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The Web can not continue to be an operational silo, planned for as an afterthought and dismissed by senior management as “technical” and Web teams can no longer be treated as an
organisational ghetto, underfunded, out of sight and out of mind of senior leaders.
10 Management Truths for the Web Age.
Truth 1 Your Web presence is the digital manifestation of your organisation.
Truth 2 In a digitally transforming business environment, bold leadership is vital.
Truth 3 Decision-making must be based upon expertise, not power.
Truth 4 The business framework must be inclusive.
Truth 5 Standards enable collaboration.
Truth 6 The Web is an asset.
Truth 7 The organisation owns the Web presence.
Truth 8 Management should embrace impermanence.
Truth 9 Know your customer but own your mission.
Truth 10 Measure twice, execute once.
Source
Although managing websites, managing content and supporting communications will remain important for Government digital teams, it’s likely the future focus will be on the other areas. Exploiting data, engaging communities, gaining insight and digitally enabling government business will be key areas for individuals and digital teams to develop their skills, knowledge and behaviours.
Defining digital skills for government communicators
Social media is important — and I am defining “important” here as an effective strategy for individuals and organisations to achieve their objectives — because it makes it fast, easy, and [in most cases] FREE for you to create and share content.
For example, with traditional (“paid”) media, you purchase print, website, radio, TV, and/or poster space, and then you pay someone else to articulate the value of your particular product/service in a compelling way to catch peoples’ attention — all in the hopes of persuading people to buy.
With social (“earned”) media, you are no longer in direct sales (“BUY MY STUFF!”) mode. Instead, you are engaging your target audience by freely sharing the value of your expertise with people who are interested in it. And yes, along the way, you are letting it be known that your products and services are available for purchase.
Earned media is not a magic cure-all, but an effective addition, and booster, to your existing marketing mix of paid and owned media.
Reading that the Queen “ surfs the web” reminded me of a brief conversation I had with HM. A couple of years I was invited to attend the new royal website launch at Buckingham Palace where after a speech by Sir Tim Berners-Lee the Queen pressed a button and shook a few hands.
At a function a week later I had the opportunity to talk directly with the Queen about her use of the internet. I asked her about her website – cue quizzical look – and then asked her about her youtube channel, same look, and then her twitter account – very quizzical look.
What was apparent is despite what her PR people say the Queen is no avid user of the internet – no surprises there. That’s certainly no crime for a lady in her 80′s but the next time you read about the Queen tweeting, surfing the web, facebooking, or watching youtube realise there is about as much chance of this as her traveling on a bus. Not impossible but very unlikely.
With budgets squeezed as newspapers make record losses the pressure is on today’s journalists to be much more than a good writer.
Job adverts for multimedia journalists have a long list of requirements: as well as being able to produce a cracking news story you must be able to code HTML and JavaScript, record and edit video and audio, have experience of content management systems, Flash and Photoshop.
With such a large set of requirements how can today’s journalist be, well – a good journalist? Time is at a premium and if you are fiddling with your JavaScript and doing basic editing of a video in FinalCut Pro, there is limited time to concentrate on what’s important – the story.
You should have a broad knowledge of the technical aspects of the job but strive to become a master of just one. Concentrate on being a good writer or become an expert at putting together video and audio packages.
You are a journalist first and foremost and not a programmer.
I’m in agreement with self-styled futurist Ross Dawson and his predictions for the future of newspapers.
I wrote a post a couple of years ago that outlined that news was moving away from being printed on dead trees and onto to e-readers, and that today’s major newspapers are going to have to distinguish themselves as islands of quality if they are to survive in a sea of a abundance.
Dawson takes the argument further claiming that by 2022 newspapers will be irrelevant and that by that time most journalism will be crowdsourced.
Here are his main points:
- By 2022 newspapers as we know them will be irrelevant. However the leading newspaper publishers of today may have transformed themselves to thrive in what will be a flourishing media industry.
- Media revenues will soar but will be unevenly distributed. We are shifting to a “media economy” dominated by content and social connection. Yet established media organisations will need to reinvent themselves to participate in that growth.
- The successors to the iPad will be our primary news interfaces. We will most commonly consume news on portable devices, of which the iPad will be recognised as the forerunner.
- Digital news readers will cost less than $10. By 2020 entry-level devices to read the news will cost less than $10 and often be given away. More sophisticated news readers will be foldable or rollable, gesture controlled and fully interactive.
- Journalism will be increasingly crowdsourced. Substantial parts of investigative journalism, writing and news production will be ‘crowdsourced’ to hordes of amateurs overseen by professionals.
- The reputation of individual journalists will drive audiences. Many journalists, most leading experts in their fields, will still be employed, with public reputation measures guiding audiences on how much to trust their work.
Looking at how the newspaper industry is developing this seems about right. My bet is it won’t be too long before Mr Murdoch tries to woo us with subsidised e-readers in exchange for taking out a subscription to his titles.
Turbulent but exciting times for journalism.
With the new Kindle’s September release imminent and rumours that its price could be cut to $99 (£64) by Christmas, the iPad selling like hot cakes and other e-readers chewing at the printed page, how much longer can the local bookshop last?
One answer: not very much longer.
In my hometown of Brighton (UK) I have seen the closure of many small independent bookshops as well as national chains such as Borders. We are now left with Waterstones , WH Smiths, a couple of cut-price stores and the bonk busters being sold in the book section of Asda.
Cheap e-readers are only going to accelerate this decline. So far in the UK they have only been a niche product, but with Amazon pushing its latest Kindle hard they are just about to explode into the main stream.
With a growing selection of titles available and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos pouring pressure on publishers to reduce the cost of their digital editions, the remaining barriers to widespread adoption of e-books are fast evaporating. And with them goes the expensive retail space of the local bookshop.
So here’s my prediction:
Apart from a few specialised outlets, independent bookshops will be completely dead within five years. All the big chains will close their high street branches in ten. The majority of libraries will be entirely e-book by 2025 – and with the way our current Government is slashing budgets probably sooner.
Like vinyl and CDs, the printed book will soon become nothing more than a quaint reminder of our past only seen on special editions of the Antiques Roadshow.
Nicholas Carr in his book The Shallows writes about the rise of the web and how it is drowning humanity in a sea of data and ideas. However many of the technologies that he criticises such as Google have been developed precisely to help us get some control.
Google isn’t the problem – it’s the beginning of the solution.
I was in the pub and having a conversation about blogging and was asked: well what’s the point; writing is work, the audience is often small and how do you have the time do it when you have a full time job and an active social life to contend with.
These are the five reasons that I gave as an answer to my cynical friend.
1. Writing it down brings clarity
I am learning stuff on a daily basis and I find that if I write a quick blog post it clarifies my thoughts and this is useful when I come to make presentations or write articles in my work.
2. Hell I have something to say
A blog is a good place to spread opinion and be heard. It offers an opportunity to connect with others in my field and learn from each other. If we don’t agree then let’s argue it out in the comments and everyone benefits.
3. Future career opportunities
I don’t think for a minute that I am ever going to retire having made my fortune as a blogger. But establishing a blog that has regularly postings gives me a place to point future employers. It shows I am thinking about the issues and challenges around my area of work and trying to connect with others in my field. All plus points when it comes to interview time.
4. The love you take is equal to the love you make
I feel that only by giving something can I legitimately expect to receive something. I need my finger on the pulse of what’s happening and I think while I learn from others it is only right that I give something back so they can learn from me.
5. It’s Fun
Social media shouldn’t be a drag and I find writing a quick blog post and then looking at the stats and replying to comments far more rewarding than watching yet another episode of Big Brother.
These are the reason why I plug away and like anything the more effort you put in the more you get back.
The hardest part is making the initial decision to pull yourself off the sofa, switch off the telly and start. Once you have done this it just gets easier and easier.
So do let me know the reasons why you blog or are thinking about it.
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I’M A NEW MEDIA BRIT LIVING IN PARIS  I'm Kevin Nellies and I work as Head of New Media at an international org based in Paris. In my spare time I share my thoughts here.
And don't forget you can follow me on twitter here |
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