The Future of Text Online

The Future of Text Online
At Poynter Online, Guillermo E. Franco has an interesting interview with Chris Nodder of the Nielsen Norman Group: What is the Future of Text Online?. The story also has a link to Jakob Nielsen's own useit.com page, which looks increasingly old-fashioned. The content is great, but the layout and typography need a makeover....

At Poynter Online, Guillermo E. Franco has an interesting interview with Chris Nodder of the Nielsen Norman Group: What is the Future of Text Online?.

The story also has a link to Jakob Nielsen's own useit.com page, which looks increasingly old-fashioned. The content is great, but the layout and typography need a makeover.

News vs Entertainment : a PR crisis?
Desperate days for traditional media are dangerous days for corporate and organizational reputations.

Gerald Baron, Founder and CEO, PIER System/AudienceCentral; Author, "Now Is Too Late: Survival in an Era of Instant News" made some pithy comments about the 'news as entertainment' trend and its effect on PR in today's Daily Dog.

What's wrong with this trend?

• Too little money is available for good reporting.
• Wall Street expectations destroying news organizations.
• Audiences switching rapidly to new media for which there is insufficient revenue to support real journalism.
• The line between amateurs and professional journalists is blurred and it is likely the public largely doesn't care.
• News is entertainment and needs to compete on the basis of what the audience wants—not what is good journalism or what should be covered.

"Public relations professionals need to understand that these desperate days for traditional media are dangerous days for corporate and organizational reputations," says Bacon. "They need to be able to respond fast, to be aggressive in attacking misinformation and bad reporting and most importantly, they need to grab onto the incredible opportunities they have to talk directly to the people whose opinion about the organization matters most to their future. Talk quick, talk with complete honestly and talk directly."

How does a web content strategy figure in all this?

"Today's Internet tools including virtual communication centers, blogs, and communicator-controlled websites all make that possible. The desperate media environment makes it essential," advises Bacon.  And he is 100% correct..

How do you do it?

If you do not yet have a section of your website that can be controlled by the communication department this should be a priority.  The tools available today make this a no-brainer.

RSS enable this section of the site, so that your content can be syndicated across the Net.  Feeds also allow you to reach subcribers fast...

Use RSS feeds and other tools to monitor the blogs and conversations so you have your finger on the pulse and can pick up and respond to any comments or issues right away.

Teleseminars with Ellen Britt: Audio File Posted
If you missed the Blogging and Beyond show last Thursday, Denise has just posted it on the site. We interviewed Ellen Britt of Marketing Qi about her tremendous success with teleseminars and how you can use this low cost tool...

Becoming a Book Blog
After weeks of work, the third edition of Writing for the Web is nearly completed. It's a far more extensive revision than I'd expected, but I'm pretty happy with the result. Not only is much of the print content changed, expanded, and updated, but the book will contain a CD with scores of links—a kind of electronic index, with added links on relevant topics. In addition, this site will become...

After weeks of work, the third edition of Writing for the Web is nearly completed. It's a far more extensive revision than I'd expected, but I'm pretty happy with the result. Not only is much of the print content changed, expanded, and updated, but the book will contain a CD with scores of links—a kind of electronic index, with added links on relevant topics.

In addition, this site will become a kind of book blog, providing still more updates and links. So if you find something in the book that you don't understand or like, you can fire off an email or a comment, and I'll try to explain myself.

Most textbooks now include websites created by the publisher to supply extra materials. Those sites, however, tend to be permanent and unchanging. As the blog for Writing for the Web 3.0, this site will change almost daily.

Smart Social Media Thinking
How to corral that free-wheeling user-generated content

Prevailing wisdom says you can't control the message anymore.  User-generated content has a life of it's own and any attempt to make it into a marketing or PR vehicle will backfire.

And have we not seen some spectaular examples of doing it wrong?

Pontiac's social media site created in tandem with Yahoo is a much smarter approach. Their new community hub on Yahoo is designed to tap into the "street-level" energy of fans from all its active and retired brands by uniting and introducing the hundreds of offline and online groups already in existence. No overt marketing will be present - the idea is for it to be found and spread organically. .

Now there's a thought - gather up all the consumer generated buzz already going on and offer it a home. Make it possible for all your evangelists to interact and find each other. Give them more social media tools so it's easier for them to  create and share content .

Underground allows users to share photos and videos of cars using Flickr and Yahoo Video. A Yahoo Answers zone enables knowledge sharing. An aggregated list of Pontiac clubs in the physical world and on Yahoo Groups allows users to connect offline and online. An opinion poll, Pontiac-hosted blog "Inside Track" and the "Pontiac Informer," an aggregation tool for blogs and news, round out the offering.

Now that's smart marketing and PR in the Web 2.0 world.

A Little Light Housekeeping
Writing for the Web 3.0 will be published in a few days, so I've spent some time updating and reorganizing this site. Many of the links had rotted, and the site was overdue for some new resources. So if you explore a little, you'll find several new links in Webwriting Resources and Web Writers and Editors. If you know of good sites, let me know and I'll be glad to...

Writing for the Web 3.0 will be published in a few days, so I've spent some time updating and reorganizing this site. Many of the links had rotted, and the site was overdue for some new resources.

So if you explore a little, you'll find several new links in Webwriting Resources and Web Writers and Editors. If you know of good sites, let me know and I'll be glad to add them.

Once the third edition is available online from Self-Counsel Press, I'll create a link to the publisher's site. I'll also add a number of new resources available on the book's CD—but the CD works only with PCs. So Mac users will have to download those items here.

Telcos Fail to Capitalize on Mobile Web 2.0
Telecoms companies are failing to make the most of the growing popularity of the online information-sharing services of "Web 2.0", according to new research 'Web re-loaded: Driving convergence in the real world.' by global consultancy Arthur D. Little.

This new report places users and user generated content in the spotlight yet again.  Yet it seems US Telcos have not yet got the Web 2.0 message.

"In order to harness and monetize Web 2.0 the Telcos will have to rapidly address the needs of this community" says Martyn Roetter, Director of Arthur D. Little's US TIME. "Younger Europeans are already showing their readiness to interact on the move, with 38% of them accessing email from mobile devices, while Google launched Gmail for mobile in November last year. Telecommunications businesses now need to offer access to the established web 2.0 services, for both communication and for the fulfillment of their wider social needs while on the move."

The dilemma Telcos face is whether they should build their own Web 2.0 platforms or engage with established sites such as flickr etc, says the report.

One good example of collaboraiton is the Pontiac Underground site that partnered with Yahoo! and now offers access to all the Yahoo social media sites in one branded place.

Whatever they do, they should do it soon. the race goes to the swift and The Cluetrain is not waiting for the laggers.

.

Things To Do In NYC After a Conference
There is a bronze mural on the side wall of the fire station at Ground Zero dedicated to the fallen heroes and those left standing. I couldn't help but shed a few tears; it's an eery feeling to remember the...

BlogWrite for CEOs
Debbie Weil is the author of BlogWrite for CEOs, which looks like a very useful resource—complete with a list of CEOs' blogs and some free downloadable resources. I'm putting a link to it in Webwriting Resources as well....

Debbie Weil is the author of BlogWrite for CEOs, which looks like a very useful resource—complete with a list of CEOs' blogs and some free downloadable resources. I'm putting a link to it in Webwriting Resources as well.