Perkolating

ESPN and Twitter are announcing a major expansion of their collaboration to post sports-related videos on the short-messaging service—part of a growing wave of tie-ups as TV networks and Twitter hunt for new advertising revenue.

“I just want brands to focus on sentiment that matters and not on what is facile and easy to measure. Ten thousand ‘likes’ for a puppy picture is not worth a dozen customers getting their real problems resolved because brands listened and acted.”

More real world advice for brands from Augie: 

“ social media departments tend to hang on every little detractor event and still focus too much on posting photos designed to get likes rather than to make a brand impression. Most seem not to not understand these efforts have little to no impact on the brand. In part, this is because they are focused on bad metrics that are not tied to business results (such as the number of likes and retweets) and in part because social media departments do not have the power to change what matters most—customer service, product quality, packaging, etc. Right now, many social media professionals are working around the edges rather than at the core where change is needed, …”

How working co-creatively can transform your businesses.

LOVE the idea of group “Data Dives” (that include creatives) for business

The Carr-Benkler wager, seven years later.

Living in the Golden Age of television has a downside: Everywhere you go, it seems as if all anyone wants to talk about is TV. Burning out on the discussion of Girls.

NextGuide, the second screen application created by Dijit, has teamed with USA Networks to sync its service with the channel’s popular TV shows. App users will find a more immersive …

The USA / NextGuide partnership could yield some interesting results.

Twitter has landed its biggest advertising deal to date, reaching a first-of-its-kind agreement with Publicis’ Starcom MediaVest Group worth hundreds of millions of dollars over a multiyear period, according to people familiar with the matter. The

HUGE.

The big question for many brands when it comes to social media is how does it affect the bottom line? Twitter provided an answer to that question yesterday as it released a study showing how tweets drive sales. | Marketing Magazine

via Digiday by Giselle Abramovich

When a conversation spikes on Facebook for Mondelez, the company is able to understand what about its post got people so excited and engaged. It uses these learnings to inform marketing in other channels, like TV. As a result, Mondelez is seeing that its TV spots are now twice as effective.

Always listen with Bonin Bough talks social.

via Nieman Journalism Lab by Daniel Victor

“Does this mean the millions of Twitter users who deploy such hashtags to increase their reach are all wrong? Well…yes. We certainly have a history of carrying out myths in technology. Shaking a Polaroid picture didn’t make it develop any faster. Blowing on Nintendo cartridges didn’t help, either. We’ve all been told at some point that hashtags connect you to more people, and it’s been widely accepted as fact.”

Fantastic post by NYT Social Media editor Daniel Victor on the truth behind the hashtag myth. While on occasion, a small group using a hashtag can be useful, on the whole, the hashtag just creates social noise. 

via The Toad Stool by Alan Wolk

“But while the Like button has become ubiquitous and a seeming smash hit for Facebook, it does not appear to be used in any consistent manner. That was its selling point: a lower key way for users to indicate approval for a brand, but it’s also it’s Achille’s heel: if users aren’t displaying any sort of consistency in the way they use the like button, then the resulting data is fairly inaccurate and not all that useful. (Bye-bye monetization.)”

Fantastic post by Alan.

via WindMill Marketing by Chris Treadaway

…And according to Mashable, it (Facebook) had roughly an 8-to-1 advantage over Twitter in terms ofOscar 2013 social interactions.  So why is Twitter the alleged #1 social network for live events?  A few reasons:

1. Edgerank — News Feed real estate is and remains to be cherished by Facebook Users.
2. Shelf life of a Tweet vs. Facebook Status Update — Tweets come & go during live events. Wait a second, and your screen is replaced with another dozen tweets or more depending on how many people you follow.
3. Virality — Say something clever on Twitter, and millions of people might be exposed to it.  That isn’t really possible on Facebook.
4. Discoverability — Social chatter takes place on Facebook, but is happening on Users’ Profiles, Pages, and to a lesser extent in Groups. Twitter’s simplicity makes the chatter there appear to be more “alive”.
5. Decorum — Facebook has emerged as the place for being careful about what you share. It has become our lifestream, a record of our lives.  Twitter on the other hand is the record of our reactions. Twitter is where you let loose.

via Experience the Blog by Augie Ray

This is not the first time I’ve written about the Streisand Effect, and something tells me it will not be the last. Of course, preventing the Streisand Effect is really quite easy. If a piece of incorrect or damaging information begins to circulate, the recipe to avoid danger is:

1. Stop! Do not act until dispassionate logic has the upper hand over emotional reaction.
   
2. Do not rely solely on lawyers for guidance. For both action and communication decisions, involve PR, reputation management and social media professionals for counsel.
   
3. Appreciate that the offending information is on the Internet and will never disappear. Your goal is not to get it removed but to react in a way that mitigates damage.
   
4. Do not overreact to the situation. Take stock of how much the information is really spreading, if the company’s customers and prospects care, and whether it will impact the company’s reputation and business. Sometimes, no action is better than anything else.
   
5. Be transparent and embrace openness. Show people you have nothing to hide, care what they think and are open to feedback.
   
6. Do not hesitate to correct—but not censor—erroneous information. Combat misinformation in the same channels it is spreading. For example, fight video with video—you cannot counter a viral YouTube video with a press release.
   
7. Engage consumers, advocates and influencers in a conversation. This is not a shouting match but a dialog.
   
8. Admit fault where there is fault. You cannot hide from the court of public opinion, and pleading guilty will often do more to end the spread of damaging information and enhance reputation than trying to evade.
   
9. Do not, under any circumstances, post and tweet the same canned language time after time. This is like throwing gasoline on a fire, and it will only make matters worse. Avoid corporate speak and talk like a person.
   
10. Lastly, do not wait for a reputation event before you consider how to address one. Be prepared. Have a plan. Drill on it, to make sure your tools, processes and people are ready. 

Remember, these situation are not about information but about People (people who need people). If you want the Internet to not Rain On Your Parade, avoid Emotion, and soon Happy Days Will Be Here Again—you and your customers will be back to The Way You Were. 

Augie really nails it here with data to back up the issue for a decade and actionable solutions for brands, networks and agencies alike. Brilliant.