Monday, July 2, 2012

The Spin Cycle, 7/2

A round-up of recent happenings in the world of PR, marketing, and other things I find interesting.

Dewey Beats Truman: The erroneous reporting by Fox and CNN that the U.S. Supreme Court had struck down the Affordable Care Act has provoked a justifiable backlash about media chest-pounding over getting scoops, particularly when said scoop is now measured by mere seconds:

But worrying about being first on reporting something that is handed to you and everyone else? By 24 seconds? To borrow the Gail Collinsism, I think I speak for everyone when I say, it's really not important.

Worse than that, it's dangerous. The health care decision is a complicated piece of business. It's worth taking the time required to fully understand it before reporting on it. It's that rush to be first or almost first that leads to world-class mistakes like CNN and Fox News made this morning, when they reported the health care law had been overturned.


Twitter Does Mobile Right: Twitter says most of its ad revenues comes from its mobile platform, in contrast to rival Facebook which has struggled to offer users a compelling mobile experience, let alone generate significant ad revenues there. The simplicity of Twitter no doubt sets a lower bar for creating a good mobile experience, but unlike Facebook, I find using Twitter's mobile interface to be more user-friendly than its web platform.

I Don't Like You Like That: The great Brian Solis reminds marketers that a "like" on Facebook is not a license to drown your followers in boring content. It's not an "opt-in":

The difference between Like and other direct response triggers is that the Like is an act of fleeting value that must be earned over and over again. Often, it’s an “in the moment” action that expresses affinity, interest, alignment, and sometimes endorsement. And as an expression, Likes are a form of social currency and their value goes up and down with each engagement.

In other words, you have to earn that "like" each and every time you post something on Facebook.

Bad for Hacks, Good for Flacks: An Australian publicist finds herself in hot water over an online article in which she notes that recent newspaper downsizing is good for the public relations industry. Know what? She's right. The only problem is she comes off as callous toward so many people losing their jobs, and her thoughts more properly belonged in a trade publication, or as a presentation at a PR conference. Know your audience.

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