Future tools

Future Tools:
Why did you come to this event?

Video clip: Epic 2015 by Robin Sloan and Matt Thompson
Epic 2015 is presented from the viewpoint of a fictional “Museum of Media History.” The year is 2015. Journalism is no longer the same. Epic 2015 explores the effects of convergence. Popular news conglomerates such as Google News and Newsbot, as well as other Web 2.0 technologies such as blogging, social networking, podcasting, GPS and web map services such as Google Maps, have changed the definition of journalism. The video examines the potential effect these technologies may have on not only journalism, but also society.

Some statistics:
-70% of Americans think journalism is important to the quality of life, but 64% are dissatisfied with the quality of journalism in their community
-55% of younger adults get their news from the web
-Only 7% of the 18-29 demographic said they get most of news from newspapers

Amy Gahran, Editor, Poynter Institute’s group weblog

How to get into the online media mindset:
1. Need to realize the web is a conversational form of media. Gahran stresses that it is about having a conversation. “We need to stop thinking of community as just an audience,” she said. “The community wants to engage with its news organization.” She advises to stop thinking of journalism as a finished project; instead, think of it more as a flow.

Gahran’s tips for embracing online media:

1. You get what you give, meaning journalism is about more than just time and effort, it is about attitude. It requires participation and the willingness to step outside of one’s comfort zone.

2. Remember it is always easier to join a conversation than start one. So get out in the community and listen to what people are talking about.

3. Ask people in community what they want. Talk to them face to face and ask them where they hang out online and what sites they prefer to visit. Get involved: through email, forums, talk radio, text messaging… Don’t get discouraged by the technology. Listen to your community. Let them lead you.

4. Don’t just look, but engage in conversations, speak up. It is not just about gathering information for a specific topic. Gahran says we must LISTEN to the community.

5. Hang around, and once you find these conversations, don’t just pop in and out when you need something. Commit to the relationship.

6. Remember that conversation is key. Act like you care about what people have to say. Read the comments on your site.
The community wants to engage and participate.

TOOLS:

1. Feeds (RSS), a web feed, is a data format used for providing users with frequently updated content.

2. Twitter
-Seems like a great way to connect with social media; it lets you post 140-character posts.
“Think of Twitter as a way to have a little bit of mindshare,” said Gahran. It is a way to follow people and see what they are saying.

As with feeds, Twitter is not so much about reading everything someone says. It is more about just finding out what is going on with people. It is a way to get inside people’s heads

Gahran encourages journalists to think of using online tools as part of the reporting process. It is no longer just about doing formal research (i.e. interviews).

Leslie Rule, Center for Locative Media, KQED

Locative Media and all things geo

Gotta Go GEO… how do you tag content to place?

Move forward, off-line and back into the community

Locative Media:

Is bound to a place
Applied to real places
It has the potential to trigger real social interactions.
The goal is to engage; if you have a cell, you have a GPS locator in your cell phone

Locative Media is about taking geological and local interest, and elevating it beyond longitude and latitude. On any corner, everywhere, there is a history, and journalists can tap into that by tagging content to that place.

Power of Locative Media, according to Rule, is that you can tag content to a place and then actually send someone there to experience it.

Is there something about place that changes the nature of a story?

“It is about engagement,” said Rule. “People are engaged with their place and have a lot to say about it.”