With our attention focused on Boston and the terrorist bombing at the Boston Marathon and its aftermath, it’s easy to miss some other news and reports that appeared in news channels, blogs and other forums. In fact, some of the Wrap items this week deal directly with those events (although they may be dimensions of the story you haven’t heard on CNN or from other mainstream coverage). But other useful information emerged, too. I collect the items from which I select Wrap material at LinksFromShel.tumblr.com; this is also where I collect stories I consider for my podcast.
Boston PD praised for use of social media after bombing
There has been no shortage of reporting about multiple dimensions of the terrorist bombing in Boston on Monday, including coverage of the role social media played. But little has been said about the Boston Police Department, which employed social media to get information to the public in the wake of the bombing. PRWeek‘s Lindsay Stein reports that former Boston PD communications director Elaine Driscoll is leading the applause, noting that “social media helped authorities quickly give information while cell-phone service was down on Monday. Early Tuesday, the department used Twitter to tell broadcast media where to park their trucks for interviews and coverage.”
American Airlines also relies on social media
American Airlines, not unlike Boston PD, relied on social media to help address the airlines’ day of no flying in the face of catastrophic systems failures. Writing for Ragan’s PR Daily, Michael Sebastien says, “social media became the go-to source for information on the carrier’s progress. The company tweeted updates about the outage, and responded to voluminous tweets from customers, resolving issues and wishing passengers safe travels. It also posted frequent updates on its Facebook page during the ordeal, including an apology once the matter was resolved later in the afternoon.
Vine comes of age as a news platform
For many people, the first look they got at the Boston Marathon Bombing was just a six-second video loop. The video of the first explosion at the finish line, shot by Doug Lorman, spread across Twitter first (Twitter does own Vine, after all), but transcended Twitter to find its way out onto the Internet proper. It was unquestionably the first time Vine filledsuch a newsmaking role. Originally dismissed as basically useless by some, Vine has found a following and a place in news coverage, but not without posing new questions. AdAge‘s John McDerrmott writes that “The viral spread of Mr. Lorman’s video, for example, will likely raise copyright issues for Vine. His video was not original footage, after all—it was a Vine recording of an ABC affiliate’s broadcast.”
State Departments plans Google+ Hangouts
Everybody loves to argue about politics but few understand the subtleties and intricacies of issues that drive international relations. More people would rather get their views from a cable news show than from reading Foreign Affairs, after all. The U.S. State Department aims to fix that by hosting monthly Google+ Hangouts on Air to address foreign policy issues. The first one is set for today, April 19, according to Ken Yeung, writing for The Next Web. Newly-minted Secretary of State John Kerry will host the first Hangout, titled “The U.S. in the World: What’s In It for Us,” to be hosted by Andrea Mitchell, NBC’s chief foreign affairs correspondent. It’s not the first time the State Department has turned to Hangouts. A session on arms control and international security was was hosted by an acting under-secretary last month. The regular monthly nature of the series is what drew my attention (and made me wonder why more organizations aren’t following Dell’s lead, using Hangouts to address a host of issues).
Don’t trust USA Today’s small business social media report
Some 61% of small businesses aren’t seeing a return in their social media efforts, according to a study small business network Manta and reported by USA Today. The survey asked how much SMBs were spending (50% have increased their spend) and what their goals are (new business, new leads and raising awareness). Nothing I saw in the study indicated how they were going about it. There are scores of case studies of successful SMB use of social media. I can only conclude that a lot of those reporting failure are simply not executing well. What do you think?
Flipboard to produce revenue for NBC News
For up-to-date news, some people turn to an NBC News magazine on the popular news app, Flipboard. Did I say, “some people?” More like 1.3 million, according to Adweek. That’s enough to prompt NBC News to run third-party ads in the magazine, turning it from an awareness vehicle into a source of revenue. So far, it’s NBC’s former owner, General Electric, buying the ads but the organization is talking to prospective other advertisers. “When viewers click through GE’s ads, they are driven to the multinational conglomerate’s so-called magazine on the app—specifically to a section dedicated to innovation. These ads will effectively highlight the newest content from the GE magazine, using feeds from the brand’s blogs, such as Txchnologist,” writes Christopher Heine.
Social media occupies a quarter of Americans’ online time
Twenty-seven percent of the time Americans spend online is devoted to social media, according to an Experian Hitwise survey. All that porn they’re supposed to be consuming? That accounts for 4% of their time…and they shared that time with news.The study didn’t include mobile, the source of much news gathering. One-third of adults under 30 obtain their news from social networks.
Oregon would make it illegal to demand employees like their bosses
It has become increasingly common for businesses to require employees to provide logins to their social media accounts. Equally common but less frequently reported are bosses who insist their employees like them or friend them on networks. Several states have used legislation to address the former, but Oregon’s new law would ban employers from both. AP reports (via The Huffington Post) that the bill passed the Oregon House 56-3 and awaits Senate action. Under the bill, employers investigating employees could still ask the employee to share content. “Employers would not be liable information inadvertently gathered when employees use the employer’s equipment,” according to the article.
Messaging app has more active monthly users than Twitter
We keep hearing that young people are abandoning Facebook. While I question whether they’re actually leaving Facebook altogether, they are engaging with friends and colleagues through other channels, mainly a new breed of messaging apps. Top of the heap appears to be WhatsApp, which boasts some 200 million active monthly users who see 12 billion outbound and 8 billion inbound messages. That’s roughly the same number of active monthly users as Twitter. What’s more, usage hasn’t dropped since the service began charging users $.99 per year, writes Mike Stenger on Android Authority. Businesses anxious to reach this demographic that haven’t figured out the shift to messaging apps like WhatsApp, Kik and other had better start paying attention. FastCompany argues that messaging may well be mobile’s killer app. Kik is adding 100,000 new users per day, according to FC, and a Pew Internet study found more teenagers were texting (63%) than any other form of communication, including calling (39%). One possible explanation: “Messaging apps cater to interactions between a core group of connections. So, the theory goes, users are likely to interact with them frequently.” The fact that no one platform currently owns this category of information makes it an untapped opportunity. FC’s Sarah Kessler says, “Some of the most feasible business models for mobile messaging depend on developing applications that run inside of them. Messaging apps have experimented with advertising, e-commerce, virtual goods such as stickers and, in the case of WhattsApp, charging for downloads. Inserting third-party experiences helps all of these efforts.”
Charities could find success in text messaging
While businesses invest increasingly in social media, smaller charitable organizations increasingly find text messaging is more effective at achieving specific, measurable objectives. That was the case with Creation Trust, which Mandeep Hothi and Andrew Wilson of The Guardian describe as ” a charity that aims to transform the Aylesbury Estate into a thriving neighbourhood through delivering social and economic change.” Using a service called Activist SMS, the organization sent a text message to more than 300 residents of the housing project notifying them of job opportunities. More than 200 attended the showcase. In another example, Lifeline—which provides drug and alocohol services—has been sending a weekly inspirational quote to its clients via text message, a practice that has become a resounding success in maintaining regular contact. It’s often overlooked as quaint or outdated, but SMS remains an important (if unsexy) communication channel.