In part 2 of my discussion with Revision3 CEO Jim Louderback, we review the importance of community in the very fabric of the programming and overall production. As Jim explains, Revision3 got its name from the idea that television is undergoing its third revision. Revision 1 was the three broadcast networks. Revision 2 was cable television, which as Jim highlights, helped bring television closer to the audience. Revision 3 is rooted in “breaking the fourth wall,” a popular expression in theater for connecting the seated audience with the performance on stage. Internet television opens up a new paradigm for connecting through the camera to PCs and mobile devices. The new era of content producers must create content that’s not only engaging but participatory. Content merely becomes one pillar of community.
In recent weeks journalism and the future of all media have once again gone under the knife. Experts on either side of new media debated whether or not Twitter’s CNN moment truly was indicative of the future of journalism. Twitter’s role in the spread of online dialogue speculating the death of Osama Bin Laden was studied at great depths to better understand when and where news actually surfaces, how it’s validated, and how news travels across the Web and in real life. Perhaps nothing visualized the power of a single Tweet with such dramatic effect as the network graph developed by SocialFlow.
I was asked to enter the Bloomberg BusinessWeekDebate Room to make the case “for” Twitter as a platform for journalism – at least that’s how I interpreted it. On the other side, ScribbleLive CEO Michael De Monte debates why it is “for the birds.”
But before we get too far down the path, let’s frame the discussion. The original debate topic posed by BusinessWeek, “Twitter Isn’t Journalism, Or Is It?” is a bit misleading and honestly, I think it’s the wrong question to ask.
Recently, Facebook announced that it had surpassed the 300 million user mark. According to Experian HitWise, Facebook accounted for 58.59 percent of all U.S. visits among a custom category of 155 social networking Web sites in September 2009. This is an interesting stat and I would love for Experian HitWise to send the full list over, so that I can also analyze the playing field for new, emerging, and declining players across the board.
Every now and then I discover something that is so captivating, that I have to stop what I’m working on to share it with everyone I know. This is one of them.
For those veterans who continue to define Twitter’s role in how we communicate, share and learn, those who have recently made its acquaintance, and those just finding their stride, we all linked through common threads and context that pique our curiosity, stimulate our quest for adventure, expand our networks beyond our real world network, and feed our desire for attention.
This past weekend the Twitterverse spoke-out in exasperation and opposition against traditional media networks (CNN specifically) and the absence of instantaneous coverage of the Iranian election and the resulting fallout. “We the people” wanted real-time information regarding the violent protests that erupted on the streets of Iran and the stories probing potential foul play in the results. We took to Twitter to express discontent and to also uncover the real story as it was unfolding live through citizen journalism.
Brian Solis is principal at Altimeter Group, a research-based advisory firm. Solis is globally recognized as one of the most prominent thought leaders and published authors in new media. A digital analyst, sociologist, and futurist, Solis has studied and influenced the effects of emerging media on business, marketing, publishing, and culture. His current book, Engage, is regarded as the industry reference guide for businesses to build and measure success in the social web.
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