As everyone knows by now, Singapore has it’s first H1N1 case, a schoolmate of mine from SMU (I don’t know her name or who she is). She came back from a business study mission to New York, and I was on a similar trip two years ago in 2007, and many of my friends were on trips before, during and after that.
So when the media gets hold of information that
a) The H1N1 case is a student from SMU
b) She was on a business study mission to New York
What do they do? Call/email/sms/instant message anyone and everyone they know who has ever gone on the trip, regardless of which year it was. I personally was contacted for information, so too were other friends who were on the previous trips, and not this year’s. They then start asking for the phone number of the professor in charge.
Look. If you want to do responsible reporting, do responsible reporting. Call the hospital, ask the doctor how she is, ask the ministries if we’re prepared for the flu, whatever. Don’t sensationalise reporting by finding out facts that don’t matter, and don’t harass people who have nothing to do with it!
You know the rules. You want a comment, call the school, not the students.
And for goodness sake, leave the poor girl alone to recover in the hospital. It’s bad enough she has to go through the trauma for having the virus, the last thing she needs are vultures circling around her door, phone and anywhere else to get every juicy tidbit of information that matters.
By the way, Channel News Asia, there’s no point being on Twitter which is meant for instantaneous messaging, if you break the news almost five hours after it’s out.
If you’ve been following me on Twitter or Plurk, you may have gathered hints about a podcast coming your way.
Well, it’s here! It’s called Genny (pronounced Jenny – you have Krisandro to thank for the name) and the deal behind the podcast is that we decided to just get a handful of people from Generation Y in Singapore, and just really talk about what’s going on. Sometimes it’ll be about social media, sometimes it won’t be.
First, let me introduce the people in this podcast:
GennY Episode 1 Team
Krisandro, myself, Dorothy, Yin and Yinqi make up the people behind this episode, but it’s a revolving team and the voices will change from time to time, depending on who’s available to record the show. (Big thanks to Ingrid for putting together the graphic!)
As our first episode goes, this is pretty raw because we just sat in a room and talked into a laptop (Anyone wants to sponsor us proper podcast equipment?), but I hope you enjoy it anyway. It can only get better.
The show notes:
00:00 – Krisandro starts us off – introductions all round
00:53 – The topic: How is Gen Y different in the work force?
01:28 – Will Gen Y mindset change during the recession?
02:26 – Gen Y has no qualms with changing jobs, even in a recession
03:39 – Perhaps Gen Y feels there isn’t enough recognition at work
05:08 – Did the media influence Gen Y’s outlook on life?
07:56 – How is Gen Y different outside the workspace in peer-to-peer interactions?
09:57 – How does online interaction affect offline interaction?
10:51 – Krisandro claims he’s 19
11:01 – Are there different norms that apply online and offline?
11:58 – Maybe it’s easier for us to verify if people are weirdos online
15:10 – Blooper!
Please check out the podcast here and give us your feedback! If you’d like us to cover a certain topic, just drop a message in the comments. Thanks for your support!
One thing that I’m wondering, from what I’m gathering from the data, is how the visits are measured. Plurk is automatically updated, Twitter isn’t. Twitter can also be accessed from desktop applications like Twhirl, Tweetdeck and many others. Are these factored in? How about mobile apps for Twitter like Twinkle and Twitterific? Similarly, how about mobile access for Plurk? The Plurk app for iPhones and iPod Touches?
In other words, are there “hidden” traffic sources that we should be looking at?
Secondly, looking at Prof. Michael’s blog post that points to Hubspot releasing a report that lists Singapore as one of the top 30 Twitter cities worldwide, I’m wondering this: If Plurk has more traffic in Singapore than Twitter, and Twitter is in the top 30 Twitter cities, what does that say about any city that is not in the top 30? Are they by default, even less than Singapore’s Plurk traffic?
What are the implications of these statistics on people looking to use microblogging as a communications tool? Is it far from being mainstream if a top 30 city is a small one like Singapore?
Granted, neither of these data points are concrete and conclusive. The Hubspot data uses about 500,000 Twitter users as a sample size. This seems to be the problem most of us are dealing with. It’s not a complete lack of information, but imperfect information. Should we just take what is available and work from there because it’s better than nothing? What are the alternatives? Would love to hear from those struggling to answer these questions just as much as I am.
This data (though I do have some questions about it which I will blog about tomorrow) seems to validate what I’ve been feeling intuitively over the last six months or so. If I had to point to reasons, I have broadly speaking, two:
1) Twitter failed us
Looking back, my very first post on my switch to Plurk was on the 3rd of June, 2008. The blog post even leads with
Twitter’s downtime over the last couple of months has really pissed off a lot of people, most of all me.
With that timeframe in mind, let’s look at Hitwise’s research:
Plurk vs Twitter Visits
The image clearly shows the surge in visits occurs somewhere around the 28th of June. A reasonable enough time for a technology to diffuse down the adoption curve.
2) Localisation and Intimacy
When I first wrote about the switch to Plurk I had four main reasons:
Now that I’ve been using Plurk for awhile, these reasons have compressed into two: intense localisation and intimacy. My theory is Singaporeans don’t need the wide reaches of Twitter. Because of our relatively smaller size as a country, we’re used to smaller interactions, which is perfect for what Plurk achieves. I think most people have less than 100 friends, which makes following easy. This is different from the Twitter “power users” in the US, as following 5,000 friends on Plurk would probably literally send someone insane.
The second theory is that by nature of Plurk consisting of small, threaded, intimate conversations, it lends itself naturally to a very high level of localisation. When you join Plurk and realise the Singaporean users are talking about local places, local weather, the movie releases in Singapore and what’s on television, it has a much more relevant feel than Twitter (were you on Twitter during the recent Superbowl?) and as a result presents a very, very low barrier to entry.
Recently a few people from SMU joined Plurk, and while I would never have imagined them on Twitter, I think Plurk works perfectly, especially when there are friends you know using the service already.
In closing, I think Singaporeans are terribly practical, and have no issues with community migration on a small scale (let’s not talk about migrating 500 friends on Facebook). The first factor, Twitter failing, led to the search for an alternative. What many of us found, is the second factor – a level of relevancy and community that Twitter did not offer. In short, the new application provided a better alternative, and most of us have never looked back.
If you’re a Plurk user in Singapore, do you agree? How about if you’re a die-hard Twitter user? Let’s hear it!
Following people who aren’t creating enough value (as opposed to “individuals that can create the most engaging media”)
and that “Any individual who isn’t “hyperconnected” is not going to benefit equally and I would argue is much more likely to eventually leave the site.”
I don’t outright disagree with these points (although I feel everyone joins Twitter with little to no followers and is far from “hyperconnected”), but I think if you distill it down to one single thing: they’re people who aren’t willing to invest the time to get the results:
They don’t bother finding out who’s talking about the topics they’re interested in (or for the companies, who’s talking about their brand)
They don’t bother finding the niche who is interested about the type of value they create.
And they certainly don’t spend the time to cultivate enough relationships to be “hyperconnected”.
I cross-reference this to a very important point from Christopher Penn’s video: Building Blocks of Social Media: Social Media Prerequisites: if you’re not used to spending time talking and listening to people (or if your company isn’t), then social media is not for you.
Maybe that’s why it’s okay to hire someone for your social media firm if he’s demonstrating an understanding of Twitter. It’s the right fit as opposed to those wanting instant results, instant relationships and instant ROI.
ps: I’m using Twitter for this post because that’s the context of the post I linked to, but it could easily apply to Plurk, FriendFeed or any other tool that requires a lot of communication and interaction.
I’d always thought of the “other” stuff that goes on in lifestreaming as a complement to blogging. They fill in the gaps but they’re not always the main content. Snacks in between meals, if you will. But in this day and age, who really has time to read a 700 word post anymore? Even a 500 one? Especially when it can be done in 140 characters. I fell ill a week back and didn’t have the energy to blog about it, but I did Plurk about it. By the time I was well enough to punch a blog post out, I realise everyone knew about it via microblogging, so it didn’t serve any purpose.
There will be “long form” bloggers as Sarah mentioned who will need to blog just as a way of capturing the content. But how about the average personal blog? If you look at the examples on RWW, my gut feel is they could work.
2) Is there a culture difference
Friendfeed is the epitome of lifestreaming. I know it’s hot, I know it has its’ uses, but it hasn’t caught on here in Singapore yet. Without any proper research, I’m going to guess that culture has a part to play. As a society we’re not that voyeuristic yet (some are, but it’s a small sample), which maybe accounts for some of it.
There’s also the element of privacy and collectivism that exists here which might result in self-censorship when it comes to lifestreaming. For example, it may not be the best thing to flag a certain controversial book you’re reading because it may not be socially acceptable in this setting.
3) It’s already happening
Prior to publishing this post, I asked aloud on Plurk (not that you could ask silently) what people thought about the article and got varied responses. In a sense that’s what lifestreaming is about isn’t it? Come across something in your life, share it quickly, get short 140 character responses back and then everyone moves on to the next item.
It’s all very interesting. I don’t know if it truly replace blogging per se, but it definitely will be exciting to see where this fits in in the next 6 months to a year. And more importantly, if everything (blogging, content, attention spans) are getting shorter, how do companies engage and connect?
The great news is I managed to snag both “Most insightful post” and “Most insightful blog”, so thanks to everyone who voted for me, and the people who nominated me in the first place.
It’s obviously nice to walk away with something and I’m glad the blogosphere in Singapore is beginning to read and recognise that blogs aren’t just Meepok Blogs about what I had for lunch. One thing I do wanna say is let’s be clear that the awards were only open to people in the Ping.sg community. By default that leaves out other great insight blogs like Michael’s and Priscilla’s. Let’s also not forget other content blogs like Vanessa’s, Kevin’s and Walter’s who post great stuff, but maybe don’t always have the time to engage with the people on ping.sg. After all, voting always boils down to a popularity contest.
Still, I hope this means more people are going to recognise the impact of social media and start bringing it into their lives, work and play, and hopefully we will see a much needed change locally in the near future.
(ps: The pictures and “fun” stuff will be up on my personal blog later. Stay tuned!)
I must really apologise for not blogging much this week. I think it has been the least I’ve blogged since I’ve started the blog, but work has really been tough (though incredibly enjoyable).
The 2nd Ping.sg blog awards (blog aggregator in Singapore with about 3,500 blogs) have their nominees and I’m nominated in three categories:
Thank you to those who nominated me. If I’ve ever talked to you (in person) about why I blog, you know it’s not for the “fame” or money (I don’t even have ads!), but it’s really just me trying to share my love for this fascinating new digital space with you, and hopefully help spread the word about social media and how it can help you in your personal life, academic life or professional life.
I didn’t nominate myself for anything primarily because I thought it’s be a good gauge to see what the community finds valuable. I think the fact that the community has chosen two posts in particular that are aimed at convincing businesses that bloggers are indeedinfluencers and fostering conversation and community tells me that locally, the people who’re reading are listening and finding some value in it, and that is very, very encouraging.
So do check out the awards nominees page and vote for who you like. I’m not going to ask that you vote for me because looking at the nominees across the board, I think the community has already won.
Everyone wants something “viral” these days. But the thing is you never really know when something is viral and truly will catch on.
Let me say it’s been two days after the HP TouchSmart PC Blogger’s Nite, and the song for the TouchSmart “Do You Wanna Touch?” has still been ringing in my head. Don’t know what I’m talking about? Check out this 1:29 video.
I’m going to be a little bit candid here. Of all companies, would you have expected one like HP to come up with something this catchy? Melvin blogged about it from Berlin and I hadn’t experienced it first hand and wasn’t convinced how “catchy” or “viral” it was until the blogger’s nite and how everyone is still talking about it:
I have to say, speaking as a social media blogger, that I give HP Singapore full credit for going all out with their blogger outreach programme. The first time they did it I wasn’t invited, but still gave them some praise, the second time they did it I was a part of it (full disclosure: I work with the PR firm that handles HP’s digital strategy and helped conceptualise and organise the event), and the second time I could really see first hand how the HP execs were willing to engage freely with bloggers. There was no “we are executives in the real world and you are bloggers” mentality.
My blog coverage with many many photos is up over on my personal blog if you’re interested. The one thing I wish could be better was to credit the band that did it, or make it available for download. Tying this in to my thoughts on social media in the local music scene, the right social media/digital tie up could just really make your song take off like wildfire. Do you like the song? Let me know!
It got me thinking about whether this is a natural progression of sorts. People join an online community until the benefits of another (uptime for Plurk) far outweigh the previous benefits of another (Twitter), or the conversations on Plurk are more intense/genuine than those on the shoutbox on ping.sg. What do we do when that happens?
I know Pat Law has mentioned a very good point that people move on to better value propositions. That’s why we’re not on Friendster or ICQ anymore. If the community shifts to a new “tool”, should it matter? After all it’s people-centric rather than platform-centric isn’t it?
Of course, I’m not saying either ping.sg or Twitter are inferior, unworthy platforms. I think ping is still great for getting the latest buzz in the local blogosphere and log on at least thrice a day to check out the newest posts, Twitter runs in the background on Twhirl for stuff to pop up once in awhile. But when faced with a new, potentially better tool, what happens?
One reason also why the ping.sg shoutbox is less “vibrant” now is because many of the pingsters are on Plurk as well. This suggests that people see more value there, or are joining it because everyone is as well, or a combination of both, but that results in ping.sg being less lively. Natural evolution of online platforms? Innovate and keep your communities or die?
I pretty much understand where Daphne is coming from, so I ask the local community because I’m curious: If you’ve shifted to Plurk, do you feel like you should stick with your previous platforms just ‘cos? Or does the higher value proposition outweigh all? Very curious to know the various views behind this.
