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#thisischurch – people

February 16, 2013 By

‘I need a piss’. That’s how he greeted me. Up from my chair I’d gone over to help him. Really, I just wanted him to shut up and stop disturbing the church service. Secondly, I wanted to help this poor, vagrant man who’d rocked up at the ‘house of God’ on Sunday. Third, I was semi-curiously, judgementally pious. It’s not appropriate to reveal his name, even for the benefit of this story – because… I don’t actually remember it – a memory slip linked to points one and three above. Hopefully I loved. God only knows.

Under the tree

They say ‘Church isn’t about the building, it’s about the people’. It’s maybe a tired phrase, but it rings true. I remember interviewing a pastor from Nigeria on the radio who’d just had his church burnt down. He was holding his Sunday service under a tree. Definitely not about the building. I remember him as warm and gracious, if slightly exasperated by his new circumstances. This was church for him and his congregation. No bickering over pews, or coffee rota squabbles. Just heart and tears and Christ in their midst.

 

A lick of paint

My late grandma faithfully went to church every Sunday until Alzheimer’s. She would sit in the same pew, in the same place, every time. It wasn’t that she had OCD or simply loved routine. It was just that ‘that’s where she sat’. I don’t remember her talking much about God but she was faithful to the Church, trusting in God amidst the mess of life. A childlike faith is still preferable to no faith, when you’re 89 years old. The church itself was cold and dilapidated. But the hearts of the congregation were like a fresh lick of paint, every Sunday.

 

Three people

Three people, who’ve taught me three things about church:
  • Don’t stay sitting, even when you’re meant to stay sitting.
  • Hold church in any place you can, if necessary use a church.
  • Go to church unless you can’t, and go with church to those who can’t.
Posted by Andrew Horton
Director, Worldview Media

This post is in support of the #thisischurch project. Run by those excellent people at @GodCulture and @ShareCreative. For more info go to http://thisischurch.me

Filed Under: Church, Projects Tagged With: , , , ,

How to make better promo videos for your church or charity

December 16, 2012 By

This is the cliched first sentence about how video is the quintessential marketing medium of today. OK, so here’s where this blog post is pitched: you’re working for a church or charity and you’re either already making promo videos, having them made for you, or know you need to start soon. You may want to improve, you may need to know where to start…

…start at the end!

The first step in creating any successful promo video is to project yourself into the hearts and minds of those who you hope will watch it. That’s it. You start at the end of the video production process, and almost work backwards. Ask yourself the who, what, how, when, where questions now and you’ll save yourself time and money in the production process. In an initial planning meeting, before you even approach external professionals or decide on a theme and tone for the video, ask:
  • who is my target audience? Look at your membership/supporter data to help profiling if needed – are they young and hip, or old and wise….and/or hip too!
  • when do you want them to watch it (deadline for finishing production)? e.g. a campaign deadline, an event launch, a product launch etc.
  • where will your audience view this video? e.g. on YouTube, embedded on your website, on Twitter/Facebook etc.
  • how will they view this video? e.g. on a tablet, TV, mobile – this can affect your decisions on video format etc.
  • what do I want them to do? e.g. donate, subscribe etc.
  • how will they do that? e.g. a link below in embedded in your video taking them to a webpage
  • what key performance indicators should we set for this video when reviewing its success?
  • how else could we use the footage left over from some of the promo filming (or what else could we get from the filming trips)?
  • what other questions have you now thought of?
It’s important to remember that making a promo video isn’t just about making a mini moving picture; it’s part of a bigger media marketing process you need to think about. To read more about media production strategies see the blog post Journey, Experience, Memorability – a new triad of reference for media production.

 

Budget, time and resources

You’ll need to decide what budget and resources you have and will need. This is often proportional to the quality and effectiveness of your finished product. However, remember that quality and effectiveness aren’t always of a similar standard. You may spend tens of thousands on a video marketing campaign, hiring in expensive contractors and burning a huge production budget for a great looking video, but if there’s no effective ROI you need to ask yourself what you have achieved. Conversely you may put out a video shot and edited on a mobile phone with some really quirky content that gets huge attention and great ROI however little that investment was. Usually this second, no to low budget option is too tough to pull off. It’s about finding a happy medium – and much of that can be down to you and your planning, before you even consider which if any contractors you will bring in to produce the video.

 

If you decide to make the video in-house there are a number of factors to consider, including what kit to buy, who will use the kit and what level of training do they have or will need. Remember, if you go down this route you may sacrifice some quality and efficiency from not using external contractors, but you will be utilising your own workforce and the talent and creativity they have. Also, if you’re going in-house it can be more sustainable. By training up members of your workforce to operate a camera, produce and edit then it can allow managers to take more control of how and when videos are produced, you have less of a problem communicating a message that’s already ingrained in staff and it may even be cheaper in the long run (especially if video making is just part of a team member’s role). Lots to think about here.

What kit?

Many low to medium budget promo videos are actually shot on cameras with perhaps cheaper price tags than you thought. Remember, we’re no longer just shooting for broadcast TV, we’re mostly shooting for the web (YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook etc.). So don’t be too alarmed at the prospect of buying a good video camera. Many DSLR stills cameras shoot great video too (often better than pro camcorders). See this blog post from ReelMarketer for a good summary of reasons to use a DSLR. They do have their limitations, but for simple footage gathering and interviews (which are the bare bones of many promos) they can do a good job. Check your local camera site for the best online deals.

 

You’ll also need the following: a good lens or two (e.g. a 50mm prime lens for interviews and a telephoto lens like the Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 or the Tamron 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 enabling you to get a variety of shots with image stabilisation); a tripod, several memory cards, an external audio recorder, a lapel mic, a top mounted mini shotgun mic (for when gathering extra footage or b-roll), and when adding to your kit make sure you do good research and get advice from web videos and pros you know or come across. You’ll also need some editing software. Loads to choose from here, the pro ones we like at WVM being Adobe CS6 (Production Premium) and Final Cut Pro X. To learn how to use these we recommend Lynda.com video training and there are others. Get yourself a YouTube and Vimeo account and you’re good to go.

Defining the message

Based on your earlier research as to the end point of your video, you should have some idea of what factors will affect your message. A good technique for defining a message is to do a casual interview with those people who will have the greatest grasp of what this video should achieve. Speak to the CEO or Pastor and chat to him or her about what’s really at the heart of the message you’re trying to get across. A good tip is to take notes or record the audio from these fact-finding chats, with the aim being that you nail down what the soundbites will be that shape your video. An expectation or target for the video isn’t usually that refined early on, so you need to narrow it down. Perhaps at the end of this process you have two or three good soundbites/idea bites that can then be used to form the backbone of the promo. Then, based on your budget, time and resources you can begin to sketch out what sort of video will be possible.

Script and sketch

So you have nailed down the message/s you need to get across in your video. You’ve also ascertained what sort of promo you may be able to make. Now you need to do perhaps the hardest part of the whole process: scripting and sketching your ideas into workable plans. Who will you need to interview? What sort of things would you like them to say? Start writing down the ideal soundbites from each person and then the questions you’ll need to ask them to produce such similar soundbites.

 

As you’re scripting and sketching soundbites, you also need to think visually. What shots or graphics will I need at each point to visualise the subject being spoken of. This will help you no end with your planning. This is when scripting and sketching your promo comes into its own. You’ll save time and money by working out in advance what key message, soundbite and extra content you need before you get on the road filming.

Gather (and log)

So, you know what you need – the constituent parts to make up your promo. It’s time to start planning a production schedule. When and where can you interview your subjects? When and where will you get your extra footage (b-roll)? Where will you source your graphics and or images for the promo? How does all this fit in with your production deadline? Remember you’ll need to leave time to edit your video as well as time for your CEO or Pastor to review and if necessary ask for changes – leave yourself time for this!

 

As you get on the road, don’t forget the basics. A kit check and charged batteries are not only useful, they’re essential. Simple things like checking focus and exposure as well as correct audio recording can make or break a shoot. Also remember to keep health and safety protocols and don’t do anything which could harm you or your subjects – that includes refusing to take breaks, you don’t want to have a brilliant day’s filming and then end up so tired you can’t drive back safely, for example.

 

When you’re interviewing you may need to interview your subjects for 20 mins or so on a variety of topics related to your brief, in order to get that magic soundbite. Try not to rely on autocues and voice overs all the time. We recommend you keep it natural, as best you can. Soundbites never work well scripted. Try and chat conversationally around the topic. Keep a mental log of good content, but don’t let this distract you from getting the basics right. In other words, don’t be so excited at getting a smashing soundbite that you forget to press record for the next section of filming. These things can happen.

 

Another good tip is to think what other content you can get from your subject while you’re with them – content not related to the brief in hand, but which may be useful another time. After all, you’ve set up all this kit and gained a good interview – what else could you use this opportunity with your subject for? A general endorsement for your church or charity? Think.

 

Once you’ve gathered your footage log it. There are many methods for logging but most involve renaming clips in your project bin in your editing software of choice. At this stage you can review your footage and start to make basic edits – all the time keeping in mind your overall brief and messaging structure of the promo, but also with respect to how much time you have to work with.

Getting it together

Remember those first few seconds of the video are vital. You need to make them memorable. Think outside the box. Perhaps start with your strongest shot or soundbite, even if it’s not a linear telling of the story. It used to be the case that people would only have the patience to watch a YouTube video for 5 mins max. Now it’s less than 2 mins in many cases. Consider this in your editing. Don’t forget the call to action at the end of the video. There’s no point producing a promo video if the viewer isn’t encouraged to do something at the end. It could be as simple as a link to your website and/or a phone number.

 

Try and get a decent draft out early to be reviewed by those who will eventually sign it off. Make them aware it’s just a draft, but use this as an opportunity to check you’re on the right path before you make to many finer detailed adjustments. Again, this can save you time and money. Once you have your feedback, work on being faithful to it. Get a final draft out for checking and signing off. This may end up being the final version. Good news if it is.

 

Now back to your original research: what format do you need this video to be in? H264? Mov? FLV? 3Gp? Get encoding and uploading. You’re nearing the end of the journey…

Message in a bottle

The video you’re sending out is like a message in a bottle in choppy, crowded waters. You need to do all you can to make sure it’s picked up by the right people. Of course you’re putting in on your Facebook Page and tweeting it, but don’t forget to embed it well on your website and encourage others to blog about it. Put it in your enewsletter, link to it in email signatures, use all your communications outlets. Make it as shareable as possible. Use YouTube’s inbuilt video tagging tools and pop-ups to link to it from another of your videos.

 

It’s important to monitor your video’s performance using YouTube/Vimeo and Google analytics. Which blogs have picked it up? What was the single biggest referrer to your video? If it was Facebook or Twitter rather than your enewsletter then you need to remember this for future productions – or improve the layout/design/reach of your enewsletter.

 

Remember there are many hours worth of video content competing for attention. Make your videos better – that involves thinking of the whole marketing process, not just the video itself.

 

Posted by Andrew Horton
Director, Worldview Media
Filed Under: Skills, Video

Journey, Experience, Memorability – a new triad of reference for media production

September 2, 2012 By

It’s been the buzz phrase for a long while now in media circles. But is ‘Content, Content, Content’ still as relevant, appropriate, and useful to adequately strategise best practise for producing media products?

Content is no longer the be all and end all, it seems. Why should a broadcaster focus on producing quality content when videos of talking babies or Rebecca Black may garner millions more views and shares via YouTube? You may argue that YouTube isn’t as profitable for a broadcaster as they have little control of adverts, and even less inflow of subsequent revenue streams. But if that’s where ‘the people’ are going to get their content (including embeds on Facebook, external websites, and links on Twitter), then I’d argue that’s where we meet them.

Content is important, but it shouldn’t be just about ‘Content, Content, Content’. We shouldn’t just assume that if our content is good enough, then our audience will follow, consume and respond in the way we desire.

I think we’ve moved to a new triad of reference to replace ‘Content, Content, Content’. It is:

‘Journey, Experience, Memorability’

Sacrificing the neat alliterative personality of its forbearer, but getting to the heart of a non-quality dependent consumer appetite, I believe it is more relevant, appropriate and useful for media organisations, broadcasters and anyone producing content to digest this.

First it’s ‘Journey‘:

How is the consumer of the media you produce going to enter the journey? Will they see a video, article, song, review on Facebook or Twitter; see an advert or story about it in a newspaper; over hear someone at work or college talking about it? etc. etc.

How will the consumer go to access this? Will it be on a tablet, a laptop, TV, phone? Will they have a link to click, what will they need to do to find it?

When the consumer has consumed it, what will they do with it? Share it, save it, delete it, comment on it, rate it, be inspired by it, donate, alter it/remix it etc. etc.

Second it’s ‘Experience‘:

Media producers must appreciate that consumers mostly go to access content because they want to enjoy or be stimulated by the experience – i.e. the ‘whole’ experience. For example, it may be not only the experience of watching an hour long TV episode, but also the experience of initially accessing the episode through a recommendation, publicity, or an artificially (but ‘intelligently’) situated sidebar advert etc. Then, it’s the subsequent experience of sharing the programme with friends either through social media or chatting the next day etc. etc.

But, what completes the story, the nub of what moves the consumer to being a potentially revenue positive asset (or someone who will produce any desired tangible action, like giving time, lobbying), is ‘Memorability‘.

The ability to create media is no longer the preserve of the few (Garageband is a music studio for £11. YouTube is free etc. etc.). So that’s meant there’s a lot of it! Hundreds of thousands of YouTube channels, millions of artists on Soundcloud and other various music platforms…we all know the picture.

So it’s important that your media product is memorable. What is going to make the consumer go back to it, to share it, to spread the word? It doesn’t have to be quality content, it just needs to be memorable. If it’s both, then great, but as the talking babies and Rebecca Black have shown it’s memorability that drives it forward.

If media producers can work on anticipating and evaluating the Journey, improving the Experience for the consumer, and making sure content is Memorable, then they are, I believe, in a much better position than just focusing on Content, Content, Content.

Remember: Journey, Experience, Memorability!

Posted by Andrew Horton
Director, WVM
Filed Under: Social Media, Theory Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Five essential tips for breaking into the media industry

March 4, 2012 By


1. Find your passion

Your first task is to work out what you actually love ‘doing’ not where you’d like ‘being’.

Forget the news reports of recession and unemployment. What do ‘you’ love doing? Don’t think at this stage about which companies you’d like to work for. Remember, Myspace and Friends Reunited were here yesterday, pretty much gone today.

Examples include: ‘I love to draw. When I’m bored I doodle and my friends think I’m quite good.’ or, ‘I just love mucking about on iMovie, making short and weird films from clips on YouTube.’ or, ‘I love being first to tell my mates about something that’s happened in my street.’ What gets you going, what opens your creative box of tricks, or just gives you a buzz? Maybe you’re a graphic designer, a video promo maker, a journalist in the making.

Hold onto your God-given dreams and passions, fiercely. What you love doing, you’ll do well.

Opportunities can only come if we create them or wait for them, they don’t come by us giving up on our dreams. Second best isn’t second best. Third best isn’t third best. Or fourth or fifth. Whatever stepping stone you’re on, don’t be defined by how far it is from your ‘dream job’, just remember you’re on stepping stones.

You may never say ‘this is my dream job’, but at least you will have taken steps towards it. That’s further than many people imagine.

2. Be practical

You’re unlikely to get into any paid job without experience – particularly in the media. Now it’s time to imagine ‘where’ you’d like to work. List your top three dream jobs. Write down next to each what you would actually love ‘doing’ in those jobs. Not just ‘being’ in the offices of Facebook or Google or the BBC, but what would you actually do if you were there.

Now that you have your list of ‘things you could do’, you’ve hopefully broken down the aura of just ‘working in an amazing place’ and have a better realisation that no jobs are simply about pressing a few buttons and feeling important. There’s hard work to do!

Get a CV and portfolio together. If you say you have no experience, you’re probably wrong. Remember the things you like doing? You’re on Facebook, right? You know how to configure a Timeline, or start a Group or Page? There’s a bit of experience, right there. You’d be surprised how many charities, companies, small businesses know less about social media marketing than you do. Ker-ching! …well, not quite yet.

If you find yourself scraping the barrel for skills or experience you’re in a good place. Digging deep and thinking outside the box are very employable characteristics – even if you have no idea of the importance of something called ROI or best uses of APIs – yet!

3. Enjoy being creative

Keep the ideas flowing – whether you’ve secured experience or not. However ‘rubbish’ you might think the ideas are, they are at least sparks – something that’s part of a creative journey. If you’ve managed to get that all important experience, make the most of it.

Imagine yourself as being a new employee, forget that you’re not being paid. You’re not only there to learn (loads) but you can also freshen the place up. Yes, your enthusiasm and interest has the potential to influence and shape your workplace, even if you have no ‘professional’ skills at this stage.

Show a real interest in what’s going on, but make sure you’re being real and authentic. Avoid the danger of coming across as a bit manic in your keenness to secure that first paid job.

Dream a little more. Think objectively about what things could be done to change this place around, or improve it. Make a note of what ideas you have. Ideas may get rejected but they’ll never be unwelcome, and they can be the fire starter that you or someone else picks up and makes a whole programme or project out of. Ideas are the currency that will buy your way into a wider and more expansive career.

It’s a good idea to record your ideas. Write or type them down. Don’t always expect to come up with winning ideas, fully formed. Sometimes you need to refine an idea or concept and, as you develop it, search yourself for what it was that sparked you to be excited – the specifics.

Focus. Strong angles, strong perspectives on issues, new ways of looking at something, don’t have to come from the top of the tree in a company – they can come from you. And just one could be your break!

4. Stay focused

Be persistent when applying for work experience or adding to any experience you’ve already gained. It may seem like the hardest thing to get a break, but don’t feel sorry for yourself as you sit there opening another rejection email – there are many more hard hurdles to face in your career in the media. Get used to it. Let it toughen you up. Refine you.

Don’t dwell on what you think the reasons were for rejection… remember: you are created as a unique individual with unique hopes, dreams and talents. Be content with who you are, but also looking to continually improve your skill set and contacts.

Store and review contacts and opportunities. Admin may seem like the last thing you feel like doing but do it you must. It’ll help to reset you, and also help you to plan and take stock of where you’re at.

There’ll no doubt be days when you just feel like giving up – when being stuck in a dead end job seems like the only likely reality ahead of you. That’s when you have to remember the good things you’ve created already – things you loved doing, ideas you loved cherishing, that revealed to you your talent sparks in the particular field you’re trying to work in.

You don’t know what impression you’ve left with someone, what opportunity may be just around the corner, what groundbreaking idea you may be subconsciously forging in your head. Look up and look forward.

5. Cherish relationships

They say it’s not what you know but who you know that counts. Well it’s mostly true. But the ecosystem of relationships and contacts in the media industry is far more than just ‘knowing’ people. Each person, contact, relative, friend that you meet on your path can offer something valuable to help you get that break. Everyone can be a contact, or lead you to contacts.

Friends can also support you when your outlook is feeling gloomy, and give you that lift you need. Whether it’s taking your mind off the job hunt with a few hours out and about. That’s important. You don’t want to turn up to a job interview looking like you’ve had no life and no sleep in the preceding few weeks or months. You’re more employable as a healthy person than a tense and sleep lacking wreck. 

Use friends and those you trust to give you honest feedback on your CV and portfolio. To review your work for you to give you an honest opinion. Listen to them, but don’t let their criticism or praise take your eyes off your original passion and vision.

And as befits any ecosystem you can give something positive back to those people, if not immediately then down the road somewhere. Working in the media is very much about relationships. Getting your break into the media is very much about you and your life. Your qualifications won’t carry you – you will.

Posted by Andrew Horton
Director, Worldview Media


Filed Under: Skills Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Five essential tips for video making on a budget

January 19, 2012 By

 

I’m often asked for help in getting people started with video making – often on a very low budget. After having worked as a BBC community video trainer and more recently as a web video Producer and Director (www.youtube.com/officialpremiertv) I think I have the experience to nail down the basic, basic, basics of shooting video on a budget.

So, presuming you have a video camera, of any sort, five essential things you need to get right are:

1. Good audio.  Get the mic up close to the subject if possible, but out of shot. If it’s built into the camera then bring the camera nearer. Think of your location too. Don’t film near a busy road, for instance!

2. Enough light. You need to see your subject. Small, cheaper cameras don’t cope well in low light. Do what you can to light your shot. Room lights all on? Are you making the most of daylight available?

3. Tight focus. Make sure you take time to focus up your subject correctly. It looks really bad if you don’t focus tightly.

4. Steady shots. If you are taking general shots/b-roll don’t wave the camera around, zooming in and out. Take lots of 5-10 sec steady shots, which you’ll find will cut together much easier in the edit – and can be used for cutaway shots.

5. Kit check. Before you go out, remember your kit check. Batteries charged up, tripod and tripod plate (if you have one), enough tape/memory etc. You’ll be surprised how easy it is to forget that all important (and usually smallest) piece of kit!

And for a cheeky number 6 remember to keep learning from your mistakes. It’s not as easy as it looks to make quality videos for the web, but it’s not impossible.

Enjoy!

Posted by Andrew Horton
Director, Worldview Media

 

Filed Under: Skills, Video

YouTube+ would be a safer bet than Google+

December 11, 2011 By

 

At the beginning of December 2011, YouTube launched its much anticipated re-design:

 

It now has a completely new look:

New YouTube design

It’s now a much more social experience, majoring on the concept of subscribing to channels and getting updates and notifications pumped to you more acutely. It has a much improved analytics interface too. One wonders if many corporate, media and not-for-profit websites will ditch proprietary video hosting solutions and instead use YouTube to host their content for little financial outlay, depending on how they choose to use YouTube/Google’s advertising services.

YouTube, of course, is owned by Google. Despite its best intentions, Google+ still continues to struggle to make a true market impact in social networking, whether you read the reports, the blogs, or just recognise how much time you actually spend on it since you set up your account?? [ed. not much!]

It can’t fail, can it?

Google’s +1 model (the equivalent to Facebook’s ‘like’) should, on paper, have no problem spreading itself to as wide an audience as ‘like’ achieves for Facebook. After all, Google is still the biggest search engine out there. And now with +1 being integrated on YouTube and Gmail – both as we know having huge user bases – it can’t fail can it? Think of all those cross application networks being formed at the click of a social button!

The content paths from YouTube and Gmail (and Search) head to Google+. e.g. you +1 something on YouTube and it appears on your Google+ profile page etc. But what if no one is looking at these profile pages? You’ve fed the social linking machine (pioneered by Facebook), but there’s no one to see the outcome. When you ‘like’ on Facebook or, crucially, on an external website, it’s likely most of your Facebook friends will see that and there’ll be important subsequent brand exposure and circulation. Facebook doesn’t have a ‘YouTube’ or ‘Gmail’ to drive its ‘likes’ to Facebook. It’s just so well known, and has cleverly opened itself up to developers, providing tools like Comments, Activity Feed, Like Boxes, and other Social Plugins etc. that it doesn’t have to.

The holy grail of social media

Like YouTube, Gmail has had a redesign too in the last fortnight, so it’s clear the thinking from Team Google is to make more effort for those two ‘pushers’ (YouTube and Gmail) to push to Google+ big time! And then the holy grail full circle of social media is possible, with content being pushed OUT from Google+ to YouTube and Gmail and coming back in by +1s.

But if a social network to rival Facebook is what Google craves, it may have already found it in YouTube. The new design is far more ‘social’, as mentioned above. Video is the foremost medium for communication today. Apple, Coca Cola, Nike don’t launch products on the strength of a good podcast or song or graphic, they do it through video. Those last two sentences aren’t meant to be patronising, it’s just worth stating again the important position YouTube has in the future of social media.

Music and gaming – the way forward

So, if Google+ goes the way of Wave or Buzz it has a good fallback in YouTube.

I would suggest, though, that Google majors on two things with the future of YouTube to ensure it can stand its ground as a social network.

1. Think about a better music download integration.

2. Think about how it can get a bigger slice of the gaming industry.

So YouTube may end up taking the + off Google+ and making it its own! aka YouTube+

I doubt anyone from Google will read this blog post – unless they’re on Facebook, as I’ve chosen not to incorporate +1 on my social buttons bar below. Maybe if Google+ does take off properly, then you can +1 this post, leaving these conclusions to be proved wrong. Either way, I hope you ‘like’ the thinking behind this post!

Posted by Andrew Horton

Director, Worldview Media

 

Filed Under: Social Media, Theory, Video Tagged With: ,

From St. Stephen’s to Jerusalem – Easter(LIVE) 2011 and its amazing story

October 23, 2011 By

 

Easter(LIVE) 2011

Easter(LIVE) 2011

The recently departed Steve Jobs loved to use the phrase ‘Good artists copy; great artists steal’. It’s said to be originally from Picasso, and I wonder what Picasso would have made of Easter(LIVE) 2011. I reckon he would have made an awesome Easter(LIVE) – telling the passion week narrative in the most creative ways possible, like over 150 Twitter users signed up to do this year. We had lego passion plays, ones with jelly babies, funky photo montages and traditional Twitter storytelling.

It feels strange but good to use that phrase: ‘traditional Twitter storytelling’. When Share Creative, Worldview Media, Cliff College and the Evangelical Alliance launched the 2010 Easter(LIVE) we felt we were pioneers in our field – in the biblical-narrative-twittersphere. (We think we were the first large scale, real-time passion play told on Twitter – if you don’t think so, let us know!) So creative were the participants in this year’s project that we’ve all had to redefine what traditional Twitter storytelling really is. I love it!

Producing Easter(LIVE) 2011 was very much a team process. With Huw Tyler, Ali Johnson and myself steering it, we had invaluable input from Adam Brown (coder and web developer extraordinaire! Check out Decode Studios), Dot Tyler who wrote the youth resources, Chris Stone who made the singing and rockin’ video (check out his amazing portfolio here), and the Evangelical Alliance who covered press and publicity brilliantly – thanks Lizzy, Chine, and Anna.

And the principles remain the same. We want to engage audiences with projects and ideas which help them to marry biblical narratives with technology; to refresh the stories of old with the life and energy of Jesus today; to reach new audiences and give spark to the weary; to help people to share and connect as a Church without walls (to fight cliches like that one with a vigorous attention to cutting edge creativity and refusing to settle for average ideas).

It was great to be invited to the Christian New Media Awards 2011 on October 14th, run by Premier Christian Media – even greater was to win the Most Creative Use of Social Media for Easter(LIVE) 2011. We were up against some strong competition, including another Share Creative project you may have heard of (!) called Natwivity. It was a really well run evening, with some great food and compering from Maria Rodrigues-Toth and Krish Kandiah. There was even time to squeeze in a video prayer at the end…. ;-) A perfect evening at St. Stephen’s, Walbrook.

 

L-R Krish Kandiah (co-host), Ali Johnson, Huw Tyler, and Andrew Horton

L-R Krish Kandiah (co-host), Ali Johnson, Huw Tyler, and Andrew Horton

Just six days later, the Easter(LIVE) 2011 team were donning the suits etc. again for the Jerusalem Awards 2011 – again with Easter(LIVE) 2011 up against Natwivity in the Social Network category. Hosted by the Sainsbury family and held at the Royal Society of Arts in London. We weren’t too sure about this one, this time around. We’d won two awards for Easter(LIVE) here last year, so the 2011 project would have to be on its toes to persuade the judges.

As it happened, Natwivity and Easter(LIVE) 2011 walked away with the prize, jointly. A well deserved outcome. Congrats to Katherine Maxwell-Cook for an excellent script on Natwivity and for everyone else involved in the project. Bravo!

 

L-R: Dot Tyler, Ali Johnson, Andrew Horton, Huw Tyler, Katherine Maxwell-Cook

L-R: Dot Tyler, Ali Johnson, Andrew Horton, Huw Tyler, Katherine Maxwell-Cook (photo: Anna Moyle)

I have so much time for Huw, Ali and everyone involved in these projects. I could be more gushy, but this isn’t the time. (Don’t worry Huw and Ali, I won’t actually be gushy, gushy!)

Here’s to next week, next year, and all that. Get in!

Posted by Andrew Horton


Filed Under: Events, News, Social Media Tagged With: , , , , , ,

50% of all Twitter users don’t use Twitter

September 9, 2011 By

 

It was the hidden fact. Not hidden from the article, but hidden from the way it was spun that caught my eye this morning. Below is the last line of the BBC story titled: Twitter says it has 100 million active users (BBC News website 8 Sept 2011):

 

So it has 200 million registered users, but only half are active? Would not the news that ‘Half of all Twitter users don’t use it’ be more appropriate? The Telegraph and Washington Post also took same line as the Beeb, as did Sky News and the Guardian. It’s sobering – in the sense of how many journalists seemingly pander to Twitter’s PR. Its blog post today revealed the figures. It was called ‘One Hundred Million Voices’. Enough said.

This ‘positive’ news spin today should be compared to stats that came out from Yahoo in March this year. It revealed that 50% of ALL tweets come from just 0.05% of its users. Leading tech blog, Mashable, summarises the nub of it:

‘Of the 260 million tweets with URLs that the study’s authors analyzed, nearly 50% of the tweets consumed were created by what they called “elite” users who fall into four categories: media, celebrities, organizations and bloggers. “Ordinary” users encompass everyone else.’ Mashable, 28 March 2011 ’50% of Tweets Consumed Come From Only 0.05% of Twitter Users [STUDY]‘

Let’s have a look at who picked up the Yahoo story in March. Can’t find it in the Washington Post. Can’t find it on the BBC. Not on Sky News. Guardian? Nope.

So perhaps celebrating Twitter’s 100 million active users is a little like saying ‘fifty people come to our church each Sunday, but we have a congregation of a hundred.’

The Bird Needs Feeding

Dave Parrack, writing in the (strangely named) blog Tech Blorge says ‘In it’s most basic form, Twitter is one of the simplest Web apps I have ever used’. So why aren’t those 100 million people who have signed up to Twitter, using it? Simple? And yet complicated. I sense an oxymoron here. But, I think I have the answer. Or rather, blogger Naomi Pollack, has:

‘If you set up your Twitter account and do little or nothing to it, it doesn’t work at all. The heart and soul of Twitter is interacting with other people. If you only log in once a week, you may get something out of it, but you’ll be missing the true wealth of Twitter, which is constantly streaming information and connectivity, and real-time interaction.’ Naomi Pollack, biznick.com

The Twitter bird does need feeding. You can’t just leave your Twitter account as set-aside, hoping it’ll at least mature with age. With Facebook you can do that. You can set up an account and ‘things can happen’ without you doing much. Not so with Twitter. It’s much easier to become social jetsam, floating along the ocean with no land or people in sight. Perhaps that’s why it’s common to hear the phrase ‘Are you on Facebook?’, but then to hear ‘Do you do Twitter?’. Notice the difference. ‘On’ is a preposition. ‘Do’ is a verb. A preposition links to a noun (Facebook), so it comes across as more passive here; a verb implies you’re ‘doing something’ (i.e. Twitter) so it’s more active.

Twitter is the quintessential ‘doing’ member of the social media family. You have to do it, or it won’t be worth it. If you need encouragement as to the power of Twitter, see my previous blog post on how Twitter came into its own during the Japan Tsunami. And if you’re one of the 100 million non-active users, or find the ‘simplicity’ all too complicated, do check out this this very good piece from Naomi Pollack, or this Worldview Media guide to using Twitter.

Posted by Andrew Horton

 

Filed Under: News, Social Media Tagged With: ,

Like Thy Neighbour

June 26, 2011 By

If it wasn’t for some policy wrangling within Facebook, the Like button we use today could have been called the ‘Awesome’ button. Mark Zuckerberg was considering it, but vetoed the idea. (src: Progressive Media Concepts). It would have sounded wrong on so many levels (excessive use of expression, culturally niche, an Americanism, slang etc.) But it very nearly happened. Awesome literally means inspiring awe. But maybe not every link, post, comment, photo etc on Facebook would warrant us endorsing it with such hyperbole. We don’t want our Facebook friends to believe we think their photo of that moderate sunset was awesome, when it was just OK. So instead we ‘Like’. And it’s stuck.

Like is now a mainstay tool and part of Facebook’s functional DNA. By liking Pages we become fans and receive their content into our Newsfeeds; we like external web pages with embedded Like Buttons; we can also like content on Apps as well (e.g. Grooveshark). It’s such a potent and increasingly herculean term. It has power. According to a new report from Hitwise, liking a Facebook Page can boost your ROI by twenty times compared to just relying on visitors to your website (src: The Next Web). The Like button is rapidly taking over the Share button (which still works on external websites, but is being phased out in favour of Like’s new commenting functionality). An Israeli couple even named their child ‘Like’ after deciding it was an appropriate, modern and innovative name!

We’re being encouraged to Like, Like, Like everything – even as the radio spits out the Black Eyed Peas anthem ‘Where Is The Love?’ (which you can, ironically, Like here). We can love, but only if we write it in a comment or wall post – or change our relationship status to something a bit more cosy.

But does it matter that we can’t directly ‘Love’ stuff on Facebook? Maybe love is too strong a word for frequent use. It’s certainly an emotive term, usually reserved for exceptional circumstances. After all, it’s easy (as we saw with the near introduction of ‘Awesome’) to be ambiguous in our communication. According to The World of Social Psychology: ‘The spectrum of human emotion is so vast, that we often make incorrect associations.’

Christian believers have an interesting dilemma with Facebook. Instructed by Jesus to ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’ (Mark 12:31) they are somewhat pinned to the notion that ‘God is Like’ as opposed to ‘God is Love’ (1 John 4:8). This may not be a bad thing. Indian journalist, Robin Sam, writes: ‘Net-savvy believers want to impact the world for Jesus. Only, some of them don’t realize that they are affecting the world instead of impacting it and causing a few to reject the message of Jesus.’

The Bible even explicitly teaches believers to be sensitive about sharing faith. Here’s an excerpt from Philippians in The Message version:

‘So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush.’ (Philippians 1:9-11)

Conscious of the heresy, but weighed in favour of the importance of the exercise, here’s a version of the same text with a Facebook-twist:

‘So this is my prayer: that your ‘liking’ will flourish and that you will not only ‘like’ much but well. Learn to ‘like’ appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your ‘liking’ is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush.’ (Philippians 1:9-11 – boldness mine)

Liking is more subtle than loving. So how can Christians take the right approach to sharing on Facebook?

  • Like ‘appropriately’ – love much privately, but don’t Like everything online. A scatter gun approach of liking can dilute the authenticity of your appreciation of something – and clog up your friends newsfeeds.
  • Be ‘sincere’ – don’t like or post a comment for the sake of it. It’s easy to see through an agenda to gain face with that person, artist, or company etc. And chances are you haven’t always read the content you Like!
  • Be ‘intelligent’ – remember that all your Facebook friends have the potential to see what you have liked or posted. To maintain your integrity ‘test your feelings’ towards what you’re going to like or post. Who will see it, what will they think?
  • Don’t post ‘sentimental gush’ – remember that unless all your friends on Facebook are Christians (unlikely), much religious content will appear bizarre and/or offensive to non-believers.

Dan King, a bible teacher and blogger writes on Bibledude.net:

“The focus should be on building authentic relationships. Without it, not only do you run the risk of not being effective, but also in ruining any chance that other Christians might have […] That’s why the most important thing that you can understand about social media is that it’s social in nature.”

Even though believers are instructed to: ‘Live our lives openly and transparently in front of our friends as we do in the physical world, demonstrating unconditional love and the fragrance spoken of in.’ (2 Corinthians 2:15) – it’s important to remember that Jesus himself insisted on sensitivity and friendship forming before proclaiming his message. Robin Sam writes:

‘Remember Jesus’ approach to Zacchaeus (Luke 19:5). He went out of the way and stayed at his house. In other words, He offered himself to be a friend first before He revealed Himself as the Savior. Paul tried to be ‘all things to all people’ just ‘so that by all possible means I might save some’ (I Corinthians 9:22).

Facebook friends aren’t just avatars with streams of text, links and photos – they’re real people who deserve respect – and hopefully forgive our shortcomings. That is truly awesome.

Posted by Andrew Horton

Filed Under: Blogging, Websites Tagged With: , ,

Value on Demand – rescuing value from the traps of being ‘free’

June 12, 2011 By

A proliferation of choice. On the one hand we want to be able to choose, but on the other, we don’t want so much choice! How can we reconcile these two seemingly conflicting states? How can we rescue value in what we consume and make it ‘valuable’ again?

Make me a better editor

Broadcasters and marketeers face this dilemma particularly acutely. We are obliged to give people a wide range of choices, and help them to choose – but without making the choice for them. (That would be rude.) We need to make people better editors – editing a wide range of choices. But if we make people better editors, how can we ensure they still consume the same amount of adverted media, or secure the same level of material purchases? There needs to be some level of wandering (a new name for surfing) in order for people to ‘stumble/be drawn to/snared in to’ an advert. Amazon has been running with the ‘Recommendations for you’ model, which is now being used by YouTube and others, too. But do we like it if an algorithm is giving us advice on what to buy? It may be preferable to a ‘suit you, sir’ shop attendant exploiting your vulnerable shopping eyes with their quick skill and fervour – but it’s impersonal. And without the personal, there’s less room for intimacy, less room for connection, and value becomes harder to find.

What online should I do?!

Children like to be read stories, but at the onset of adulthood we realise that our independence is more expansive than we can manage. There are many more things we can do, too many things to do, too many choices. We may still like to be read stories (watch soaps, films, read novels) written for us to consume, but we now know we can micro-direct how we consume them. We can choose the time, the place, the platform, the amount we consume, amongst other things. And even if we’re short on time, have no choice of the place, or the platform or the amount we have to consume, we can learn from our experience of confinement and how we could make better choices in the future to allow us more control – and more choices. We’re working to free ourselves to live better lives, so we struggle in that direction.

On web pages it’s even more acute. We are overwhelmed with the ability to ‘construct’ our interactive narratives (hyperlinks offer us a choice of where to go on the website, what should I click through to to improve my experience of this website? What should I Digg, or Like/Recommend/Send?). ‘What on earth should I do?’ ‘What online should I do?!’

And yet, we sometimes still have that innate desire to be read a story. We value the skill and ability of the creator of the content we’re consuming. OK, there are choices given to us of how to consume it, but we often want to escape into the psyche of the author – whether that’s in affirmation, curiosity, or convenience.

Money makes the head spin round

With Direct Debit, PayPal and cookie-stored bank details on websites we lose value in what financial capital we actually have. The quicker the transaction is processed the better – we now accept. Less time is spent thinking if we can afford it. Sometimes, we can be so enamoured with a deal that it feels pretty much ‘free’. We’re only next reminded of what we’ve done when the postman arrives a few days later, or checking our bank statement at the end of the month. Often things are ‘sold’ as ‘free’ when, in fact, that’s purely a heresy.

Take mobile phone contracts. Are free minutes really ‘free’? Are we not paying for them at all? Do we not still pay our phone bill each month, from which these are a part? The problem is it’s just not sexy, or of marketing benefit, to call them by their true name: ‘cheap’ minutes. After all, everything’s cheap nowadays, so what would be the draw to the deal? It has to be called ‘free’.

Take Hotmail. It’s just free, right? ‘There are no ‘Hotmail’ entries on my bank statements over the last 12 years. So where is the cost? I don’t look at the adverts…or do I?’

Similarly, with estimates of around 95% of all digital music being illegally downloaded it loses its value if it doesn’t cost us anything. It’s free, but it’s not free.

And when we buy quickly, what do we lose in the pre-purchase value of a product i.e. the emotional credits we enjoy as we fantasize how this product will improve/change our lives? Marketers either have to encourage such a period of fantasy prior to purchase, or it may be in their best interests to encourage a habit of ‘impulse buying’ – ‘one-click’ style. i.e. if your customers are more conditioned to impulse buying, are they more likely to pay more, and more regularly, for different items? Do we value a new TV more if we are on a shopping trip/wander and, despite not planning to buy a TV on that particular visit, we come across one we are so enamoured by and go and buy it? Or if we decide we need a new TV and spend a few weeks researching and looking for recommendations, then go and buy it, are we 1. More likely to value it more. 2. Likely to spend more?

Conclusion

The real issue at stake is how can we ensure people can get the value they crave within the structures of hyper-choice media environments – and where this craving could lead to. Predictions of the future are packed with ways to make our lives and interpersonal interactions easier, but maybe we won’t get value in these, and insist on ‘old fashioned’ activities like playing real boardgames with real people in the room (instead of linking up to virtual or remote players via our latest computer consoles). We could see this almost as nostalgia as a human right.

We have to work to make things valuable. We may organise a house party viewing of X-Factor (as opposed to watching it on a Twitter or Facebook feed). We may go to the shops to buy that book, while at the same time meeting a friend for coffee. Or if we do to stay physically isolated, we may write a blog or Facebook post review of a TV programme, album etc. and share it in our online community. We mustn’t let the media product we consume become our community. Value can’t be confined to being on demand. It can be demanded, but it’s not often found in the immediacy of the consumption we’re increasingly accustomed to.

Be prepared for a much bigger war ahead. The fight to rescue value.

Posted by Andrew Horton

 

Filed Under: Theory Tagged With: , , ,
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