FutureVisions - Servant of Chaos

How Teens Live Online — Get Ready

There is plenty of talk about "digital natives", but unless you have a teenager living in your house, you are unlikely to understand the full impact that this generation will have on all our futures. But rather than theorising on the subject, take a look through the digital window on Josh Fortune’s life. At the age of 14 he is not only a blogger, but a music reviewer, photographer and online content creator. You can find him on the web, Facebook, Flickr and at his viddler channel. You can also contact him directly for business opportunities.

Time to stop wondering about the impact that this generation is going to have on your business (from the inside and the outside) — there’s work to be done. It’s time to start preparing. You have four years (that’s right 4) before Josh and his peers reach the age of 18. Four years before they begin rocking your company’s processes, policies and procedures; experimenting with your brand manual, firewall settings and "acceptable use" guidelines.

In four years much can change — but much can also stay the same. Look around your office. What was different four years ago? Sure there are shiny new Macs on the desk and maybe there are more "ghosts" (people working from home), but I am willing to bet, your business four years ago is likely to be the same shape, the same structure as it was in 2004. If so, get moving. Josh and his friends are getting ready to move in and take over. That is, if they don’t buy you out before then.

Five Impacts of New Media

Branding, Digital Strategy, FutureVisions, Social Media

on the press
Originally uploaded by Nick Sherman

Looking at new (or social) media, it is easy to see that there are some powerful forces driving change across our cultural, our social and even our political landscapes. These five impacts can be summarised, broadly as:

Experts coming under pressure from new voices who are early adopters of new technology
New organisations emerging to deal with the social, cultural and political changes
There is a struggle to revise the social and legal norms — especially in relation to intellectual property
The concepts of identity and community are transformed
New forms of language come into being
Educators are pressured to prepare their students for the newly emerging world

Now while this seems obvious, pause for a moment. This list comes from Elizabeth Eisenstein on the invention of the printing press, and while it speaks to us in our current state, these changes have actually been underway for hundreds of years.

Why is this important? Because the printing press … and for that matter, blogs, social networks, video and picture sharing tools, conversational and other "Web 2.0" sites are not just tools. They don’t just FACILITATE communication and interaction. They MEDIATE it. The impact of this is profound.

If the way that we understand the world is, in turn, mediated by it, then those brands that do NOT engage with new media are placed at a significant disadvantage. This goes beyond the question of whether your company or brand "should have a website" or a "blog", but whether it is important for you to be part of the web of signification that creates the worlds that we live in.

There is a great shift and a great debate still just beginning (remember, for all the joy and speed that comes with the Internet, we still buy books in record numbers). Can you and your brand afford to ignore these changes? Or worse — will you ignore the chance to engage with and SHAPE the future of media (and therefore our future lives)?

Given the ease with which you CAN engage, it’s not a question of how, but how much. Even dipping your toe in the water is a start. Begin here.

Oh, and if you want to go deeper, check out Michael Wesch’s presentation on Human Futures for Technology and Education. More power to you.

I ooVoo, Do You?

FutureVisions

AoC MyOovooDay
Originally uploaded by servantofchaos

When I first heard about ooVoo, I must admit to being a little sceptical. I have been a user of Skype for many years and have grown used to it — though I mostly use it for voice, I do occasionally use the video conferencing option. And ooVoo felt, to me, like it had come late to the party.

But over the last few days I have been trying it out. I have made VOIP calls to the US and had one-to-one and multi-user chats with friends and with colleagues. And this morning, spent a very enjoyable hour or so chatting with folks all around the world as part of MyOovooDay. Kris Hoet and Luc Debaisieux linked in from Belgium late in their evening, Drew McLellan, J Erik Potter, Scott Monty, Joseph Jaffe, Susan Reynolds and Connie Reece joined from the USA and Efrain Mendicuti from Mexico. It really was a global conference.

The ease with which ooVoo allows us to connect has really changed my mind about video conferencing. The immediacy of video chat easily trumps Seesmic in my mind — and trounces the 140 character limitations of Twitter. While each of these have their place, ooVoo is feeling like a revolution to me.

I have even noticed that I stopped using the IM feature of ooVoo and jumped straight to a video chat. It helps make me feel more connected. I also captured some video and will share it with you soon. Lots of fun!

Measuring Audience 2.0

Branding, Digital Strategy, FutureVisions, Measurement, Social Media

Eyeballing
Originally uploaded by fotologic

So I am sitting there in a meeting in a far-off Asian country. Seated all around me are marketing managers and directors from my client’s company. My colleagues and I are slightly jet lagged but hyped — the countdown to our presentation is only minutes away. We just have to wait through one more presentation on "digital strategy" from another agency. The irony is not lost on us … we are, after all, about to present a solution to the challenge of digital strategy — and we feel like we have nailed it.

Then it starts. Well, I thought — "I don’t know a lot about digitial". Hmmm. "But what I do know, is you can’t measure it". What? I stifle the intake of my breath. This is not the time. This is not the place.

To my surprise I look around the room and observe a sea of nodding heads. Not a dissenting voice. Not one.

As I mentioned in this post on measurement some time ago, the idea of tracking hits and even page views seemed quaint and outdated. But what if there really was an AUTOMATED way of measuring what your audience … or what your PARTICIPANTS were interested in? What if you could use this to refine your site/project/marketing efforts — on the fly?

Josh Catone has an interesting article on the new Alenty site engagement measurement tool. Sure it seems to be focused on banners, but I have a feeling that it would be much more beneficially deployed under the hood of your community system. Imagine if Microsoft turned this on for Facebook? How about a widget for Typepad that allows bloggers to tap into the data about their blogs? Or imagine what this would mean for game developers?

In the future, this sort of technology will be mandatory for all branded content. Not only that, when combined with upstream and downstream analytics, the potential for us all to understand what works, what doesn’t and the IMPACTS of our cohesive branding, design and experience efforts will transform the business of branding. And yes, it really is all about the audience. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.