CitizenSpin

Trust, blogs, wikipedias and viral marketing - big business gets it wrong

Big business often gets the Internet so wrong. A current example - from close to home involving the BBC – where, it appears unintentionally, a viral marketing campaign has upset an online community.
It involves a fictional creation – Jamie Kane, a boy band star – and central to an interactive drama created by the BBC - with an invitation on the BBC Online site to play, and a fictional website devoted to the 'star': http://www.jamiekane.co.uk/. Kane, who supposedly died in a helicopter crash, is part of an interactive game that asks players to solve the mystery surrounding his death.
However, articles about the singer appeared on Wikipedia and are currently being reviewed by the online community. The character's appearance on Wikipedia--as an apparently real person--has raised issues about online trust. In a world where anyone can post, how do you know what's real?
The BBC was promoting the game through "viral marketing," spreading clues and tidbits of information around the Web. Those clues included fake articles from the BBC and fake "Top of the Pops" appearances
Rob Cooper, the Senior Producer on the game, issued a statement:

"Just to confirm, the BBC would never use Wikipedia as a marketing tool. The first posting was simply a case of a fan of the game getting into the spirit of alternative reality a little too much. The follow up posting was made by a fan of the game who happens to work for the BBC and was made without the knowledge of anyone in the Jamie Kane Team or BBC Marketing."

It’s another example of how easy it is for big business to get things online wrong. Shel Israel & Robert Scoble quote the case study of Vichy, a division of French cosmetics giant L’Oreal.

“When Vichy was ready to bring a new anti-aging cream to market, it decided to use a blog as part of an integrated marketing program that linked the blog to advertising and PR efforts, etc. It was awful. They started with a fake character named Claire who whined about the difficulties of getting enough sleep while attending too many parties in a voice that was clearly cut, polished and contrived.”

The online community spotted the deceit and kicked against the ‘blog’. L’Oreal were forced to revise the site and turn it into a much more ‘honest’ promotional tool. What comes out of this is one thing that is encouraging – communities online are very quick to spot spam, marketing guff and PR flam. It annoys them and isn’t good for business.
So in terms of trust – are consumers online more prone to believe what they read from fellow bloggers, rather than content produced by corporations? Or are they more sophisticated consumers, who are happy to read corporate content, so long as it’s transparent as to what angle it is coming from?

Matt

Trust and blogging - a new approach

Citizen journalism champion Dan Gillmor is making a fascinating stab at the thorny issue of trust and credibility of sources in blogging. He says that in an effort to make the credibility of individual bloggers more transparent, his new citizen journalism site, Bayosphere.com, which has already asked contributors to sign up to its citizen journalist pledge, is now planning to ask contributors to describe themselves with something called "honor tags". This is according to a post by BL Ochman of whatsnextblog.com.
It says that honour tags will allow: "self-identification by bloggers, PR folks, enthusiasts and several other categories of writers/podcasters/etc." A rough beta of the site, honortags.com, will go live soon.
"The readers get the author's intentions up front. This is *not* meant to be a guage of quality, political positioning (it's totally nonpartisan) or whether the postings are G-rated or pornographic," Gillmor said in an email to members of the Media Bloggers Association.
The tag system will include:
A. Journalist-- "I'm fair, thorough, accurate, open, and in general operate with integrity."
J-News tag: "I write and explain the facts as truthfully and fairly as I can report them. I work for the community interest."
J-POV tag (for reviews and commentary) "I make the case for action based on the most thorough reporting of facts possible. I work for the public interest."
B. Pro(fessional) I hold myself to high standards of: Advocacy. Honesty. Integrity. Expertise. Loyalty.
Pro-Marketing:
"I work for this respectable business. I hold myself to the following standards"
Pro-Employee:
"I write about where I work. I live up to the highest standards of transparency."
C. Advocate/Enthusiast/Fan
"I don¹t claim to know the whole field, but I know this (person, gadget,cause) is the best. I may criticize, but I state my bias without apology.)"
D. Personal (journals, diary, grocery list etc)
"I write for myself and whoever wants to read it. If you find something of use in it, I¹m glad."
E. Fiction
"I made (some of) it up."
F. UnTag
"I like your tag. I don¹t like telling you anything. Figure it out or MYOFB."

It's an interesting approach, of course relies on the honesty of the bloggers, and should be self regulating like eBay.

Matt

What Is a Journalist?

What Is a Journalist?
From Christian Science Monitor - 18/03/2005
The Monitor's View

The answer to that question was once easy. Until the Internet, journalists were typically attached to an established organization that could afford to own and run a newspaper, magazine, radio or TV station, TV network, or cable news outlet. Their credibility was both individual and institutional.

For all of its flaws, and despite often high entry costs, this marketplace of ideas has flourished. Journalists know that transparency and fairness in how they cover the news are critical.

But in the Internet age, the cost of distributing news has become minimal. Almost anyone can set up a web log ("blog") or send a mass e-mailing, and present themselves as someone who surveys the public scene and presents "news." Some of these lone-wolf reporters are a refreshing challenge to the usual pack journalism of old media. Reputable reporters hear the howl and see if the yapping is worth pursuing. They benefit from the range that bloggers offer.

CBS News gets blogged

Some of the best-known bloggers are investigative diggers. But can they be more accurate and neutral than traditional media? The bloggers who discredited the CBS News story last fall about George W. Bush's National Guard performance show this new breed of reporter can provide a valuable service - though reliability over time is a higher standard that will ultimately separate the good from the not-so-good bloggers.

Many of the overtly political and single-issue bloggers operate without much of the same editing as the old-style media. Their "news" often carries the kind of assertive, one-sided tone too often found on the Internet.

Credentials for the credible

Blog reporters raise difficulties for newsmakers, who must decide if a blogger is a legitimate journalist and then figure out what public is being served. Washington is only slowly making up its mind about bloggers.

The White House, for instance, which has remained open to credentialing many types of reporters over many presidencies, recently gave its first credential to a blogger - Garrett Graff of the blog Fishbowl D.C. On Capitol Hill, the association of correspondents covering Congress - a jury of peers - that approves credentials has admitted a number of bloggers.

For the 2004 Democratic political party convention, the party gave credentials liberally to bloggers according to their readership, originality, and "professionalism" of content."

A craft's essential skills

Not everyone who simply gathers information and disseminates it can be called a journalist. The craft requires skill in finding story ideas and facts, cultivating sources, and then presenting news in a way that serves the public interest. It requires specific talents for research, interviews, and distillation of information; sifting rant from reality; and then presenting it with clarity, accuracy, speed, and relevance. In giving access to a reporter, newsmakers must be mindful of those essential skills.

This explosion of blog "news" puts more raw information before consumers, unfiltered by the clergy of the established media, who are losing their captured flock. This Protestant Reformation of news lets consumers more easily pick news sources more widely, but often without knowing who's credible.

Among traditional journalists, the checks and balances of editing generally produce credible news. Many bloggers, however, are directly accountable to no one. They may not always abide by basic rules of journalism. They often have no experienced editor questioning their reasoning and sourcing. Perhaps a new brand of bloggers will emerge who commit themselves to a code of standards, helped along by newsmakers who screen them carefully.

Sifting power of the news market

Ultimately, news consumers will bestow credence to these new outlets of information - or not - though in the blogging world the ability to continue publishing can exist without much audience or economic underpinning.

Most Americans still prefer accurate and unbiased news, which enables them to make up their own minds about public affairs and to act on the news as responsive citizens. Many may not believe journalists can be unbiased or even try to be. But neutrality and accuracy remain the gold standard for most readers, and quality journalists know it.

As blog reporters prove their worth, they should expand and mature. Old media, meanwhile, are quickly creating their own audience on the Internet. They can learn from bloggers as well as be a model for them.

(c) Copyright 2005. The Christian Science Monitor
Date: 18/03/2005
Publication: Christian Science Monitor

Eyetrack III - Online News Consumer Behavior

This study, which follows users' eyes to analyze how they read an online news site, should be of interest to anyone concerned with a web site's usability.
Matt

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Click here for more details.