Diminishing Returns?

A funny thing happened on the way to the ballot box yesterday.

The local media, with one exception, stopped using social media to deliver me the news.

As a former media member, I'm watching with great interest from outside the industry, as stations adapt to using Facebook, Twitter, and other sources to deliver their content. In fact, I've written about this before.

Last night was particularly interesting to me, as there was a special election you might have heard about ... as Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic battled to avoid recall.

This issue has been dominating the discussion in Summit County ... with mayors from Hudson to Green chiming in on the effort.

So, needless to say, I watched with great interest as the returns came in.

Now, I'm smart enough to know where to get the results myself, but I thought I would keep an eye on the social media sites to see how the local media would deliver me the numbers.

To my surprise, outside of the fine folks over at Akron News Now (who also delivered a live video feed from their newsroom, which unfortunately, I missed), they didn't.

So, I started delivering the results myself ... on both Facebook and Twitter, sometimes even getting the numbers up faster than the folks at ANN (but not by much.)

Interestingly, one television station (who shall remain nameless), had an assignment editor "tweeting" the results under her Twitter account, but only after she received a call from the reporter in the field.

In other words, by the time they were "tweeted" they were already behind.

Here's what confuses me. Why not just have the reporter tweet them himself?

The old ways of delivering results are dead, folks.

The social media world, and its consumers, want their news hand-delivered, and they want it fresh.

It absolutely floors me that television stations and newspapers that tweet on a regular basis didn't bother to offer the results through social media.

So, when it came to getting the results yesterday the quickest, Akron area consumers basically had three options.

1. The Board of Elections website.

2. Akron News Now.

3. Me -- a guy sitting in his office delivering the numbers while listening to a Tribe game.

The fact that there are at least 7 or 8 other news organizations that I, personally, defeated last night should be of GREAT concern to them.

Because, if private citizens like me can take journalism into their own hands, what use will we have for those who actually get paid to deliver the news?

PS: To every news outlet who wants me to be their "Facebook Friend of the Day" ... stop pandering. Don't lip service social media ... either go all in, as ANN did, or face the consequences.

Age of TMI

Keeping up with my post-a-day promise ... and with a busy day this one's coming early.

Today, I'm tackling Twitter.

Yes, I tweet.

And, yes, I see the value in it, both as a a way for organizations to market themselves, and as a way to keep in touch.

I think it has some other pretty cool uses.

Recently, I followed a Bruce Springsteen concert as it unfolded, when a concert-goer "tweeted" every song as it came up.

Pretty fun, right?

But, there's a down side to all of this.

TMI. Especially on the "personal" level.

I'm not sure I really want to know, or care to know, when some people are getting out of bed, what they're having for breakfast, what they're seeing when they open their eyes, or every movement they make.

In fact, I actually considered, as a joke, taking this to the extreme.

My idea, post a tweet every time I move. Literally. Tweet as I walk from my living room to the office. From there to my kitchen. From there to my bedroom.

Or, I could just post longitude and latitude and let people figure out the rest.

It's not that some stuff isn't fun to read, it's just that I really wonder whether I need to know EVERYTHING that's happening in someone's life.

It all comes back to an old Dennis Miller joke I remember hearing, when home video cameras were first hitting the market.

Miller quipped that he thought people should have to prove their lives are interesting enough to be taped before being allowed to purchase one.

I kind of feel the same way about personal tweets. Is your life REALLY interesting enough for me to learn of your EVERY move?

In fact, I see some people who scream bloody murder when Twitter goes down even for a short while.

I like to think that I could survive without a phone, TV, computer, Twitter, Facebook, etc., if any of them should be removed for a small period of time.

That's when I go outside. Read a book. Fiddle around with a hobby. Without tweeting about it.

So, before you consider that brain implant that will upload your thoughts directly to Twitter ... ask yourself ... "is this really necessary?"

PS ... 2 other quick Twitter rants.

1. If you're going to tweet a lot, please spell correctly. I'm now to the point where I'm not ashamed to correct you.

2. Please, don't try to send too many tweets to celebrities (unless they ask for them) ... otherwise, you just look desperate (and a little stalkerish).

The Joke's On Us!

Let me begin by saying I can't stand April Fool's Day.

To me, it's amateur hour, where people who think they're funny decide to show the world just how un-funny they are.

I would never claim to be funny (witty maybe), so I usually pass on the prank-playing tradition of the day.

But, a former colleague of mine always participates ... and today, something real interesting happened.

Every year, this former colleague writes an outrageous story on his blog ... something so "out of left field" it can't possibly be true. It usually does not end in "April Fool's" ... or any acknowledgement that the story is a joke.

Now, this blog post isn't to criticize him, it's to point out something that's happened that could easily spin these "jokes" out of control.

You see, in the year since he wrote his last "joke post", newsrooms have turned to social media to help slow their decline.

Facebook pages, blogs, and Twitter feeds have all become part of the "official" news distribution system.

Which is where the dangers of jokes like today's lies.

You see, when the blog was my colleague's personal addition to the the day's news, the joke was fine.

But today, after he wrote the post, he directed people to it with a salacious "tease" on both his Twitter and Facebook pages.

I'm ok with that ... to a certain extent. After all, those feeds are his personal feeds.

But, this is where the line blurs.

You see, those social media sites are ALSO "official" ways to distribute the news. In fact, my friend uses both to solicit both story ideas, and to "tease" folks to that evening's newscasts.

Today, some of his Facebook "friends" have already posted responses that indicate they believe his joke is a REAL story that my former colleague is breaking.

This is really, really dangerous to me.

To top it off, his station's "official" Twitter feed also picked up his blog post, and blasted it out for all to see, with no indication that it's a joke.

This is where the joke goes over the edge.

Look, I like a good laugh as much as the next person. But, the evening news is not "morning zoo" radio with zany sound effects, and prank phone calls.

It's a place people turn for credibility, and today's "blog prank" damages that credibility a bit ... when it's being disseminated using "official" means.

To top it off, the same station gave me four lines on a story that I'm interested in, a pizza shop employee opening fire and killing a robber.

And, within the four lines, is at least one error.

I'd rather have folks concentrating on the news ... and not trying to make me laugh.

So, what do you think? Should I lighten up?

Or from a true journalism standpoint, does the convergence of newsrooms into social media make "jokes" not so funny anymore?

EDIT: My former colleague explained his blog post here. He says part of it is to not "always believe what you read/hear." Do you buy the explanation?

Laying low

Sorry for the lack of posts ... I don't know if it's the holidays, the gray-sky winter blahs, or whatever else, but my blogging has been off-track the last few days.

Another thing has happened of late as well ... I'm getting a little tired of the Facebooking/Twittering generation we live in.

I sometimes miss just picking up the phone, and asking folks what's new.

And at the same time, I'm also realizing I don't think I need CONSTANT updates on some folks.

I always welcome updates from my close friends (the ones who are standing by me in a time of mini-crisis) ... but the rest ... well, I guess I don't need to know when casual acquaintances are suffering from the sniffles, pimping their hometown, or watching TV.

I guess like anything else new, it was a novelty at first, and the fun is beginning to wear off.

You know, like the video game you got at Christmas ... and conquered within a couple months, only to watch the cartridge sit on the shelf and collect dust for the rest of its life.

Like I said, maybe it's just my mood, the winter weather, or whatever ... but I'm finding this whole online world is beginning to bore me.