Traditional Media Continue Decline

Last week the Audit Bureau of Circulation released its latest statistics on the health of newspapers across the country. Unfortunately, like the report from last fall (which posted declines of 2.6%), the circulation numbers are not good and continue to decline.

The report found that the paid weekday circulation of some 530 newspapers across the U.S. fell 3.6%, with only two publications in the Top 25 -- USA Today and the Wall Street Journal (have I ever mentioned that's my favorite paper :)?) -- posting gains.

Biggies like the New York Times fell 3.9%, and the Los Angeles Times fell a staggering 5.1%.

Just today, I read where the Myrtle Beach Sun Times and the Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader offered employees buyouts. Newsweek did the same a few weeks ago, and Time also recently let go some 100 employees. I also had a conversation recently with an editor at the Charleston (SC) Post & Courier who noted they currently had a part-time employee filling a previously full-time position with no plans to change that and that they were generally short-staffed.

Whenever I'm out speaking about why companies should engage Web 2.0 tools, I always list the declining impact of traditional media as a reason. Fewer and fewer people are paying attention. And I'm always asked: Do you think newspapers will cease to exist?

No, not any time soon. There is still a place for a hand-held paper amongst my generation and older; however, traditional media is going to have to readjust and find its place in the new Internet-driven world. It is not so different from when TV news came to the forefront and afternoon papers went under. They have to adjust and they are working hard to extend their Internet presence and meet readers where they want their news. It will be interesting to see how the chips fall.

What do you think? Will newspapers be a thing of the past?

YouTube Gets Religion

The latest phenomenon to join the ranks of those on YouTube (see previous posts on Oprah and the Queen of England) is ... Scientology! Yes, YouTube has got religion.


The Church of Scientology set up their very own channel where you can watch a variety of videos about their practices, beliefs and stances on issues.

An article on MediaPost notes a press release from the religion of Tom Cruise as saying:
"The Church has initiated the expansion of its online video presence on YouTube in response to the global demand for video content and accurate information about its beliefs, practices and its humanitarian programs addressing drug abuse, illiteracy, human rights and disaster relief."

So I'm sure you're going to rush right over and check it out.

Oh, and if you want to watch a funny video about Scientology and Tom Cruise check out this video blog post. (This video does not reflect the opinions of Lyn Mettler :)).

Facebook Changes

OK, I had a lot to blog about today, can you tell? Next up, has anyone noticed Facebook is constantly changing things around? Stop it already!

Everytime I log on, some button has moved somewhere else and I have to look all over to find it. One was so hidden one day (the Share With Friend link on one of the Fan Pages I administer moved from the top right to way down on the bottom left) I had to Google my problem and finally found a post that alerted to me to where it had moved. All the while I was cursing Facebook because I thought they had removed it.

Logged on last night and discovered a new chat option (which I do think is pretty cool). It tells you which of your friends are online and you can instant message them right there. Your Notifications have also moved to the bottom right (in case you lost them).

All in all, I think most of these are good improvements, but hey Facebook, I'd suggest sending us all a message or something when you do this, so we don't spend hours searching for what we need. What do you all think?

MySpace Is a Copy Cat

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right? Well, then Facebook can take MySpace's latest foray as a true compliment.

MySpace has followed along the path of Facebook by adding applications that users can upload to their profiles to make them even more super cool (goodness knows MySpace pages don't need anything else distracting on them, but here we go!). I checked it out and surprise, surprise, many of them are the same ones you can get on Facebook.

So those of you MySpacers out there, give some of them a whirl and let us know what you think. Are they functioning right? Which ones do you like best? Any ones that are cooler than the ones on Facebook. Speak out!

Madonna on MySpace

Where can you hear Madonna's album first? Why, MySpace of course. She joins a list of other "hip" artists like Black Eyes Peas, Nine Inch Nails and Outkast who have also released their albums to MySpace first. After all, that's really where MySpace shines: promoting musicians, especially those who haven't reached celebrity status yet.

So, if the Material Girl's continued controversies draw your interest, head on over to MySpace to see what her new album HardCandy is all about (I hear it's more dance-beat style stuff).

Using Web 2.0 for Good

Guess what? Web 2.0 isn't just great for business and for passing time on a Saturday night -- it's great for doing "good" too!


In fact, one organization, Innovative Support to Emergencies, Diseases and Disaster (yes the acronym is InSTEDD), has the lofty goal of "helping" people through Web 2.0 tools. The nonprofit group will use technologies like Facebook and Twitter to alert people around the world of impending disaster, strains of disease and even help coordinate rescue efforts and humanitarian needs. Not so different from the LA Fire Department, mentioned in a previous post, who alerted people in their district via Twitter with updates regarding wildfires.


In fact, an article on the cNet news blog, notes that Google has invested $5 million in the project, along with $1 million from the Rockefeller Foundation.


One cool use of the application, for which I am going to quote the cNet article directly:
"One such application will be the so-called Twitter bot framework, which bridges the Web service and phones with a location-detection feature that can link to a layer in Google Earth, Rasmussen said. That way, for example, Rasmussen could send a message about a patient with untreated symptoms in Laos via SMS on his phone, which might only have one signal bar of service. That message could then be broadcast to anyone subscribed to his messages, including aid workers at UNICEF or InSTEDD's headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif., which could show his location and note on a Google Earth map."


Too cool.

Death by Blogging?

Last week, an article in the New York Times discussed the risks of blogging, including death! Apparently, a couple of well-known bloggers have kicked the bucket in recent months and the article makes the case that staying on top of a popular blog can be quite stressful. Both died of heart problems.

So by encouraging you to blog, am I signing you up for an early death? I don't think so. These folks write on their blogs constantly. Many blog about a particular industry and feel the need to try to be the "first" to break industry news. The article says many of these bloggers are even afraid to sleep for fear that another blogger will get the scoop and post it first.

I simply recommend blogging as a way to establish your expertise in a given subject area and provide a more personal dialogue with your target audiences. To do this, I do suggest blogging at least twice a week, but multiple times a day is a bit much I think.

That said, as someone who helps clients with Web 2.0 tools for a living, I do feel I should personally be engaging these tools myself. I mean if I'm recommending them to my clients, shouldn't I be using them too? And keeping up with all this stuff while running a business (and a family) can be a bit stressful at times.

I think the key here is the same for anything else: moderation. Take what tools you think are the best fit for you and put your energy there. Don't try to be all things to all people or try to keep up with EVERYTHING. That just might send you to an early grave.

Web 2.0 and Spaceship Earth

Well, even while on vacation at Disney World last week, I was thinking Web 2.0. Can you believe it?

A classic Disney ride at Epcot, Spaceship Earth is one of my favorites. I actually feel like I'm learning something while riding a ride! Anyway, for those of you who may not be as familiar with all of Disney's intricacies as my Disney-crazed family, Spaceship Earth is the ride inside the big ball at Epcot. It essentially tells the story of communication through time -- from the cavemen to present day.

They had updated the ride since I had last ridden it (with a hilarious new ending, which I will not spoil for you -- well, only if you email me) to truly bring it into the 21st century with the Internet and all. And it occurred to me as I was riding this ride and seeing all the major innovations in communications over time -- papyrus in Egypt, roads in Rome, the Renassiance, the printing press, television -- how we truly are priviledged to live in a time of such a major evolution in communication.

And no I don't even mean the Internet (but can you imagine how old our kids will think we are -- I mean, we lived before the Internet existed! Yikes!), but this evolution called Web 2.0. The Internet is amazing in itself, but I think what is really cool is how Web 2.0 has evolved the Web from not just receiving information, but actively contributing to that information ourselves. I mean we are essentially creating our own future, and eventual history, through our blogs, our videos we post to YouTube, the podcasts we record on our computers, our quick thoughts on Twitter. And we can communicate with anyone with a computer from across the world in an instant.

There's never been anything like it before and I truly think it is the biggest communication innovation to date. Imagine what the folks after us might experience! I can only imagine...