Jeff Jarvis Explores the Role of the Internet and Social Media in Modern News Gathering

In this ever-increasing technological era, it’s surprising to find anyone that hasn’t heard of Twitter and its simple and convenient way to send quick messages in 140 characters. Jeff Pulver, an Internet entrepreneur and the co-founder of Vonage, has taken this convenience to the next level with his 140 conference, also known in the Twitter world as #140conf. Since 2009, #140conf has been held in towns and cities all over the world where guest speakers are allotted 10 to 15 minutes to get their point across.

2012 #140conf

The 2012 #140conf, which started on June 19^th, is a 2-day event held at the 92^ndStreet Y (92Y) in New York City. A notable speaker appeared on the

English: Jeff Jarvis at DLD Conference. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

first day of the event and gave an interesting and amusingly humorous speech regarding the evolutionary changes and professional challenges many journalists are facing these days because of the rise of the digital platform.  Jeff Jarvis, a journalist, former television critic for TV Guide and People magazines, and one of the creators of Entertainment Weekly, gave the audience a riveting presentation as he explained that article creation and journalism are not dying, but merely evolving to fit the paradigm of the Internet.

Jarvis discusses some reactions to his views on how journalism and the presentation of news have evolved over the past decade or so due to the Digital Age.

 “The article is a luxury,” Jarvis said. “Now they thought that meant that it’s not needed. No; the article is a precious thing. It takes a lot of money and effort and time to make an article.  The article is the byproduct of the process of news.”

In his presentation, Jarvis compared the evolution of digital media, social networking and news gathering over the past few decades to the impact that the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg had in the 15th Century.

 “I did research back to Gutenberg believing that the press really gives us a lot of lessons about what’s going to happen now, with our world now. One thing I found out was that when the book came out it scared people to death just like the Internet does today. It scared them because it changed how they see the world.”

Jarvis’ comments on Gutenberg and the impact of the first printing press were based on his research for his 2012 e-book, Gutenberg the Geek, which was published as a Kindle Single.  Jarvis has also written What Would Google Do and Public Parts: How Sharing in the Digital Age Improves the Way We Work and Live, in which he defends the concept of Internet openness and his opposition to restrictions based on the supposed protection of privacy.

Sources:

• NYC State of Now
• #140conf
• The Future of Storytelling
  

Author:

A native Georgian, Leigh Egan holds a special fondness for the Peach State and enjoys contributing and interacting with the community. After attending Kennesaw State University, where she majored in English, Leigh has been a writer, editor, and journalist for the past 11 years. Her eclectic selections of articles and academic research cover a wide range of topics and can be found on various sites, magazines, community newspapers, and hyper-local publications. She has also edited several fiction and non-fiction books, and continues to provide editorial and writing services to local, national, and global clients. In her spare time, Leigh is an avid reader who enjoys family, music, and the outdoors. @Leighegan

Innovative Sales Expert and Best-Selling Author Shines at #SMWSMAC

February 16, 2012 marked the 4^th official year for the DBMEI- hosted Social Media Action Camp (#SMAC), in New York. #SMAC, for those who are unfamiliar, is a one-day conference in which attendees participate in seminars and presentations designed for small business owners, social media buffs, and entrepreneurs to learn more about how social media and networks can be used to promote products, businesses and ideas. Held at the Roger Smith Hotel in New York City, #SMAC featured presentations by an array of professionals in the sales, marketing, and media field. Among these experts were Jeff Goldberg of JG&A, MAD Marketing TV host Jeff Ogden, and author David Merman Scott, writer of the best-selling book, The New Rules of Marketing and P&R.

Revolutionized Business Relationships

Jeff Goldberg, President of JG&A, gave a powerful presentation in regards to how the Internet, cellphones, Facebook, Twitter and other social media have revolutionized sales and business relationships, with a strong emphasis on how we should not become so dependent on technology that we forget how to communicate on an interpersonal level.

“Certainly things have changed in terms of communication,” Goldberg said, “and sales people tend to want to use the forms of communication that they are most comfortable with. But that’s not always the best way to communicate with your prospects and customers. So what you have to consider is that, yes, technology is great, but you have to communicate with people in the way that they want.”

While Goldberg stressed the relevance of traditional interpersonal communications, he also he emphasized that Linked In and other social media are also powerful tools to gain a large number of contacts, with message boards and discussions playing a major part in the success. It was Goldberg’s sales strategies; however, that provided the audience with irreplaceable advice concerning sales negotiations, setting appointments, ice breakers, how to close sales, the products people buy, and how to turn a prospect into a customer.

Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead

Another highlighted event was Mad Marketing TV host Jeff Ogden’s teleconference with David Meerman Scott. Scott, a keynote speaker and best-selling author, joined the event to discuss his latest book, Marketing Secrets of the Grateful Dead. Scott regaled Ogden and the audience with anecdotes on how Grateful Dead’s lead singer Jerry Garcia and his band created a different business model from other musical acts by bypassing ticket sellers such as TicketMaster, and allowing fans to make bootleg tapes and videos.

Scott’s main theme was to illustrate how the Grateful Dead were the harbingers of what we now call social media and marketing concepts, a concept that was well received by the audience. By changing the rules of the game, so to speak, the band’s new business model was innovative and adaptable, as Scott pointed out.

In addition to Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead, which he co-wrote with Brian Halligan, Scott has written six books, including the novel Eyeball Wars. Scott is a former Marketing Vice President, with over 15 years of experience in the media industry. At present, his blog, Web Ink Now, is ranked by Adage Power 150 as one of the world’s best marketing blogs.

Author:
A native Georgian, Leigh Egan holds a special fondness for the Peach State and enjoys contributing and interacting with the community. After attending Kennesaw State University, where she majored in English, Leigh has been a freelance writer and editor for the past 10 years. Her eclectic selections of articles and academic research cover a wide range of topics and can be found on various sites and publications. As a ghost writer and book editor, Leigh has worked on several print books and e-books dealing with education, employment, philosophy, parenting, pregnancy and teen issues. In her spare time, Leigh is an avid reader who enjoys spending time with her husband and 10-year-old daughter, who also has a passion for writing and aspires to become a writer in the future.

Sources:

• Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead
• JG & A
• Mad Marketing TV is educating the world – and me

The Value of Content: A Look at Demand Studios

Over the past 20 years, the writing and publishing industry has been radically changed by perhaps the biggest technological and cultural change since Guttenberg invented the printing press in the 15^th Century. This rapid transition from traditional “old media” to the fast-working and more concise tools and writing styles of the Internet and the Digital Age.

This evolutionary process has not only exposed experienced writers to new techniques on how to find work and be published, but it has given novice writers a wide array of tools and outlets to make their own way in the writing world.

The Dream Job – Working from Home

The Internet is now filled with writing and editing gigs. Unfortunately, with the rapid call for an abundance of articles, writers are often faced with a few dilemmas that seem to be growing frighteningly fast.

Before the major Google update hit the net in February, many companies sought incredibly low-content, or even spun articles, to get the best for their buck, while paying the writers at insultingly low rates.

With the decline of print journalism, as well as the reality of a struggling economy, starving professional writers as well as novices looking for work made this a reality. In many cases, accepting pay far less than minimum wage, with demands for the quantity of content often unreasonable.

In Demand

Demand Studios has become one of the biggest “content farms” online within the past few years. Many may argue that Demand Studios is not even remotely close to being a content farm, but since there was a time when literally thousands of redundant articles were available on any given day, I beg to differ.

Although Demand Studios pays a bit above the cut compared to other content farms (which really isn’t saying much), the dissipated titles and the inconsistencies of the copy editors make it hardly worth it. While one editor will let a “How to Crack an Egg” article slide through with no edits, another editor may send the article back over a simple typo. This type of inconsistent practice has created a system that has been penalizing the writers.

A Fatal Mistake?

Demand Studios uses a score card in which writers are graded for their articles. If you happen to catch the wrong editor, or even worse an editor with a bad attitude having a rotten day, you will find yourself at the bottom of the grading scale, even if you are one of the better writers. Since Google Panda emerged, Demand Studios has changed their writing rules. Only those with a high score card will be able to grab and write titles, while thousands are out of work simply due to the fact that they have gotten an editor with a chip on his shoulder.

What is at Stake?

There can be no doubt that due to Panda updates as well as the open dissension in their ranks, that Demand may be suffering a bit more than they would like to admit in recent months. Their painfully obvious and repeated job ads placed in the past month or more may also be a serious sign that some of their higher-quality, or more reliable writers, have moved on. It may be long past due for the developers at Demands Studio take a serious look at their WEP program and how it has affected their writers and in turn, their content.

Sources:

Demand Studios Writer Reports on Life in the Demand Studios Writer Development Program and Writer Evaluation Program

Why You Shouldn’t Write for Content Mills

Demand Studios Builds a Bad Rep

Moving Beyond Content Mills

Is Demand Studios Worth it?