Links and the marketing of Darren Farley

This video of Scouser Darren Farley running through his LFC impressions, filmed by a mate on a mobile phone, went up on YouTube on 10 October 2008...




And within just 10 days this has happened...



Today, searching Google, the man is all over the web; from fan sites and bloggers, to the Post & Echo websites, Sky Sports and Radio 5 (where an upcoming interview with him is one of the homepage promos)... Frankly, Darren Farley is inescapable.

The interesting thing is, his star was rising to ascendancy before the media really picked up on him. The Post & Echo sites posted a video interview with him last Friday but it had taken all week to track him down and then find an opportunity where he was free. It shows just how much our online users can influence the content newspapers serve up for their readers.
Thousands of people have already watched him on YouTube, commented on his performance and even sent VT responses to him; they didn't need the media to point them at it.

I guess the Football Factor shouldn't be ignored in the rise and rise of Darren Farley - LFC is, after all, one of the biggest clubs in the world with an international army of fans - but the Magic of Linking would seem to be the real key to his success.
His YouTube video has been linked to from fan blogs, fan forums, fan websites, by YouTubers who favourited it, sent it on via Facebook et al...
The majority of those linking to it credit where they found the clip too.

How often do you hear the phrase 'the media built X up just to knock them down'? Now people can build their own icons (or individuals can build their own brands) without going near a corporate news outlet, whether newspaper, TV, radio or online. It's free and it's extremely easy.

People marketed the Darren Farley brand without him even having to ask them. He's clear that he wants his impressions to become a career, and by posting his video he got the greatest recruitment agency in the world acting on his behalf; the Web 2.0 collective.
It would have cost a fortune to market himself; if he'd rang Radio 5 and offered his services I'm betting the phone would have gone down within 30 seconds, now he's one of their 'must listen' interviews - thanks to the Internet community using links.

So, what does it mean for newspapers? For me, it underlines how imperative it is for journalists to use social media sites to spot trends and stories. Dipping into forums, using Twitter as a matter of course (not just when you're covering an event) and following blogs should be viewed as essential. I think reporters need to view it in the same light as they do the on-the-hour phone calls to the emergency services.
There are a wealth of stories on the web, we just need to know how to find them. And how to let other people find them for us.

Our own worst enemy?

Here are some cheery words for journalists, courtesy of Michael Wolff, founder of Newser: "The advice [to journalists] is probably not to get up for work today, sleep in and, you know, hope your retirement account will take care of you."

If I wasn't already downcast by that little spot of advice, these two overheard comments would have certainly done the trick:
1. "I don't get paid any more money for doing it" [ie: Why would I pass on information about a news-relevant YouTube video].
2. "Personally I think it's a bit much that we're having to learn to do this" [ie: Why must I learn how to upload a breaking news story to the web rather than have someone do it for me.]

This, to me, says more about how far we are from achieving that fabled goal of a multimedia newsroom than doomy articles on the 'Collapse of the Newspaper Industry'. It says that very people surrounded by industry changes are unable or unwilling to know which way the wind is blowing. They are like monks in a Scriptorium, painstakingly labouring away at their copying, all the while knowing that the abbot has bought one of those new-fangled printing presses.

I don't know if some in the industry are genuinely hostile to the prospect of change, or whether their fear of what it might mean manifests itself as hostility. I suspect for most it would be the latter explaination - but why would you compromise your career by baulking at opportunities to adapt?
As journalists we have been using tools for years. I had to learn shorthand for my job; on my first paper I took and developed my own photos. I have to say, acquiring those skills has never made me feel I was exploited by some Gradgrind-esque employer.

The ability to break stories online, create visuals and record interviews as podcasts is surely just an extension of said tools.
That's not to say I don't believe increasing skills should go unrewarded in terms of promotion or renumeration, I do. But I also think that, just as you would expect a paramedic to be trained the latest skills and familiar with the equipment he uses, a journalist should be familiar with the tools of story-telling, whether that's a Flip videocamera or knowledge of how to upload content.

If you want to be first, beat the competition, and simply work for the best, most successful news outlet (and why wouldn't you want your company to be successful; if not for the pride then at least for the job security?) you'd surely see the sense in grasping the nettle.

Perhaps the true litmus test of a multimedia newsroom would be for a reporter to feel the same pride in seeing their story ranked first by online reader hits as they would in getting the print splash. When someone congratulates a colleague for having a top show in the web stats, then maybe we can measure how the mindset is changing.

A final thought: The features team on a former paper of mine retired to the library with a couple of bottles of wine once a week, for a gentle afternoon of forward planning. The arrival of a new editor, filled with ideas for platforms, soon saw their workload upped to preclude the possibility of a booze-fuelled afternoon.
Today, the library where they once glugged their way through the latest fashion shoot ideas no longer exists; it's all automatically archived online. The features team, however, is still intact.

Blog comments can be the new 'Letters to the Editor'

The letters page of a daily newspaper is the most mixed of mixed bags.
Various papers I've worked for had different approaches to it; some banned 'round robin' type endorsement letters ostensibly written by celebs ('hello, I'm Gloria Hunniford and I'd like everyone from Southampton to get behind National Gut Week), others stuck them on the page with a murmur of relief that some of the gaping space had been filled.
Some resorted to getting staff to write letters when there weren't enough to fill a page and one (the South Wales Argus - take a bow for honesty, folks) only ran a letters page if there were enough local letters to fill one.

If a news story attracts maybe six letters we tend to see it as a major talking point; it merits follow ups and, sometimes, a letters page special. Then we're all very pleased about how we've engaged readers in debate.
So, if six letters mean a news story has engaged readers, what do we make of this blog post about Steve Coogan's 'woeful' show at the Echo Arena in Liverpool?

To say it's provoked debate is a serious understatement: 37 comments and counting on the blog; the online statistics show it's the most viewed news story on our site at the moment.
The post itself was run in the paper as a review, uploaded to the LDP website as a review and also placed on the Comedy Blog (with a cross-ref from the online review). It's a fascinating debate being held between readers, some of whom are responding to Vicky Anderson, some to each other. It's wonderful to see an article take on such a life and identity of its own.

And more than that, it's generating content for the newspaper too. After all, a great debate doesn't just have to exist online - we're taking it into print tomorrow, by reverse publishing the blog comments. We'll also be asking Mr Coogan for a response. Be interesting to see what, if anything, comes back from 'his people'...

The Coogan review is, as far as I'm concerned, important for a number of reasons:
1. It effectively puts paid to any argument that only people from outside the circulation area read newspaper's online sites. The comments here have been posted by local people who attended the show. Whether they enjoyed it or not, they are from our circulation area.

2. People want to interact through blogs. Would these posters have written a letter to the editor? I'm willing to bet not one of them would have put pen to paper (also, we received just two emailed responses). All the comments were posted directly onto the blog. Search analysis showed that people were actively looking for somewhere to comment - typical search terms were 'Coogan + review', which would indicate the blog post was being discussed and people were then going online to find it. I find that very interesting.

3. A blog post is potentially more valuable to users than stories that are seeded by newspapers on their forums in the hope of sparking debate. These posters could have gone to our online forum, but then they would have had to join, if they weren't already members, fill in the form and accept the verification email, start a topic and write an opinion. Here, they simply entered a conversation already initiated by the blog post.

4. Blogs can create content. We aren't reverse publishing these comments to fill space, we're sharing a conversation created by a review on a blog, and we are looking to move that debate on - not only have the comments themselves become a story, they also demonstrate the need for the subject (in this case Steve Coogan) to respond. Forums can work in the same way but the posts here, in the main, lend themselves to publication more readily.

It's got me wondering if we should try running a 'news' blog, with reporters posting versions of stories, along with their own observations. It would be interesting to see what sort of reaction we got from readers. Of course, such an action would also reopen the 'enabling comments under stories' debate, and all the associated legal discussions that surrounds that.
But newspapers are there to provoke debate; if readers demonstrate that they want to discuss stories and events on blogs, when surely our websites have to reflect that?

UPDATE: The Independent picked up on the Coogan blog row today; it's the p3 lead and the Editor's Choice online. The Daily Mail also reported it. While both saw fit to mention the debate was kicked off by a blog post, neither saw the need to link to it. How poor...

Web 2.0 and brands

Gary Vaynerchuk, of Wine Library, gave a talk on Building Personal Brand Within the Social Media Landscape at the recent Web 2.0 Expo NY. He's a bit shrill at times but it's worth presevering I think.

Here are some of his points:

Becoming a brand
"The place where we play is very real and it is a massive opportunity. We are going through a gold rush of branding; in the old days to become a brand you needed a lot of mainstream media attention. But now, if you get talked about enough, on all these social webs and blogs, you can get there. You can build your company's brand."

Social media and brand equity
"When you have brand equity anything can happen. What is imperitive to me right now is using the tools. Lots of people say to me 'which tools should I use: Should I use Twitter, Pownce, Jaiku?'
"Which tools should I use? ALL of them. Your user-base, and the people that connect to you - you need to connect to them any way you can, everywhere you can, as often as you can. That is essential"

Networking
"Get out there and network. The only way to succeed now is to be completely transparent - completely. Everything is exposed, everything you do, so your legacy is your ultimate life. It’s all you got and you can build so much on that."

Anyway, the full talk is here. Newspaper people - journalists, advertising staff, marketing (particuarly marketing!) should pay attention to Garybecause the fundamental message that comes across is just how self-sufficient Web 2.0 allows everyone to be.
Scary stuff? Maybe I should have saved this post for Hallowe'en...

New Dipity - me likee

While I was in New York my invite to preview the upcoming incarnation of Dipity dropped in the inbox. Which sorta killed me, as I wanted to start playing with it immediately - but I had Manhattan's shops all around me.
In the end Manhattan (and my marriage) won but now I'm back home I've had a chance to look around the new Dipity and I like it a lot - especially the extra embed options, the fact that it can display full screen, and the added services that can be fed into a timeline.
I also can't wait for the new Twitter feed to go live - that will be a great way to display a breaking news story.
So, while I start playing around with things (and I have big plans for Liverpool and Everton timelines this week) I've skivved off a proper blog update for a couple of days. Instead, here's a Dipity timeline (anonymous but not created by me) of the the Wall Street Crash. Take it from me, I didn't see a single stockbroker who appeared to be even considering tightening his or her (Gucci) belt.

Learning from liveblogging

I'd love to know how many of the UK's regional newspapers have run liveblogs this year; it seems as though real-time coverage and participation in almost everything (public spectacles, event TV, sports, political rallies to name a few) is on the increase when it was hardly in evidence 12 months ago.

I've been pondering this as the Newspaper Society is planning an article on the Post & Echo's liveblogs, and contacted me for some information, plus I also received an email from CoverItLive's Keith McSuprren with links to two liveblogs of the Emmys.

The New York Times liveblogged the event on its TV Decoder blog. It reminded me of the Guardian's entertaining television liveblogs and has great knock-about comments from readers/viewers who are interacting with the host and each other.

Canada's National Post used CIL to liveblog and the contrast is quite apparent.
It engages the post-event reader just as much as those participating at the time - it's compelling, entertaining and, possibly a more attractive commercial option for sponsors as well.
The posted comments show how invested the online audience was in the Times' offering but it just doesn't have the same longevity, or presence, as the Post's.

The Post & Echo run liveblogs fairly regularly; the last one saw me part-hosting the whiteknuckle ride that was the Everton FC v Standard Leige UEFA cup match. I was only doing a 30 minute stint but it was incredibly intensive.
The footie liveblogs are great for fans without access to radios or TV (some are overseas, some trapped at work on a night shift) and their demand for information is relentless - believe me, if you think ringing in copy on deadline to a news editor is intense, try finding the team sheets for a UEFA cup match with a clamouring audience.

So, some things I've learned to make my liveblogging easier:

Preparation is vital
Before you start, ensure you've banked information your readers are likely need so you can upload it with minimal delay. For the Tall Ships that meant knowing links to any webcams and shuttlebus times in advance; for La Machine, a timetable of the giant Spider's performances. Being able to respond very quickly to queries on these issues (which tend to come right at the beginning) sends a message to your audience that your blog is the source of information they need. You'll get constant queries for this information and can just refer them to the top of the blog.

State your objectives for readers
Newcomers don't necessarily know what a liveblog is, they may have just Googled some keywords in an attempt to find information and wound up on the blog. So a welcome and introduction which states exactly what's going on then users' expectation levels are set. For example, football fans won't expect kick-by-kick coverage but will understand it offers broad reporting, colour, photos and fan banter.

Advertise your activities
Share what you're doing with the liveblog. As in 'Our photographer is downloading the images now - they should be up here in the next 5 minutes' or 'we're planning to live-stream this event starting at xpm'... it lets users know there's a structure in place for the coverage and makes the liveblog feel more as-it-happens. You can also plug upcoming related content in the newspaper, let people know how they can get involved or point them towards photosales.

Remember it's a LIVEblog
Some liveblog software have timelines to show what time comments are posted. If there are lengthy gaps between when you post, promote readers' comments or upload content the existing audience could start leaving and new arrivals might not bother hanging around. If things quieten down it can be a good time to ask questions, promote a poll, or maybe post some links to relevant copy on yours or other websites. If you don't keep it looking fresh and active you're inviting a 'is this thing on?' comment appearing from a reader...

You can't please everybody
I feel an obligation to blog readers when I'm either filing for a liveblog or helping produce one. After all, we've offered them a service, they've bothered to come and use it, so we have to listen to their opinions, criticisms and observations.
There's no point ignoring critical comments or refusing to upload them; accept not everyone will like what your doing and let those that do respond. I think every liveblog I've been involved with has attracted at least one comment along the lines of how useless newspapers are now compared to what they were, and how we should be doing real journalism.
Don't post defensive replies - it looks petty, and blog readers are just as likely to shout down the naysayer for you. And don't promote comments that contain language you'd refuse to accept in the printed paper.

Blog readers want images
They really do and if you fail to deliver they may well get annoyed; the clamour for images on a liveblog of an event is daunting at times.
During the La Machine liveblog our Flickr group photos were an invaluable resource - as was the special text line for spectators to send their cameraphone pix. YouTube is great - a recent search for Steven Gerrard produced a host of (very professional!) '10 greatest Gerrard goals' type video packages, which the BBC and SKY may not be too happy about but hey... liveblog readers waiting for kick-off would love to have a link to them. Livestreaming is a great option; readers aren't too fussed about the quality - they just want to experience something as it happens.

So those are some of the things I've learned while liveblogging. Personally I love doing them - you really feel a part of the event you're covering, you're providing a service that people enjoy, appreciate and get involved with, and it means you get to break news. It's also a great way to change minds in the newsroom about the value of interaction - when you ask something and a response is straight away, it brings home the fact that newspapers have an audience with answers as well as questions.

Networking and the tools of the job...

It started, as so many things do nowadays, with a tweet. Mark Commerford suggested to me there was a blog post in social networks and the different ways a journalist might use them - and keep track of them.
So I sat down and started thinking about what network tools I use most often, and what for - I haven't included things like Evernote or Shozu as, while I use them a lot, I don't see them as interactive.
Some of these are old favourites, others are new and shiny (to me at least), but all have passed my 'Does it get results' test' which is basically:

1. Is it a) easy to join and b) easy to use?
2. Does it make my job easier?
3. Is it simple to share with others?

I don't expect sites to be free but if they are that's a plus; if sites are gimmicky, fiddly to use, spam me or my friends I stop using them. This is an ever-changing, always-growing list but (to borrow a line from Stephen King) it's my Blue Ribbon for now:


Ask500people.com
I've run three polls on this site and am impressed by not only the number of vote responses but also by the geotagging facility and the quality of the comments posted. The Post now uses it frequently and it's performed well. Less labour-intensive (although also less detailed) than Survey Monkey, it's quick and dirty, you won't necessarily get a high local response rate unless it's plugged well to online readers, but it's a fast, user-friendly tool that has an option to embed the poll or a widget of it on your site.
I'm also testing PollDaddy as an alternative option.

Bambuser
Bambuser just edges it on Qik for me. Call me fickle but Qik has let me down - ie disconnected for no reason - once too often when it counted. I also like the fact that Bambuser doesn't demand I hold the N95 horizontally all the time, the geotagging, the ability to have conversations with other users as you stream, and the fact that I can use it with a webcam. It's embeddable and pings Twitter when you stream.
Also, Bambuser's Mathias Wiberg took the trouble to ring me the night before the Post liveblogged its day-in-the-life - to check we had everything necessary to stream and to wish us luck - which I thought was pretty amazing of him and said a lot about their view of customers.

CoverItLive
Not so much a network as a network facilitator but still the best liveblogging software I've tried; it is about as simple for readers to use and interact with the host and each other as possible. We've experimented with some other apps (and discoveries included the fact that Scribblelive would be good for covering a court case but didn't really offer interaction)but CiL has the best functionality. You can embed it, brand it, recruit promoters, bypass moderation of trusted posters, run polls, add photos, video... it really is an excellent, self-contained operation.
Personally I'd also like the ability to delete a post from the blog once you've uploaded it (accidents happen) and to be able to upload sound files direct, rather than just links.

Delicious
This is an essential, not just for saving items I've found, but also for catching up on what others in my network think is important. I use Delicious every day; I like Mento for the ability to send comments and reactions around a network, alert me to new links via Gmail and post automatically to Delicious as well, but the simple businesslike aproach of Delicious is hard to beat.

Dipity
Brings together networks, mashes them up and allows you to share the finished product without contacts. Lots of people use Dipity for life-streaming; I like to use it, and Dipity's TimeTube, to share stories. Embeddable and with the facility to update as required, it's versatile, practical and looks good.

Flickr
All the time; from the Creative Commons pool to Daily Post's Flickr group to just dipping in and reminding myself that trolls don't lurk in every community, this is an everyday essential. I've tracked down new contacts using Flickrmail (it's an unthreatening way of introducing yourself - people can have a quick look at your photostream, bio and groups and get an insight into your character and intentions) and found several stories via the Post's Flickr group. These are the people who tend to have a camera at the right place, at the right time, and they enjoy sharing and interacting. It's a wonderful resource.

Ping.fm
I use Ping sparingly; I just think posting the same message across around 10 different social networks is the equivalent of opening a door and shouting something controversial into a busy room, then leaving without hearing what the response is. It's the Web 2.0 equivalent of Knock Down Ginger and often when I see people have posted via Ping I don't know the best place to respond to them. So I don't tend to respond (my close friends are the exception to this rule.)
I use Ping about once a week, to highlight something work-related (more rarely to send out something blog-related) such as a poll or a new web section and send it to Twitter, Plurk, Brightkite, Pownce, Jaiku, Tumblr, Facebook status updates, and Friendfeed.

Plurk
Plurk is an everyday staple - I use it for crowdsourcing, polls, sharing photos/videos/links and getting instant threaded reaction; if people think Twitter is good for earthquake news they should follow the Japan-based SemiPro on Plurk. Coupled with BrightKite it's also good for area-specific crowdsourcing and for getting tips from fellow locals. I also love the Plurkshops.com sessions, which are threaded topics (a recent useful workshop was on how to move blog hosts) which include links, videos and Q&As. I mute any conversations I'm not interested in, ignore the karma ratings, rigorously ignore Plurk's 'stranger-danger' friends advice and Mark All As Read whenever I feel overwhelmed by chatter. Many of the people I talk to regularly on Plurk aren't connected to jouranlism in any way, and it's refreshing to get a non-industry take on things.

Seesmic
Threaded video conversations, private video conversations, random people from all around the world expressing opinions face-to-face, embedding options - it's a nice way to do business I think. I like a site that can combine lengthy debates about the state of the economy with considered questions about whether to buy a bottle of wine or just go for beer.
Friendly, engaging and packed with experts and/or eccentrics, I found using Seesmic helped me understand the need to put in something of yourself when you use a network. As a journalist I'm used to being the eternal observer; Seesmic makes you particpate, and look 'em in the eye as you do so.

Spinvox
Spinvox turns voice into text. This means I no longer drive home with 21 missed calls from 121 and, more importantly, allows me to speak to this blog direct (it even titles it), send a 'blast message' to friends and contacts, speak a memo to Gmail via my mobile and update Twitter, Jaiku and Facebook simultaneously. It's a great time-saving tool and something I use every day in one form or other.

Twitter
Twitter is the best; even the Fail Whale can't tarnish its gleam for me in terms of network, news gathering, information sharing... the works. It's the first site I log onto when I go online and it is home to myriad tweeple whose opinions I respect. It's a place to share links, photos, thoughts, blog posts or live streams. (although I can live without the Dr Who tweets) and every day I learn at least one new thing of relevance to my job through it.
I like Jaiku but I love Twitter - it's my favourite network and my most useful, while the side apps, from twello.com to monitter.com are simple, fast and effective. I use it to crowdsource, publicise stuff I or the paper have been up to, seek advice, micro-blog, post photos, post links, and have a laugh - and I get to follow the thoughts of some seriously influential and smart media types.

YouTube
Not just there for Ninja Cat videos - I set up a YouTube Channel for my videos as a learning exercise but it's interesting how many different communities and local experts are online. When staff videos of La Machine weren't loading properly in the office it was YouTube that came to the rescue for the Liveblog - both as standalones and as a Dipity TimeTube of videos. It's a network packed with experts too, many of whom have their own channels, and its use as a crowdsourcing tool (particuarly coupled with Seesmic) shouldn't be underestimated.

Yahoo Pipes
This, according to the blurb, is: "a powerful composition tool to aggregate, manipulate, and mashup content from around the web".
Well, I'm calling it a network because - in my opinion - a pipe brings together networks (forums, blogs, tweets) sources and information, which you can then share. Since my Road to Damascus experience with pipes, courtesy of Paul Bradshaw's ace tutorial, I've been either building them or tweaking existing pipes to make them more effective. Firefox tells me it's my third most used site this week (Twitter and the Daily Post beat it) which says something, I feel.

Those are the networks I rely on most heavily; I use BrightKite, Jaiku, Tumblr et al but not with the same frequency, success or even interest. Some of the networks on here will be supplanted by others I'm sure - guess I can always update it as necessary. But as a journalist I like these tools, they make my job easier and more interesting, and I get to meet some cool people along the way.