Does anyone else get really turned off by these lame attempts of people trying so desperately to assign rankings of authority to all things blog, Twitter, etc.? I do. And, I’m fed up.

First, let’s consider the term authority, please.

An authority is “a person or body of persons in whom authority is vested” and/or the authority is an “accepted source of information, advice, etc.” (Source, and isn’t it sad that we have to share a definition for something like this?)

Techorati has been touting authority in their indexing of sites for some time. They still put the image in their results. You have to click the lil’ “?” to see that it is only Technorati’s version of authority. Translation? They need to have a good word to try and make their results look legitimate – even when they are not legitimate. And Technorati’s claims of legitimate authority is ridiculous.

At least they have now decided to label it “Technorati Authority” in their definition, but they don’t use the “Technorati Authority” label throughout their site. This makes Technorati continue to be a laughing stock with regard to rankings and research.

What’s the problem with these uses of the term authority? Technorati, for instance, does not actually vet the sites and links they are using to assign these labels of authority and ranking. Gee, come to think of it … even Google doesn’t vet incoming links/clicks either. Hmmm? They are, quite simply, just counting things. Is counting enough? No. “In counting tests, an African Grey Parrot, Magpies, Ravens, and squirrels can ‘count’ up to 6.” (Source) Maybe the parrots, magpies, ravens, and squirrels are running some of these sites.

Yes, I’m sorry to tell you this but … squirrels are in charge of TechCrunch. Meet the co-editor squirrel at TechCrunch. Squirrel #2 put paws to keyboard and tapped out this little gem: It’s Not How Many Followers You Have That Counts, It’s How Many Times You Get Retweeted.

Squirrel boy is all excited. I think he had a blogasm. Seriously.

blogasm
[blawg az-uhm] –noun

the physical and emotional sensation experienced at the peak of blog comment excitation, usually resulting from stimulation of the social media link-bait blego (blog ego) and usually accompanied by (mostly males) commenting, tweeting and blogging with idiotic glee. Synonym: ignorance (is bliss)

Some people have created a few little toys that count things. Woo Hoo!. This has sent squirrel boy (and his friends; the parrots, magpies and ravens) into an apoplectic frenzy of sycophant reach-around joy. See Full Metal Jacket, if you’re not familiar with the phrase.

You see, they’ve found a new link bait post topic that will likely carry them through a few days of the startup downturn and holiday “we can’t find any real news” vacuum that exists today.

What these tools are doing (yes, the scripts & the people) is counting what is sort of an exponential shell game. Certainly the Twitter users with the most followers have a greater potential to be retweeted. That doesn’t mean they are influential. It doesn’t mean they are writing interesting content, either.

Has anyone followed back to see who the retweeters are? Has anyone followed back to see if the retweeters are making fun of the post? These are just a few of the possibilities. You see, the most influential and/or interesting retweets might well be taking place between a group of just three or four people. Has anyone looked into that? No. So, we now have just the simplest examples of why these simple counting scripts are pretty much worthless as a research tool.

One person is making some ridiculous claims with his lil’ toy, too.

My comment, which I chose to post here instead, is as follows:

Well, it is an interesting script that counts stuff. However, it really has very little meaning, now does it. In research, we tend to compare similar variables. When you write, “They are the once (sic) producing most interesting content across the twittersphere” you’re stating a falsehood. No, they are (at best) posting content of interest to their audience. That’s all. You have not vetted the content in each retweet instance. Therefore, you don’t know if they are making fun of the person or retweeting it because it is interesting or any number of other possibilities. You are, quite simply, counting RT. That’s it. This is nothing more than an exponential shell game and/or fetish with assigning ranks.

We won’t waste time by discussing independent, status and/or dependent variables here. The squirrels may be able to count, but they sure won’t understand the concepts behind research.

Folks, when you see people all excited about their new abacus (that’s a compliment, by the way … these guys probably couldn’t work an abacus) run the other way. They are clueless. It is more TechCrunch self-absorbed nonsense.

Would a more powerful and useful version of search for Twitter be welcomed? Yes. Do these new tools do that? No.

Yes, I realize this is perhaps the beginning of development of useful tools. But, don’t get all hyped up with terms like authority and rank when your current toys don’t accomplish the feat. Please, stop the insanity. I beg you.

The final submission deadline for the 2008 Excellence in New Communications Awards. is coming up soon! Submit your entries now – the final deadline is Monday, September 8th.

Each year the Society for New Communications Research presents the prestigious SNCR Excellence in New Communications Awards. These awards honor corporations, governmental and nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, media outlets, and individuals who are innovating the use of social media, ICT, mobile media, online communities and virtual worlds and collaborative technologies in the areas of business, media, and professional communications, including advertising, marketing, public relations and corporate communications, as well as entertainment, education, politics, and social initiatives.

CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY TODAY!

Full details about the divisions and categories follow. If you have any additional questions, please contact us at +1 650-331-0083 or info@sncr.org.

Awards are granted in six divisions:

* Corporate
* Government
* Media
* Nonprofit/NGO
* Academic
* Technology Innovation (for New Communications and Social Media Technology Vendors)

We have seven (7) categories this year.

1. Online Reputation Management

A case study submission in this category should explain how an organization is monitoring conversations and content online related to its brand, product or service. The case study should also explain what the organization is doing to either encourage or counter this information online.

An example: An organization that found consumer criticism of its service online, and what it did to discover, strategize and respond to that criticism. An explanation of the outcome of the response would also aid the nomination.

2. Behind the Firewall

A case study submission in this category should explain how an organization is using new communication and/or social media tools internally to enhance employee communications

An example: An organization that uses a blog internally to communicate with employees, or has built an internal online community for its employees.

3. Blogger Relations

A case study submission in this category should explain how an organization is proactively engaging and building relationships with bloggers as part of an initiative, campaign, or ongoing program.

An example: An organization that successfully worked with its industry bloggers around a milestone or an announcement.

4. External Communications & Communities

A case study submission in this category should explain how an organization is communicating with and/or participating in external online communities. This includes both online communities built and managed by the organization as well as other communities and social networks.

An example: An organization that has official spokespeople participating in an industry forum or message board. The external community could also be associated with a social network, like Facebook or MySpace.

5. New Media Creation

A case study submission in this category should explain how an organization is creating and using social media and new communications tools and technologies, with an emphasis on audio, video and imagery.

An example: An organization that created a podcast series or a video blog. An explanation of why a particular medium was chosen and how it aided with a communication or marketing strategy would be helpful.

6. Collaboration & Co-creation

A case study submission in this category should explain how an organization is using new media tools to either help groups and teams communicate and collaborate in new ways, or is using new media as the means for enabling outside sources to provide input and ideas in a collaborative way.

An example: An organization that’s using a wiki to communicate and exchange ideas. Another example nomination could be an organization that’s enabling consumer to submit their ideas and inputs on products and services.

7. Mobile Media

A case study submission in this category should explain how an organization is using mobile media in its communication or marketing projects.

An example: An organization creating mobile applications or using SMS as part of a campaign or initiative.

CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY TODAY!

ENTRY FEES

FREE for SNCR members. (This is a great time to join SNCR if you’re not already a member. Join SNCR now to enter for FREE and to save $100. on your attendance at the 3rd Annual SNCR Symposium & Awards Gala. For more information about membership levels, rates and benefits, visit http://sncr.org/get-involved.

Non-member award entry fees: $70.USD per entry

CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY TODAY!

And join us at the 3rd Annual Society for New Communications Research Symposium & Awards Gala
Friday, November 14th, Hotel Marlowe, Cambridge, Mass.

Join us for a full day of presentations by the SNCR Fellows on their latest research projects and to celebrate the winners of the 2008 SNCR Excellence in New Communications Awards!

The Society for New Communications Research is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit foundation — 30% of all contributions to all SNCR programs are tax deductible. Visit http://sncr.org/get-involved/ to join the SNCR or to make a fully tax deductible donation.

Examples? How about our interns at Camp ASCCA. Danika Kmetz, Kelli Hood and Zeb Ramey. These people are absolutely terrific and did such a wonderful job. Look at ASCCA Friends and the Camp ASCCA Journal to see all the great work they did this summer.

But, there is more. They did video, audio, photos, media pitching, releases, features, tours, marketing … the list goes on and on.

Here’s an example of a magazine article they had published about our annual Teen Week Prom. (See a larger version online.) Click on page 63 to see the article, by Kelli Hood.

This, by the way, has inspired me to have my classes this semester create their own magazine. Each will have responsibility for two pages. Look for that later. I hope to have it in three versions. PDF/Flash, HTML and video. But, we’ll see how that goes. Certainly we can do an example like the one above as it ties into another assignment they already do. We just have to set the focus a little tighter.

How about video? They created dozens and dozens of videos each this summer. Tal, a counselor that actually quit his job to come to camp, is a perfect example. These are the stories that parents, potential counselors for next year and everyone else need to see and hear. They add great value to ASCCA’s public relations activities.

Find more videos like this on ASCCA Friends

Photos? As the summer began, we had about 15,000 photos in our flickr account. Today? 21,649 items. Yep, they shot well over 5,000 photos this summer. Great photos, too. We had more comments from parents, campers and many others about the terrific quality. Tim, a professional photographer that has followed us from the very beginning, remarked about this potential magazine cover shot.

My Other Love?

Felicia Day. Yep. I’m a (cough)-year-old fanboy. I love what she has done online and in TV & film. Felicia is a very creative and talented lady. Again, respectful love. Her work just makes me smile and laugh.

The most recent examples are The Guild and Dr. Horrible’s Sing-along Blog. Oh, she’s done much more, to be sure.

I have this dream. No, not that kind of dream. This one is somewhat realistic and involves Felicia coming to Camp ASCCA and doing a web series about the campers and counselors. After all, Felicia’s from Alabama, ya’ know. Huntsville. Yep, wouldn’t make that up. Maybe she’s actually heard of Camp ASCCA. Who knows.

If I were a millionaire, I’d pay Felicia whatever it takes to do this. I can just see the attention it would draw to the camp; plus, the looks on the campers’ faces as they get to meet the star from The Guild, Dr. Horrible, Monk and Buffy … to name just a few of her accomplishments.

But, alas, I’m poor. So, I’ll keep that dream alive and continue to watch her many accomplishments from afar. Although, if I ever find a way to make contact with her, I’ll be asking at the very least for a live phone interview with my class(es) so they can learn about her online video exploits.

Here’s a recent interview with Felicia and Kim Evey, another really cool person, by the way. See her film, TV, theatre and improv/comedy. I’d love to chat with Kim, too, in our classes. Hey, a guy can dream.

Hmm? Well, it would be a first. I must admit to a wee bit (OK, a lot) of skepticism on this one. All the news organizations are signed up for all of his mailing lists, after all. They also see mailing lists we never see. So, will his supporters really be the first to know?

Yep, this VP announcement by SMS and email is a ploy for buzz. Yes, I bit. But, you have to admit. This would be quite remarkable. We’ll see how it pans out.

One thing I’ve noticed for many years. Democrats are way ahead of Republicans when it comes to online activity.   Now, they also rule in digital / social media, too.

Here’s the e-mail I received. 

Barack Obama is about to make one of the most important decisions of this campaign — choosing a running mate.

You have helped build this movement from the bottom up, and Barack wants you to be the first to know his choice.

Sign up today to be the first to know:

http://my.barackobama.com/vp

You will receive an email the moment Barack makes his decision, or you can text VP to 62262 to receive a text message on your mobile phone.

Once you’ve signed up, please forward this email to your friends, family, and coworkers to let them know about this special opportunity.

No other campaign has done this before. You can be part of this important moment.

Update: This video is being used by the Obama campaign in a targeted pitch to reach 2 million donors. I’m continually amazed at how far ahead the Democrats are in the area of online activity. Great ad, which was apparently created just for this email pitch.

Find more videos like this on PROpenMic

First, we find an article about social media perhaps producing social change and helping someone with a terminal illness. Then, we learn that the SEC has recognized the spread of online / web communications (particularly social media) and they’ve now updated guidelines for publicly traded companies with regard to their Web sites and (if you read it into the speech) social media. Finally, we find the most wonderful video. You’ll want to watch it. Look to your right and you’ll find it is our featured video today.

Jeremy Pepper reaches out and calls out …

You don’t hear/read about campaigns that are helping change the world. You don’t hear/read about campaigns that are being done with the large agencies or consultants that are trying to help make the world a better place.

You read social media people talking about social media … and that seems to be it. It’s the self-fulfilling prophecy of Valleywag’s 250. And, I have written about this before, and nothing much changes.

We’ll see if any of those Jeremy reaches out to actually pay it forward and help someone in need. Can social media successfully spread the word and motivate people to help someone just meet the needs of daily life – while dealing with a terminal illness? Read Taking Stock – Can Social Media Do What It Claims?

Neville Hobson shares the news of an SEC staff speech disclosing some aspects of a new set of guidelines that may impact corporation’s use of social media. Read Social media gains SEC approval.

This could be another step forward in the adoption and adaptation to online communication by publicly traded companies.  Neville shares his thoughts about where this might take us.  He also links to Dominic Jones’ article in the IR Web Report: SEC OKs websites and blogs for Reg. FD (or Fair Disclosure). FD has been seen as one stumbling block for corporations with regard to their open blogging practices.

Last, but certainly not least, Clemson’s Dr. Mihaela Vorvoreanu shares a wonderful “video of a presentation Kansas State anthropology professor Dr. Michael Wesch gave at the Library of Congress.”

Wesch is the same man that brought us the Web 2.0 … The Machine is Us/ing Us video. It has been viewed more than six million times.

As Mihaela points out, yes – the video is 55:34 in length. Still, this is truly worth the hour you’ll spend watching it. I’m going to require it this Fall in classes. A terrific job by Dr. Wesch. Thank you, Mihaela, for sharing it. I loved it.

Read YouTube culture and watch the video there, or below as it is our featured video of the day.

An anthropological introduction to YouTube

Please note Karen’s comment below. They are “taking educator and professional registrations now but student registration info won’t go out until August, when classes resume.”

Last year’s conference was a a great inaugural event. This one promises to be worth your time and effort to attend, too. A video from Dr. Kaye Sweetser is today’s featured video here, on the front page. It is embedded below, too.

Held in their beautiful Student Learning Center on the UGA Campus in Athens GA, you are sure (I believe) to have a good experience. Congrats to Karen Russell, Kaye Sweetser and all of the students at UGA that do so much hard work to make the conference happen.

As their site states, space is limited and the registration deadline is September 12, 2008.

Updates and news are being released on Twitter, at UGAConnect. They have a Facebook group, Connect 2008 and a ready to populate Flickr account at ugaconnect08′s photostream. Their blog is UGA Connect.

One caveat, the registration fee this year is $150 and is mentioned on their register page (and not, as yet, mentioned on their Web site or blog), but not on the actual form you fill out … that’s why I missed it.   I believe the cost is well worth what the conference promises.

So, go sign up for Connect, right now!

Mindy McAdams’ book has me intrigued. I’ve been going through it in preparation for including it in this fall’s PR Style & Design course. It is a great book. Her site, flash journalism, even offers class tutorials. Visit her blog, too.

Then, I had that little epiphany. Use Sprout Builder. For educators that don’t have access to a lab and the Flash software, this is a perfect alternative. Students can complete the exercise at home or anywhere else, for that matter.

Feedback? Is this viable for PR?

What do you think about this? Is it viable? Would you pursue such a project for a class, or even an agency/organization seeking placement on a news organization’s Web site?

Sprout Builder offers a great interface that is pretty easy to learn. Now, it doesn’t offer the full blown Flash software experience, but it certainly can create a great multimedia package.

I created a simple package below to show you how many different aspects can be incorporated into the final product. Cut me some slack, please. I spent less that 90 minutes on this. We made a quick video last night during lab hours. I took screen shots from that video for the photo slideshow. There is related RSS news from Auburn University. A poll from Poll Daddy is also included.

The end project provides an embed code that allows you to deliver video, photos, RSS, polls, surveys and much more. Use the “Share” button in the bottom right hand corner of the package to see the embed code. By the way, Sprout Builder will actually let you remove their logo now. In the future it will likely cost, but now it is free. I left it in since we’re using their service. Certainly it can be made much more attractive than the simple one I’ve offered here.

Please let me know what you think of this possibility. I’ve included a poll in the sample. Take it and also leave a comment here regarding the viability you see for such packages from PR to journos and placement in a newspaper’s Web site. Thanks.

Now, to the example …

Given the state of our nation, there is an article with some speculation that Democrats may pick up as many as three seats in November – Alabama Democrats eyeing delegation majority. I’m not really into politics, so I won’t speculate. Also, I have written about our alumnae, Shea Snider, who is Roger’s press secretary (the incumbent in the race). So, I don’t need to get into the politics … because, well – we love Shea. She is the best, ya’ know.

It is fair to point out a look at Open Secrets, showing Rogers more than doubling Segall’s campaign contributions. More on the myriad of sites with this type of information, below.

My Focus Here

What interests me is the possible use of social media by Alabama candidates. Segall may well be the only one with even a modest blogger outreach.

Let’s look at his site, Segall2008. Now, before some folks go and get their noses out of joint, I frequently do these types of site reviews and share them with my students. So, no harm intended.

• First up, he uses a splash page at the front of the site. Not necessarily a good idea. Yes, he seems to be seeking a major strategic goal by capturing email address first, but why make people click one more time. Seriously, splash pages are considered to be bad Web design by many, if not most. The only other option is “Skip to Website.” While the “Skip to Website” option is in the ‘golden mean’ area of the page, the color choice for the text doesn’t pop out. Would yellow or white be a better color choice? To me, it seems just a bit lost on the page. It would be interesting to know if their strategy is working re: gathering email addresses. How many do they have? (Resources for golden mean: The Golden Section, Design and the Divine Proportion, Mundi Design’s Principles of Graphic Design, go to 3d for the golden mean.)
• Segall went outside of Alabama for his Web site development. He went to CDPolitical.com which is part of Chong Designs. Where is Chong Designs? Well, Washington, D.C. – of course.
  1. I have to question the online savvy of this move. First off, people here in Alabama are quite unhappy when folks go outside the state. Anyone want to speculate on the expense incurred by Segall with Chong Designs?
  2. Also, I really think Segall would have been better served by using Ning.com and letting eager supporters in Alabama help drive the site. There isn’t a great deal of interaction taking place in the Segall site.
  3. What would that Ning.com site cost? Less than $35 a month … and it offers so much more than his site has for visitors. It would even help him capture those email addresses and involve the volunteers in discussions.
• Look at the video presentation on the Segall Google ad site. The video is a YouTube embed and not well presented. It has a single sliver of a black area on the right side and large one on the top. I mean really, this is poor. I would make my students re-do such a video presentation.

I really think Josh Segall could have done a better job of incorporating social media into his site, but have to give him credit for at least trying. (Click image below to enlarge.)

When you get to that page, you’ll see that the campaign is asking the following: “Please tell us about your blog. (Traffic, topics of interest, your audience, and anything else you think we should know.)” So far, he is getting some blog pickup. This Google blog search reveals 236 blog posts with “Josh Segall” in the copy (236 to-date).

Overall, I’d give the site a C+ because it is just above average overall, and it barely dips one toe into the social media arena. At least he’s paying some attention to blogs. Maybe I’ll try to get an interview with the candidate or someone on his staff and see what their strategy is re: social media.

By the way, Rogers does have a campaign site, too. He has video on his front page and it is a much better presentation. The site is Mike Rogers for Congress.com. It is quite a static site with little more than the basics like: volunteer contact forms, ways to write a letter to the editor and the usual sundry online tactics. So, that’s why I didn’t focus on it re: social media.

Neither candidate links to their Facebook sites, for instance, so it seems they are not really sold on the idea of using social media in their campaigns. Finally, regarding video use, both candidates are simply regurgitating their TV ads, so there is no creative use of online video going on here.

An interesting sidebar to all this, Josh Segall is an Ivy League graduate. Yep, he went to Brown University (University Web Site). All we see is Segall’s focus on his law degree from the University of Alabama. That’s understandable, of course, as voters down here don’t necessarily take a likin’ to them there Ivy League fellers. Rogers, on the other hand, went to Jacksonville State University. JSU resides in his district. Both candidates are lawyers: Rogers attended Birmingham School of Law and Segall attended The University of Alabama School of Law.

Other Aspects of Online Political Campaigns

On another front, it is interesting to see how much information there is out there regarding candidates, their campaigns and their campaign finances. Below is a list of sites I found during my search.

• AL-03: Josh Segall Outraises Rogers for the Second Quarter is the report from “Left in Alabama.” Yet, they fail to point out that Rogers has much more in his war chest.
• Segall Holds His Own in 2Q Fundraising from the Progressive Electorate. Again, no mention of the overall totals for each candidate.
• “He Stood up To His own Party” : New Republican Mantra from a diary within Daily Kos, not Kos himself, by someone calling themselves alpolitics – also the author of the Progressive Electorate, above.
• Open Secrets tally of the money raised and spent by both Segall and Rogers. There we get the broader story that Rogers had $948,940 cash on hand while Segall had $209,114 – as of May 14th and a lot has happened since then. Who knows where they both are now.
• Open Secrets page for all Alabama races.
• NewsMeat listing of all contributors to Segall by last name.
• NewsMeat listing of all contributors to Rogers by last name.
• Josh Segall’s SEA listing re: his views on science issues. SEA is the Scientists and Engineers for America (SEA), a nonprofit, nonpartisan, educational organization. Segall has nothing on file.
• Mike Rogers SEA CANDIDATE QUESTIONNAIRE has been filled out.
• Josh Segall’s ActBlue page. ActBlue claims to be “the nation’s largest source of funds for Democrats.” (Source)
• Open Secrets info on Mike Rogers’ personal finances. He’s a millionaire.
• I could not find similar information about Joshua Segall in OpenSecrets.org. Perhaps their files are not up-to-date, or they only track that kind of information for incumbents? Don’t know, for sure.

My students will get a kick out of knowing that Segall used a free Web template site for his first site, JoshuaSegall.com, which has been since replaced by his Segall2008.com site. The site he used for his template is gorotron.com, of all places.

Segall is in Facebook with a fan page touting 116 supporters, to-date. Update: Thanks to the anonymous comment below, I did another search for “Joshua Segall for Congress, as the comment states, and did find yet another group. So, there are two groups for Segall on Facebook. I must admit, I missed the second group in my previous search. Can’t remember what I used for the search, so I can’t tell you why. This search for Josh Segall gives both groups in the results. This search for Joshua Segall also reveals both groups. So, my apologies for missing the second group.

Mike Rogers is there, too. His fan page has 581 supporters, so he’s way ahead of Segall in that regard. Update: Yep, the anonymous comment below is correct. I used the wrong Rogers page. Mike Rogers has a page in Facebook, but not a group. And, there are no friends listed on that page. So, Segall is ahead on that mark.

I only found one Joshua Segall and two Josh Segalls in MySpace and neither is the candidate. Mike Rogers wasn’t there, either.

There is a Rep. Mike Rogers account in Twitter, but has no updates. I could not find a Joshua Segall.

So, that’s my look at one race and their use of emerging digital media. I guess I’m not surprised at the lack of social media use by Alabama candidates. I still get some deer in headlight looks when I mention it down here.

I saved Gary’s interview for last because along with his practitioner experience, Gary teaches a graduate level PR course at the University of California-Irvine. A unique course, at that.

The course is called Edge. It is described as follows, “Edge is the Merage School’s new and ground-breaking course that explores how technology and globalization are transforming the business landscape.” The course is led by John Seely Brown along with Merage professor David Obstfeld and features a long list of great contributors. I want to learn more about this course.

With that in mind, I thought it would be good to hear what Gary thinks about the best practice / approach to a digital media course at universities.

Enjoy the interview and many thanks to Gary for sharing his thoughts with us.

Find more videos like this on PROpenMic

Yes, I’ll be pointing the students here and saying, “Hey, now there’s a success story. Admit it! You want to be like MK.” 

You see, it is quite true to say that Mary’s so wonderful. You know the type of person you meet and say to yourself, “Now, that’s a truly nice person. If I had a daughter, I’d want her to be like MK.” Yeah, that kind of person. That’s Mary.

So, I asked Mary about the conference, why Edelman chooses to host it each year, and generally what she’s doing. MK gives us the straight story in her inimitable style. Here it is. Thanks, Mary!

Find more videos like this on PROpenMic