Digital Publishing… A Mirror of Print?

Ryan    Uncategorized     Content, Digital Print, iPad, Tablet PCs, VIV Magazine, Zinino

Absolutely not.

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TechCrunch Sold to AOL

Ryan    Uncategorized     AOL, Content, techcrunch

I saw the above headline this morning and couldn’t help but giggle. With businesses getting sold left and right these days, it was only a matter of time when content giant AOL finally got their hands on another significant entity.

Although I can’t say for sure whether someone got the short end of the stick on this one, I can say that this really reaffirms the notion of AOL’s instinct on a content based business strategy.

Back in the day, when AOL was all about dial-up internet access, people were pretty accepting of the fact that AOL was THE gateway to online freedom.. when really, it wasn’t freedom they were experiencing, but a highly structured ad and content experience constructed around programmed website viewing. They were pretty darn profitable! But as with most companies, the glory days soon became extinct as more ‘open’ sources for internet access became available. They were essentially outdated soon after they gained notoriety.

What next? As AOL’s commitment to staying relevant turned into a fight towards staying successful, new strategies in search and advertising led to where they are today. Positioning themselves along the lines where Yahoo and MSN are, AOL focused on content, and with the acquisition of TechCrunch, its quite obvious that they’re looking to stay there.

Do you think there is a certain point where a company can talk about stuff too much or own too many content outlets? I suppose we should ask corporate giants like News Corp, Disney, Viacom, or Time Warner… whoops! Maybe AOL thinks they’ll be up with the big brother Time Warner sometime soon. Quite honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised.

Why Fluff is Important

Ryan    Uncategorized     Content, Fluff Content

… but don’t tell you kids that.

So what fluff am I talking about? To make a long story short… it’s content.

We all understand that ‘Content is King’ and that content drives links, which drives traffic, which makes us successful…  yadda yadda yadda. But have you ever stopped to think about just what kind of content people are making these days? Are we all best selling authors? journalists? or celebrity personalities? No, we’re content creators, but I think the line between us and those traditional publishers is getting finer and finer by the day. But for differing reasons than what you might be thinking.

Sure I’m not Shakespeare, but the words I say and the things I do are relevant to me, as well as a small population of individuals who get a kick out of learning more about me. Although I don’t appeal to the mass audiences of the online world, I know there is a place for me somewhere.. either a well known niche, or just my own backyard. It’s kind of a brand thing. But as consumers begin to rely less and less on mass media and more and more on specialized media, personal opinion, or voice, it is clear that our viewpoints are becoming a lot more important to the continuously increasingly educated population. Although some people might think this is a fallback on progress and the romanticism of emotion and personal feeling..  I will argue that it is the humanization of progress. A necessary evil needed to make sure we don’t end up like the workers on Metropolis. (I’ve never thought about falling in love with a robot)

Do I think my own blog or my own content is fluff content? Sometimes, but to all of you who read this, there has got to be a least one simple takeaway you can gain, right? There is no question that that vast majority of information out there has some kind of agenda to it, but I think that has kind of been the name of the game since the idea of popularity first plagued our minds. “What do I need to do in order to get this…?”

The moment when too much effort is put on the result and not enough on the execution, we will see the masses becoming wise to the publication of fluff content. But although it is not really a bad thing, it could eventually lead to the restructuring of how we make, see, and use data on the internet as we know it. Agendas are fine, but make sure you’re actually giving someone a reason to be a part of your agenda… otherwise, you’ll lose them all in the long run.

Peace

Drafting Content – Blueprints to Success

Ryan    Uncategorized     Content

In my recent attempt to switch from platform maker to platform user, I’ve started thinking more and more about the correct way to create a model for content that is suitable to today’s Web 2.0 audience. Interaction, Yes! That is the goal, but to what extent do I show the true side of the content, in other words, how transparent is my agenda?

If you’ve noticed, the last few posts here at RyanJin.me have focused more primarily around the idea of content and how it is the essential life blood of everything the internet stands for. Really, it is! But as content becomes saturated with fluff, echoes, and ‘how-tos’ for idiots, the idea of content as a serious factor in success has become a hard topic marketers need to grapple with. Top Ten Lists won’t cut it any more.. except if you’re trying to target wannabe social media experts, in that case… welcome to the party. Everyone has left, or has grown up.

But honestly finding the right content and mode of delivering that content is a hurdle for many people these days. Sure you can find your niche and build your reputation organically, but where to begin?

Taking a step back, I’ve been watching Andrea lately and her habits on the internet. Every day, she visits her favorite blogs, favorite discussion forms, and favorite sites. Like clockwork, she manually updates her internal RSS feed to make sure she is up to date on everything and anything associated with what she feels is important to her online experience. From this perspective, should it seem ridiculous that every niche has this kind of network? No! It’s really a simple concept, and it is expressed in everyday user experience of the internet.

When Web 2.0 came out, I thought the concept was hilarious. But quite honestly, it has become the most important changing factor in how consumers AND producers use the internet. For this reason, blogs became the big thing, but then came micro-blogs. As if a concept for the ‘everyday blogger’ Twitter is turning more and more into the Second Life of today. As I see myself using less and less of the application, I feel like I am trying to fix this through other means of ‘reaching out’ or ‘communicating’ with others around me. This is not to say I am retired of Twitter, I just think the program as a singular entity is becoming outdated. Once private networks, or private HOSTED networks become the core of how Twitter or micro-blogging tools connect, there could be a new influx in use, but for some reason, saturation in Facebook, iPhones, or whatever else has rendered the service hard to justify. So what is next?

Even with all of the new talk of Twitter, and then this gradual fall, blogs have still remained. Actually, as people have seen they can be heard (or read) through Twitter, more and more are adopted actual blogs. I think this is absolutely great. With everyone’s blog however, simple RSS reeders are going to get their work cut out for them.

My prediction for 2010 and 2011: Organization of social media is going to become very very important. Twitter will remain, of course, but it is already evident that there needs to be an internal organizational change to make the service more enticing for new and retired users. Association of blogs and personal sites… RSS readers will become the new TweetDecks or Twitterifics. When there is something new to read that is seriously from a valid source… you know as well as me that we’re both going to read it.

Peace

The About.com Content Model

Ryan    Uncategorized     About.com, Content, Examiner.com, Gawker.com

As more and more websites fill our browser histories and/or fan pages on Facebook, a looming question for some becomes apparently obvious. How do I create the mass amount of content needed to stay ahead of my competitors? I suppose this kind of questions isn’t really suitable for some people who only ‘microblog’ or have some sort of physical or service oriented product. (Although I could be wrong)

When social media gurus talk, a lot of times, they speak to content. It’s like a runway for an airplane… without it, you can’t take off.. or land back on earth, but then again, without the airplane, you wouldn’t get anywhere in the first place. If only we could apparate or use floo powder.

So while content is important, how are some websites like Examiner.com, or Gawker.com coming up with up to the minute stories and articles? 6 words… It’s like open source magazine publishing. In all actuality, it’s basically what many people today think of as ‘Community Blogs’.  With a few exceptions. Remember About.com?

The content on About.com is surprisingly decent for how diverse the articles and information is. From fixing a grand piano to cooking Thai food, to learning PHP… you can basically learn or read about anything from About.com. The reason you remember it so well (or are still finding it pop up in your search results today) is because that content is intertwined with all the other content on the site. In other words… it was like the Wikipedia of it’s day.. but without the ability to freely write whatever you want. Instead of opening the editor to just anyone and their dog, they decided to ‘hire’ what are called Guides. As Wikipedia explains:

Guides are compensated with a base stipend plus bonuses for increased traffic; according to About.com, several guides are averaging over $100,000 per year, although the exact number is not disclosed.

To learn more about how Guides are paid or even how to become one.. check out About.com’s Be A Guide section.

So why is this important? – As social media becomes even more and more important to people, businesses, and organizations, the whole ‘Content is King’ deal… really becomes a forefront issue.

So should I or Jim at Jim’s Tri-Coutny Electrical Repair build our own content platforms and hire hundreds of high schoolers to write about different things? Of course not! That’s not my point. What is my point is.. these platforms exist FOR you, not BY you. If you think you’re an expert at plumbing in Phoenix, check out Examiner.com and see if you can add your own input or even publish your own works to the community. You never know exactly what you’ll find.

For those of you who ARE in the content business…

Well I think we all know it really isn’t a one person job. Try the model out sometime if you’re interested… I bet you’ll be surprised by how much more ‘stuff’ you are able to put out there then when it was just you in your cubicle at work -_-.

Peace.

The Importance of Content

Ryan    Uncategorized     Content, Social Marketing, Social Media, Twitter

After a spicy lunch with EL this afternoon, we’ve both come to the agreement that content is the most important aspect at successful web marketing/social media strategies. What do I mean by this… If you’re just ‘ReTweeting’ everything from someone else, copying links from blogs not your own, or something similar, you aren’t providing a viable service/product/resource to followers. You might be for a short while, but eventually, people will catch on, and do their news surfing themselves. Not the way to go.

Instead, if you focus on the content… making videos, actually writing in your blog, supplying a real service, then you have something to market and socialize about. So what does this all boil down to? Social media is so new and is still in the wee early stages of development that anyone who tells you they know what it is to know about social, is lying to you. Give it another year or so, and you will definately know who and where social is going.

Social search, mapping, cacheing, filtering… this stuff is totally unchartered when it comes to social media. I believe that in the next few months, you’ll begin to see a more dynamic breed of programs and applications out there that really start to push social media.. and dare I say, social advertising/marketing to the next level.

Peace.