I am 2 years to Ryan Holiday's publication"Trust Me, I am working". Never much of a PR person, I learned quickly out of his nonfictional accounts of being a"media manipulator" that marketing can be everything after you have built a fantastic product. Since I have to return the publication by 12/20 to the San Diego Public Library, I figured this is a good time to write down my notes as a blog post.
Quotes in"Trust Me, I am Lying"
"Social media is not a set of tools to permit individuals to communicate with humans. It is a set of embedding mechanisms to permit technology to use humans to communicate with each other, in an orgy of self-organizing... The Matrix had it wrong. You are not the batter power in a worldwide, human-enslaving AI, you're somewhat more valuable. You are part of the shifting circuitry"
"It's Additional info a prime example of the feminist blogosphere's tendency to tap in the industry force of what I've begun to consider as"outrage planet" -- the regularly occurring firestorms stirred up on mainstream, for-profit, woman-targeted blogs such as Jezebel as well, to a lesser degree, Slate's own XX Factor and Salon's Broadsheet. They are triggered by authors that are pushing readers to sense what the authors assert is righteously indignant rage but which is actually just petty jealousy, cleverly marketed as feminism. All these firestorms are great for page-view-pimping bloggy enterprise."
"Businesses should expect a full scale, organized attack from critics. One that will concurrently overrun blog comments, Facebook fan pages, and an onslaught of blogs, resulting in mainstream press appeal. Start by developing a social media crises plan and growing internal fire drills to expect what would happen."
-Jeremiah Owyang
"Our selves are the home where we live; they are our information, our heroes, our adventure, our types of art, our very experience."
Practice Advice in the Novel
Control your Wikipedia page (use any media mention from sites or traditional media)
Examine the top stories and you'll see a pattern: the best stories all polarize poeple. If you make it endanger people's 3 Bs -- behavior, belief, or possessions -- you receive a huge virus-like dispersion
Compose stuff bloggers can post right away without any work. Feed them their very own lies"help them trick their readers"
Silence on blogs is your worst.
Faking leaks with email editor (from various sources) can work if You've Got the right connections
Media historian W.J. Cfambell once identified the distinguishing mark of yellow journalism as follows:
Prominent headlines that cried excitement about utlimately unimportant news
Luxury use of images (often of little significance )
Shade comics plus a big, thick Sunday supplement
Ostentatious support of the underdog causes
Utilization of anonymous sources
Prominent coverage of high society and occasions
Concepts from the publication
Ongoing Narrative /Iterative Reporting -damage is already done, there's no such thing. Iterative reporting is bullshit, folks treat news headlines as"cultural truth", the damage is already done, even it's a baseless accusation.
Faking leaks with email editor (from various sources)
The Psychology of Error -- Errors and mistakes get rewarded, causes outrage = pageviews = money
By way of example, each picture is a different load screen = more pageviews (short term vs. long term metrics). Usability vs. profitability -- publishers are focused liberally on pageviews, but in the long term, user trust will be significant. Meanwhile, reckless bloggers are making millions from sensationalizing stories that are untrue.
Snark -- deadly weapon (humour in its own dark form. Another online illustration: Hot Chicks using Douchebags
All that happens -> All that's known by media --All that is newsworthy ->All that is printed as information -> All that spreads. This really is the systematic limiting of the information seen by the General Public
My Action List / Lessons from the Book
Headlines matter
Websites hold a lot of power
The ideal contacts at the ideal sites in a certain industry hold tons of influence. Example: Apple announcements
Building a new site with high viral grip (however with the right user metrics in mind) may take off fast. Websites like Watch Mojo, Ebaumsworld, Break.com, ride the wave of copying content from other people, organized in a digestible way that users can quickly spread. Millions of dollars are made this way while resources are never credited. There must be a way to do both.
There is a need for a reputable news source, or a business specific source that does not pander to"mass hysteria". Example: refinery29.com