Conversationblog

Here's a great article about the use of web2.0 tools and services in the US elections....

...So when I heard that maverick congressmember Ron Paul was entering the fray, I got a little excited. And I wasn't alone. The Texas Republican has become the Web's favorite dark horse, harnessing the power of the Internet to turn his long-shot candidacy into a [From One Candidate Mastered Online Campaigning. Too Bad It Was Ron Paul]...

In short.... it is - and will always be - about the content...

According to the Center for Media & Democracy, "2007 was a year full of spin, manipulation and deception...".

Well now you can vote for the most unethical PR at the 4th Annual Falsies Awards.

"This year, we are asking you to help identify the worst spinners and propagandists of 2007. Please read through the list of nominees below and rank them. You can also nominate additional candidates in our readers' award section." (CMD website).

The list can be viewed here and you can of course cast your vote. Companies like Edelman, Merck, Hill & Knowlton but also US government officials and business leaders are among the nominees. The list contains mainly US stories but is worth reading....

I voted for WikiScanner which allowed the public to see who anonymously edited what in Wikipedia and as such gave a twist to the collective truth & at the same time violated Wikipedias policy. Winner(s) will be announced in December.

Does anyone know about such an imitative in Europe ?

Technorati : CMD, PR, center for media and democracy, ethics, falsies awards, public relations, spin

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A recent study by the European Interactive Advertising Association found that Europeans read more and more news online.

Some details:

• 65 per cent of European internet users access news sites at least once a month.
• 28 per cent of the respondents admitted to reading newspapers less frequently as a result of the availability of news online.
• 40 per cent said they watched less television.
• 22 per cent found they were listening to the radio less.

Combine this with the latest online shopping trends from The "Social Shopping Study 2007," commissioned by PowerReviews:

• 70% of all online shoppers said customer reviews and ratings on a retailer's website were extremely or very important when they are selecting and purchasing products - these shoppers are called "Social Researchers" in the report.
• 86% of Social Researchers find customer reviews extremely or very important, vs. 70% of all online shoppers.
• 64% of Social Researchers research products online more than half the time, no matter where they buy the product (store, web, catalog, etc.)
• 76% of Social Researchers (vs. 69% of all online shoppers) are more likely to shop on a retailer's website - vs. its competitor site - if it offers social navigation.

Two important trends that clearly support the case for understanding what social media and online trends could mean for your company and products. As I wrote before, at least start listening through the use of RSS feeds and active online participation.

Technorati : EIAA, europe, media, newspaper, online news, powerreviews, research, social researcher

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In February 2006 I posted a couple of things about the EU and their communications strategy. At the time Ms. Wallstrom, our Commissioner for communications started a series of initiatives; a white-paper (opens a PDF), a website with a Q&A, her own blog and more recently a YouTube channel with a very "hot" clip...

Today, I found this very interesting article on the Online Journalism Review website about how social media are changing the presidential debate in the US.

The question that remains after the actions, hypes and debates is: are political candidates "ready to surrender their top-down spin control in favor of a truly bottom-up free market of ideas ?" as stated in the OJR article.

I don't know if they are ready or not but I do think that the world moves on without them being ready.... If you look at the spontaneous political actions (US) popping up over the web thanks to people having access to social media then I think politicians will have to understand that their traditional communications methods are not working anymore.

For those who would like to use social media for advocacy purposes here are 2 great links:

Read/Write web listed several tools for non profit organizations to get into the game, from building their online presence to raising money and creating networks online. The article is one to keep and the tools are there to try out.

Media... Communicating is a very powerful thing and in this article, called "Online Media God" you will find more than 400 links to everything related to videocasting, podcasting, imagery etc...

Technorati : EU, Europe, US, Wallstrom, activism, advocacy, annenberg, elections, eutube, obama, podcasting, politics, presidential debate, social media, videocasting, web2.0

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Again it is during a crisis that new technology is used at its best...

Like the use of blogs during the Tsunami disaster in Asia in 2004, today protesters in Myanmar/Burma are using mobile phones to get the story out and their supporters are using social networks like Facebook to gather support.

Look at these incredible numbers of this support group on Facebook;

• 29/09/2007 150,000 Members

• 28/09/2007 60,000 Members

• 27/09/2007 30,000 Members

• 26/09/2007 12,000 Members

• 25/09/2007 6000 Members

• 24/09/2007 3,500 Members

Not only support groups are using web based tools such as petitions, social network and blogs. Also the local protesters are blogging away to get the real story out as reported recently by the Middle East Times.

The government blocks almost every Web site that carries news or information about the Southeast Asian country, and even bars access to Web-based e-mail. But an army of young techies in Yangon works around the clock to circumvent the censors, posting pictures and videos on blogs almost as soon as the protests happen.

It are the local citizen reporters who are sending us the real pictures & stories of what is happening there while privately owned media in Myanmar are refusing to print pro-government propaganda in an act of protest.

Also a wiki has been started to collect all protest actions and a call to bloggers has been launched for October 4, 2007.

On that day, bloggers who condemn the actions of the Burmanese junta will post a protest banner and a single line of text: "Free Burma".

Other online ways to support this action is by Digging it, promoting it on your Facebook profile and Blurb it on Technorati.

And finally, there's a list of bloggers who just changed their blog template to red in protest.

But then again, technology is not always used for the best causes... Some people think it is the best time now to use the online support for Burma to spread malware.... Sad.

Update: how fast things go... I just updated my Facebook profile, indicating I was writing this blogpost and just seconds later, Des Walsh, editor of Thinking Home Business pointed me to his coverage of the Burma protests and media coverage...

Technorati : Burma, Myanmar, advocacy, digg, facebook, free burma, mobile phone, monks, protest, social media, videoblogging

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Is Belgium going to be saved from the "big split up" by online advocacy through the use of MySpace & Facebook ?

Yesterday I found a group on Facebook called Belgians United and today I read in an online news item from Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch) that a Brussels band called Joshua is calling all Belgian MySpace users to change their profile picture into the Belgian flag as a protest to the separatist movement of some political parties.

A look at Belgian MySpace profiles show a lot of flags and some very positive reactions toward the initiative. The "Belgians United" group on Facebook has already 1500 members.

After I left a message on the homepage of the group 3 people (with the Belgian flag instead of their profile picture) added comments pointing to yet another "Belgo/Belge" initiative; an online petition for the unity of the country.

The organizers of the petition are calling all Belgians to raise the flag in front of their homes on the 11th of September, the birthday of Queen Paola.

What's next ? A demonstration organized and coordinated through blogs in combination with Meetup ?

Disclaimer: I am against the split up of the country and signed the petition.

Technorati : activism, belgian politics, belgium, facebook, meetup, myspace, petition, politics

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Wikiscanner, developed by Virgil Griffith, allows anyone to check which organizations (or/and IP addresses) have been making anonymous edits on Wikipedia.

I just ran a scan on the location "Brussels" and found the following interesting list:

• Catholic University of Louvain: 4136 anonymous edits in Wikipedia.
• Department of Economic Affairs: 1250 anonymous edits.
• European Commission: 928 anonymous edits.

You can see the full Brussels list here. Other searches reveal that many corporations are making anonymous edits to entries about their organization and also show that CIA, NSA etc... are changing information related to hot topics or less popular incidents.

PR Agencies worldwide are also doing some anonymous editing, see Porter Novelli, Edelman, Hill & Knowlton...

Wikiscanner is getting a lot of attention of the mainstream media and the blogosphere at this moment. Great initiative though...

Technorati : Belgium, Brussels, EU, KUL, VUB, cia, nsa, wiki, wikipedia, wikiscanner

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Last week I was asked to screen the websites of the 3 major Flemish contenders for a new government (we vote this Sunday) by De Morgen, one of our national dailies.

It was a fun exercise to do and I was happy when I saw the article in this Friday's edition. Even better, I was interviewed together with 2 other professionals in the on-line communications sector and although we were interviewed separately, we all came to the same conclusion; "close but no cigar".

All three candidates are using their websites to appeal to potential voters and state that they want to set up "conversations" with them. Although they have bloglike sites, and update the content regularly and in chronological order, they are not pushing the envelope all the way; no public commenting allowed, badly designed RSS feeds, community features and completely focused toward one way communication.

I would have thought that our Belgian politicians would have done a better job. I mean, they have the case studies, the examples of how it should be done and they have proof that on-line communications and blogging do play a role in political elections.

"Blogs influenced voting decisions in France, according to Echo's weekly elections tracking within the blogosphere in France, the UK and USA. Despite intense personal criticisms, Sarkozy was perceived in all three blogging countries as the most likely to change France and put forward the necessary reforms." From ECHO Research.

Yesterday for instance I received a very interesting report from ECHO Research (opens a PDF) who screened and analyzed blogging activity and coverage during the French elections. Very detailed and full of strong insights.

Let's see what the next elections bring.

Technorati : belgium, de morgen, elections, france, propaganda, us

As from now on I can sue any company which sets up a fake blog and misleads me by not being transparent... at least in the European Union.

Both the Times and Adlaw cover this new directive from the EU which will affect the way Marketeers and/or Public Relations professionals use blogs in their promotional campaigns. Fake blogs are not new but it is good that there is now a legal framework around this.

Here are a couple of other fake blog stories demonstrating that it is definitely nothing new....

Fake blogs, New Marketing Channel or Really Bad Idea, by Dave Taylor. (2005)

Get used to fake blogs, by Shel Holtz (2005)

Technorati : EU, Europe, blog, ethics, fake+blog, first+amendement, flogs, law, marketing+blog

I guess this is more a post targeted to my non-US readers but look at how the US elections are becoming completely "webified"...

US Presidential candidate Barak Obama (or at least his PR/new media people) really get social media.

Just have a look at his website. To Belgian standards it is a very highly developed campaign platform.

Apart from using video, having a slick design and linking to Flickr and Youtube material of the candidate, it also contains a social platform.

This part of the site is a collection of web 2.0 features, it includes; blogs, social networking, events, messaging, creating groups and of course online fund raising.

Apart from this platform there's also the group blog of the new media team working for Mr. Obama. The blog includes comments of course but also a rating system per post and a mail to a friend feature.

For more in depth articles on this by US based bloggers, check out the excellent overviews and analysis here and here.

I wonder if this will impact campaigning during our next Belgian elections.... I mean, will we be able to rank our politicians according to how many friends they have on MySpace in the future..?

Wondering what the "blogginess" of our Belgian politicians is ? Check out the list from B.V.L.G.

Technorati : activism, belgium, flickr, my.barackobama.com, myspace, new media, obama, politics, us elections, youtube