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Whistleblowing via YouTube?

It goes without saying that YouTube is a mecca of entertaining video clips. Where else can you find classic TV sitcom intros, 80s videos, commercials… homemade spoofs of the aforementioned videos and sitcom themes… not to mention a video of “Sushi, the toilet trained cat.”

But can the site also serve as a platform for whistleblowers and their claims? Enter former Lockheed Martin worker Michael De Kort (read more here) and a 10-minute homemade video in which De Kort reads from notes about “critical security flaws in a fleet of refurbished Coast Guard patrol boats.” De Kort states that he has contacted various agencies and organizations about what he refers to as serious safety/security issues and calls upon YouTube viewers who may be in a position to help. Since the video has posted, De Kort’s claims and allegations have been covered by print and broadcast press. I wonder if this may be the start of whistleblowers opting to go straight to the public via webcam and notes – minus any filters -- rather than following the traditional route of filing a case. Of course, from a PR standpoint, if De Kort’s presentation on the site had been TOO slick (teleprompter, slides and graphics, etc), one wonders if that would take away from the “DIY/insider/immediacy” tone of his clip.

I’m sure this won’t be the last whistleblower to try to engage the public with serious claims. And, with mass access to publishing forums such as YouTube, it will be up to the discriminating viewer to discern which claims carry weight and which do not.

MySpace, Nylon, Google, eBay: The Old, the New, and a Big Question

As Google and eBay form an advertising alliance, we read that MySpace, owned by News Corp., is considering a print magazine in partnership with Nylon Magazine. GMSV offers up its incredulity:

“Remember Buy.com magazine? How about eBay magazine? Pets.com: The Magazine for Pets and Their Humans? No? Neither does News Corp. apparently, because if it did, it wouldn't be considering a magazine version of MySpace.”

For Google and eBay, it’s about driving new technologies forward to expand sales opportunities:

“The arrangement announced Monday promises to introduce ‘click-to-call’ Web site technology to a broader audience and potentially speed its adoption as a means to more quickly connect online consumers with advertisers. It allows potential buyers to call up sellers by clicking a link in a Web page.”

And for MySpace? Wishful thinking? Actually, as a magazine reader and a parent, I’d love for a MySpace magazine to succeed. All those teens and twenty-somethings sitting down to read story after socially significant story written in finely crafted English prose…hmm…or would it just be repurposed user-generated content?

Curiously, in an AlwaysOn interview, Fox Interactive President Ross Levinsohn seemed to comment on this. I think. “You can say that the blogosphere consists of user-generated content, but many top-flight writers are moving away from traditional outlets like newspapers and magazines, and creating content themselves—and in some cases they’re making more money doing so. There’s still a thirst for professionally produced content; that content is just being exhibited on new platforms.”

Which doesn’t say much for the idea of creating a print outlet that doesn’t suit the demographic. Says the Nylon Magazine page on MySpace: “Like our magazine and our website, www.nylonmag.com, we’re going to be cramming our page full of all the most crucial looks, sounds, and people you need to stay up and get down with. Keep checking back on the reg for MySpace-only exclusives…” Oh well.

While the Google/eBay alliance is exciting for some, scary for others, in the way it uses technology to continue to accelerate the online experience, the movement of social media content from the Internet to the offline world is actually very appealing. It does happen – without a huge investment or fighting demographics – when, say, bloggers are regularly quoted on television news programs, and I would like to see more of it. But a MySpace magazine seems a very long shot, and it’s success would make me happily reevaluate many assumptions about general online trends.

Writely Rightly

Google is now providing free access to Writely, the online word processor it purchased in March. Is it a bold attempt to convert users to an online, non-Microsoft platform, or just part of a very long-term plan to change the world one niche market at a time?

New computer users and new small businesses could save a lot of money by adopting such a service, and the service might play well over time if Microsoft stops supporting existing versions of Office products, and users refuse to upgrade (even as the online services continue to improve). But it’s a very long road. Along with habit and a level of confidence in existing programs, there’s the reality that users, especially business users and the world of consultants who interact with them, rely on many Office features and the seamless exchange of files. A disruption in this flow would be painful, and for many unacceptable.  It’s great to see the technology finally hitting its stride, but real change will still be a long time coming.

 

Brave New CYWorld?

In the social networking realm, I’ve been reading a lot about Cyworld, the popular Korean Web site, and its launch here in the U.S. Click here for more.

The question many are asking: will MySpace users defect to Cyworld, a community that even has its own virtual economy with currency referred to as “acorns.” I read that something like 90 percent of South Koreans between 20 and 29 have pages on the network… but will the site “translate” into U.S. success?

It has been reported that 15,000 people have signed up already, making me wonder if users will have different “rooms”/”spaces”/pages at two or three of these different social networking sites, each with its own set of online friends. And with multiple sites/pages to manage and friends with whom to communicate (some MySpace users have hundreds of friends), will there even be time to interact in the offline world?

Mashup Matters: Sexy SOA? Uh Oh

Great introduction by Galen Gruman of InfoWorld to the relevance of mashups to the enterprise and SOA.

With the widespread adoption of Web standards, “information access has become that much easier,” says Dan Gisolfi, an IBM IT architect who’s evangelizing mashups to enterprise customers. “Not only does it use the Web 2.0 tools, but it brings together disparate services and behaviors.”

Newer, more complex technologies from the SOA and Web services worlds -- such as SOAP, WSDL, and REST (Representational State Transfer) -- can also be part of mashups, Gisolfi argues. In a sense, mashups are the simplest form of SOA-based application. “Mashups fit very nicely around the concept of a service-oriented enterprise,” concurs Shane Pearson, vice president of marketing at BEA Systems.

Or as Jason Bloomberg, senior analyst at consultancy ZapThink, puts it: “They’re the sexy part of SOA.” 

In addition to the benefits of mashups, however, the article explores the dark side: the possible security and governance challenges within the enterprise created by the ability to effortlessly combine data sources into easily distributed applications.

The dilemma is an interesting one. The goal of business intelligence applications is to make it easier for business users to mine data without IT involvement. The goal of SOA is to make it far easier for IT to develop the processes that business users need – even to let business users create and modify those processes themselves. These are trends in the right direction, and based on the recognition that the real goal of IT is not to build and maintain an expensive technology infrastructure, but to serve the needs of business users as flexibly and as inexpensively as possible.

But as businesses distribute control over data sources to more and more business users, are they putting their intellectual property and private customer data at greater risk? Once again, the pressure mounts on IT to work more closely with business managers to allow – to encourage – innovation while anticipating and minimizing risks.

MySpace=AdSpace?

On the MySpace beat this week…. MySpace is referred to as “a place for friends” and you can now add Ricky Bobby to your friends list (more specifically, an ad profile featuring Ricky Bobby, the movie character).

A Wall Street Journal article, "On MySpace, Millions of Users Make 'Friends' With Ads," explores how fictional characters – as well as mascots – have their own profiles on the site, boasting thousands of friends. Ricky Bobby has 47,000 "friends” so far. “Even the creepily-quiet mascot king from the Burger King commercials has a site. (‘If you'd like to be the King's friend, he's totally down with that,’ his page introduction says.)” These pages, many packed with movie clips, photos, games and more, stem from paid advertising deals.

But how will MySpace’s users respond to these “ad profiles”? And will it matter that a character’s profile is created by a marketer rather than a devoted fan doing a tribute page, for example? Will fans adding a movie character as a “friend” feel let down when that character does not respond to a message or comment request? All questions to consider as we explore this intersection of social networking and marketing.

Trading Down

Not too long ago, I got a call from an exec at a very large PR agency.  I knew a great deal about the agency, and had a favorable impression, so I listened.  The conversation started off pleasantly, and was going well, when suddenly we hit a snag.  Without a trace of embarrassment, she suggested that my years at Eastwick --the best in my professional life -- have given me an opportunity to “trade up” and work with a more "elite" firm. I was more amused than offended.  She was talking to a working class Puerto Rican from the Bronx who fought his way into an elite college; I’ve heard worse expressions of class and privilege, and I have learned -- the hard way -- that elite does not mean good (not always, and not often enough). She had just failed to "read her audience," as people in my profession like to say.  But more than that, I was reminded why I was sitting behind a desk at a smaller agency, and not hers.  For me, working at an agency like Eastwick was a deliberate choice -- the culture, the values, and yes, the size, were just right.  I’m a start-up guy, and Eastwick -- though it is mid-size by Silicon Valley standards -- has the qualities I love in start-ups: fast, innovative, open to change.  I told myself that if I were ever going to trade, I would probably trade down, to start at the grassroots level and build something new. 

I'm now ready to do that.  Tomorrow is my last day at Eastwick, and following the convention of other transitions in my world, I’ve decided to announce my news on this blog.  But the real news, if there is any, is that I'm starting a new business.  I expect this to raise even more questions than I would have raised had I chosen to go to a competitor or a larger agency.  (“A new kind of consultancy in the Valley?  What is he thinking?").  But what I’m doing is taking the leap that many of my start-up clients have taken – going out on my own, with just one partner, starting with little more than a notebook of ideas, aspirations and -- thank goodness -- leads.

***

I arrived at this decision after exploring a couple of options.  For some time, we looked at whether we could launch this new venture within Eastwick.  But the business opportunities that excite me the most would be even more difficult to execute within the structure of an agency.  I am hoping my new business -- launching in September -- will be the first multi-discipline communications consultancy intentionally built for the post-blogging economy.  It will be a different take on  PR -- and it will be broader than social media -- overlapping on disciplines that require different people, different ideas and, most challenging, a different business model.  I plan to address all three.

Another reason to go out alone, and not to another agency:  it would have been difficult for me to accept a role at another agency where I didn’t have a full vote at the senior management table.  My partners at Eastwick -- Barbara Bates and Elaine Cummings -- are two of the most broad-minded, and forward-thinking agency executives in the Valley, and over the past four years they have given me a great deal of freedom to explore, ideate, and tinker with the new things I believe agencies need to learn and master.  Truth is, it’s great to be a partner, and whatever I decided to do had to provide me with at least as much latitude as the people at Eastwick allowed me.  I am proud to say that Eastwick will be my first client.

But just as important was the thing that drove me to Eastwick in the first place.  I was attracted to the agency because of the culture, the reputation, and the people -- especially the young folks, who see Eastwick as a place to learn, experiment and challenge the mandate of PR.  Again, I’m a start-up guy, and I’m most excited when working with small, emergent groups.  Now that I’m ready to try something new, I’m happy to trade down.   

Stay tuned -- when I’m back in business this Fall, I’ll have something new to talk about. But I’ll be sitting behind a smaller desk, I am sure.

CNN Meets YouTube? CNN Exchange to Accept User-Generated Video

This just in. “Send your story. Share your thoughts. Make your mark.” That’s what CNN’s new “Exchange” site is asking of viewers, welcoming citizen journalists to submit stories, photos and videos related to headline-making stories. Read more here and here.

The CNN Exchange content destination site is the latest example of the convergence point of “traditional” journalism, grass roots/participatory journalism and new media. With the just-announced new program, users can send in digital audio and video from breaking news events in their region – via e-mail or by uploading their reports directly from CNN's site. Submissions and news tips are then checked and followed up on by editors. "User-generated content has the potential to play a pivotal role in journalism whether it’s online or offline," said Mitch Gelman, senior vice president and executive producer for CNN.com, in a statement.

Viewers armed with home video cameras have contributed footage to news programs for years, as we all know, but the emergence of YouTube and other video sharing sites has kicked viewer contribution up a notch. With recent events (think Hurricane Katrina and the London bombings), viewers’ cellphone camera images, photos and video clips were often on the Web long before professional photographers were on the scene.  The new CNN site also offers readers the chance to share their thoughts on breaking news via blogs and quick polls – even tips from producers on submitting their own content, dubbed “I-Reports.”

The added momentum behind user-submitted content reminds me how much things have changed during the last decade. When I shot some random, home video camera footage during Central California's 1997 floods, I offered the clips to a station in Boston that was producing a related documentary. I had to transfer the footage to two other formats before submitting via mail. Now, it’s as easy as uploading and sharing just moments after footage is taken.

Telepathic PR?

From Business 2.0’s Chris Taylor in “Surfing the Web with nothing but brainwaves”: “Controlling devices with the mind is just the beginning. Next, Wolf believes, is what he calls “network-enabled telepathy” - instant thought transfer. In other words, your thoughts will flow from your brain over the network right into someone else’s brain. If you think instant messaging is addictive, just wait for instant thinking.”

Too far-out to take seriously? According to Taylor, the technical ability to do this is not all that far off. But at what point does a technology evolve from feasible to affordable, accessible, and widespread? Think virtual reality.

Still, it gives one pause. The potential good from such a technology is enormous, especially for the incapacitated. But in our world, how do you control messaging in brain-to-brain transfers? Does the endgame for online communities become a single identity? Does the disconnect between the "jacked-in" and the rest of us become a chasm across which it becomes increasingly difficult to communicate at all?