Big Media struggles to stay relevant with rise of Social Media, should analyze coexistence within Tech Industry
Categories: Events, Media 2.0, Social MediaPosted on February 10th, 2007
(Left: A scribe at the conference was capturing the big “Aha” ideas and sharing on the screen, photo by David Parmet)
It was fascinating for me to observe as an outsider looking in to the world of journalism and traditional media at the WeMedia conference in Miami this week. My notes from day one are the same as my summary, now that I’m back at home. Social Media is impacting them in ways that some are having a hard time grasping while some have already figured out advanced adoption models.
I noticed frustration and during some of the heated conversations. There was certainly conflict there was in how the industry was trying to figure out how they fit into this new model. Questions of we vs me, lack of fact checking in social media and bloggers, time to market, first person reporting, local vs hyper local, and of course, how the hell does one make money?
I heard some executives from large media companies stand up and really speak in the ‘command and control’ voice, they used terms like audiences and messages, rather than communities and conversations.
One lady made frequent complaints that her voices was not heard from her hyper local neighborhood. She blamed media for only covering her community when something bad happens. I was confused, why doesn’t she start a blog and be her own news creator?
Towards the end of the conference I finally grabbed the mic and introduced myself. I made it clear I was a blogger and I help corporations figure out how to stay relevent. I told the conference how they’re not alone, (in fact I think the media industry is ahead of the general marketing industry) and that they should look towards the Tech Industry as a model for success.
The Tech Industry is unique, we’re early adopters, and most of the time (but not all) we collaborate online sharing and arguing ideas. I told them to check out the beautiful playpen of TechMeme, where traditional media and selected bloggers already coexist in harmony (and sometimes in dissonance, and that’s ok too, as we do it together).
As I said that, several folks at the conference went to the site, only to see a meme on the WeMedia conference already taking place.
In the end, it’s pretty simple, the big media folks that figure out how to co-exist, to me an AND, more than an OR will be a thriving part of the community which they serve.
Lastly, I suggested to several folks that the next conference have an ‘unconference’ style, this WeMedia conference was not how I thought it was marketed (PDF) as an ‘audience’ driven conference. Several complained about the $1000 price tag, which is more of the element of a top down event.
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About
Jeremiah Owyang
Silicon Valley
The views expressed on this website/weblog are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer, Forrester Research.
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Hi Jeremiah..I think you summed it up when you say about big media looking to co-exist–an AND more than OR. That’s one of the things I’ve said about “citizen media” coverage of events, in that it gives a perspective alongside the hardcore nuts and bolts facts of msm…
and that perhaps all of those conversations don’t need to be monitored by msm or monitized by them either.
Was good meeting you there
Posted by tish grier on February 12th, 2007 at 1:09 pm
[...] I’m an outsider to the journalism industry, but having recently attended the WeMedia conference in Miami, I was able to make some interesting observations. This is an industry undergoing change. [...]
Posted by Web Strategy by Jeremiah » PodTech hosts “Progressive Journalists” fellows on March 1st, 2007 at 9:47 am
[...] Examples of New and Old as something new: I’m already starting to see mainstream (old) and social media (new) merge into something new, here’ a few that have been discussed or appear to be a working model. I even vocally encouraged mainstream media at the WeMedia conference to do this. Scott Beale indicates to us to the SF Chronicle’s article: Where Old and New Media Collide, which portrays companies like PodTech, Flickr, YouTube, and Splashcast as companies that are the new media. I personally don’t think it’s a clash, as there’s a merger of some sorts happening. [...]
Posted by Web Strategy by Jeremiah » The Marriage of New and Old Media on March 19th, 2007 at 6:24 am
[...] Us vs Them When I attended the WeMedia conference in Miami earlier this year, I was amazed at the tension of “us vs them”. It was clear that the hard liners were resisting and having a hard time letting go to gain more. It didn’t feel like this with this group, or with Stanford’s Injo. I remember that the hardliners were attacking blogging as journalism. Blogs are simply communication tools and can be used in a variety of ways, by no means am I a reporter or consider this blog a news source, it’s intended to be a living white paper. Of course any media revolution is only as good as it’s message. Even with mass layoffs at the SF Chronicle this last few weeks, it’s a clear indicator that the hard-liners are being asked to move off and new skills and concepts that it’s “We” not “us vs them” are needed. [...]
Posted by Web Strategy by Jeremiah » Journalism evolves at UC Berkerley, a conversation on social media on June 9th, 2007 at 8:50 am