Connors in the New Year
Friday, December 21, 2007
It’s hard to believe that Christmas is just days away and that 2008 is looming around the corner. The decade, which we have yet to name, is almost over!
It’s early still to reflect on the first ten years of the 21st century, but I think it is safe to say that we have come a very long way since the days of Y2K. In fact, in that short time, we have overcome the first web revolution and found ourselves basking in the glory of the second.
Some people laugh at the phrase Web 2.0, but it’s not just a gimmick. For example, yesterday there was news from the San Francisco Chronicle about a study recently conducted by Pew Internet & American Life Project on the propensity of teens to engage in online content creation and sharing.
The study found that “almost two-thirds of online teens have created something online.” The article then goes into the specifics of the data, the most impressive of which is the rise in the percentage of blogging teens. In 2004, the number was just 19%, where as now, almost 30% of teenagers blog in some shape or form.
And it’s not just a phenomenon reserved for the younger generation. We are all coming to rely on the Internet at an exceedingly growing rate. If you’re skeptical, just look at what’s happening to print publications. We’re clearly no longer getting information in the ways that we grew accustomed.
It is for all these reasons that in the new year, Connors will no longer be doing PR in the same old way. We have been split between traditional PR and SEO for years, but taking society’s changing ways into consideration, it is becoming more and more clear that the traditional PR road is no longer paved in gold. The road online, however, is looking very bright.
Our president, Connie Connors, recently spoke to Enid Burns of ClickZ about our changing direction. In the resulting article, Connie points out that the communication channels no longer equate to “one-to-many.” Rather, “many-to-many” is the formula that dominates, creating a “sphere of influence.” Meaning that, with the help of the Internet, we are all now playing a more active role in each other’s lives.Labels: Connie Connors, Connors Communications, Internet, new media, Public Relations, seo, Web 2.0
Our Brain and Google
Friday, December 14, 2007
Have you ever wished that you were as smart as Google, or that you at least thought with the same diligence? Well, it turns out, you do.
Scientists have discovered that the formula behind Google PageRank and how the search engine finds relevant information is very similar to the way we think, associate and remember.
It’s a truly remarkable discovery that makes a lot of sense once you think about it. Take the Google PageRank, for instance. Google determines a page’s rank or importance by the number of sites that link to it, as well as the importance of those sites and who links to them.
This means that if you have a website and 100 of your friends linked to your site from their sites, you might still have a somewhat low PageRank. This is because your friends are not really all that important in the larger scheme of the Internet. But, if you had a website and the New York Times and Newsweek linked to it, your PageRank would be pretty high, because those two sites are very important.
In this same way, our brains categorize information. Just think about all the nonsense you come across every day. Can’t? That’s because your brain has chosen to bury it in its depths; perhaps, on the 20th page of search results, for example.
Now try to recall what you were told on your last performance review. It’s all coming in crystal clear, isn’t it?
What’s most interesting to me about all of this is that we are learning about our brain function from formulas we (well not me, and probably not you… most likely someone much smarter) created for a search engine.
As an article in World Science pointed out through quoting this month’s issue of the research journal Psychological Science, the approach of the scientists who discovered this similarity “indicates how one can obtain novel models of human memory by studying the properties of successful information retrieval systems, such as Internet search engines.”
The article goes onto to say that, likewise, programmers developing new applications for search engines are “likely to find good solutions by studying the mind.”Labels: Google, Internet, seo
Circular Entertainment
Friday, December 07, 2007
Just when we thought we had it all figured out, Nokia released the results of a study it conducted on how we will entertain ourselves in the future. The prediction is grim, folks. Apparently, in the future, being a couch potato is very passé. Instead of basking in the euphoria that is sitting mindlessly in front of the television, just 5 short years from now, we will be engaging and actually creating our entertainment 25% of the time.
This phenomenon is being dubbed “circular entertainment.” Nokia gives the example of someone capturing footage with her cell phone, then sending it to a friend, who would add a soundtrack in the way of an mp3 file. This friend would then pass it to another, who would contribute yet another creative component.
Is this really how we will unwind in the future? Just thinking about it makes me tired, not to mention bored!
Tim Leberecht from CNET also blogged on this subject, cleverly pointing out that we should “take surveys sponsored by big brands with a grain of salt.” After all, it’s no coincidence Nokia uses the example of a mobile phone. Wouldn’t they just love it if we relied on our phones for more than just phone calls!
Well Nokia, I have news for you. Sadly, I rarely find myself wishing I had a video camera handy. My daily trip in and out of New York City is just not that exciting. Not to mention that I, along with about everyone I know, still absolutely prefers passive forms of entertainment to anything that requires more than a mouse click of effort.
But perhaps if we put aside Nokia’s ulterior motives with the cell phone example, we will see some truth in their prediction. As Leberecht pointed out, circular entertainment already exists in the form of social networking and reporters allowing comments to be made to their articles. Just this morning, a good portion of Good Morning America was devoted to reading viewer emails and responding to them. Isn’t this the embodiment of coming full circle?
It’s not much of a leap to “predict” that in 5 years, this phenomenon will only get more sophisticated and ingrained in our culture. Although, I am still a firm believer - or maybe just wishful thinker – that good old fashioned passive entertainment will still dominate our lives in the future.
Then again, if this writers’ strike goes on much longer, we will all have to get a little more creative…Labels: entertainment, media, new media, telecom, Web 2.0
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