digital

Living Analog with a Digital Layer

By Mark Evans in Social Media No Comments Tags: , ,

At a dinner party last night, there was an animated discussion about social media, which included how teenagers and children use social media in ways their parents would consider unthinkable or strange.

One of the comments, which I think captured the essence of how younger people use the Web and social media, was that: “Young people have analog lives with a digital layer”.

It’s a simple statement but the more you think about it, the more sense it makes. It’s not that Facebook, Twitter or text-messaging have replaced real-world relationships, it’s that young people complement their analog lives with a digital layer that makes their relationships different or feature a new dynamic.

For young people, the tight integration of social media and digital tools, including the fact big chunks of their lives are photographed or videoed, is the new reality or, at least, their reality. For the rest of us, it makes for a fascinating case study.

Why Less (Digital) is More (Time, Focus)

By Mark Evans in Blogs, Social Media No Comments Tags: , , ,

In 2011, less is going to be more….and that’s a good thing.

It’s a decision that comes on the heels of a happily hectic 2010 in which my business surged ahead, and a number of other projects (including the mesh conference) consumed time. It was a great year but it felt like a hurricane, leaving me with the feeling that things could be better organized, more efficient and more productive.

So less in 211 means:

1. Less time online. Given how much time I do spend on time, spending less time will still be a lot. Nevertheless, this means being online not because I should or it’s convenient but because there’s something to do. It means using the time for just fooling around online to read a book or a newspaper, play a game or call a friend.

2. Less time on the iPhone. I love smartphones but they’re starting to rule us rather than us ruling them. We have become compulsive obsessive about checking our smartphones all the day. How many times do you think people check for e-mail a day? I’d say at least 25 times. Our smartphones have killed our time to think and take a mental break because they give something to “do” when there is a break in the action.

3. Less apps. I’m a app-aholic, always looking for the new and shiny application that will do things differently or better. It’s fun to check out new toys but it also means spending less time when the apps that do the work. For me, this includes WordPress, DropBox, Freshbooks, Skype, Google Docs, Bit.ly and, hopefully, Manymoon. While it’s great to discover a gem that not a lot of people are using, it also take time.

4. Less time in the in-box. People may say e-mail is dying but not for me. The amount of time spend in my in-box is terrifying. That said, most of it is work-related. It’s managing projects, reaching out and talking with clients, responding to inquiries, and doing stuff like mesh. Still, I’m in the in-box most of the day as opposed to checking several times a day. We all tend to forget that e-mail isn’t going to disappear if it’s not checked hourly. At the same time, not checking and responding to e-mail may re-set expectations about quickly someone should respond to an e-mail.

5. Less social media. Now, here’s the elephant in the room. For me, social media is mostly professional and brand building vehicle. They are tools used to establish a stronger digital presence, consume valuable information and, as important, drink the digital Kool-Aid. After all, it is difficult to be a digital marketing and social media strategist if you’re not using and experimenting with the tools.

Still, social media is a time-suck. Blogging, my social bread and butter, takes up a lot of time and intellectual energy. I’m not really into Facebook so I’m good with the little time it does consume. That leaves Twitter, which I love but probably spend too much time scrolling through tweets looking for gems. If less is truly more, then less time in Twitter is the goal for 2011. I’ll probably create as much content – seven to 10 tweets a day – because it’s how build digital street cred but it’s the consuming that needs to be addressed.

We’re only into day three of 2011 so the “less is more” theme is a new and fragile concept. That said, I didn’t open my laptop after 5 p.m. yesterday until this morning so maybe it’s taking root!

What about you? Could less be more?

The Power of Paper in a Digital World

By Mark Evans in Social Media 5 Comments Tags: , , ,

A funny thing happened to me in 2010 amid the flurry of social media, tablets, smartphones and online services: I fell in love with paper all over again.

While I’m probably as enamoured with the Web, gadgets and hardware as the next guy or girl, paper has started to play a key role in my personal and professional world. It wasn’t by design but simply that paper made more sense.

For example, my consulting business has become really busy, and one of the ways I managed to get a handle on projects is using large sheets of paper to do mind-minding. In my office, there’s a growing pile of paper that features a variety of colours – paper that contains the plans and directions for the work done for many clients. I have tried online mind-minding services but find the tangibility of paper to be more effective and valuable.

I have also become a big fan of Moleskin notebooks. I always carry a small Moleskin in my jacket pocket to write down ideas for blog posts, presentations, and interesting people, books or people. The notebook isn’t particularly organized but the act of writing things down somehow makes them resonate or stick in my brain. Moleskins aren’t particularly sexy but from what I can they still have staying power.

In the past months, I have also embraced paper to create daily to-do lists – in addition to information that exists in iCal and DayLite. It was something that happened because I started to forget phone calls that I had to make, which is not a good thing when your business is all about customer service. Creating a paper-based to-do list somehow makes it easy to remember everything.

And I’m still reading newspapers in the morning at a time when my Google Reader account is collecting dust. Maybe it has to do with my roots as a newspaper reporter but, to me, newspapers are still an elegant and effective way to consume a lot of information, which can then be shared digitally via Facebook or Twitter. For all the talk about the iPad and how it could save the newspaper and magazine worlds, “real” newspapers are a very functional vehicle even if the financial model isn’t as lucrative.

And if you wanted to stretch the paper argument, maybe we could bring whiteboards into the mix. I have several whiteboards in my office, and plan to install IdeaPaint on a wall in the next couple of weeks. If I had the money, I would probably buy a Smart Board to marry the digital and whiteboard worlds.

Maybe paper continues to be part of my world because part of me is still analog in a digital world. At the end of the day, paper still works for me so there’s reason to jump off the bandwagon. How about you?

What Agency Should Own Social Media?

By Mark Evans in Social Media 11 Comments Tags: , , , ,

As social media becomes a more integral part of many company’s operations, there’s a battle being waged behind the scenes pitting public relations, digital and advertising agencies against each.

The prize they’re pursuing is the mandate to help companies create strategic and tactical social media plans and campaigns. The winner gets to play a key role, while the losers will be forced to play minor supporting roles. This battle is particularly interesting because for decades the three agencies happily co-existed within their own orbs. There was was cross-over but, in reality, there was little competition.

Social media, however, has changed the landscape. Rather than the three agencies having a gentile lunch, they have suddenly found themselves in the middle of a mixed martial arts contest for the big chunk of the social media pie.

The question is which agency is best suited to lead social media?

Is it PR agencies who know how to tell stories but, traditionally, have not done created or developed Web sites, widgets or applications? Is it ad agencies that put together great creative ideas for campaigns but have little experience with having conversations with consumers? Or it digital agencies, who can build great widgets but aren’t story tellers?

What makes the battle increasingly intriguing is how each kind of agency is beefing up their capabilities to transform themselves from one-trick ponies. PR agencies are adding creative and digital talent through hiring or acquisitions. Ad agencies are getting stronger when it comes to social media strategy and tactics, while digital agencies are building out their strategic and tactical operations.

At the same time, a growing number of companies are looking for one-stop social media shopping or, at least, they want one agency to take the lead, and then manage the other agencies in the ecosystem. By and large, companies are not looking to have multiple players at the table.

My take is that PR agencies are probably the best-suited to take the lead role in many situations. This is based on the beilef that PR agencies are story tellers, which is a crucial part of making social media thrive. Regardless of the service or platform being used, compelling stories have to be at the heart of any social media program.

PR agencies also have lots of experience in building relationships and communities. They are experienced in outreach and providing strategic and tactical counsel while listening and monitoring conversations happening about clients and the markets their clients operate in. And PR agencies have creative capabilities that involve putting together events, promotions and communications campaigns.

For many companies, having a PR agency take the social media lead makes a lot of sense, particularly if the PR agency has digital capabilities in-hour or through a trusted network of suppliers. It provides one-stop shopping.

This isn’t to suggest there aren’t advertising and digital agencies doing great work within social media, or that they won’t be picked to lead social media programs. But at the end of the day, PR agencies seem a more natural choice.

For more perspective on the roles that different agencies are playing within the social media landscape, check out this AdAge column.

Disclosure: I have a strategic relationship to provide social media strategic services to Media Profile, a PR agency.

The Dangers of Digitally Drowning

By Mark Evans in Social Media 2 Comments Tags: , , , ,

You want to hear something sad? Yesterday, I didn’t check e-mail for five hours…in a row. I was playing hockey and, afterwards, had a few post-game refreshments so before you could say slapshot, five hours had evaporated without the inbox being diligently checked for new arrivals.

It is a sad state of affairs when you’re so digitally connected all the time, although running your own business often means work doesn’t happen from nine to five. Then again, all work and no play makes Jack/Jill a dull boy/girl, and too much time on the Web has the potential to gnaw away at your physical and mental soul and health.

Part of the problem with our connected world is it’s so difficult to get unconnected. With more people doing their own thing, and the proliferation of mobile devices, it’s nearly impossible to escape work. This explains why many people check their mobile devices almost as often as they breath.

On the weekend, I saw the father of a young child in the park wearing one of those ultra-geeky Bluetooth headsets. All I could wonder is how this guy thought that he was going to get an important enough call on a Sunday afternoon to justify walking around looking like a dork.

This isn’t the first time that I have railed about digital overload but it was sparked yesterday by two things:

1. A study that appeared on the front page of the Globe & Mail looking at how our “well-being hangs in the balance” because we work too much and play too little. We’re spending too much working and too much time online, while spending less time exercising and time with family, including eating dinner together.

2. I appeared on a panel at the NXNEi conference about social media, and how people are consumed about sharing things on Facebook, Twitter, etc. that are uninteresting, inane, irrelevant and unproductive. All of the panelists – who are digitally engaged – agreed there are lot of people wasting a lot of time focused on using devices to share the moment as opposed to living the moment.

I concede that the Web has increasingly become an integrated part of our personal and professional lives but too many of us (including myself to some extent) are consumed by the Web at the expense of other things, interests and people. Our need to know, learn, update, tweet and see what’s happening is becoming increasingly unhealthy.

So, what can we do to make things just a little better?

Maybe it’s little things like keeping your mobile in your pants when out for lunch or dinner as opposed to placing it on the table as if to announce that if the phone rings, it has more priority than the person you’re with. Maybe, heaven forbid, we could leave the mobile at home when going out for the night. Or maybe take a vow not to check e-mail for three hours.

What do you think? How do you keep yourself digitally sane?

More: Here’s a great post by Peter Bregman about how he returned his iPad because it was too good and, as a result, left him with little time to be bored. In other words, he was too digitally engaged for his own good.

Just Say No to the Yellow Pages

By Mark Evans in Advertising/Marketing 6 Comments Tags: , , ,

For the past few years, I’ve been pounding the table about how people should be able to opt-out from getting the Yellow Pages directory. After all, who really uses the Yellow Pages when you can look things up on the Web.

Clearly, the folks at the Yellow Pages were listening as they’re finally offering a way to say “Please stop delivering the Yellow Pages to my house”. It takes less than a couple of minutes to provide some personal information and, voila, no more 10-pound paperweight showing up on your doorstep.

For the Yellow Pages to offer the ability opt-out suggests they’ve realized that some people just don’t want or need the Yellow Pages anymore. As well, it shows that the Yellow Pages is increasingly going digital – a move that will be accelerated with the recent $225-million purchase of CanPages.

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