NASW WORKSHOPSOctober 17, 2009 Session C3: 4:15 to 5:45 p.m.
"The Secret Life of Social Media: New Rules for Science Writers"
source: Slate
GOALS OF SOCIAL MEDIA
•Create social interaction using highly accessible Web-based technologies.
•Shift how people discover, read, and share news, information and opinion.
•Transform media monologues (one to many) into social media dialogues (many to many).
•Democratize information, changing content consumers into content producers.
--Wikipedia
Source: Slate
Source: Wikipedia/Tag Cloud
Communication Blogs: Blogger, LiveJournal, Open Diary, TypePad, WordPress, Vox, ExpressionEngine, Xanga Micro-blogging / Presence applications: Twitter, Plurk, Tumblr, Jaiku, fmylife Social networking: Bebo, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Orkut, Skyrock, Hi5, Ning, Elgg Social network aggregation: NutshellMail, FriendFeed Events: Upcoming, Eventful, Meetup.comCollaboration Wikis: Wikipedia, PBwiki, wetpaint Social bookmarking (or social tagging): Delicious, StumbleUpon, Google Reader, CiteULike Social news: Digg, Mixx, Reddit, NowPublic
EXPLOSION OF SOCIAL MEDIA
ROBIN LLOYD Freelance Science Writer & Online Editor, Scientific American
Source: Scientific America
DAVID HARRIS
Editor-in-chief, Symmetry Magazine
&
Deputy Communications Director, SLAC
Source: Symmetry Magazine
ALEXIS MADRIGAL Staff writer, Wired.com
& Visiting Scholar, UC Berkeley Office for the History of Science and Technology
Source: Wired
TWITTER ScienceWriters09
LIVE STREAMING from New Horizons, Austin
Sunday, 10/18 to Tuesday, 10/20Check times
www.CASW.org
The Social Media Firehose:Some Ways to Drink Safely
NASW 2009 #sciwri09
N A S W A N N U A L M E E T I N GO C T O B E R 1 7 , 2 0 0 9
A U S T I N , T E X A S
D AV I D H A R R I SS Y M M E T R Y M A G A Z I N E ,
S L A C N A T I O N A L A C C E L E R A T O R L A B O R A T O R Y
The Secret Life of Social Media
Outline
Principles of social mediaWhy understand how social media works?New ways people get/share informationHow we can use this knowledge
How social media really worksExamples of social sharing sites
Why understand social media?
As science writers, our trade is information
Information is increasingly flowing in new ways
We all need to really know how these mechanisms work if we are to take advantage of them (whether journalists, writers, or PIOs)
It gives us new ways to think about what we do
Getting information: the old way
1) Read/watch the standard sources (local/national newspaper/TV news/magazines)
2) Discuss those topics with friends and colleagues, relying on commonality of sources (Water cooler conversations, pub conversations)
3) Repeat
Getting information: the new way
“If the news is that important, it will find me.” – Anonymous college student in a focus group
New York Times, March 27, 2008http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/27/us/politics/27voters.html
“This micro-knowledge of others has been termed ‘ambient awareness’ by sociologists, a new kind of social proprioception or ethereal limb, and I learned to flex it with ease.” (Referring to the world of Facebook status updates)
New York Magazine, April 5, 2009 http://nymag.com/news/features/55878/
Getting information: the new way
1) Converse with your friends and colleagues, A LOT!(in person, phone, email, txt msg, Facebook status, FriendFeed, tweet, LinkedIn update, etc.)
2) Let your trust of others guide you3) Pick up on some of it and surf/search it further4) Contribute to public discussions5) Repeat
This is not an ideal, but an observation.
How we can use this knowledge
Changing information ecosystemOld: Authority relationshipsNew: Trust relationships
Journalists: We can’t rely solely on the authoritativeness of our publications. Now we need to develop trust relationships with readers. How?
PIOs: We no longer just want to rely on the news media to reach audiences for us, but need to be active in developing relationships with other audiences ourselves. How?
Examples of social sharing sites
Many user-vote-driven sites seem to present the “best” stories, which rise to the top as people vote for them.
For digg, slashdot, reddit, stumbleupon, and facebook
What the site looks likeHow stories really get to the top of the chartsA typical story’s trafficAn analogy
digg
digg traffic
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Traffic to “Finding 1 atom in 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000”
from digg
digg is like…a gang
Strong but organic hierarchyDominance of an idea depends on who it comes
fromLeaders cultivate support from underlings by
offering links and help up rankingsLoyalty to the leader is keyIdentity is defined by the role in the group
For success: Be in with the leaders, don’t cross the leaders
slashdot
slashdot traffic
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Traffic to "Making magnetic monopoles, and other exotica, in the lab“ from
slashdot
slashdot is like…organized crime
Small tight group controls the flow of information
Outsiders are treated with some suspicionOnce you’re part of the family and know the
people behind the curtain, you can get things done
/.’s “karma” system compared with OC statusLeaders still have absolute power
For success: Post good stuff to gain positive attention of the admins, cultivate their good graces
reddit traffic
27-Jun-09 28-Jun-09 29-Jun-09
Traffic to "Gates buys Feynman's 'Mes-senger' lectures“ from reddit
reddit is like…an ADHD direct democracy
Any idea can get to the top BUT...Many people need to respond positively to an
idea rapidly or it will be forgotten
For success: Post things lots of people will like and can easily see the appeal of from the headline
stumbleupon
stumbleupon traffic
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Traffic to "Angels, demons, and antihy-drogen: The real science of anti-atoms"
from stumbleupon
stumbleupon is like…a book club
Ideas don’t need to be freshTopics keep coming back for
attention/discussionDemographic trends older and femalePeople rate quality after reflection on the
work
For success: High quality content
facebook traffic
Occurs too rapidly to show day by dayMost in the first few minutes/hours, some
residual over following daysAdds a steady amount of traffic to our siteTwitter is similar
Facebook+twitter send about 15% of traffic
facebook is like…a clique
Information circulates within peer groupsInformation can spread to other groups
through overlap, and ideas can revive and seem new again
For success: Have lots of friends and know what they like
Conclusion
Social media both drives and reflects a changing information ecosystem—it has new rules
Things are not always what they seem, so dig(g) a little deeper and never trust what anybody says about social media (not even me)
If you’re not playing the game enough to know the rules, you’re not going win in the future
Robot Sharks with Lasers and the Magic Traffic Machine
W E L I K E R E D D I T B I T E S ( T H E Y ’ R E B E T T E R T H A N D E L I C I O U S ) , B E C AU S E T H E Y M A X O U T T H E W I K I
S N A R L S O F R SS F E E D S , W H I C H M E A N S L E SS J A M M I N G AT T H E G O O G L E S C A F F O L D . T H E N J U S T D I G G Y O U R
U P L O A D S I N A V I R A L S P I R A L T O Y O U R S O C I A L N E T W O R K S V I A A N F B / M S I N T E R L I N K T O R R E N T.
“ O U R M A R K E T I N G P L A N ”E L L I S W E I N E R I N T H E T H E N E W Y O R K E R
Learn the Norms, Get the Traffic“Twitter is not a community, but it's an
ecology in which communities can emerge. That's where the banal chit-chat comes in: idle talk about news, weather, and sports is a kind of social glue that can adhere the networks of trust and norms of reciprocity from which community and social capital can grow.”
— Howard Rheingold
How It Works for Wired Science
Wired Science Social Media Traffic
30%
30%
19%
9%
5%
4% 3%
Digg
Stumbleupon
Fark
Slashdot
Users: Shaq, etc.In a word: (A)liveBait: “Eclipse of the Century Live Online
Tonight” Tip: Get a desktop app.
Digg
Users: Young, male.In a word: SpikyBait: “Holes in the Earth: Open Pit Mines
Seen from Space”Tip: Make friends in high places.
Users: Left-leaning nerds.
In a word: Quirky.Bait: “Scientists
Make Desktop Black Hole”
Tip: Submit to the Science Reddit.
Stumbleupon
Users: Internet touristsIn a word: WhimsicalBait: “1 Million Spiders Make Golden Silk for
Rare Cloth”Tip: Try santeria.
Use Us
Feel free to get in touch:[email protected]@alexismadrigalhttp://www.greentechhistory.com
@betsymason@wiredscience
These slides are available at Slideshare:
http://www.slideshare.net/alexismadrigal