Politics In The Social Media Playground
May 12, 2010
We may never know the Impact social media had in shaping our new rather bewildering government.
Maybe it reached a lethargic non-voting population and changed their minds. Perhaps it taught the party campaigners to engage with more mobile tools in order to rally their troops. Maybe all it did was introduce other channels of communication to the mix.
All I know is it certainly played a part.
@CraigElder sources David Cameron questions on Twitter to answer at The Open University
Perhaps now with new Natural Language Processing tools for measuring our online sentiment we will finally get an idea of how much of an impact these new media tools are having in the mindset of the general voting public. This is both amazing and scary to me. We seem so desperate to know yet many of us are just having fun. Playing with tech as tools.
It was @Ilicco and Reuters that though it was OK to let the geeks loose with tech in close proximity to the leaders of our parties. And as the security perimeters thinned with each encounter, Brown to Cameron to Clegg.. we would try out more tools and techniques experimenting ways to bring the outside conversations in and to share the conversations we had with everyone. There were times when Ilicco wondered how much trouble we may or may not get into. That said.. I don’t think he ever stopped having fun.
Some of these groundbreaking platforms championed by @Sleepydog lived only during this extreme period of change. His coders would use zero’s and one’s like lego. All the bits are now back in the box. Till next playtime.
We were not too hung up on the quality of anything, be it the video stream or the questions I would slip into whatever conversations we were having. I do remember feeling excited and sharing way too much coffee with friends who’d been given the opportunity to collaborate on projects that excited and inspired.
It was a social media playground like no other. Mobile phones verses the HD stream. Political pundits verses the twitter stream with in many ways the geeks given free rein.
I’m not sure if we will ever again see such a massive change in communication in such a short space of time. Not to the extent that Reuters championed. It was the beach on which the waves of old and new media crashed ..and we all got wet.
Now everyone and their dog is a ‘Social Media Expert’ the air is muggy with hot air and opinion claiming the right and wrong way to engage using real-time web tools.
In the words of Yoda, “Do or do not… There is no try.”
Participation is the key and feeling free enough to play allows you to subconsciously learn from your mistakes.
The people who were both in the rooms and working remotely in these projects are too many to mention. Perhaps they would like to link in or comment their experiences below.
Some names of note were: @Ilicco, @Sizemore, @Sleepydog, @Loudmouthman, @Kate_Day, @SolobassSteve, @benjaminellis, @MarkJones, @CliveFlint, @Sophiebr
The unquantifiable nature of all this will be just a memory next time round. The tools are coming and although I feel we are a long time away from totally understanding the impact from this kind of exchange, we are getting closer all the time.
If I’m honest it’s the metrics that excite me the least. Let the practitioners experiment, explore, dance around new ways. For every ten people willing to show the way, there will be ten thousand wanting to sell you the map.
“When we make music we don’t do it in order to reach a certain point, such as the end of the composition. If that were the purpose of music then obviously the fastest players would be the best. Also, when we are dancing we are not aiming to arrive at a particular place on the floor as in a journey. When we dance, the journey itself is the point, as when we play music the playing itself is the point.” ~ Alan Watts
I am @Documentally on Twitter and mostly blog on http://Documental.ly
P.S Lets remind these guys what they promised the people..
PPS, In this last coffee soaked audioboo I meant to say megabits not megabytes..
Video For The Web
August 17, 2009
Advertising revenue is down, newspapers are struggling and as the economy takes a downturn production costs are up, at the same time online readership and revenue continue to rise. So what’s the answer? Go where the eyes are. Whether you are writing, taking pictures, shooting video or recording audio you can build communities with your content. But only if you take it online.
Three years ago online video was something I mostly only viewed. I’d played around with recording and uploading video but this was a long winded haphazard affair involving hand coded xml files every time I wanted to add a video to my podcast. Then if I wanted to share it further afield I’d upload it to YouTube giving me the option to embed on a website or link to it in an email or forum.
Now it’s just as easy as sending an email. Many of the sites I visit today are either video conversational platforms or at the very least places where video is being shared and commented on. Video is now a medium of conversation.
Recently I have been asked more and more by companies “Do we really need to get involved in video?”
The short answer is “Yes.”
For me, engaging with online video is a no brainer.
The easiest way for me to explain why this shift from old analogue methods of communication to online ones is so important is to compare online video with TV. The buzzword for a while now has been Social Media, Social Media does exactly what it says on the tin, it allows people to have conversations on a new level of engagement, be it from an entertainment or marketing perspective. TV could not be further away from this world. The most interactive thing TV can offer us is the red button. Nowadays people expect a conversation with their content.
TV advertising is also fleeting and expensive. After the cost of creating your media, you pay for your slot and when it’s gone it’s gone. Online video on the other hand, can be made at a fraction of the cost, and if you spread it intelligently it’s viewable forever. Not only that but the viewer can comment on, respond to, and share it for you. This conversation around your content keeps it alive, relevant, and in the public eye way beyond other forms of old analogue media.
Online video is also instantly global, searchable, on demand and with viewing stats that are easily measured.
It really is a no brainer.
Whether you want content for your website, to launch a brand or product, produce video news releases, or just show the human side of your organisation, you need to have a presence in the digital world, you need to be using online video. I can show you how to do produce content cheaply and effectively. I cover the kit, how-to shooting tips, file compression, uploading and aggregation, how to make your video visible, and loads more. Whether you wish to use some of the free solutions out there like Twitvid, Tokbox or Qik, or shoot HD on a hand held device, I can be there to guide you through selecting suitable equipment to shoot, edit and distribute your video effectively.
For a little while now I’ve offered one to one consultation and informal training sessions on all aspects of social media and video making for the web. Now, for the first time, in conjunction with Econsultancy, I’m going to be able to offer a formal workshop (snappily titled) ‘Video For The Web‘.
4.7 billion videos are watched online in the UK every year. Make one of them yours.
http://econsultancy.com/training/courses/video-for-the-web
(Please check out the other home for this blogpost and it’s comments here.. Econsultancy.com)
Kodak Zi8 1080p HD Video Camera
July 29, 2009
So here is what the fuss is all about. Finally a low cost hand held HD video camera with a microphone input. I’m yet to get my hands on a Kodak Zi8 for a proper test but I had a quick fondle for a couple of minutes behind the Kodak stand with Jenny Cisney at NYC 140 Conference.
In the dark shadowy corner I shot this very quick video in 720p as the SD card I had to hand was not high speed and couldn’t cope with the fat data rate of the 1080p setting. The camera feels good in the hand. Well made and similar in form to the Zi6.
Already I can see the low light ability is better than that of the previous two models but more importantly I am looking forward to plugging in an external mic and seeing what kind of audio quality is possible.
The specs are as follows:
• Full HD 1080p video
• Built-in image stabilization
• 2.5” color LCD
• Swing out the USB arm to upload, share, and charge
• 5 MP 16:9 widescreen HD still pictures
• Built-in software for editing and uploading
• Compatible with PC and Mac
• Record up to 10 hrs of HD video (20 min per 1 GB at 720p HD at 30 fps) with SD/SDHC card up to 32 GB
• Face tracking technology
• External stereo microphone
• HDMI cable included
I’m thinking that finally camera producers are beginning to understand the importance of decent audio.. more important than picture quality in my opinion. It’s too soon for me to express anything other than relief at the mic input with the Kodak Zi8, but I feel with devices like the Zoom Q3 on the horizon (which is effectively a high quality audio recorder with a camera on it), I feel the goal posts have been moved and video blogging devices are entering a whole new era.
If you suffered watching the video with all the beeps in.. Now you can watch the uncensored version.
There is more information on the Kodak Blog.
Happy Birthday George Orwell
June 25, 2009
Once again it’s June the 25th. I spent most of the day doing the same thing I did this time last year and this time the year before last.. I had a picnic at the Grave of Eric Arthur Blair aka George Orwell. Today is his birthday and for the last couple of years I’ve met with Dr John Perivolaris to pay our respects to the great writer and talk about the years events around surveillance and civil liberties.
We had a drink, munched on some food and made some media.
Last years post can be found at www.SocialMediaPicnic.com We hope to do the same thing next year so please put it in your diary and come along. There’s always some passers by who are also making a pilgrimage. This year it was some German folk, a lady on a bike and @Hedgewytch.
Throughout the year if you come across any relevant links or content around surveillance or civil liberties, please tag it with the #1984 hash tag.
Paul Carr – 140 characters conference New York
June 24, 2009
When I told people I was to be sat on a panel with Paul Carr from the Guardian a couple responded.. “Paul Carr? He’s a bit of a dick.”
“What makes you say that?” I asked.
“It says so on his twitter profile.”
Fair enough I thought, but when I met him he was just frank and very funny.
The video of the panel we did at the #140conf is floating around somewhere in the ether. I may even drop it in a blog soon.
What I have here in the mean time is a brief conversation with Paul at the end of the day. We were on the way out the door and both of us had cold beer on our minds. That’s probably why this is not so much an interview as a chat in a corridor over a conference when what we really wanted (and had later) was a chat over a beer.. well away from the conference.
There is more about Paul Carr on his Wikipedia page..
Linked Here is the article he wrote for the Guardian while at the 140conf
This video was filmed with the assistance of Matt (@barnstormed) and is also on the Open University You Tube channel so go view it there and show some love..
Jeff Pulver – 140 Conference New York
June 23, 2009
Jeff Pulver, the chairman and founder of Pulver.com was the main man behind the 140 characters conference in New York that brought together Twitter users from all over the world.
New york was the first of the 140 Characters conference and others are planned in both London and Los Angeles. Originally the event was to explore the effects of twitter on: Celebrity, “The Media”, Advertising and Politics”. These topics were covered, as well as many more. As ever many of the conversations happened outside the main auditoriums..
I was asked by The Open University in England to grab some interviews with the assistance of Matt (@Barnstormed) and in the corridor we caught up with Jeff and asked how the conference had come about..
This interview is also on the Open University’s You Tube Channel.
Aaron Greenberg talks to bloggers at E3 2009
June 9, 2009
E3 was a blast.. Loads of meetings, loads of gameplay, some Audioboo action and no doubt this will all keep trickeling into my feeds over the coming weeks..
On the last day at E3 we were ushered into a room within the Xbox Live stand and sat with Aaron Greenberg (Director of product management at Xbox). We were allowed to ask him anything, so i started the ball rolling with a question from avid Xbox fan and gamer Nik Butler (@Loudmouthman) Nik wanted to know why you couldn’t cross dress Xbox Live avatars..
(I must apologise for the crappy sound but the expo was really noisy and i have found out the hard way that the Kodak Zx1 is nothing like it’s predicesor the Zi6 in handling noisy environments. As a result the audio crackled on all the footage it shot. (No low cut filter me thinks.) I am going to try shooting video with a more highly spec’d camera for a bit.. Mainly because i have dropped my trusty Zi6 
)
The Future Of Social Media
January 17, 2009
Whilst at the first ever ‘Network of Networks’ entitled Amplified 08. I took the opportunity to question some of the social media practitioners that were there.
I asked.. “What is the future of social media?”
Thanks to NESTA for hosting such a great event and for all the people who took part.
I have embedded the film in Viddler so that if you see yourself you can tag tag your name or leave a comment.
Please pass the video on to those uncredited.
Follow me on twitter at www.twitter.com/Documentally
Twestival
January 14, 2009
On the 25th of September 2008 myself and Matt (@Barnstormed) found ourselves at the first ever Twestival at the Doon Bar, Trafalger Square London.
Here is one of the videos we shot that night.
On the 12th of February 2009 Twestival really grows up, as cities all around the world will be hosting their own Twestivals bringing together Twitter communities not just to party but this time to raise money and awareness for charity: water projects.
These Twestivals will be organized by volunteers and 100% of the money raised will go directly to support charity: water projects.
Why should you care..?
We are in the perfect position being the communicators we are, to blog, tweet and disseminate this kind of information all around the world. Raising awareness, money and assistance for whatever we can.
Whatever you use twitter for you have built connections and every node in those connections can possible help in some way. They just need to know to care and knowing you care helps that message along at lightning speed.
Charity: Water is a non profit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations by funding sustainable clean water solutions in areas of greatest need.
At this moment in time 1.1 billion people on the planet don’t have access to safe, clean drinking water. That’s one in six of us.
Lets put our skills to good use and spread the word. I am sure we can all do good if we care to.
Even better than that.. donate some money..
More info at: http://www.charitywater.org/
Follow Documentally here: Twitter.com/Documentally
..and Matt (editor of the above video here) Twitter.com/Barnstormed
See you at @Twestival!!
12Seconds on the iPhone
December 18, 2008
Video has finally arrived for the un-cracked iphone! Well.. video in the shape of a video slideshow, which as far as I am concerned is a bloody miracle judging by the way Apple seems to be restricting development of video based apps. Or is it AT&T and O2 not wanting people to stream with their ‘unlimited’ data?
I have to say I am so happy that it is 12seconds.tv that has started to build this bridge across the video void.. It’s a long time coming and for a start up with little to no cash, this is like building home made space suits and heading off to the moon.
They are top guys too..
The next thing I need to do is invite them over here to the UK so they realise although we are a little island we have big gobs and could have started spreading the word way before the US woke up.. This would have eased the world into 12Seconds and been a great way of flushing out the inevitable bugs before everybody rushed in..
The US could then have woken up with a massive 12Second alarm call.. Here in England it is now the end of the day and I have had the app sitting dormant and broken on my iPhone until only a short while ago.. All day out and about i have been checking it like it was a pacemaker and my life depended on it.. I won’t go into how frustrating that is. I initially thought the app had been launched broken.
I think my frustration stems only from my anticipation and the fact I knew it was a really important release as far as iPhone apps go.
Of course.. if i had taken a proper look at the text on the app store it would have told me I would have the app before it was going to work, but you know me.. Ever so slightly impatient when it comes to the release of new tech.
Still.. it has now sprung to life and I can actually talk about it. I dropped a tweet out yesterday mentioning it by accident but managed to delete it before I caused too much trouble. (Sorry Guys)..
So what are you waiting for?! The application cost a dollar (59p) it’s a bargain.
It is so straight forward. If you don’t have a 12Seconds account get one and then get the app.. Hell, why not get the app first! You can sign up through the app on the phone.
Once you have it.. Log in.. take three photos, add 12 seconds of audio and click to share it on the 12seconds site. It really is that easy you could do it drunk.. you no doubt will..
So if you are reading this as a noob and don’t know about 12Seconds.. get on it. Be it through the app or through the site.. I’ll see you there.
If you do download the app.. please review it and help the guys get the respect they deserve.
I have made some good friends through 12Seconds and I’m looking forward to making more. As soon as you are ready to go.. come let me know.. It may come as little surprise that I am on there as Documentally.
On the way.. down. on 12seconds.tv
