New Zealand Government mandates tech giants pay for news

Some people argue that social media sites, such as Facebook and Google, should pay for the news content that they use, as it helps to support journalism and the production of high-quality news. Others believe that such a move could be harmful to the free flow of information on the internet and could lead to less diversity in the news. Ultimately, the decision on whether or not to make social media sites pay for news would need to be made by individual governments based on the specific circumstances and considerations of their own countries.

However The New Zealand government has now announced that it will introduce a law mandating that big online digital companies like Alphabet’s Google and Meta Platforms pay New Zealand media companies for the local news content that appears on their feeds.

https://thenewamerican.com/new-zealand-mulls-over-law-to-make-facebook-and-google-pay-for-news/

Australia makes Facebook & Google pay for news

Australia will force U.S. tech giants Facebook and Google to pay Australian media outlets for news content in a landmark move to protect independent journalism that will be watched around the world.

Mel Silva, Managing Director of Google Australia and New Zealand said about the regulation
"It sends a concerning message to businesses and investors that the Australian government will intervene instead of letting the market work"

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/jul/31/google-and-facebook-to-be-forced-to-share-revenue-with-media-in-australia-under-acccs-draft-code

Oh the irony

Facebook is buying print ads to apologize for the Cambridge Analytica scandal

https://qz.com/1236981/facebook-and-mark-zuckerberg-buy-newspaper-ads-to-say-sorry/

<insert punchline here>

Murdoch upset with Facebook again

The billionaire publisher is once more annoyed at Facebook for making money promoting newspapers' content.
So unsurprisingly he demands even more money.

https://amp.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jan/22/rupert-murdoch-facebook-should-pay-news-publishers

“If Facebook wants to recognize ‘trusted’ publishers then it should pay those publishers a carriage fee similar to the model adopted by cable companies,” 

Quiz : Which Facebook person are you?

Monday:
A. Look I’m travelling somewhere for work
B. Oh no its Monday again – here’s a picture of a Minion and a passive aggressive comment
C. Here’s me on my boat, bike, etc during the middle of the day

Tuesday:
A. Look I’m travelling back from somewhere for work
B. Here's a bloody boring news article about something depressing
C. Pictures of me in a foreign country doing nice stuff

Wednesday:
A. Here’s a link back to something I was doing 3 years ago when it was a weekend and a comment like "oh my, I wish i was doing that now..."
B. Image of kittens or babies or just anything better that my damn life right now!
C. I'm out at some event on Wednesday evening. That's late on WEDNESDAY people!

Thursday:
A. Here’s an article about alcohol, I may have a drink tonight if I didn't have to get up at 5am tomorrow
B. 3 burgers + 1 fries = £30, how much is a milk shake? (or is that 2 fries now I've looked at what everyone else has answered?)
C. Interesting anecdote about someone I once worked with (but don't any more because I don’t have to work)

Friday:
A. A picture of a gin bottle
B. "Hurrah, it's sodding Friday people!!!"
C. I'm walking the dog at 5:30am and telling everyone that life is great

Weekend
A: "Ahhhh...  hangover. But I need to go out and enjoy myself..."
B.  Nothing, apart from a picture linked to your Instagram account and a photo of some food.
C. A quote from someone spiritual & poignant on Sunday afternoon.


Mainly A's
You don't yet own your house, your car or even possibly the clothes you have to work in. The weekend is for resting and drinking. but you still have to go back to work on Monday and do the whole thing again. Your favourite colour is purple... maybe.

Mainly B's
Get a grip snowflake. Stop living your life on Social Media and spend it in the real world.
But if you don't forward this message on to 100 people in 10 minutes then some puppies will die.
Your star sign is Pisces or something...

Mainly C's
You're enjoying life and you've probably got a rich daddy, sugar daddy or a final salary pension whilst they were still giving those out. You probably never do these quizzes and the rest of us secretly dislike you.

Fake News on Facebook

It seems that Facebook is in denial about the amount of fake news that now propagates across the popular social media platform.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-37983571

So whilst the general user (you and I) find some mirth in reading hilarious and sometime almost truthful articles... Facebook claims these false news sites are not an issue.
Thereby admitting that they actually are!

Note: Fake news isn't a new thing. In the UK newspapers have been publishing knowingly a
nd blatant fake news items for decades. And some have even made its very creation a business. 

I'm now off to look at the supermoon to see if I can find that World War II bomber the Daily Sport once told me had landed there.

News Corp Blames Digital Again

News Corp's CEO Robert Thomson has been out attacking Google, Facebook and Linkedin once more, this time accusing them of "Kleptocracy, Piracy and Zealotry".

Yes, the organisation that: breaks into voicemail, publishes fiction as truth and plays politics with its publications...has claimed that online social networks are spammers that help themselves to content without paying for it.

He also publicly stated that “The words Intellectual Property don’t appear in the Google alphabet."- but far be it for me to tell a journalist that you can make any words from the alphabet.

Thomson went on to further attack the new media sector by saying "None of them actually create content, and they certainly have little intention of paying for it, but they do redistribute the content created by others – they would argue that such redistribution is a natural extension of their role as social networks. I would argue that much of the redistribution is an unnatural act”

All this smacks of hypocrisy... especially given News Corp in 2005 bought MySpace, then a leading social network that in June 2006 surpassed Google as the most visited website in the USA... before watching over its decline and its sale in 2011 for less than 8% of its purchase price.

Also... given that News Corp has only recently decided to change the direction of its WSJ and Dow Jones publishing sector to focus on digital media efforts and that its own Social News Agency Storyful is responsible for finding and redistributes news stories (and apparently hiding Rebekah Brooks in their offices)... methinks they need to keep their insults to themselves.

Full story here:
http://mumbrella.com.au/news-corp-ceo-lashes-google-for-piracy-zealotry-and-kleptocracy-at-lowy-institute-event-312252 

Remember to spell your client's product correctly

Dear Jeep.

Can I please suggest you speak with your digital marketing agency pretty quickly and find out why they can't even spell the name of your flagship motor vehicle?

You would have hoped that the people creating the Facebook Adverts to entice people to view your large family 4x4 would be able to actually spell..... wouldn't you?

Yours

Hayden

Facebook revives Social Commerce, but will it work?

The topic of Social Commerce (or SocialCommerce if you like to remove that middle space to look modern) has arisen again recently with two announcements:

Firstly Twitter a few weeks back allowed a 'buy now' button in its promoted tweet messages.
Secondly today Facebook have announced that they will do something similar and allow online shoppers to click a “buy" button. This will allow them to purchase items in adverts or other posts, without leaving the social network platform.

But will these small but important innovations fuel the much discussed 'social commerce' development of social media?

Or will it merely create further annoyance to Twitter and Facebook users, who already have a significant proportion of monetised screen real estate taken up with promotions and ads?

Social Media Training - do you really need it?

It's almost shocking to see the number of "introduction to Social Media" courses still being touted about. A quick search on Google highlights just how seriously the suppliers of Social Media Training are right now:

And a quick look at the term "Social Media Training" in Google Trends shows that the term is predicted to grow in the number of searches over the next year, albeit less so than when it first appeared on Google's radar back at the beginning of 2009.

So given all this supply and searching for the term, just who are the intended recipients?
I'm sure I can't be the only person who must assume that anyone who wants to understand the fundamentals of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube must have got to grips with the basics of each by now?

Global map of Social Networks - December 2013

For my last post of 2013 I thought I'd quickly mention this map of Social Networks used across the world for this month, December 2013.

Every 6 months Vincenzo Cosenza collates information from Alexa to understand which Social Media platforms are the the most popular in each country across the globe:

Since his last review 6 months ago, Facebook's growth has been slower. Its population is now up to 1.189 billion monthly active users, made up of: 199 million U.S. and Canada users, 276 million users in Europe, 351 million users in Asia (up by 34 million) and 362 million users from other parts of the world. Showing that it is still the world's leading network and that others such as V Kontakte and Twitter will have a hard job overtaking.

What is interesting for me is that there are a number of social networks that I was not familiar with at all, including Adnoklassniki, QZone, Cloob and Drauglem. Their prominence in this review highlights the need for a global social media marketing approach (e.g. when planning any international eCommerce efforts).

Will Social Media Experts take over the World?

I once read back in 2007 that since the rate of Elvis impersonators in the World was increasing at such a fast rate, by 2019 a third of everyone on the planet would be one.

However, I now fear that the Social Media Guru Disease is getting out of control. Now rather than the prediction that the population will be filled with an excess of flared sequinned jumpsuit-wearing singers, we could end up with more than our fair share of inexperienced 'Social Media Ninjas' and self-trained 'Social Media experts' setting up training courses in "creating a Facebook page" and running webinars in "how to engage customers using Twitter".

Well... too late, we already have too many of these!

Hayden has now left the building.

Do you have Social Media Guru Disease?

I fear that a new highly virulent strain has gripped the modern world. One that seems to be so infectious it is spreading life wildfire and afflicting nearly everyone it comes into contact with.

What are the symptoms?

1. A delusional state of mind 
2. The constant mentioning of abilities and expertise that the person clearly doesn't have
3. The impersonation of professionals they have occasionally met or seen
4. Constant requests for you to like them or follow them

In case you haven't some into contact with these poor people yet... These symptoms are also accompanied by other physical manifestations, such as the sudden appearance of websites and marketing material claiming to "learn the basics" or "grow your business with Social Media". These messages, like a form of digital graffiti, are now posted all over Linkedin and Facebook... it's almost as if those who are worst affected are using the very channels that fuel their delusions as cries for help.

Yes, Social Media Guru Disease is here people and could be affecting those around you at this very moment.

• Does your partner keep setting up different Twitter accounts for no reason?
• Has your son started drawing large letters (particularly the letter 'F' in blue) on every vertical surface?
• Have you the secret worry that 'Instagram' may not be the covert word for your colleague's drug habit?
• Has an old school friend sent you over 15 request to 'like' their flower arranging business in the last week?

I noticed this disease appear a couple of years back and hoped it wouldn't get out of control. But alas, it seems it might be too late.... I hope not! 

Social Media and the 'me too' society

We live is a wonderful world, full of fun and great experiences. But look again and you'll see a profound lack of originality. Creatures mimic other creatures, fashion copies fashion and artists emulate other artists in an effort to show their skills. And the same could reasonably be said about the online industry... where words like 'best practice' and 'conventions' are typically uttered by us all. When what we really mean is... "This is what everyone else does, says or thinks; so we're gonna do the same".
Sound familiar?

Perhaps the online problem is exacerbated by social media. Do social networks like Twitter and Facebook encourage the herd mentality and actually stifle original thinking?  Quite possibly.

Social Media has been described as the ultimate echo chamber, a place where thoughts uttered are repeated (or retweeted) and bounced around until some become folklore and even cited as fact.
I see it with my own eyes all the time when posts are 'curated' (In other words: stolen, passed off as someone else's or just made to look like the poster has found the work & shared it... rather than simply removing the name or Twitter handle of the originator).

It seems that in the 'me too' society, nobody wants to be left out and everyone wants to claim the credit for everything. And quite frankly... This gets my goat. Social Media has a lot going for it, it's able to be a great source of original thought and innovative ideas. It's just a shame that so many people act like virtual sheep on sites like Twitter. Perhaps that's why they call it 'following' after all.

The digital path to purchase

The path to purchase is dead, long live the path to purchase.

Today's shoppers now have a number of tools at their fingertips to help them chose which products to buy and consumer technology has been the facilitator of this.

Research from Google Analytics has found that over a two-day period customers now interact with a brand 4.3 times before making a purchase. Furthermore the average U.S. shopper now interfaces with a total of 10.4 traditional and online media sources prior to purchasing. That's a lot of browsing before buying (or looking before booking, if you're in an industry such as online travel).
Furthermore, according to further research by Google, online customers are now making the majority of their purchasing decision before engaging with a sales representative,

There's no doubt that the traditional way that shoppers purchase has now evolved and the marketing to these people has changed with it. However a lot of the ideas that the more technology-savvy shopper marketing agency might suggest to a client (e.g. QR codes and online store check-ins via FourSquare or Facebook Places) just don't make the impact required... and therefore turn out to be expensive experiments.

My view is that optimising shopper engagement across the path to purchase needs an integrated approach, one that pulls together: marketing, useful functionality, content and online retailing... then measured and learned from. Without this, brands and their agencies will continue to just experiment.

I am still not using Google Plus

There are enough things in my life to keep me busy (and provide a distraction) including the time I spend online. Of that online time I now spend a lot more of it blogging and on Twitter than I used to, mainly because this is where I get the most benefit and get my news. This therefore means I spend less time on Facebook as well. So although I can instantly communicate with friends and family there, I really don't use it as often as I used to.

As for Google Plus (Or Google+ as some call it), I've never really got into it and still don't really see the purpose of it. Sure, some friends use it and some business contacts are 'hanging out' there, but for me I don't need either another personal social platform or another business-orientated social network.

Perhaps, like the Dunbar's Number (the amount of people somewhere between 100 and 230 that it becomes almost impossible to sustain social relationships with), there's also a maximum number of Social Networks that the average human is capable of using at anyone time? For me it is around 4 (if you include the two blogs that I write for, plus Twitter and Facebook), but for others it might be higher or lower.  This might also go some way to explaining why I don't really find Pinterest Pinteresting and why Instagram hasn't gripped me.

I'm also not going to force myself to use Google Plus. Yes, I am aware that there are quite possible positive effects for using it (e.g. for SEO) and this does not mean other individuals or organisations shouldn't use it as a social media channel. It's just not for me right now... or at least until I stop doing something else and get less distracted!

Is F-Commerce really working?

Facebook Commerce (or F-commerce as it is colloquially known), the practice of buying items within the walls of Fortress Facebook, took a knock today. The slightly unsurprising news is that the Social Network transaction platform Payvment is closing soon and handing over its customers to a competitor. This removes a key player from the market and will be a sore lesson to those that put up the $8m investment.

F-commerce for over a year now has been heralded as the new wave of online retail. However the hype and the reality haven't come together in an online proposition that really works for most purchases. It's fair to say that Facebook does not always work for all kinds of online commerce situations.

Even Payvment's CEO recently stated: "Social product discovery and social commerce have very little in common with the considered purchase process" 

What this means is that Social commerce is apparently better at delivering impulse purchases for products or services that the user wasn't necessarily looking for. Meaning that more expensive items that have a longer purchase cycle than just 'see it, like it, buy it'  aren't suited to F-commerce.

Payvment's CEO Jim Stoneham gives more details in his interview here allthingsd.com/20130128/payvment-pulls-the-plug-on-facebook-commerce however insiders and analysts must surely now be looking at the other players in the market to see how they fare.

Are UK Financial Services cracking Social Media?

To a large extent the Financial Services market in the UK is still finding its feet with Social Media. This is strange, considering they have typically been at the cutting edge of digital adoption. Sure, most companies in this sector have raced to use Twitter and Facebook, but in my opinion a lot (and especially the bigger players) are still at the early stages of the Social Media Maturity Matrix.


However the  comparison sites are proving to be better at engaging customers with this channel than high street banks. Compare The Market’s position at the top of Stickyeye's recent Online Consumer Finance
Intelligence Report for social media reflects the online and offline branded campaign to “Compare the Meerkat”. The report gives the aggregator one of the highest engagement scores, despite claiming:

"Among the retail banks, social media remains a relatively under developed channel, with many operators not integrating their main site with key social media assets such as Facebook and Twitter.."

The UK however should look to the USA, where some FS companies have really found their way in this space:. For example American Express has been at the forefront of Social Media since launching its first online community in 2006 and then launching OPEN Forum a year later (a community project which focuses on small business owners).

Social Media Espionage

I'm surprised (and a little humoured if I'm honest) to read that some of the most senior members of Western military have been compromised by their Facebook activity.

It seems that by posing as a top NATO chief, spies have managed to 'friend' other Military / Defence officials and obtain their personal details as a result. So although they thought they had become genuine online friends with Nato's Supreme Allied Commander, they've more than likely handed over their family and friend information to Chinese agents.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/9136029/How-spies-used-Facebook-to-steal-Nato-chiefs-details.html

It isn't just corporates that are being brandjacked via social media now. It is clear that the security services are targets. And just like companies that eventually adopt social media rather than avoid it, Nato has now advised its senior people to set up & own their own social network pages to hopefully prevent a repeat of this embarrassing issue.

Don't declare the death of F-Commerce just yet

News that several major retailers have recently shut down their Facebook stores has led to a lot of predictions about the death of f-Commerce (the term used for eCommerce on the World's biggest social networking platform and therefore the most visited website).

See this article on Bloomberg for a touch of hype generation (and link baiting... dammit):

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/f-commerce-trips-as-gap-to-penney-shut-facebook-stores-retail.html 

One Forrester Researcher was also quoted as stating:

“There was a lot of anticipation that Facebook would turn into a new destination, a store, a place where people would shop. But it was like trying to sell stuff to people while they’re hanging out with their friends at the bar.”

People please...... before we go around proclaiming the end of social commerce, can we please get a bit of perspective here?

Yes, it is true that some big US retailers such as Gap and Nordstrom have closed their Facebook retail channels. But it is still very early days for f-Commerce and a lot of companies are still finding their feet with this stuff. Its currently the same as web-based selling was back 10 or so years ago.

Back then customer confidence was low and the methods and tools & best-practice are still being learnt.

It is also true that users have a big security issue with using their credit cards via Social Networks:

http://mashable.com/2012/02/10/credit-card-information-social-network/ 

And even less trust Facebook stores to prevent fraud.

http://threatmetrix.com/study-reveals-only-a-quarter-of-consumers-trust-facebook-storefronts-to-prevent-fraud/

However the race hasn't been run yet. Given the speed of change in both the eCommerce and Social Networking space, I wouldn't declare the death of f-Commerce straight away. In fact Gap have stated: “We will continue to evaluate if this is something we want to bring back in the future”

My suggestion is therefore to ask yourself one simple question 

"does your Facebook store make a decent ROI without cannibalising other sales channels?". 

And if the answer is "Yes"...  then I suggest you keep it going.