PepperDigital

World Wide Web Moonwalks to a Standstill

by Carl Foster

The memorial for the King of Pop takes place today. If media reports are to be believed, elephants, Hollywood stars and Michael Jackson's gold plated coffin will all make an appearance at the venue. Whatever the particulars of the event, one thing seems certain: Jackson's memorial service will be one of the largest live-streamed events the World Wide Web has ever had to cope with.

How the web will hold up remains unclear (although we're about to find out very shortly). When news of Jackson's death was announced, the Internet slowed and some sites, particularly celebrity news sites like TMZ, stopped functioning altogether.

But this is more than the unanticipated, sudden breaking news of the kind that saw the New York Times website on September 11th stripped of almost all its content except a photo and headline. This event, and others like it such as the inauguration of President Obama (and for tennis fans here in the UK, Andy Murray's recent workday afternoon defeat in the Wimbledon semi-finals), tests the very infrastructure of the web. In doing this, the debate over Internet neutrality is intensified. After all, why should there be equality of access to the web when some users are such heavy consumers of bandwidth? That, however, is an argument for another day.

On a more human note, I think a sad consequence of the live web streaming is that more people will watch Jackson's send off by themselves at their computers. One of the positive sides of these major TV events is the 'togetherness' it generates among the audience. Whether it be Princess Diana's funeral or a World Cup semi-final (England hasn't progressed beyond that in my lifetime) standing next to strangers who are experiencing similar feelings is something that cannot be replaced through Twitter or community groups on Facebook. I say, if you're a big enough fan of Jackson to want to watch, get yourself down to a bar or diner and watch it with your fellow man.

Tea and Casserole: UK’s Oldest Twitter User

By Amelia Denson, PepperDigital

Ivybean104 is not your average Twitter user. She regularly tweets about her favorite TV shows and what she eats for dinner (chicken casserole if you’re interested). Ivy Bean has been bestowed as the UK’s oldest Twitter user at 104 years old.

Ivy has helped pave the way for Web 2.0 while living at Hillside Manor in Bradford. She first registered on Facebook two years ago and has grown her friends list to 4,800. Her example has led several of her friends to register for “computer-college” to learn the basics.

What’s interesting about the The Daily Telegraph story is that it seems like the Geek Squad helped register Ivy and issued a press release. Why else would Ivy’s first Tweet say, “I'm enjoying Twitter for the first time and having my photo taken” if they weren’t setting her up?

Ivy should be spending her day Tweeting her grandchildren and knitting fail whales, not being used for a photo op with the Geek Squad.

While I praise Ivy for learning how to use new technologies, I condemn the Geek Squad for exploiting Ivy Bean for press.

SEO + PR = Digital Media Success

By Michael Blankenship, PepperDigital

I recently had the opportunity to hear Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer speak at the Dallas Chamber of Commerce's annual State of Technology summit on the topic of the Role of Innovation in a Challenging Economy. Cost-cutting, he said, is inevitable during "the worst economic period any of us have ever seen in our lives." Despite cost reductions, he emphasized that technological innovation must continue. While Ballmer's message focused on making computers more powerful and developing more intuitive user interfaces, I couldn't help but consider how important it is for companies to capitalize on digital media.

Ballmer quipped that, in 10 years, we wouldn't know the difference between a newspaper, a TV show or a magazine. He is correct, of course, but the ever-changing landscape of digital media is happening now. Newspapers such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Dallas Morning News are already relying heavy on streaming video on their Web sites and maintaining YouTube channels to engage readers/viewers. Sometimes, the video is a standalone segment, and sometimes it is used to accompany an article. Meanwhile, just about any media outlet trying to remain viable actively uses Twitter to communicate with its audiences. The point is that traditional media continues to die a slow and painful death, and it will most likely be far less than the 10 years Ballmer predicted when it takes its last breath.

As the digital media landscape quickly evolves, too many companies continue to under use and underfund PR programs. It is time for companies to realize that, in today's environment, Web management, SEO and digital media strategies are the domain of a company's PR agency. Digital media, like everything else on the Web, starts with a search. If your PR and SEO strategies aren't aligned, you are setting yourself up for failure. SEO can drive a successful PR campaign and vice versa. Success in digital media is about standing out, and underusing and underfunding a PR program in today's world can quickly mean a death sentence.

Swine Flu News

By Carl Foster, PepperDigital

News of a potential global pandemic is dominating the mainstream media more than any other time since, well, 2006 when Bird Flu was going to strike us all down, or, indeed, 2003 when SARS was the big threat. We’re told that we are overdue a global flu pandemic, a statement that is usually followed with some stats about the millions of people wiped out by the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1919.

I don’t want to be dismissive of the threat, but if you were to just watch the newscasts you would think the end of the world is nigh. Our globalised, information age society might have allowed swine flu to spread rapidly, but it also means that people around the world can stay right up to date with the latest developments. We are no longer beholden to what comes out of our TVs and radios for  our news, or our opinions.

On Monday morning when the story was starting to gather pace I was able to read reports from the Houston Chronicle and The San Diego Union-Tribune, places where the outbreak had spread from Mexico. A quick Technorati search pulled up some more opinion, albeit unfiltered. The BBC Web site had a number of comments, supposedly from doctors at affected hospitals.

What did I get from this quick but varied reading? Detail and context. Things that is increasingly lacking on the 24 hour news stations. As more reports of swine flu come in from around the world I will be making increasing use of the web to get my news.

‘TMI’ Is No Longer Relevant

By Lauren Begley, PepperDigital

I was late to hop on the Lost bandwagon, but I’m glad I did. The show about beautiful people stranded on an island is yet another crown jewel from the J.J. Abrams vault of awesome. Why do I and so many others tune in to watch? Abrams provides his simple answer in the latest issue of Wired mystery. However, I would argue that the real reason we watch is that we want to know what will happen.

We are constantly seeking out and sharing information. Sure, we enjoy watching chase scenes and breezing through mystery novels, but if you look at our social habits beyond entertainment, we have access to more information and we share more information than ever before. We can find a host of data about anyone with the click of a mouse. And now, we have exceedingly more ways to disseminate our thoughts and findings to our friends, followers and fellow Google searchers.

We are living in the Age of Intimacy where very little mystery survives. But before you blame Big Brother, consider how many times you have updated your Facebook status, Twitter page o r blog in the last week.

If you have a job interview, aren’t you going to Google the company, the CEO and the person interviewing you? Chances are you can find all the information you need and more in about five minutes. Same goes for a blind date. Or your sister’s new fiancé. The reason this information is available is because we seem to have created a system where we all feel compelled to share, which makes finding information beyond an address in the yellow pages so much easier.

I should say that I update my Twitter page, etc. regularly and I have used Facebook to stay current on what others are doing. However, I still try to leave some mystery to the imagination. Perhaps when the novelty of these social media arenas declines, we will see people retreat back into their private lives, but for now ‘TMI’ is no longer relevant.