News & Opinion

by Kurt Wagner @kurtwagner8 for @mashable The company is reportedly moving forward with a new research laboratory intended to "bring about major changes in artificial intelligence." Yann LeCun, a New York University professor of computer and neural sciences, posted about the new laboratory on Facebook and Google+. LeCun's post also includes news of a partnership between Facebook and NYU's Center for Data Science intended to carry out research in data science, machine learning and artificial intelligence. He added that Mark Zuckerberg would announce the new laboratory on Monday at a conference in the Lake Tahoe area. Facebook first formed the AI team, which currently has eight members, in September. The social network responded to Mashable's request for comment by highlighting the comments Zuckerberg made during Facebook's last earnings call in October. "The goal here is to use new approaches in AI to help make sense of all the content that people share so we can generate new insights about the world to answer people’s questions," he said. "Over time, I think it’s going to be possible to build services that are much more natural to interact with and can help solve many more problems than any existing technology today." With millions of users actively sharing personal information to Facebook, it's easy to envision the role machine learning could play in deciphering this data. Facebook routinely talks about putting the right content, including ad, in front of the right people. Artificial intelligence could help the company achieve better results for targeted ads and news feed improvements. LeCun claims the new group will have teams in multiple offices, including New York, London and Menlo Park, Calif. The news was first reported AllThingsD.  

by Russel Working @R_Working There! You've written that pitch and uploaded that YouTube video about your new gizmo. Now, how to get the attention of the press? Should you tweet reporters? Track them down on LinkedIn? Send an email? Pick up the phone? For those who are having trouble figuring out how to get the attention of overworked reporters, a panel of journalists praised Twitter as an unobtrusive way to reach out. In a discussion titled "Tweet me, link up with me, join my circle, or friend me on Facebook," four journalists offered suggestions on how to get your big idea in front of them. In some ways, it's easier to reach a reporter or editor than ever, panelists say. But irrelevant tweets are no better than shot-gunning press releases to every media outlet in the English-speaking world. It still takes savvy to get journalists' attention. Here are some tips: 1. Pay attention to the journalists on Twitter. Listen for what reporters are looking for. Anthony De Rosa, editor-in-chief at Circa and former social media editor at Reuters, often throws out a question on Twitter about a story he's working on, such as, "In the past two years, what are the most interesting technologies that have come out in the healthcare and medical industry?" 2. Know what they cover. So, Beth J. Harpaz is travel editor for The Associated Press. She's bound to be interested in the new Mumbai location of your hotel chain, right? Actually, no. The AP doesn't cover hotel openings; there are too many around the world. Think big-picture stories, such as the start of ski season in November, or a piece on Jackie Robinson destinations in Brooklyn, pegged to the release of the recent movie. 3. Scramble! Harpaz often works with PR pros to get images, and nowadays the good ones tend to have a reserve of high-resolution pics. "They save me every single time," she says. Drake Martinet, social editor for the video news network NowThis News, adds, "When I have a question, be the first responder. ... Just have an answer. Have a link. Have some context." 4. Be interesting. Come on. Would you want to follow a string of product announcements littered with ® and ™ symbols? Why should a reporter? The most successful communications professionals make their social media accounts a source of information that will grab journalists, Martinet says. The information is often about the industry, it's current, and it is relatively unbiased. Adds De Rosa: "I think it's important not to always be pitching your own clients, and have a really good sense of your industry and what's going on." 5. Add contact information to your Twitter profile. Go on. Right now. Tell us whom you work for. Drop in a link. A lot of professionals "aren't really thinking of their profile the right way—birdwatcher, yoga fan," says Ragan Communications CEO Mark Ragan, who moderated the panel. 6. Try an @ mention. "In general, the most reliable way to reach a journalist on social media," says Zach Seward, senior editor of Quartz, a division of Atlantic Media, "is with an at-mention on Twitter," or using the journalist's handle with the @ symbol. "You may or may not get a response, but you're pretty reliably going to be seen." 7. Use your personal Twitter account. Panelists said they would rather chat with a human being than the anonymous brand. 8. Know what's going on in the news. If something big is happening in travel, chances are the AP will have a follow-up story on it. The AP did a story on travel safety following rapes in India and a series of assaults in Rio de Janeiro. Harpaz quoted several people offered by PR pros, among them the VP of fly.com 9. To reach someone at the AP, stick with email. The AP's Twitter feeds tend to be reserved for posting stories, not conversation, Harpaz says. "I almost never use the stuff that they routinely pitch me," she says, "but relationships do develop as long as you don't kind of make a pest out of yourself, and if you kind of are savvy about what's in the news, what might a reporter need a source on today that I can fill that gap." 10. Try LinkedIn. Facebook isn't the best way to reach journalists, but LinkedIn messages land in their inboxes. 11. Keep an eye on HARO. Though several panelists said they dislike Help a Reporter Out, AP's Harpaz often relies on it. "We are often putting queries on there when we are looking for a needle in a haystack, literally," Harpaz says. "And it is astounding how often we find the needle." Following a fatal drunken driving accident in Ohio, the AP used HARO to look for parents who had used the crash to caution their own kids. Several PR pros offered tips, even though it didn't get a mention for their brand. Harpaz says because these folks helped, she at least owed them a hearing on their own pitch. 12. Don't call. Please, these busy journalists said. Just don't. 13. Skip the press release. Like others, Seward prefers a "short, punchy pitch," he says. "I don't get press releases. ... I don't understand why 'the press release is dead' hasn't won that debate." 14. Use your website to back up your pitch. Give the media what they need: Pictures, videos, text. "For me, if it didn't happen on the Internet, it didn't happen at all," Martinet says.    

by Matthew Schwartz @mpsjourno1 Google Catalog. Google Wave. Google Answers. They’re all part of the Google graveyard, online platforms that the Web giant rolled out in the last several years but ultimately shut down. Google+, which launched to much fanfare in 2011, may not be perceived as a Facebook or Twitter killer, but it does rank as the second-largest social networking site in the world after Facebook. So how can PR pros leverage Google+? Following some early hiccups, Google+ continues to accelerate at a rapid clip. The network now has 500 million-plus users, with more than 343 millionactive users, according to Digital Insights. It caters to small or local businesses, but brands of all sizes ignore the network at their own peril. The network is able to distinguish itself from its online rivals by having a robust SEO (search engine optimization) component, which, of course, plays into Google’s dominance when it comes to search. With that in mind, here are a few tips for Google+ SEO strategies, with a hat tip to Albe Zakes, global VP of communications for TerraCycle. > Get Google+ linked to your website and vice versa to help get Google+ Direct Connect status. > Use hashtags relevant to your company in every post; these should be your standard SEO keywords. > Reach out to the Google+ team and get your site verified. > Establish a Google+ community to engage people around relevant topics and keywords for your business. > Grow this community by connecting with and inviting influencers in your local area or industry to join.  

by Brian Solis There's a saying...a rising tide floats all boats. Slowly, over the years, I've felt the tides of connectivity come in. As a result of social networks, smart phones, pervasive Internet, this tide has floated an always on society. But this rising tide has also washed away a bit of me that valued elements of an unplugged life and human interaction. It's evolved of course. I've changed. Those around me are changing. Every day there's a growing divide between the connected and those who choose not to rise with the tide. Over time, the value systems between the groups becomes not only increasingly disparate but also introduces a void in social interactions and relatability between them. I've long studied how this connected lifestyle evolves and the impact it has on business and society. But, personally, I've noticed a few things... My connectedness is slowly seizing my quiet moments. My sanctuary of enjoying my thoughts alone is now threatened. The moments of watching life pass by as I take pause are now replaced by the need to plug in and socialize without truly socializing. I swipe, pinch and zoom, and scroll as if I’ve become a digital conductor of sorts. The light of my mobile screen is the calming I need to fall asleep each night and the stimulus that starts each day. I’m not alone in this statusphere. I walk and check my screen. I struggle to not drive and check my screen. I excuse myself from conversations or meals to communicate outside. I'm losing my powers of analog observation and perspective in favor of digital engagement. The truth is that it has its pros and cons. But, I've lost muscle memory in my hand and now the grip of a pen feels foreign. I've traded it though for dexterity in my thumbs. Though, my thumbs hurt every now and then. It can only be from relentless txts, emails and updates. I know I’m not alone. I often feel alone when I’m not connected or that I’m missing out when I read the updates of my friends. It makes me rethink my priorities in ways that wouldn’t be the most productive…at least by yesterday’s standards. Should I have joined them? Maybe getting out would be just what I needed. Again, I know I’m not alone. I’m not addicted. I’m not in need of a digital intervention or digital detox. I intentionally live this connected lifestyle because I find value more times than not. It’s a choice. But, still I wonder. I wonder if the value I get out of my interaction across a dizzying array of networks is right or simply right in the absence of discovering alternative value or utility. It comes down to virtue I suppose and where I choose to rank the qualities of social networks and connectedness in what ultimately defines who I am and what I do. Again, it’s a choice In social media, there has to be something more fulfilling than attention and validation around this digital self-expression. There must be something more rewarding than the measure of people who see or respond to my expressions. It makes me think of this cartoon I stumbled across from A Like, Retweet, comment, response, or view shouldn’t mean as much as they appear to, yet I see those who are consumed by the duality of a social life support system…living life in the real and digital life and trying desperately to tie them together. By way of illustration, Millennials and Generation Z kindle an unhealthy fixation on the number of interactions and followers they have on Instagram and Tumblr. Just follow the activities of a 13 year old on Tumblr, SnapChat or Ask.fm to see appreciate the inordinate worth placed on the number of people that follow them or respond to updates. If they don’t get what it is they solicit, they’ll try again…this time with a bit more fervor. As time passes, they’re self-conditioned to expect a baseline reaction.   With every action, we expect an equal or greater reaction… Selfies. Our meals. Our surroundings. Live and life events. New profile pictures. Updated relationship status. Provocative questions or random icebreakers. Humble brags. We invite attention because we’re learning to lean on it and the reactions that pour through our screens warms us. It reminds us that we’re appreciated, that we’re loved, that we’re alive. But, perhaps it’s this value system that requires reevaluation. I believe we can invest differently in order to get more out of this digital lifestyle I refer to today’s value system in social engagement as the 5 Vs. With each update, we look for something in return and each represent a shifting balance between… 1) Vision (I learn something, I’m inspired); 2) Validation (I’m accepted or justified); 3) Vindication (I’m right, cleared); 4) Vulnerability (I’m open); and 5) Vanity (I'm popular, I'm important...not egotism, but accidental narcissism.) These 5 V’s coalesce differently with each update and produce distinct emotional results based on the measure we apply to our own actions, reactions and inactions. Whether we realize it or if it’s simply a matter of our subconscious seeking attention, inspiration, empathy or any other stimulus, we are compelled to share. That’s just human nature of course. In a connected society though, we owe it to ourselves reflect and deliberate new possibilities. This is for us and those whom we influence and inspire. Yes. This is bigger than just you and me. None of us have the answers. We’re learning. And, that’s what this is about…learning to learn. I had the opportunity to interview Anil Dash at Pivot Conference in New York. Both a friend and someone whose work inspires me, Dash and I explored the state of the social web and its impact on a digital culture. The spirit of the conversation embraced the notion that the value system of the social web may have evolved upon a crumbling foundation of wrong and right. What is wrong and right anyway? Maybe the answer lies in the web we lost according to Dash. “We will spend three-to-four years with our thumbs on our cell phones,” he shared with me during our interview. That statement caused the audience to gasp. It was obvious that they were thinking about it in the moment and long after the discussion was done. But our time together would only produce additional reflection. “The fact that I spend more time reading my social streams than I do reading to my young son is a problem,” he continued. Dash believes that the answer lies in rethinking value to re-train ourselves in how we use and appreciate social media. Dash along with Lifehacker Founder Gina Tripani co-foundedThinkup, a new startup that connects your social networking accounts and tells you what matters about the time you spent there. ThinkUp aims to also help you “learn a little bit about yourself” and to “feel good about social networking.” He, like you and me, seek not only balance, but significance and meaning to help us become something more than an accidental narcissist. It’s the only way to save a social web that wemay be losing. The value we take away from this digital lifestyle must only be surpassed by what we invest in it. That’s for each of us to define. And define it we must.

by Dorothy Crenshaw The term “strategic communications” is not just business jargon. A well-designed communications plan is a strategic asset; it can boost brand value, enhance relationships with customers and partners, and build your reputation, while reducing inefficient PR and communications spending. Assuming you know how to develop a plan that focuses on the right message mix, communications channels, and tactics, how can your plan fall short? Here are the most common ways: It’s not sufficiently tied to business outcomes. Some companies still view communications as a service function within the organization, or even as a risk-mitigation resource like legal counsel. In other cases, the communications goals are identified as brand visibility. A strategic communications plan should have a different endgame—building or enhancing the relationships and values that lead to measurable business performance and growth. The plan was created in a vacuum. Sometimes the planning process is too internally focused. It’s developed to push out news of the organization’s mission and values, or it’s based on a C-level wish list. Its chances of success are greater when it’s informed by external insights—key trends, disruptors, and specific industry changes that will affect the company over the long term. The best plans also start with a thorough brand communications audit that includes insights into customer, channel partner, and employee perceptions of the business or its products. Channel messages are in conflict. We’ve all been there. The PR team is focused on communicating a product’s “higher-order” benefits while, simultaneously, direct-marketing promotes deep price discounts. Though these types of messages can coexist, if not carefully aligned, they can end up conflicting. Communications guidelines are absent, or inadequate. Even in a smaller company, visual and content quality standards are crucial. In a Harvard Business Review post, strategist Georgia Everse recommends “brand standards that give ‘rules to create by’” for those who must meet high standards for content creation. The plan is a secret. Some companies keep the communications plan private among a few senior managers. Why? It shouldn’t be a secret. More important, many employees have customer contact, and virtually everyone talks about the organization with others. A brand message framework is useful for everyone, particularly because informal conversations will almost always fill gaps created by inadequate brand communication within the company. The team is lost in the tactics. Though guidelines must be shared, an experienced team should handle the execution of communications tactics. In the heat of media relations battles or email marketing campaigns, we often focus too much on execution. Someone once told me the difference between a strategic plan and a tactical one is that the former focuses on delivered results, and the latter on delivered change.

by  Dustin York Clear and effective communication is essential during presentations, whether for board rooms full of executives, auditoriums at conferences, or classrooms full of students. Verbal information is vital, but how we present that information can determine how much an audience remembers. Researchers Allan and Barbara Pease found that 83 percent of communication is nonverbal, but I wanted to know what impact it had on audience recall. I conducted an experiment with four identical university classes with a total of 80 students. Each class had a guest speaker who presented. Two of those presenters used effective nonverbal communication, while the others used poor nonverbal communication. The interesting part was that this was more of an acting gig than a teaching gig. Each presentation was exactly the same, word for word. The PowerPoint was the same, and the presentation length was the same. The only difference was a few nonverbal tactics. Nonverbal communication includes a number of elements, so I manipulated only five elements: 1. Eye contact. The effective nonverbal instructor tried to make eye contact with each student throughout the presentation; the poor nonverbal instructor looked at the PowerPoint and minimally glanced at the students. 2. Voice fluctuation. The effective nonverbal instructor varied his vocal pattern throughout the presentation; the poor nonverbal instructor kept a moderately monotonous vocal range. 3. Position in the room. The effective nonverbal instructor used a PowerPoint clicker and walked around the front of the room; the poor nonverbal instructor stood behind a podium and used the desktop computer mouse to navigate the PowerPoint. 4. Facial expressions. The effective nonverbal instructor used a variety of enthusiastic facial expressions; the poor nonverbal instructor kept a moderately flat expression. 5. Hand gestures. The effective nonverbal instructor continually showed the palms of his hands during gestures; the poor nonverbal instructor kept his hands on the surface of the podium. Following the presentation, each class took the same test, which questioned them about the information they were just given. The effective nonverbal communication courses scored almost 30 percent higher on the test than students in the poor nonverbal communication courses. Students had interesting things to say about their experience during a focus group following the lectures: Effective nonverbal communication class:  • “If he didn’t look like he knows what he’s talking about, then I wouldn’t trust him or listen to him.” • “(Presenters’) body language in general can definitely tell you a lot about their knowledge about the subject.” • “Sometimes when (presenters) are speaking, I just won’t pay attention because I am bored, but I paid attention to this one.” Poor nonverbal communication class:  • “He just had random facts. I just didn’t really know where he got those from.” • “I got distracted easily with doodling on my paper. I listened to the first half, but I don’t remember anything from the second half.” • “I agree. I kind of wandered off. I tried focusing on the PowerPoint, but that was bad, too.” So, next time you’re offering a presentation for a client or at a conference, remember you’re saying just as much with your body as you are with your mouth.

by Matthew Bishop "SELFIE" is word of the year, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. Posting a picture of yourself, taken on your mobile device, along with the hashtag #selfie, has become one of the defining features of the new social media world created by the spread of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and so on. A selfie is something anyone can do. It is especially popular with celebrities, who are posting selfies like there is no tomorrow. As you can see, for example, Kim Kardashian, a reality TV star known as the Queen of the Selfie, posted one when she wanted the world to know that her body was back in shape after giving birth. You get the picture. If this trend strikes you as rather, well, selfie-centred, why not fight back and promote the opposite, by posting an "unselfie"? This Tuesday, December 3rd, is the second annual #givingtuesday, the opening day of the "giving season" (the name given to the fact that a large proportion of total donations to charity are made in the final few weeks of the year). To mark this #givingtuesday, anyone who wants to celebrate the powerful positive role that giving plays in our world is being asked to share their own unselfie on their favourite social media sites and by email. It is really easy to create an unselfie. First, write clearly on a piece of paper what cause or causes you will be supporting this #givingtuesday. Maybe you are giving some money, or volunteering some time; you can mention more than one, if you are giving to more than one. Then, because this is about the causes not you, hold the piece of paper in front of your face, showing your personal giving pledge, and take a picture. Add the hashtags #givingtuesday and #unselfie. Then Tweet, Instagram, Facebook and email it as widely as possible. Of course, your unselfie should be done in the right spirit. Not for nothing is there a long tradition of considering giving best when it is done in secret; the unselfie is emphatically not about showing off or advertising how virtuous you are being. Yet the unselfie is worth doing because it can tap into the power of social media to inspire others and motivate ourselves by sharing our passions publicly. The unselfie is a way of saying, this cause is important to me - and seeing that, the people who take an interest in you may be inspired to look more deeply into the causes you support, or to think about, and hopefully unselfie, the causes that matter to them. It was great to play a part in the launch of #givingtuesday last year, along with the 92nd Street Y, Mashable, the United Nations Foundation and over 2,000 partners, big and small, across America. The data suggests that there was around a 50% increase in online giving on #givingtuesday itself. But there were several longer-term impacts that may prove of greater significance than the giving on the day. For many people, #givingtuesday helped them think through better their personal giving strategies. It also helped many non-profits learn about how to make better use of social media in fundraising and have a deeper conversation with their supporters. Companies that took part reported that they were able to engage better with the causes that motivate their employees. And all sorts of new partnerships flourished, as people and organisations got connected to others working toward the same goal. #givingtuesday 2013 is shaping up to be even bigger. Already, over 8,000 organisations in all 50 US states have signed up as partners, from charities to businesses to small towns to cities. A group of charities in Baltimore have come together to pledge jointly to raise $5m on the day. New partnerships are emerging between the super rich and the rest of us as billionaires such as Steve and Jean Case and others offer to match #givingtuesday gifts with similar amounts of their own cash. And it is going global: significant #givingtuesday campaigns are under way in countries such as Australia, Canada, Israel, Mexico, Argentina and Singapore. You can see how #givingtuesday is going, and get motivated by other people's unselfies, by googling #givingtuesday and #unselfie. On December 3rd your unselfie can help fill cyberspace with an inspiring global celebration of the power of giving to build a better world. Let's make 2013 the year of the unselfie.

by Miriam Hara The first thing you see when you visit Instagram’s webpage is their tagline: “Capture and Share the World’s Moments” – which is the purpose for the multi-billion dollar company (now owned by Facebook). What users actually use it for, however, can vary in a multitude of ways. This is great news for businesses because they can optimize their reach in ways that other social media outlets may not allow for. Not to mention, this untapped demographic may include people that are on Instagram but don’t have a Facebook or Twitter account. Personally, I’m an avid Instagram user and will swear by its significance in both personal and professional avenues. Instagram can connect you with people that you would otherwise never have been connected with. For businesses, this can mean reinforcing their brand identity while increasing revenue. 1. Michael Kors: At the beginning of November 2013, Michael Kors was the first business to run an advertisement on Instagram – only to be met with criticism from their followers. The statistics, however, show that despite the disapproval from many followers, the results were exactly what Michael Kors had hoped for: in the first 18 hours of its launch, Michael Kors gained 34,000 new followers putting them at 1.3 million followers. 2. Sponsored Posts: A sponsored post can increase viewership by pushing them to users that are not already following the account. Like Facebook, it promises impressions but not necessarily “follows” or “likes”, and unlike Facebook, you can’t target a specific demographic. In any case, a riveting ad or a great offer isn’t normally rejected by most – so it’s still worth considering. 3. Optimization: There has been viral videos wreaking havoc on the usage of hashtags – for those who don’t know, a hashtag is the number sign (#) followed by a word or phrase. Some people have abused the purpose of this tool, but it’s actually very useful if used properly. Hashtagging organizes your photos by topic so that interested users can easily access relevant photos. What are some of your favourite Instagram accounts to follow?

By Pam Dyer Next year’s trends highlight the importance of social media marketing. As 2013 draws to a close, marketers are looking ahead to next year when social media marketing will begin to take center stage. No longer a luxury, it will become a must-have in 2014 marketing strategies. Digital asset management firm WebDAM found that marketing on the social Web will move toward critical mass over the next few years as more budget is allocated by brands, and custom content will become increasingly import as companies fight to develop awareness and win customer mind share in the marketplace. In 2014, marketers will use dynamic content to deliver targeted, highly-personalized experiences to the right audience at the right time. What to expect 78% of CMOs think that custom content is the future of marketing. Marketing teams will spend $135 billion on digital marketing collateral. Internet advertising will account for 25% of the entire ad market by 2015. Trends in the marketing mix Social media: Social media marketing budgets will double over the next 5 years. Content: Nearly 50% of companies now have content marketing strategies. Email: Social sharing buttons in mail increase click-through rates by 158%. Events: 67% of B2B content marketers consider event marketing the most effective strategy. PR: 73% of reporters think press releases should include images. PPC: 72% of PPC marketers (those who use pay-per-click advertising) plan to increase their PPC budget in 2014. SEO: SEO (search engine optimization) is vital — 33% of traffic from Google organic search results go the first item listed. What to consider for your digital audience Inbound marketing delivers 54% more leads than traditional outbound marketing. 52% of marketers have found a customer via Facebook in this year. 43% of marketers have found a customer via LinkedIn in 2013. B2B companies that blog generate 67% more leads than those that don’t. 55% of marketers increased their digital marketing budget this year. Visual content is processed by the brain 60,000 times faster than text. Videos on landing pages increase conversion by 86%. 65% of people are visual learners, so there will be an industry-wide shift toward to employing visual content in marketing initiatives.