Message from Michael -- Internet Trust -- July 26, 2010

Message From Michael                                 

                                                                                                                        July 26, 2010                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

      WHERE IS THE TRUST?

      LOOKING FOR TRUST IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES

      FIFTY WAYS TO LEAVE YOUR LOVER

      IMAGINE SHARING ALL THE WORLD

      COCKTAIL CHATTER  --  BANNED BOOKS, LIBRARIES AND BACHELORETTES

 

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      WHERE IS THE TRUST?  Although more Americans than ever are going online, more Americans than ever distrust the Internet.  That’s one of the key findings from the University of Southern California’s just-released annual report on the Digital Future.  Although the report headlines are about the decline in newspaper use and the growth in online buying along with the reluctance of Americans to pay for Internet use, it’s the issue of trust that I think is most interesting.  More than four out of five Americans (82%) use the Internet.  The average time spent online has doubled since the report was first started in 2000 – from 9.4 hours a week then to 19 hours a week now.  Yet nearly two thirds (61%) say that half or less of the information online is reliable.  The authors say that’s a new low for the ten years the study has been underway.  One in seven respondents (14%) say none, or very little, of the information online is reliable.  That’s a new high.  Even websites that people visit regularly are scoring low on the ‘trust meter.’  More than one in five say half or less of the information is reliable… and that’s the sites they use regularly.  Search engines (which the report says have been the ‘traditional stalwarts of online credibility’) still score well with half (53%) saying most of the information is reliable and accurate, but that is well down from the nearly two thirds (64%) who said that four years ago.  As a point of consideration, I would note that the survey was done well before the recent Breitbart-Sherod incident which has raised new questions about Internet reliability.  The authors raise the question whether the concerns about reliability, security and trust “represent the tip of an iceberg that includes deeper concerns among users about the role of online technology in their lives” and whether users are going into “online overload.”

Apparently though, not for young people.  Back to the more traditional findings in the study:  The report notes that Internet use increases as age decreases.  No surprise there until you look at the exact numbers.  Everyone (100%) of those under age 24 go online.  One in five (19%) of people aged 46 to 55 are ‘non-users’ while nearly as many (15%) in the younger group (36 to 45) are also ‘non-users.’  Those same young people make greater use of ‘new media’, but as a whole, there is a low adoption rate for new media.  Half of those surveyed (50%) never IM; Four out of five (79%) never work on a blog; Four out of five (80%) never participate in chat rooms; and more than four out of five (85%) never make or receive phone calls using new media technology.

The traditional media – aka newspapers – don’t do any better.  Fewer people than before cite newspapers as important sources of information – down to 56% last year from 60% the year before.  That’s below the Internet which – despite the trust issue – is still cited by four out of five (78%) as an important source of information, well ahead of television (68%).  Even fewer (29%) consider newspapers important sources of entertainment.      

But the headline of the news release from the University’s center was the fact that while Millions of Americans use Twitter, none – repeat none – of them want to pay for it.  The study found that half (49%) of Internet users have used free micro-blogs such as Twitter, but when asked if they would be willing to pay for it – “zero percent” said yes.  A fact which the authors called “an extreme finding.”

      LOOKING FOR TRUST IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES:  On a very much related note, a group calling itself the Internet Content Syndication Council is looking at creating a set of guidelines to prevent the spread of ‘poorly written, plagiarized or inaccurate content.’  There has been a proliferation of so-called ‘content providers’ which basically will provide various kinds of content for you to use to beef up your website.  I know.  I looked at them for my various websites.  The newly named executive director of the group says that the content is generated specifically to be linked, so that they score high on search engines.  The result, says Tim Duncan, is that the Internet becomes less valuable because the search engines are “junking up.”  Admittedly it sounds like some weird little group, in part because you’ve probably never heard of them before… I know I hadn’t.  But it’s made up of some heavy hitters – All the major networks, Associated Press and Reuters, NATPE and Nielsen, Brightcove and Canoe, and the real big one – Procter and Gamble.  Three of the top content providers are Examiner.com, AssociatedContent.com and DemandMedia.com.  And these are the ‘high end’ providers.  Associated Content, for example, is part of Yahoo, which by the way, is not part of the Council, although Google is.  Do a search for ‘free content’ and you will find some pretty ‘low end’ providers as well.  Anyway, we’ll have more on this in future messages.                

      FIFTY WAYS TO LEAVE YOUR LOVER:  Add two more to Paul Simon’s list – Facebook, and Texting.  Apparently, breaking up is not very hard to do, for young men, according to a survey by Lightspeed Research for Oxygen Media.  Nearly a quarter of men surveyed (24%) said they have or would break up with someone using Facebook while a third (31%) said they would text message their lover about the breakup.  Women are less than half as likely (9%) to break up using Facebook or by texting (14%).  Women are also less likely than men to say it’s okay to date someone they met on Facebook, but it’s still a whopping half (50%) compared to two thirds (65%) for men.  Women are also less likely (6%) than men (20%) to use it to “hook up.” Women though are more likely (49%) than men (42)% to say it’s okay to keep tabs on their lover by accessing their account.  But in all that, here’s the contradiction that should keep future anthropologists scratching their heads for years to come.  Going back to our lead story about “Trust”, more than half (54%) of women 18-24 say they do not trust Facebook with their private information and an even larger percentage (89%) say you shouldn’t put something on Facebook that ‘you wouldn’t want your parents to see.’  Sounds good so far, right?  Well, four out of five are fine with photos showing them kissing.  Okay, that’s relatively benign.  But, nearly a third (32%) think it’s okay to post photos of themselves or others making obscene gestures; And nearly half (42%) say it’s okay to post photos of themselves “visibly intoxicated.”  Now, readers who keep up with social media trends will know this study is relatively ‘old’ as Message material goes, having come out earlier this month.  But that’s because I have yet to find the original research, and I don’t like to ‘report’ on such studies using second hand sources.  Material for this came from a variety of sources including Mashable.com, HuffingtonPost.com and SocialMediaAtWork.com.  

      IMAGINE SHARING ALL THE WORLD:  On Monday, July 24, 2010, John Lennon’s dream may have become a reality.  On that day, people from around the world were to record a day in their life as part of what is being called “a historic global experiment to create the world’s largest user-generated feature film.”  The  various submissions will be put together by director Kevin MacDonald and producer Ridley Scott into a film that will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January of next year.  So far the YouTube based website has attracted nearly 18 Million channel views, 6 Million upload views, although it ‘only’ has just under 83,000 subscribers.  And while I’m on the subject of YouTube, the site has launched a new channel, leanback, which – as the name implies --  is supposed to make web browsing, video viewing easier, by creating a feed specifically tailored to your interests using your previous search results.  Sort of like Amazon recommending books based on your previous searches.  It’s specifically geared to people who have connected their computers to their HDTV’s.   

      COCKTAIL CHATTER:  A series of young adult novels that has made the New York Times best seller list has also made the American Library Association’s list of “most frequently challenged books” (as in – banned).  The series is written completely in IM-ese and is even titled that way – TTYL (Talk To You Later), TTFN (Tigger fans will know this one – Ta Ta For Now), L8R G8R (I assume I don’t have to translate this one for you.)  The books which I admit I had never even heard of (that’s what happens when your kids get older) are about three girls in the 10^th to 12^th grades and is very realistic… or explicit, depending on your point of view.  Other books on the library association list for 2009 To Catch A Mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye and The Color Purple.  But THE most banned book of 2009, as well as the most challenged book of 2006, 2007 and 2008 is And Tango Makes Three, which is based on the true story about two male Chinstrap Penguins given an egg to raise.  The ALA has also released a list of the top 100 libraries in America.  Topping the list is… what else… the Library of Congress with 32,818,014 volumes.  As you would expect the list is dominated by University library systems, including Harvard (#3), Yale (5), and Columbia (8), with the University of Georgia coming in at 42.  But three public libraries made the top ten:  Boston (#2 with 23,595,895), New York (#4, with 15,428,327) and (here’s the surprise) the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County (#10 with 9,261,529).

This next cocktail chatter item is one that cries for some commentary, but I will resist.  The ABC program The Bachelorette is not only one of the highest rated broadcast programs, it is also one of the highest viewed streaming programs and one of the highest rated network programs on the Internet.  The show wins all four half hours of the two hours it’s on with an ‘above-average’ 6.5 rating and an 11 share.  It also scored with 796,000 unique viewers, just behind The Gates, and 14.4 Million video streams, just ahead of The Young and the Restless. 

      SUBSCRIPTIONS:  If you wish to stop receiving this newsletter, e-mail Michael@MediaConsultant.tv with the word “unsubscribe-MM” in the subject line. Also, back issues of MfM are available at the website, media-consultant.blogspot.com.  You can reach me directly at Michael@MediaConsultant.tv.

 

Message from Michael - Online Video and Apps - July 14, 2010

Message From Michael                                 

                                                                                                                        July 14, 2010                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

      SEND IN THE CLOWNS

      DON’T BOTHER, THEY’RE HERE

      VIDEO MILESTONE

      TESS, JOE AND MARIAH

      SEND IN D’ARTAGNAN

      COCKTAIL CHATTER

 

We encourage people to pass on copies of Message from Michael.  But if you would like to get your own copy, you can subscribe by sending an e-mail to Michael@MediaConsultant.tv with the word “subscribe-MM” in the subject line. 

 

      SEND IN THE CLOWNS:  And American Internet users have, making humorous videos the top choice for online video viewing.  According to a report on the state of online video by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, Comedy has displaced News as the number one viewing choice.  Both showed increases since the last time the survey was taken in 2007, but then again, just about all online video viewing has increased significantly in that time.  Maybe it says something about the American consumers’ mindset now, as opposed to then, but the comedy viewing showed a huge jump in that time.  Half of the Adult Internet Users (50%) say they watch humorous or comedy video online compared to just under a third (31%) the last time.  Less than half (43%) say they watch ‘news’ videos now, which is an increase over the last time (37%) but not nearly so significantly.  Somewhat, but not too surprisingly, nearly all (93%) of the 18-29 crowd say they watched humor videos.  Interestingly the highest percentage of online video news viewing occurred in the 30 to 49 age group (74%). 

Educational video viewing is also up significantly (from 22% to 38%).  Regular Message readers will remember a previous report in which “how to” video websites were a growing phenomenon.  As a side note, website 5Min.com which has videos on such topics as how to choose the right bikini and how to give your cat insulin injections just announced that they will be getting into the news business.  And as a side note to the side note, AOL and other aggregation services have announced they will be hiring ‘hundreds’ of journalists to generate original content.  Anyway, back to the report… viewing of movies and TV shows online doubled (from 16% to 32%) as did viewing of political videos (15% to 30%).  Also, interestingly, political video viewing was not dominated by any demographic, meaning all ages watched roughly equally.  About the only categories that didn’t grow significantly were online commercials (13% to 15%) and Adult Videos which only a small percentage of those surveyed (7%) admitted watching.  At this point, I can hear you all saying, “yeah, right.”  And, yes, that does raise questions about the validity of survey responses.

As always with numbers, it’s a matter of perspective.  For example, the report makes the point that seven out of ten Adult Internet Users either watched or downloaded video.  More interesting (to me, at least) is when you put it this way -- five times as many people watched or downloaded video (69%) as posted video (14%).  Nevertheless it should still be noted that the percentage of people posting video has also nearly doubled in that time, from the eight percent who said they posted videos the last time the survey was taken.  (Also, as a matter of perspective, the report references three different universes of people – total adults in the U.S.; total adults using the Internet in the U.S.; and total adults who are watching video while using the Internet in the U.S.)  The percentage of adult internet users (AIU’s) who paid to watch videos online, while small, nearly doubled from 4% to 7%.  Oddly, though, on the flip side of that, the percentage of AIU’s who connected their computers to their TV’s to watch video dropped nearly in half, from 8% in 2007 to 5% in the latest survey which covers 2009.

      DON’T BOTHER, THEY’RE HERE:  Well, the news ones are anyway.  In addition to the Pew report, the monthly report on online video viewing by comScore as cited by Beet.tv, shows that monthly news video ‘consumption’ has doubled year to year.  In May of last year there were 277 Million video views ascribed to news or information sources.  This past May that number was 565 Million.  The report says the percentage of Internet users viewing online video news has increased to 34.2% this past May, up from 31.8% last May.  Okay, the numbers and the percentages don’t quite match up.  The explanation may be that there are more people watching, and they are watching more videos.  In fact, the comScore May report cites a milestone of sorts:  Facebook viewers passed the threshold of 100 videos viewed per viewer for the first time.  One of the biggest beneficiaries of the online video news viewing is the Associated Press.  In January of last year, the AP’s YouTube Channel had 77 Million views.  If you visit the site now, you will see they are just under the Half Billion mark at 447 Million views.

      SECOND VIDEO MILESTONE:  In addition to the Facebook 100 video viewing milestone, the May comScore report also noted that online video newcomer Vevo has moved into third place in terms of unique viewers (45,579,000) ahead of Hulu (43,451,000) and even Facebook (45,492,000).  The service was only launched, officially, in December of last year and has grown that fast that quickly.  Of course, this is no upstart.  It is owned by Sony Music Entertainment Universal Music Group which represents three of the top four music labels – Universal, Sony and EMI.  And the fourth, Warner Music Group is considering joining.  Wikipedia notes that Vevo bills itself as the Hulu of music videos.  It should be noted that Hulu still holds the number two spot in terms of actual videos with its roughly 1.2 Billion video views, well ahead of Vevo’s 430 Million but well behind Google/Yahoo’s 14.6 Billion.  Interestingly Vevo’s other owner is the Abu Dhabi Media Company which, yes, is owned by the government of Abu Dhabi.

      TESS, JOE AND MARIAH:  They’re the three forces of nature, according to the song from Paint Your Wagon.  The three forces of the Internet are Social Networking, Mobile and…. Apps.  Yes, Apps.  And, just like rain, fire and wind, the three are inter-connected.  (Okay, I know this is a stretch, but it gets a little difficult being creative at 4 o’clock in the morning sometimes.)  A report by investment firm Morgan Stanley’s chief Internet analyst predicts that “the Mobile Internet will soon overtake the Fixed Internet.”   Analyst Mary Meeker says it is the interaction between the two (mobile and social networking) that is driving the rapid growth of each.  Meeker says that while the Internet in general will continue its rapid growth, at some point in 2014, the Mobile side will pass the Fixed side when both reach about 1.6 Billion users.  Tech website Gigaom, along with others, notes that the prediction of growth in mobile and social networking is hardly earth shattering, but that the numbers are.  Meanwhile comScore’s Mobilens service which reports trends in the mobile phone business says 234 Million Americans aged 13 and over used mobile devices of one sort or another.  Keep in mind the total U.S. population is just under 310 Million.  And of those mobile devices, nearly a fourth (49.1 Million) are smart phones.  That’s up 8.1% from just February. 

An analysis of the comScore numbers by tech website VisInsight says that growth in smart phones increased the phone usage rate of social networking (240%), News (124%), bank accounts (113%) and weather (111%).  But here’s where the analysis gets real interesting.  In terms of penetration, 78% of smart phone users accessed their browser in April, 2010, while 80% of smart phone users accessed applications.  Several other reports have noted the startling growth in the use of Apps.  And here’s where it gets even more real interesting.  The Economist magazine makes the case that Apps may be the future of News.  The magazine makes the case that if the iPad and other tablet devices are going to “save magazines and newspapers from oblivion,” it will be through Apps.  The writers argue that publication online gets lost in the plethora of online choices, while an App makes a publication stand out because it directs the user to the source.  Also, while online publication is free, users have to pay for Apps.  The question still to be resolved is will people pay for the convenience of subscribing through Apps when they can get some version of the same thing online for free.  As the cliché goes… stay tuned.  More on this in forthcoming issues of the Message. 

      SEND IN D’ARTAGNAN:  The famous battle cry of the Three Musketeers was One For All and All For One.  Now it’s being used… sort of… as a battle cry for the First Amendment.  Various groups ranging from the Knight Foundation, the McCormick Foundation, First Amendment Center and The Newseum have created a website http://1forall.us and a related campaign to try and raise interest in, and awareness of, The First Amendment and its five freedoms.  Okay, okay, quick quiz – name them.  The program is providing educational materials to schools and is running a contest on YouTube for grants.  As a coincidental side note to this, and worth noting here even though it has already received a lot of coverage, the Supreme Court ordered the Second Circuit Court of Appeals to review its decision on the FCC punishment for fleeting expletives which it did, ruling that it violated The First Amendment. (Confession time – I didn’t name all five.) 

      SUBSCRIPTIONS:  If you wish to stop receiving this newsletter, e-mail Michael@MediaConsultant.tv with the word “unsubscribe-MM” in the subject line. Also, back issues of MfM are available at the website, media-consultant.blogspot.com.  You can reach me directly at Michael@MediaConsultant.tv.