Porque la realidad no te espera

The potential brought by mobile internet and mobile technologies, such as smartphones and tablets, has the power to transform the work of journalists.

In a time when we face the challenges promoted by convergence, both on content and production, this article makes us think about this subject. Questions such as the low number of journalists and the composition of new newsrooms are prompted  when the vídeo from Movistar is analyzed.

En otras palabras, en el ejemplo se ve cómo un periodista lleva a cabo al mismo tiempo el trabajo de un cronista, un reportero, un reportero gráfico, un camarógrafo y un sonidista y quizás algo más si es que escribe o etiqueta lo que acaba de producir. Todo esto se supone que es “porque la realidad no te espera”

Is mobile making media all the same?

Alfred Hermina, Axel Bruns and – more recently – Logan Molynuex use to write about ambient journalism and the question of branding through social media platforms.

Together with mobile devices they are more used than ever for people to access the news. However, as phones grow to become an overwhelming majority of traffic, content has become increasingly aimed at playing the numbers game.

The mobile phone, it turns out, is the greatest homogenising force the media has ever seen. In terms of design: with every pixel precious, sites converged pretty quickly to the format we all now know so well – large photos, clean single-column text on a plain white background, a sticky element at the top of the screen that allegedly allows users to navigate the site but which in practice is mostly just used for branding and/or advertising.

So, in a time when we have access to unlimited information, are we getting more from less or less from more?

 

So while all news sites claim to be special in some way that probably makes perfect sense to their own journalists, they’re increasingly interchangeable to readers. You click a link on Facebook, and you read a story, and then an hour later you try to remember where you read it: was it the Independent? the Telegraph? the Daily Mail? the Daily Beast? Business Insider? Huffington Post? USA Today? The list is endless, and your chances of getting the answer right, at least if you don’t live in a media bubble, are minimal. Those of us who live in the bubble become obsessed with the narcissism of small differences, and can see differences between them; nobody else care.

Source: The Guardian

RISJ: Digital News Report 2015

Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism has recently published its Digital News Report 2015.

Among the main topics discussed in this powerful document, with a sample of 12 different countries, I personally highlight the following:

• The mobile phone is the defining device for digital news with a disruptive impact on consumption, formats, and business models;
• However, this same environment is still dominated by a few successful brands, with others struggling to reach a wider audience, both via apps and browsers;

Source: RISJ

• BBC is the example of a PSM operator in this environment: Over half of smartphone news users (51%) regularly use the BBC News app, in the UK;
• The lower numbers regarding the growth of tablets could be related with bigger smartphone screens;
• Even with the development of apps, browsers are still used as a major platform to access news. Social media platforms play an important role in this point;
• The black box fallacy (Jenkins) is expressed in this study: People are using more devices to access the news than ever. There is not a replacement of one device with another.

Source: RISJ

This annual study has a lot more information that I intend to analyze in the next couple of days. Apart of the mobile technologies, one can also find useful information about social media technologies. These channels are being used as a source to access news and also to share information among the personal contacts.

Source: RISJ

FIFA World Cup 2014 on Facebook and Twitter: Less from more or more from less?

During the last FIFA World Cup, I have analysed the media coverage of 32 matches through web sites, mobile apps and social media. I had the opportunity to present part of this work in the Global Fusion Conference, that took place at the University of Texas at Austin, in October. The presentation “FIFA World Cup 2014 on Facebook and Twitter: Less from more or more from less?” shows the results of more than 700 posts on Facebook and 3000 on Twitter, from 13 media outlets representing 7 different countries.

My main intentions was to understand how media companies used both platforms to report this global competition and the strategies created for engagement. This is still a work in progress and I intend to develop it in the next months in order to publish a paper with more detailed results. Meanwhile, fell free to take a look using the link in the previous paragraph.

Copa and #WorldCup

Twitter is ready to give us a lot of information about World Cup 2014. The ultimate guide shows us all the strategy to follow every minute of this competition in a new platform.

Twitter and Sport: NFL goes all in with Twitter for draft

The place to go for live conversation around the NFL Draft from May 8-10 was Twitter. A wide array of integrations with ESPN and NFL Network, including voting cards and Amplify and Vine videos, made the 2014 NFL Draft the most-viewed and most-tweeteabout ever.

 

 

 

Source: Twitter Media Blog

The decline of the mobile web?

Im not entirely supporting the idea of Chris Dixon  explaining the end of mobile web. In my own opinion,  traditional browsers still have a major role, for example, in the relationship between social networks and news content. And, even we these graphics, we can not forget the importance of personal computers.

However, I think that the following quote is relevant to all of us, as citizens, using Internet to be informed and to share ideas in an open and free way:

 

“Apps are heavily controlled by the dominant app stores owners, Apple and Google. Google and Apple control what apps are allowed to exist, how apps are built, what apps get promoted, and charge a 30% tax on revenues. Most worrisome: they reject entire classes of apps without stated reasons or allowing for recourse (e.g. Apple has rejected all apps related to Bitcoin). The open architecture of the web led to an incredible era of experimentation. Many startups were controversial when they were first founded.  What if AOL or some other central gatekeeper had controlled the web, and developers had to ask permission to create Google, Youtube, eBay, Pay.”

 

 

 

The Sun to introduce social media department

The Sun is to set up a “dedicated department” for social media, which will consist of a team of six social media managers and a new social editor, which will be tasked with managing social media activity “24/7”.

Source: Journalism.co.uk

Oscars’ Twitter strategy makes fans part of red carpet experience

Viacom International Media Networks is making a bigger push into mobile marketing this year, with Twitter playing a key role in how the broadcasting company ties together television and social media.

Via the partnership, Viacom International Media Networks will develop social and mobile campaigns for programs and events with MTV, Nickelodeon, BET, Comedy Central and Paramount Channel. The mobile, social initiatives will kick off in conjunction with the 2013 MTV Europe Music Awards show.

“Mobile is fundamental to engaging our audience,” said Philip O’Ferrall, senior vice president of digital at Viacom International Media Networks, London.

 

Building second-screen engagement

Last year, The Academy teamed up with ABC to launch a mobile application that combined live video and content.

This year’s focus on social media highlights the growth in the past year from marketers leveraging Twitter to connect with TV viewers during live events.

Source: Mobile Marketer

Why does mobile matter?

Why does mobile matter? How does it impact our world? At MWC 2014, Firefox asked attendees about their observations and insights on this topic.