing images of breakfast at the hotel with patrons munching away and imbibing (via straws) at various stages in their recovery with a multitude of bits and pieces bandaged, stitched and stretched.
The over 55s: A sizeable and wealthy segment of the Australian population with an increasing penchant for all things Internet.
I am not planning on cosmetic surgery.
Tags: ageing, australia, edelsten, health, online, population, seniors, surgery
Tags: Audience, Consumption, data, Forrester, Media, online, Segmentation, Technographics
Simon Sharwood, a freelance journalist in Australia, recently blogged two out of his three ideas for new business models in print journalism. Both ideas are based on the concept of industry funding.
In the first, funding would come from industry associations and industry groups. In the second, the PR industry funds print journalism via a licensing system, which grants the license holder access to those journalists – similar to the registration of lobbyists.
Both concepts seem to create dependencies that would undermine journalistic independence and integrity, although the risk of this occurring in the second model could be minimised: “…to be a registered PR, one would stump up a fee that goes into an independently administered fund that is then redistributed to publishers with oversight to ensure it goes on wages” (Simon – in comments).
Putting aside the practical challenges of this model, some of which are discussed in the post, I doubt that the model would be sustainable. Funding from the PR industry would be a diminishing return as media relations become a smaller part of what PR agencies do.
Here’s where I come up with my alternative solve all solution.
I might need to get back to you on that but here are some other funding alternatives:
The subject is such an emotive and complex issue. I am definitely in the ‘newspapers are a good thing’ camp – but at the end of the day if the model ceases to work then we have to let ‘nature’ take its course. Consolidation is inevitable but I think that the concept of a newspaper-less society is somewhat alarmist.
By the way, newspapers are flourishing in the developing world. 
Ultimately, I see a small number of print publications containing analysis and opinion available internationally, nationally and in major cities. They’ll play a key role in holding institutions, business and Government to account and would be supported by the not-for-profit- funding model if advertising revenue alone was not sufficient.
I am positive that the pendulum will swing back from digital to traditional media and that things will balance themselves out.
Quality print journalism will survive even if the industry is vastly consolidated and readers will turn to the Web for breaking news, trade/niche content, entertainment and video. I don’t personally have an issue with a micro-pay scheme – I’d be happy to pay a small amount for quality content from someone that ‘appreciated the technical nuances of the fields concerned’.
There continues to be considerable opportunity for the newspaper industry to reduce cost which makes this scenario seem feasible. Moody’s estimates that just 14% of newspaper operating costs are related to content creation. It’s not all doom and gloom – there are still workable options.
Tags: Add new tag, australia, cost, journalism, Media, model, newspapers, online, PR, Print, printing, profit, viewpass
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