Mitch Joel's Blog: Six Pixels of Separation, page 202

Mark Zuckergberg Is Giving Away Billions - Judge Not Lest Ye Be Judged

Every Monday morning at 7:10 am, I am a guest contributor on CHOM 97.7 FM radio broadcasting out of Montreal (home base). It's not a long segment - about 5 to 10 minutes every week - about everything that is happening in the world of technology and digital media. The good folks at CHOM 97.7 FM are posting these segments weekly to SoundCloud, if you're interested in hearing more of me blathering away. I'm really excited about this opportunity, because this is the radio station that I grew up on listening to, and it really is a fun treat to be invited to the Mornings Rock with Terry and Heather B. morning show. The segment is called, CTRL ALT Delete with Mitch Joel.

This week we discussed:

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan welcomed their first child into the world last week. To celebrate, they wrote her a very nice letter on Facebook and decided to give away 99% of their current Facebook shares to charity. That should be the hard stop, but this is the Internet and it sent many into an uproar. Many people questioned why they structured this initiative as they did, and went on criticize this action as some kind of tax shelter. Ugh. Sometimes the Internet can be so disappointing. Maybe everyone should read this. 
It was another big week in the world of Uber. It looks like a lot of their competitors are ganging up to try and figure out how to beat Uber. Beyond this partnership, Uber is in market to raise more money. Yes... more! Uber is in the process of raising another $2.1 billion at a $62.5 billion valuation. 
This week, I published the 12th episode of my newish monthly podcast, Groove - The No Treble Podcast. I've had a lot of interesting learnings trying to launch something new (especially a new podcast) in such a cluttered world. Terry launched a podcast, too. Podcasting... have you checked them out?
App of the week: NYT Now.

Listen here...

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The Changing State Of Blogs

Are blogs dead? Why is this question being debated so much lately?

Earlier today, Social Media Examiner's Michael Stelzner invited Mark W. Schaefer (author of  The Content Code, Social Media Explained, etc...) and I on to his podcast to discuss this whole, "is blogging dead?" meme that seems to be back in the public zeitgeist (the show will be published in the coming weeks). Like many of these conversations, it seems to devolve into a conversation and debate around semantics and definitions.

What is a blog?

In the early days of blogging (I started Six Pixels of Separation in 2003), I defined blogs as a personal publishing platform that enabled anyone to write something, hit the publish button, and instantly have it distributed to the world for free (and fast). At the time, many new types of blogs started down the same path. Some of them looked less like personal online journals, and more like quick moving and frequently updated digital versions of magazines and newspapers (think Huffington Post and Mashable). Still, these blogs had the core technical features of a personal blog. They enabled people to comment and share, had links within the text, and were also available via RSS feeds.

Remember RSS feeds?

This was another core component of what made a blog a "blog." It was the ability for readers/community members to "subscribe" to a blog feed. We would use independent RSS readers, web browser-based readers or email add-ons to have these pieces of content delivered to the reader, the moment that they were published by the writer. It's not an archaic notion, but things have changed since our social media newsfeeds have taken over. RSS readers are all but gone now (except for relics like me, who still use them in a less and less frequent way). Now, blogs like Mashable and Huffington Post just seem like publications more than how we used to define blogs.

And, that's the point. The idea of what a blog is (and will be) has become a moving target. 

It's hard... actually, impossible to tell the difference between a blog and a publication at this point. They both mirror one another with similar features, feel and content. Yes, the voice and tone of the content is varied, but publications always had these different styles of writing as their unique selling proposition.

Why the term "blog" could (and should) die.

I'm not sure what a blog is anymore. I'm not sure who a blogger is anymore. I'm not sure what a blog post looks like anymore. These used to have specific and unique characteristics. These characteristics (tags, comments, share buttons, links, subscription buttons and more) have all been adopted by mass publishers. In fact, in order to grow the Six Pixels of Separation audience, a lot of the strategy has less to do with posting here - as a hub - and much more with turning this place into a receptacle for the myriad of places that content is now distributed through (radio shows, business books, other digital spaces, magazines, YouTube and beyond). In order to keep familiarity, I've dismissed the language of blogs and blogging and have begun to replace it.

The new way to talk about blogs and content.

In short, this is how I have moved the vocabulary of blogs into the shadows, in order to modernize the content that you're reading:

From a blog to a publishing platform.
From a blog post to an article.
From a blogger to a writer (and, for some, it could be a journalist).

A game of semantics.

It's easy to just call this semantics, but it feels more like the proper evolution of blogs and publishing. Blogging used to be the ideal way for those without an audience or publishing history to build their own, and in a unique/more personal voice. Now, with the shift of channels like Mashable and Huffington Post from blogs to publishing empires, and the growth of publishing in places like Medium, LinkedIn and even Facebook's Notes to publish, there are a myriad of ways for brand (and individual) voices to get published. They all offer different types of audiences, access and distribution, but they are valid choices - and alternatives - to what used to be a very different model (either you got published or published on your own). Having Six Pixels of Separation be a type of publishing platform that I use to distribute my articles along with places like Harvard Business Review or Facebook creates a more dynamic portfolio and content distribution strategy, than spending my days worrying about driving unique traffic to a blog in a world where the readers have moved on, diversified and - from what I can tell - could care less. Readers care that they're getting the best content in whatever platform they're consumed by, not by where they have to go to get it.

Fair?

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Mark Zuckergberg Is Giving Away Billions - Judge Not Lest Yest Be Judged

Every Monday morning at 7:10 am, I am a guest contributor on CHOM 97.7 FM radio broadcasting out of Montreal (home base). It's not a long segment - about 5 to 10 minutes every week - about everything that is happening in the world of technology and digital media. The good folks at CHOM 97.7 FM are posting these segments weekly to SoundCloud, if you're interested in hearing more of me blathering away. I'm really excited about this opportunity, because this is the radio station that I grew up on listening to, and it really is a fun treat to be invited to the Mornings Rock with Terry and Heather B. morning show. The segment is called, CTRL ALT Delete with Mitch Joel.

This week we discussed:

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan welcomed their first child into the world last week. To celebrate, they wrote her a very nice letter on Facebook and decided to give away 99% of their current Facebook shares to charity. That should be the hard stop, but this is the Internet and it sent many into an uproar. Many people questioned why they structured this initiative as they did, and went on criticize this action as some kind of tax shelter. Ugh. Sometimes the Internet can be so disappointing. Maybe everyone should read this. 
It was another big week in the world of Uber. It looks like a lot of their competitors are ganging up to try and figure out how to beat Uber. Beyond this partnership, Uber is in market to raise more money. Yes... more! Uber is in the process of raising another $2.1 billion at a $62.5 billion valuation. 
This week, I published the 12th episode of my newish monthly podcast, Groove - The No Treble Podcast. I've had a lot of interesting learnings trying to launch something new (especially a new podcast) in such a cluttered world. Terry launched a podcast, too. Podcasting... have you checked them out?
App of the week: NYT Now.

Listen here...

Tags:

app of the week

chom 977 fm

chom fm

ctrl alt delete

ctrl alt delete with mitch joel

digital media

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google

groove the no treble podcast

guest contributor

heather beckman

j walter thompson

jwt

lyft

mark zuckerberg

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How To Be A Digital Parent

Episode #491 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Mirum Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to.

Welcome to episode #491 of Six Pixels Of Separation - The Mirum Podcast. It takes quite a bit to get my attention when it comes to business and non-fiction books. Make no mistake about it, I'm no book snob, but rather a huge reader (almost two books a week). You get to a point (decades in), when you begin to wonder if you will ever read something new, delicious, fascinating and exciting. Then came along a non-fiction parenting book that summarizes social science research on how media affects kids and also provides parents facts and tools - in a realistic manner - about how to best deal with the onslaught we're facing when it comes to devices and the media that we both consumer and create. The book is called, Media Moms & Digital Dads, and the author is Dr. Yalda T. Uhls. Dr. Uhls is an award-winning child psychological researcher who also with the amazing Common Sense Media. Prior to becoming a doctor, Dr. Uhls spent over 15 years in the film business working as a senior level studio executive developing movies with writers and directors, and later as a producer working on television and movies. If you have kids and are curious about how to manage technology and media, this one is for you. Enjoy the conversation... 

You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via iTunes): Six Pixels of Separation - The Mirum Podcast #491.

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Lessons In Starting Over

"If you had to start a blog today, what would you do?"... Would you do it?

I can't imagine the degree of complexity and much more competitive nature of trying to start a blog today. I started blogging back in 2003 (and have not stopped since). I don't really blog... I just write. I just write, and I love the fact that I have this tiny little publish button that enables me to distribute whatever is happening in between my earholes to the world (or, the small amount of people who care to read and engage with it). Starting something like that, today, would require a whole other approach. I would probably build my content into existing platforms (larger publishing channels and on places like Medium or LinkedIn... a "fish where the fish are" kind of content distribution model). Still, trying to make something new happen in this evolving digital publishing environment is alluring.

With that, I started a brand new podcast.

"Brand new," is not exactly true. About one year ago, I launched something called, Groove - The No Treble Podcast. Yes, a podcast that is similar to the one that I do at Six Pixels of Separation - The Mirum Podcast, but the in-depth conversations are not with business leaders and marketing experts. With Groove, I wanted to dig down deep with bass players. Being someone who plays the electric bass - with more of a passion for the sound and music that comes from it than the playing of it - it felt like an interesting project to take on, that is an extension of the work that I do. Musicians - as you know - are hyper-creative types. Personally, I was curious to see how these conversation would flow considering that I spent a large part of the late eighties and nineties interviewing hundreds of musicians for a myriad of print magazines.

What happened today?

Today, No Treble published the twelfth episode of Groove - The No Treble Podcast. I could think of no better way to celebrate the one year anniversary of this show, than to dive into the amazingly, unconventional and beautiful playing of Stuart Hamm. Back in the late eighties, I made the mistake of thinking that Hamm was a full-on rocker, due to his work with Steve Vai, Joe Satriani and Frank Gambale. While his first solo album, Radio Free Albemuth, came out in 1988, I got sucked into the vortex of his magnificent playing and composition on 1989's Kings Of Sleep. Rock, jazz, country, classical... you name it, and Stuart has a flair and approach that is uniquely his own.
A bassist since the seventies, Hamm has seen the evolution of the instrument, and how much the music and songs that emanate from the bass has evolved. In fact, he has been at the forefront of pushing the instrument forward. Live, in the studio or educating others, Hamm is just as enthused about the instrument as he ever has been. He recently released his latest composition, The Book of Lies, that includes a seven piece suite for bass soloing. He is an amazing artist.

What a new show has taught me.

There are so many lessons from starting over. There's the standard stuff: struggling to find the voice of the show, building the audience, publishing with consistency, maintaining the energy in between episodes (this one is published monthly) and more. What I've learned is this: dig deep into the niche. Bass players are a uniquely close community. They are on the fringes. I like that. The reason that podcasting still resonates (for me) is the ability to not only experiment with audio as a format - in way that radio can't - but also in producing content that you can't really hear anywhere else. Most people will have little-to-no desire to listen to a forty-five-minute-plus conversation with a bass player that may never have heard of. That's too bad. The content within this podcast about bass players is so directly applicable to leading a creative life that it has, literally, struck me at my core.

Take a listen. It's a journey...

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Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #285

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (BitCurrent, Year One Labs, GigaOM, Human 2.0, Solve For Interesting, the author of Complete Web Monitoring, Managing Bandwidth: Deploying QOS in Enterprise Networks and Lean Analytics), Hugh McGuire (PressBooks, LibriVox, iambik and co-author of Book: A Futurist's Manifesto) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person "must see".

Check out these six links that we're recommending to one another: 

We need a Data Journalism Archive. Before it becomes just another 404 error. - Vox . "Got a VCR tape? Good luck getting that into a new format, reliably. Our history is digital, and while what we make might be prolific, ensuring it's readable is a real problem. Simon Rogers (formerly of The Guardian, and now Twitter) knows from archives." (Alistair for Hugh).
SCARF: a brain-based modeller collaborating with and influencing others - NeuroLeadership Journal . "I'll take me a heaping spoonful of neuroscience with my corporate culture. With Myers-Briggs heavily relied upon, but also reliably debunked, maybe it's time to dig a bit deeper into what makes people collaborate well? Turns out it's five things: Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness, and Fairness. Want people to behave well? Give them this. Probably true of social media in general." (Alistair for Mitch).
A first look at the hard problem of corrigibility - Intelligent Agent Foundations Forum . "Do you ever wake up and say, 'Oh my God, AI is going to take over the Earth and turn us into The Matrix,' ... Well, here is some research being done to try to stop AI from doing just that. It is very spooky reading." (Hugh for Alistair).
Big Data's Mathematical Mysteries - Quanta Magazine . "Also, by the way, our state-of-the-art AI (such as Google's neural network systems) work better than they should: 'None of the classical results come close to explaining why neural networks and deep learning work as spectacularly well as they do.' What could possibly go wrong?" (Hugh for Mitch).
5 criticisms of billionaire mega-philanthropy, debunked - Quartz . "I tend to stay away from politically-charged issues. This week, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg (along with his wife and newborn child) pledged to give away 99% of his Facebook shares/wealth. Tons of cynicism, questioning and comments about his real intent behind the move (like, to save on paying taxes and more). I am dumbfounded. Do you know what percentage of our salaries people donate to charities? Read this. Stop and think about it. Even if he's doing this through a corporation that he controls - and could generate more money with - where is the real issue? So, he's saving on paying taxes while this money works to increase? He'll still be doing about thousand percent more than most of us, and giving away more than any one of us could ever hope to. What's the real downside here (besides our own political agendas or jealousy)?" (Mitch for Alistair).
The Future Of Libraries Is Collaborative, Robotic, And Participatory - Fast Company . "Do libraries have a future? A topic that Hugh and I love to discuss over lunch. The answer, of course is 'yes!' The answer, of course, looks nothing like the libraries that we all grew up in. They will be much different... and much cooler... and may not have many books." (Mitch for Hugh).

Feel free to share these links and add your picks on Twitter, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.

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A New Force To Change Your Habits

Mobile is critical. Be where the consumers are. Let's be much more social.

I can't tell you how many times I have heard those words said in public. Most recently, I sat through a session where the Chief Marketing Office of a multi-national brand (and one that is ranked among the best in the world) was passionately motivating their team to think about how these connections are really happening. It was less about where this brand needed to be, and much more about how they - philosophically - approach all of their marketing. It made me smile from ear to ear. Sentiments like "being a digital leader," and creating meaningful experiences beyond just advertising. Yes, all of the things that have kept me so energized and passionate about this industry for over twenty years (I'm not that old, I just started when I was very, very young ;)... but, then, the session was turned over to the floor for Q&A. This senior marketing team was invited to ask this CMO about anything and everything related to their business.

The next question really set things in a different direction.  

As much as this CMO believed their organization was doing everything to shift the marketing in the right direction, a senior brand leader pointed out that most of their online properties were not even close to mobile-friendly. Their sites were not responsive. They have very few mobile-native applications. That the brand is still, fundamentally, a browser-based, one direction (pushing out) platform that not only wasn't mobile-first, but very poor at engaging and building any form of digital marketing relationship with their customers. What followed was one marketing professional after another picking apart the CMO's positioning, against the reality of their current state of affairs. To sum this up: it's hard to be the company that the CMO has defined without the tools to do it.

Is your recent-legacy holding you back? 

It's not just this brand. It's an everyday occurrence. Brands claim to know their consumers, and how to be leaders in connecting with them in digital channels, but the raw materials scream otherwise. From clunky Web-browser first websites to fuzzy images in email blasts, to massive gaps when you search for the brand online to taking days to respond back to consumers on social media. How many brands have knocked on the Mirum doors lately claiming that their digital media is being reported to them with the same spreadsheets as their traditional media spend, with almost as little depth? You don't want to know the answer to that question.

This quick test will demonstrate just how strong your brand really is.

A few months ago, the staff at The New York Times got an interesting email from their management team. The staff was told that they would be temporarily blocking access inside their headquarters to the desktop version of The New York Times website. As with most brands, over half of their traffic (if not more) happens on mobile (and, don't think for a second that this number is not going to grow and grow). Mobile isn't a part of what The New York Times must do to adapt, it's the main directive if they have any hope of remaining relevant to their readers and subscribers. Yes, this is just an experiment, but it's one that you (and all of your fellow marketing peers) can do right now.

Go ahead, do it... I'll wait for you.

How did you do? Really. How did you really do? Some sites are responsive... they just adapt to the screen, and it's functional. Others are native. They were created with the mobile experience in mind. Here's the thing: this isn't a fad. This isn't something that will go away any time soon. Being responsive just means that it's workable. That your consumers can (kind of) do whatever they were doing online, while they're on their smartphones and tablets. Is this really good enough? Consumers have been trained. Mobile is their primary device (PCs have been relegated to an accessory to mobile). This is less about "how mobile is your brand?" and much more about this: how customer-centric is your brand. If you don't change your habits... as your consumers already have... what hope do you really have of staying relevant and competitive?

Here's the thing: most brands are - simply - completely out of touch. 

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Secure Your Social Media Spaces Before Someone Does It For You

Every Monday morning at 7:10 am, I am a guest contributor on CHOM 97.7 FM radio broadcasting out of Montreal (home base). It's not a long segment - about 5 to 10 minutes every week - about everything that is happening in the world of technology and digital media. The good folks at CHOM 97.7 FM are posting these segments weekly to SoundCloud, if you're interested in hearing more of me blathering away. I'm really excited about this opportunity, because this is the radio station that I grew up on listening to, and it really is a fun treat to be invited to the Mornings Rock with Terry and Heather B. morning show. The segment is called, CTRL ALT Delete with Mitch Joel.

This week we discussed:

Lessons in social media: even if you don't know, like or will use an existing or new platform (be it Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook or whatever), it's always a good idea to "protect yourself" by signing up to it, and grabbing your own name there. A local news celebrity had an impersonator on Twitter (and, they didn't know because they're not on the platform). Now, they have to sign up and deal with trying to get this nefarious individual shut down. The best solution? Secure your name.
Not sure what to get someone into tech this holiday season without breaking the budget? Why not get them a computer? I know, I know, I did use the word "budget." Well, what if I told you that the latest iteration of the Raspberry Pi computer was recently released. It's called Raspberry Pi Zero, and it's only $5. Not a typo. A $5 computer. The perfect gift if you ever thought of getting into programming, or if you have a young person in the house that you want to get into programming. Happy hacking! 
How do you like your wi-fi? You may soon be dumping it, if li-fi can truly deliver. Li-Fi transmits data using LED lights, which flicker on and off within nanoseconds, imperceptible to the human eye. It was invented in 2011. In the lab, li-fi has been able to reach a mind-blowing speed that is 100x faster than the fastest wi-fi. Unlike Wi-Fi signals which can penetrate walls, Li-Fi is based on light and can't, so its range is more limited. However, because of that limit, Li-Fi is also potentially more secure from external sniffing. Pretty interesting development. 
App of the week: check out Terry DiMonte's new online show - The Terry DiMonte Show.

Listen here...

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What Communications Should Do

Episode #490 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Mirum Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to.

It's hard not be impressed with the work and thinking of Josh Bernoff. For over twenty years, Josh was a key player at Forrester Research, where he wrote about, edited papers and studied companies involved in the future of technology. His work there was a key destination to better understand the players, what they were doing, and how this would affect business. His work for hugely important... and continues to be. At Forrester, Josh co-authored the famed business bestseller, Groundswell, with Charlene Li (as well as co-authoring the books, The Mobile Mindshift and Empowered). Now, he's blogging with a frenetic and awesome pace over at Without Bullshit (and working on the book, Writing Without Bullshit, which will be in stores next year. His main idea? Communicate smarter and better... without the BS. Enjoy the conversation...

You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via iTunes): Six Pixels of Separation - The Mirum Podcast #490.

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Apps Are Media

This might take some time for brands to wrap their heads around.

"Content is media." This may feel like a turn of phrase, at this point. We have seen such a proliferation of content that the vast majority of brand created (and brand sponsored) content isn't much more that an ad vaguely disguised as content (a wolf in sheep's clothing, as it were). But, when I started writing about this idea that content is media (around 2004), it was taken with a massive dose of skepticism. Many industry luminaries thought it was way off. Advertising was paid placement, while content was the stuff that had to be earned. Their reasoning was quite simple: blogging is a powerful publishing platform, but most brands won't take to it, and the value may not be there in a world of GRPs and massive paid advertising channels. Social media changed a lot of things. The early days (and success) of Facebook - as it broke free from the college crowd - was a massive indicator of what was to come for brands, building direct relationships with consumers, and the power of creating something more than a call-to-action in a space where real people were building real connections. While Facebook's revenue from brands proved staggeringly impressive, it came at a cost. Facebook would no longer allow brands to connect with everyone who liked a brand page, they would now make brands pay to reach them. The logic (simplified) was two-fold:

Facebook could turn a much more impressive profit (good for Facebook). 
Brands may spend more time thinking about what they're creating, instead of flooding the feeds with nonsense that might turn of people from the platform (good for users). 

As a business, Facebook made a shrewd move, and a profitable one. It also further validated that content is media.

Now, this is commonplace. Native advertising, brands building their own YouTube channels, and more. Content is media. With that, advertising still thrives. There is a new duality to marketing that brands are still adjusting to. It's amazing to see brands create a compelling piece of video content, post it to YouTube and then allocate advertising dollars to that video, in the hopes that consumers will see it, and then shop the brand. If you think about that for a second, it's staggering. Brands have - literally - added in a very complex and costly media component to an otherwise simple advertising structure. They're doing so much more than "watch this ad, remember us, and buy our stuff." 

Why apps are the new media.

There is no denying that mobile devices have become the consumer's primary screen (as the PC has been relegated to an accessory device). We have all seen the stats on mobile traffic, mobile advertising, and where consumer's time is now spent. The hottest platforms now (Snapchat, Instagram, etc...) are all mobile-first (meaning, the experience is fundamentally better on a mobile device than on the Web browser). Plus, these hottest platforms of the day were developed for mobile first (another huge, fascinating and powerful change). Marketing is a game of real estate (a topic I dug deep into while writing my second business book, CTRL ALT Delete, which was published in 2013). So, where is the real estate now? The home screen of our smartphones and tablets. For consumers, it's becoming less about search and social media and much more about their apps. Especially the messaging apps (more on that here: The Many Ways Of WeChat: How Messaging Is Eating The World). Messaging apps are going to shift the attention away from social media, as apps within these apps will thrive (think about being able to grab an Uber or buy on Amazon in your messaging app). With that, brands are going to have to get better at creating engaging and utilitarian programs that thrive in a world where apps dominate over the Web browser, a search box and social media.

Brands are (not yet) up for this challenge.

Consumers have shifted. The "buy button" continues to be uncoupled from e-commerce sites, and is becoming embedded into everything from social media to messaging apps. Brands are still fumbling through responsive design initiatives, instead of building that mobile-first infrastructure, while everyone grapples to understand what advertising should really be on these smartphone and tablet screens (hint: display advertising is not the answer). So... and once again... here we are. Brands are faced with this challenge. One, where content is not just media, but the app is media as well. A huge opportunity has unfolded for brands.

Now, I am left wondering if you have any examples of brands who are getting this... and pushing things forward?

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