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Journalism 2.0 October 23, 2008

Posted by jamiekim in Journalism, Social Media.
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Journalists have already learned the most important thing from bloggers: news can be a conversation, not just a lecture. And recent research is showing that journalists are extensively using social media, which allows feedback, comments, multimedia and more. There is an opportunity for a dialogue—an interaction—rather than a one-sided monologue, and journalists know and utilize these aspects of social media.

However, with more than 100 million blogs floating around in the blogosphere, it’s difficult for many journalists—and bloggers for that matter—to catch the interest of readers and engage them in conversations. Some people are going as far as saying that blogging is dead.

So what does this mean for traditional media? If bloggers die, do journalists live?

Well, bloggers aren’t dead, and neither are journalists. In fact, the only thing that seems to be dying is the average reader’s attention span. Technology has shoved well-crafted inverted pyramids into shorter blog posts and now it’s reducing information into 140 words or less via Twitter. At this rate, we might as well be communicating in acronyms.

The Web is constantly changing and facilitating rapid technological and social change. And this is exactly the lesson to be learned. New social media tools will pop-up and there will always be new ways to communicate information and news. Traditional media should monitor and implement these useful social media tools to retain existing audiences and invite new ones, but they don’t need to go overboard.

The single most important thing that traditional media should do is to keep doing what they do best. It’s as simple as that. They’re masters of their crafts and have been doing it for so long; traditional media obviously provides its audiences with something that new media cannot, otherwise there would be no traditional media still existing today.

Drop the attitude October 3, 2008

Posted by jamiekim in Social Media.
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In high school, I always looked down on people who referred to MySpace in conversations. For me, the social network site was something separate from my real life. I was connected yet disconnected, and in a way, even though my MySpace page centered around me, my online persona was still slightly fictionalized.

My name, picture and profile were out for the world to see (pre-privacy settings, of course) yet I separated my virtual identity from my “true” identity.

Interestingly enough, I wasn’t the only one who felt this way. At that time, most of my peers believed in the social taboo, too—not because they didn’t have their own online profiles but because being a member of an online community was still something new for my generation.

I admit that many of us still carried the notion that online communities were for geeks and lowlifes who couldn’t establish real-life relationships.

But the funny thing is, we’re all geeks now.

MySpace and Facebook have long turned into everyday words and I’ve realized that hearing people mention these social network sites in real-life conversations no longer bother me. Why? Because everyone belongs to—or has the option to create—an online community nowadays.

Well, mostly everyone. There are still a select few (two? three?) people who haven’t conformed to the digital norm.

But that’s fine with me, just as long as I’m in the majority.

iSurvived September 26, 2008

Posted by jamiekim in Social Media, Stories.
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I was on my way toward addiction at age 12. 

I didn’t even use that much in the beginning, though. Those were definitely slower times; I would maybe use for an hour straight at most. 

My life was pretty much—if not completely—dependent on it. I used it everday—at home, school and work. It didn’t matter where I was because it was so readily available. Using was as easy as the click of a button. 

But it’s a much more different world nowadays. 

Hi. My name is Jamie, and I’m an Internet addict.

I’ve had to make a lot of changes in my daily life ever since the collapse of the Internet. But besides the extreme cases of discomgoogolation, life without the Internet is manageable. 

What worries me most is not my own withdrawals but those of this entire nation. Everyone is forced into the same exhile. We’re all taking the same e-vacation and we don’t know what to do with ourselves. Nearly every industry has been impacted, and it’s hard to imagine that we once lived without it. I mean, is there anything we can do after our lives have been so digitally involved?

You’d be surprised. 

This is a time to get back in touch with reality and face to face communication. Let’s go back to physical newspapers, address books, paper bank statements, library cards and compact discs. 

Sure, these things seem dated because of the technology that we’ve had to replace them with.

But guess what? Life goes on. 

Once upon a time, there was no World Wide Web, no Internet or social media. 

It’s that time again.

And the best part is, we’re already survivors.

It Depends on the Issue September 18, 2008

Posted by jamiekim in Social Media.
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When I feel sick, the person who I contact first is not a nurse, doctor or pharmacist.

It is my mother.

And I call her because she is an expert when it comes to who I am. In my eyes, she is a professional and I value her opinion greatly.

In fact, if my mom had a blog and claimed herself as an expert in raising children, I would include the blog in my RSS feed and consider her a good source for parenting know-how’s. Never mind the fact that she doesn’t hold a degree in anything child-related. She has over 20 years of experience. She is qualified enough for me.

But I understand that most people wouldn’t subscribe to her every word of citizen journalism; they don’t share the long established relationship that I have with her.

To others, she may be just another blogger, another person claiming to be an expert with no professional degree to justify her statements.

And their point is valid.

Heck, even I would never trust her with a serious health concern (i.e. surgery). That is when a doctor—a licensed professional—should be visited.

If we knew when it was appropriate to seek information from life experts and licensed experts, the war between bloggers versus journalists—Weinberger versus Keen—would end.

There is no threat in educating ourselves with information found in blogs and other open-sourced Internet sites. We just need to keep in mind that there are more unbiased and credible sources out there, whether these are on or offline.

Life After College September 12, 2008

Posted by jamiekim in Social Media.
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I’m a paranoid individual.

And I have Web 2.0 to thank for it.

Social media has turned everything into an open party. Posting pictures on MySpace; sending bumper stickers on Facebook; constantly updating your status on Twitter—it’s all really fun. Not to mention really addicting.

After all, what’s not fun about being the host of your own party and inviting all of your friends and family to celebrate?

Well. When nobody wants to leave. Or better yet, when you suddenly see a few co-workers walk-in through the back door.

Who invited them? Technically, you did.

Friends and family aren’t the only people with an Internet access.

Every social media user needs to take extra precautions, especially the members of Generation Y searching for jobs out in the “real world.” Not only can Web 2.0 make it so you don’t get a job you’re interviewing for, but it can get you fired from whatever job you already have.

Sitting behind a computer screen is no longer considered a hiding place. Your identity won’t stay anonymous for very long, especially when an employer is running a Google search of your name.

We all need to protect out privacy and calculate whether our current (online) actions can possibly equate to future consequences. You can never be too careful these days.

Sure, social media sites can be fun and friendly. But things can start getting ugly, very quickly.