MédiaCamp est de retour! La 2e édition de ce camp pour journalistes et autres personnes intéressées par l’évolution des médias à l’ère des médias sociaux se déroulera le 28 mai au même endroit que l’an dernier, c’est à dire au Coeur des sciences de l’UQAM.
Parmi les conférenciers au programme: Patrick Leduc, Pierre Tremblay, Lisa-Marie Noël, Nadine Maturin, Stéphane Bousquet, Jennifer Nachshen, Bruno Boutot, Isabelle Lopez, Michel Munger et Patrice Leroux.
Merci à Mathieu Lavallée, Michel Munger, Laurent Maisonnave et Liz Ostroff pour l’organisation de ce bel événement. À ne pas manquer!
Elections Canada has issued a warning: it is forbidden to divulge election results before all polling stations have closed in Western Canada. Those who break this law are subject to a $25 000 fine and up to 5 years in prison. The 1938 law was aimed at traditional media, and can seem anachronistic in the age of social media. A number of Twitter users are mobilizing to defy the restriction.
Let’s calm down a little. It’s not because one CAN do something that one SHOULD do it. How about hitting pause on this self-centered age we live in, to think about this a minute. Around the world, in Libya, in Egypt, in Iran, in Tunisia, in Irak, in Afghanistan, people are killing one another in pro-democratic movements.
And what do we do? We get indignant when faced with a law that seeks to protect our democracy and we gear up to defy it on Twitter. To what end?
Yes, the law should be changed to better reflect our new communicational reality. No, we should not sacrifice democracy on the altar of Twitter. Let’s respect our democratic institutions and the right of Western Canadians to express themselves through the vote, free of all external influence.
Bottom line? Grow up.
On election day, until the last polls close in all electoral districts, the Canada Elections Act prohibits the dissemination of:
election advertising
results of election opinion surveys not previously released
election results from other electoral districts
Note to my readers: For the first time since launching this blog over 4 years ago, I’m translating a post. The challenge of having a bilingual blog is that you know that no post can be read by 100% of the people who follow you. I chose a bilingual blog format because I wanted to engage with two communities. It happened that those communities were separated by language. A bilingual blog is a truly Canadian compromise to a truly Canadian dilemna. The problem is that, this time, I want to be read by both anglo and franco Canadians. For those of you who master the language of Molière as well as the language of Shakespeare, my apologies for the redundancy.
Élections Canada lance une mise en garde: il est interdit de divulguer les résultats des élections avant la fermeture du dernier bureau de scutin dans l’Ouest canadien. Les contrevenants sont passibles d’une amende de 25 000$ ou jusqu’à 5 ans d’emprisonnement. La loi, passée en 1938, visait les médias traditionnelles et peut sembler anacronistique à l’ère des médias sociaux. Nombreux utilisateurs de Twitter se mobilisent pour défier l’interdiction.
Du calme. Ce n’est pas parce qu’on PEUT faire quelque chose qu’on DEVRAIT le faire. Cessons un instant ce nombrilisme collectif qui caractérise trop bien notre époque moderne, pour réfléchir un peu. Partout dans le monde, en Libye, en Egypte, en Iran, en Tunisie, en Irak, en Afghanistan, la population s’entretue dans des luttes pro-démocratiques.
Et nous? On s’indigne face à une loi qui vise à protéger la démocratie et on se prépare à la défier sur Twitter. À quelle fin au juste?
Oui, la loi devrait être changée pour mieux refléter notre nouvelle réalité communicationnelle. Non, on ne devrait pas sacrifier la démocratie sur l’autel de Twitter. Respectons nos institutions démocratiques et le droit de nos concitoyens dans l’Ouest de s’exprimer par la voie électorale, libres de toute influence externe.
Comme ils disent en anglais, Grow Up.
Jusqu’à la fermeture des derniers bureaux de scrutin dans toutes les circonscriptions le jour de l’élection, la Loi électorale du Canada y interdit la diffusion :
de publicité électorale;
des résultats de sondages électoraux non publiés auparavant;
des résultats du vote dans d’autres circonscriptions.
Les débats électoraux des derniers jours ont démontré très clairement que bien que seulement 13,7% des internautes canadiens soient sur Twitter, il s’agit d’un groupe dynamique, impliqué et intéressé par des questions sociétales de fond. Comme l’indique le Flash Info publié par les Affaires publiques de Hill & Knowlton hier:
L’affluence sur Twitter au cours du débat en anglais de mardi soir a battu des records quant au nombre de microbillets portant sur les élections qui furent affichés, soit plus de 42 500 en trois heures, i.e. « presque deux fois et demie le nombre de microbillets électoraux affichés en moyenne en une journée complète », selon la Gazette de Montréal.
L’effet Paillé a pris son essor sur Twitter, et, faisant preuve d’écoute, les médias traditionnels ont rapidement commenté le phénomène. Au delà de l’élément ludique, l’engouement Paillé sert à jeter de la lumière sur le fait que les internautes Canadiens ont profité de Twitter pour commenter le débat en direct, utilisant des mots-clics comme #debat #fed2011 #db8 et #elxn41 pour suivre le flux de la conversation. Ils l’ont fait pour le débat, tout comme ils le font lors de la diffusion de Tout le monde en parle avec #tlmep chaque dimanche soir.
Autrefois isolés devant leur télé, les internautes se servent de Twitter pour se joindre à une communauté virtuelle et pour échanger en direct avec ceux qui partagent leurs intérêts. Ils ont accès à des internautes « ordinaires » tout comme ils ont accès aux politiciens et personnalités publiques qui se trouvent sur Twitter.
Ils le font avec les débats. Ils le font avec Tout le monde en parle. Ils le font avec votre marque.
Avez-vous analysé la conversation entourant votre marque sur Twitter récemment?
Last month, I walked you through the firestorm surrounding Cooks Source. The editor of this food magazine had unleashed the wrath of bloggers (and those who love them) first for copyright infringement, then by mishandling the blogger she had wronged.
Time for an update.
The protest launched by the online community in support of blogger Monica Gaudio and critical of Cooks Source editor Judith Griggs not only bombarded the Cooks Source Facebook page with negative comments, making it virtually unusable, it was picked up as a story by traditional media. Cooks Source began to lose advertisers and, consequently, revenue. In an interview with a far-too-sympathetic journalist from the Daily Hampshire Gazette, Griggs explains the impact the online campaign has had on her publication as well as on her, personally.
Do you hear that? It’s the sound of a death knell.
Cooks Source magazine closed mid November. Its Thanksgiving edition was, apparently, its last. Toronto Star/Montreal Gazette contributor Craig Silverman sums it up in his Crunks 2010 : The Year in Media Errors and Corrections piece : Error of the year? Cooks Source Magazine!
While Sarah Lacy of Techcrunch is critical of the online campaign in her « Congrats, Self-Righteous Internet Mob. You killed a magazine » blog post, Caitlan Fitzsimmons of the All Facebook blog has another take on Cooks Source’s disappearance, laying blame squarely on the shoulders of editor Griggs.
What does this dramatic saga tell CEOs and Community Managers?
Big Brother is actually Little Brothers .. and they’re watching you. Orwell warned that Big Brother would be watching. I doubt he imagined that Big Brother would in fact end up being made up of millions of Little Brothers with the power to share information and mobilize online to affect change. Corporate conduct, whether it be from a customer relations point of view, or social engagement point of view, can now be amplified — either positively or negatively — through social media. There’s no such thing as letting a single disgruntled client go anymore because, after all, how much harm can he do? Angry clients might have complained to their immediate circle ten years ago. Today, they’re complaining to their 600 Facebook friends and Twitter followers. CEOs and Community managers must be aware that poor behaviour is of even greater consequence in a social media world.
The Internet isn’t a huge place. It’s a village. And people talk. Before the average person travelled particularly far, the village he lived in was his world. There was no television, radio or Internet to keep people indoors. Villagers would look for ways to connect with one another, whether it be on the church steps after mass or spending evenings dancing to the music of a single violin at a neighbour’s house. Everyone knew everyone else’s business. Online communities aren’t that different from those villages. Divided into niche groups, they form relatively small circles with tools at their disposal to speak to one another and to share information. CEOs and community managers need to tap into their tribes and listen to them. More than that, they need to join the tribe.
It’s wise not to lose sight of the Wisdom of crowds. James Surowiecki coined the phrase, and it is applicable to the Cooks Source scenario. The crowd not only rallied against Cooks Source’s editor Judith Griggs, it mobilized to fact check, research, dig up other copyright infringements attributed to Cooks Source and publish a list of its advertisers. The crowd pulled its resources together to make the protest movement a reality. Had Griggs apologized sincerely and humbly, she might have quieted the opposition. Her unfortunate attitude, however, only served to fuel the fire. CEOs and community managers should not underestimate the wisdom of crowds, their ability to self-mediate and, especially, their potential for intelligent mobilisation.
You have to react to a building crisis and react quickly. Cooks Source proves that a situation can turn into a crisis within a matter of hours. CEOs and Community managers need to stay on top of their online reputation by ongoing monitoring. Setting up something as easy as a Google Alerts is a quick way to monitor your brand. More sophisticated tools like Sysomos’ Heartbeat and Radian6 comb social media platforms for you and pull together conversations into buzzgraphs and share of voice. Whichever you choose, know that the key to nipping an impending crisis in the bud is staying ahead of it. Address complaints head on, apologize when appropriate and, if Judith Griggs has taught you anything, always communicate with respect and humility. Arrogance does not go over well, and you’ll end up looking like an ass.
Know your tribe. Really know them. If you don’t already engage with the online community that is interested in your industry or market, you’re missing an opportunity to build goodwill before a crisis can happen. Become a respected member of the community and people will not only give you the benefit of the doubt, they’ll come to your defence. Nothing should please a CEO or Community Manager more than to see that the community has his back.
Cooks Source editor Judith Griggs will certainly consider 2010 as her annus horribilis. The damage she created for her brand not only through her initial mistake but through her mishandling of the online community cause her brand irreparable damage. This all sounds very ominous, but it shouldn’t. The good news for CEOs and Community Manager paying attention to the Cooks Source soap opera? They’ll take it as yet another sign that companies and brands appreciated by consumers, who treat them right, and who engage in dialogue with them, will come out as winners in the social media space. Cultivating and working hard to deserve and maintain a good reputation has never been more important as in the age of social media.
Because I’d never heard of Cooks Source two months ago. Had you? Now it has its own wikipedia page. And not for the right reasons.
Did you know: Griggs is now a verb. As in « Why’d you get an F on that essay? » « I griggs’d the professor’s doctoral thesis from her website, and I even cleaned it up for her and told her she should give me an A, but she failed me anyway. »
Let Judith Griggs be your Jacob Marley. Repent, Scrooge. Repent!
