LinkedIn Users Loving Twitter Breakup

More than three out of five LinkedIn users (61 per cent) say their experience of the business networking service is now “better” or “much better” since their connections’ Twitter updates were removed from their live stream. The poll, carried out by Parker Wayne & Kent Public Relations, also shows that younger LinkedIn users were more likely to be in favour of the change. 

In June 2012, Twitter announced that tweets would no longer sync with LinkedIn streams, severing the two and a half year partnership between the companies. Ryan Roslansky, Head of Content Products at LinkedIn, said the split stemmed from Twitter’s “evolving platform efforts”, suggesting a push in efforts by the micro-blog giant to channel consumers back to its own site.

According to Michael Sippey, Product Team Director at Twitter, some of Twitter’s new features, such as expandable tweets, were not visible on LinkedIn. He noted in a company blog post that “[users] need to be able to see expanded Tweets and other features that make Twitter more engaging and easier to use. These are the features that make Twitter Twitter.”

Whilst many may have expected this backtracking move to be met with objection by social media users, poll responses suggest otherwise. Of the 300 voters who participated in the poll on LinkedIn, just 11 per cent of voters feel that it has become “worse” or “much worse” while 28 per cent maintain that their experience of the site remains unchanged by the split.

Many assume that younger people are the most hungry for social media updates from every platform, yet the results of the poll prove that those in a younger age bracket appreciate the split most. Of the voters whose birthday is logged with LinkedIn, users in the 18-36 year old bracket showed a significant tendency to say that their experience has been improved.

When the partnership between the two social media sites began in 2009, the syncing of streams was set to boost the number of younger users on LinkedIn. In return, Twitter was to gain increased exposure to LinkedIn’s fast-expanding user base. The sync appealed to users as it allowed CEOs and employees on LinkedIn networks to provide real-time updates to their connections.

However, the poll revealed that the general sentiment once tweet updates were removed was one of relief. Participants said that having LinkedIn activity streams filled with tweets became a nuisance. Where many Twitter users may update every hour or so, LinkedIn users might only update their statuses once a week. The result was that carefully put together LinkedIn updates were swamped by a mass of tweets. One user commented, “The tweets on LinkedIn were akin to spam mail, rarely having anything to do with professional networking”. Another user commented “it is too bad that this feature was abused by so many”, whilst one referred to the tweets on LinkedIn as “pointless rambling”.

Senior Public Relations professional at Parker, Wayne & Kent, Richard Bell, said “If social media sites are going to collaborate successfully, there needs to be a way to filter what is relevant for the different sites and for the different users. Syncing updates across all social networks makes the content untargeted to each networks’ communities and users’ various groups of connections. The time-poor business community wants focused content with a personality on LinkedIn; Facebook users want deeper personal information from people they’ve met; Twitter users want information, recommendations and short comment from strangers as well as friends.”

It is still possible for LinkedIn updates to broadcast to Twitter. When posting a status on LinkedIn, clicking the ‘Share on Twitter’ button beneath the text box will permit the status to appear on Twitter feeds.
The results of the poll here. 

Picture Perfect Data

They’re eye-catching, they’re informative and they’re easy to absorb. From maps depicting literacy rates across the world, to graphical comparisons of Starbucks coffee and McDonalds, successful infographics have permeated all aspects of contemporary media. They are concise, aesthetically appealing images which convey otherwise-daunting information in a way which is clear and accessible for the reader. But the key word here is ‘successful’. An attention-grabbing infographic is a valuable PR asset that enhances media coverage. Yet one which is too light on visual appeal or too heavy on information will fast lose readers and consequently, interest in your brand’s messages.

Infographics are not a recent invention. Although advances in technology have allowed them to modernise, infographics have held a staple role in media communication for hundreds of years. The weather map began as a chart depicting anticyclone patterns in the middle of the 19^th century. It has evolved into the finely tailored, animated infographic that we see on a daily basis on television. When presented online, the weather map is often interactive.   

Tim Frick, Author of best-selling social media and marketing book Return on Engagement said, “In this age of micro blogging and two-second sound bites, almost no one has the attention span, or time, to read more than a few sentences.”  Infographics provide a solution to this modern-day obstacle as they offer more detail than a photograph, and convey information faster than a video.  

Infographics improve media relations results as they offer variation from simple black and white text, helping to grasp the reader’s attention. They ensure that the communication of data, such as survey results and statistics, becomes more pleasurable as well as providing a vehicle for displaying company branding, corporate colours, messages and even company logos.

Social media also enables such infographics to be communicated virally. Making sure that an infographic is easy to share online by incorporating a ‘share’ link is imperative. Additionally, the images must be mobile phone and tablet friendly, and display effectively across social media platforms.

Poorly executed infographics are not only pointless, they can be damaging to a brand. A common error is to overwhelm the viewer with too much text, making the subject matter appear complex and boring – the exact opposite of what brands seek to achieve when using infographics. The principal purpose of creating these images is to condense information and present it in an easy-to-understand manner. The main ideas in the image should be accessible at a glance.  Information must be ‘bite-sized’. A picture should paint a thousand words, not contain a thousand words. An excess of text in the infographic will swamp the reader’s eye and make the key points difficult to decipher. Even if the media covers it, if media consumers stop viewing the infographic, it has failed its purpose and is simply a waste of money.

Every pie chart and bar graph comes with a key explaining the information presented, just as every map is printed with a legend listing and explaining the symbols used. Likewise, successful infographics help viewers to understand the data displayed. This is why infographics can work so well in PR when pitched with a press release. When an infographic is accompanied by an article, the text delivers expert comment and insight, while the infographic compellingly conveys the data. As a result, the main body of the text does not detract from the clear and concise presentation of the infographic, but adds value to the image. The consumer is given detailed content and varied presentation, which makes the information more interesting.

Aesthetics play a key role in the anatomy of any infographic. Generally speaking, the brain enjoys looking at colour and graphics more than plain text, so make use of this by employing colours which are friendly on the eye. The task that remains is retaining the reader’s attention once it has been attracted. Avoid deterring readers with difficult-to-read fonts. Too much complexity confuses the reader’s perceptions and makes understanding the infographic a chore. Structuring the image in the form of a flowchart is a popular way to guide the reader through the information that’s being presented. Simply using arrows, for example, helps to create a visual flow of data and represents a clear process.

One innovative infographic that deserves its social media acclaim is designer Rufus Blacklock's video infographic depicting the history of the Formula 1 car. This clip transports the viewer through 62 years of engineering in just 60 seconds, showing how the F1 car has evolved into its contemporary form. The visual effects, accessibility and soundtrack appeal to a demographic of viewers far beyond car-racing industry specialists. This resulted in Blacklock’s work being shared and placed on other sites including the BBC’s Top Gear website, proving just how successful a well thought through infographic can be.

This is not to say, however, that the recent surge in popularity of the infographic has gone without criticism. Some might see it as a representation of modern-day laziness, claiming that the simplification of data has become necessary to cater for our short attention spans.

But regardless of opinion, the use of infographics has revolutionised the transmission of information. Some even overcome the obstacle of language barriers – the map of the London underground, for example – as images are universal in language. The infographic is an invaluable tool for communication across sectors.  Not only does it create visual interest, it increases amounts of coverage, offers greater opportunity for brands to be displayed in the media and facilitates the understanding of complex subjects.

If you’d like help creating infographics for your company, don’t hesitate to get in touch at uk@pwkpr.com.

Online gambling video: TopBetta

Todd Buckingham, CEO of TopBetta, introduced Parker, Wayne & Kent to a brand new social betting platform:

TopBetta is the world's first social betting platform for sports and racing tournaments that enables sports fans to compete against each other, rather than the bookie. It's changing the way in which people bet on sports to make it all about the users, and how wisely they can place their bets. Punters don't even have to put any money down, as TopBetta provides free to play tournaments that enable players to win cash prizes without betting a penny. TopBetta combines the best of social gaming and online gambling to provide users with a rich, unique and rewarding sports betting experience.

The Social Network - Review

NB: I hate spoilers, so this blog won't give away plot, but will talk about themes in the film.

Aaron Sorkin? I didn't even know he was the screenplay writer until it popped up on the opening credits, and as a HUGE West Wing fan (I have to watch an episode before I go to sleep every night - no kidding. Get lost!) I figured I'd be into Social Network. (It's him and David Mamet that are so seriously wicked.)

And Sorkin hits you with a first scene that is masterful in its integration into a face to face conversation of the crap cliches and meaningless, trite content of social media messages and comments that belie true feelings and honesty.

Seriously, it's worth going purely to experience the first scene's cynical regard for the changes in human communication that social media has impacted upon us.

You can read about the anti-hero claptrap from other reviews, but instead consider the contemporary portrayal of geeks in films recently, of which this film is a prime example. Whatever happened to Hollywood's loveable poindexters? Y'know like Lucas, the guys from Weird Science, and Revenge of The Nerds? (Jesus, the temptation to summise that we're in "Generation G" for "geek" is incredible. Cliched device duly avoided.)

Executive producer Kevin Spacey follows-up the vibe of his film 21 - which explores the corruption of geekdom - with an even stronger and darker assertion that successful nerdity leads to megalomania.

But of all things, almost counter-intuitively until you reflect on it, this film is about superficial friendship and insincere communication. But then it's about Facebook, so of course it is.

The only entity in the film that retains integrity is The Social Network. (I don't want to spoil it, but I'm dying to make a point about a character which you might also argue retains integrity - but the very last scene proves that not to be the case.)

Fiction or not, it's a tragic depiction of the loneliness of the man at the centre of the world's largest social network, the man who commoditised friendship.

But regardless of whether the sense of affirmation for my cynicism towards social network "relationships" was from my own imposition on the film or whether it was an intentional reflection of my views, it was the most powerful thing I took away.

Lots of other things were just lessons I'd already learnt. Never blog when you're hammered. But great ideas come to you when you're pissed - in both the UK and US sense. Defamation is defamation, on the 'net or not. Pretty girls on websites drive traffic. A "the" is great for bands, not for brands. People you think are "cool" will disappoint you when you realise their reality.

Questions I asked myself after the film:

Whatever happened to Faceparty.com?

Why was my university only on the second round of UK invites?

Why the hell would people put photos of themselves drunk on the internet? Looking in the mirror when I'm drunk is frightening enough, why the hell would I want to relive that?

Lessons I think are intended by the film:

If you've got a true friend who's become simply a facebook friend, go hook up with them, have a real chat about real stuff.

Also ask yourself, how many of your Facebook friends you would give $25mn to?

And if you really think that social network friendships are real friendships, take your social media face out of your social media arse, go down the pub, and talk to someone you don't know about something real. And if you like them, learn something from them and think you can add to each other's lives, stay in touch with them. Ask them if they're on Facebook.

Remember the Cluetrain Manifesto?

Someone kindly sent me a link to the Cluetrain Manifesto this week as a "really interesting article" regarding online communications. I read it back in 2000, so someone finding it useful 10 years later, and with the emergence of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, is really telling that maybe social media has given us new tools for online PR, but the strategies aren't that different.

She prompted me to look back at some of my own research from then to see if and how it might apply today, and it's pretty critical, I think. (Of course I would say that.)

The important point is incorporating the internet and its channels and communities into communications programmes strategically. Lots of research seems to be focused on the new things we can do with social media, but it's very tactical, and often enamoured with the tech and what it can do, instead of asking the important questions - how can we make it work best for us? how can we make it work with our other communications activicies? is there an appropriate RoI?

If you're not doing much this weekend have a look at what it's still right - and what was a little naive - back in 2001 when I wrote this research document