PitchEngine, the social media release platform, announced on Tuesday that it is partnering with Technorati and MyMediaInfo to develop components for its soon to be released, Pitch™ Platform.
We didn’t have the chance to catch-up with PitchEngine’s CEO Jason Kintzler today, but according to the PitchEngine release, The Pitch Platform (due to be released in beta over the next few weeks) will offer a new kind of “social media relations”. Instead of sending press releases to email addresses, the platform will create a new channel for conversations and sharing content with real people (journalists and consumers).
Technorati will assist in creating the Technorati List (fueled by PitchEngine), which is designed to help organizations and bloggers simplify and expand blogger outreach. MyMediaInfo will assist on the traditional media end with access to 400,000 media members.
With the Pitch Platform, media will be able to follow and filter only the content that matters to them. If they see something they like, they’ll be able to interact privately, one-to-one with the Pitch creator. Media can also pitch story needs to brands and organizations from within the same categories of interest making Pitch a genuine media relations tool.
But do we really need another channel? With more channels than ever before to connect with journalists and brands, will journalists want to open a new channel (even if it is a filter)? We’ve seen the evidence that they’re already using social media for similar purposes. A study released in January found 65 percent of journalists are using social networking sites and 52 percent are using micro-blogging sites like Twitter as part of their news gathering. Add on calls and instant messaging, and that’s a lot of channels to keep track of.
Any new channel will have to offer a lot to get journalists to abandon any of the aforementioned channels. Hopefully we can give you a better idea if this does all that, when we trial the beta offering later this month.
It’s safe to say that Kevin Smith, the well known director and producer of cult-classics such as Clerks, is not nuts about Southwest. If you’ve been hiding under a rock and missed last weekend’s (turned this week’s) PR fire drill for SouthWest; Smith was asked off of a Southwest plane with the airline citing their two-seat rule for passengers who don’t safely fit in two seats. Smith, who is also a new media media influencer in every essence of the word, took to social media after that, giving his side of the story.
In a slew of Tweets following the incident, Smith detailed his take on the Southwest policy. Ever since then (now nearly a week after the incident), it has been “he said,” “she said,” between Southwest and a man with 1.6 million Twitter followers.
Such is corporate communications life in the world of new influencers. No matter how social media savvy your PR department and company is (Southwest is pretty savvy), Smith and others don’t walk around with Twitter badges on.
But a funny thing happened as this incident transpired. Southwest did a lot of things to make the bad situation better. They noted to their Twitter followers that they’d be contacting Smith by phone (code: offline). They posted an “apology” on their blog and updated it after talking with Smith (who voiced issues with the language in the post). They did a lot of things right. Smith even took hits from media members noting the incident was hurting his brand more than Southwest’s brand.
What can be learned from the incident? This won’t be the last time a high-profile person (with a large social media platform) is “wronged” by a company. Mistakes will happen and the Twitter-storm will follow. However, if you take the time to gather facts, take the conversation off-line, address it personally, don’t treat the person with the platform any different than another customer and mean what you’re saying – it can be handled.
Tis the story of Jeff Pulver, the technology anthropologist (he doesn’t like social media guru), who was headlining a talk at the Times to kick-off social media week when he got stuck on an elevator with Today’s Ann Curry (also on the panel) and Jennifer Preston, the Times social media editor. Gawker has their full, harrowing tale (with videos and tweets) here.
Several reports this afternoon indicate that Mashable is on the verge of being acquired by AOL. Gawker reported this development around 3:00pm, and Robert Scoble also reported the news today.
According to Scoble’s Twitter handle:
My sources confirm that Mashable is being sold to AOL. Trying to get more details now.
Mashable founder Peter Cashmore (24 years old) responded to Gawker’s request with a non-comment:
We don’t comment on speculation, but we do hold our writers in high regard and pay a competitive salary for their tireless efforts.
A couple other Mashable bloggers have written vague posts on Twitter, which hint that there is something in the works:
Ben Parr: “I’m on a plane at the moment, but I do not comment on speculation or rumors. That’s all I have to say on the matter.”
Jenn Van Grove: “Mashable’s team campfire chat is buzzing right now… I bet you wish you were a fly on those walls ”
The past two days we have looked at 2009’s Best of YouTube and Best of Facebook, and today we’re taking a dive into the social network that had everyone tweeting. In 2009 Twitter went from a social network that was catching on to one of the most visited and talked about Web sites, impacting our lives in ways that we never imagined. The following tweets and trends were some of the most significant developments involving Twitter in 2009, influencing mainstream media and the multimedia world that we live in today.
RaceTalk’s Best of Twitter 2009
1. Michael Jackson’s Death: The news that Michael Jackson had died almost took down Twitter completely. In fact, over 30 percent of tweets were on this topic at one point, and the news of his death was first reported over – take a guess – Twitter. Of course, this also brought out the worst in Twitter, as many users would sign in only to find the fail whale smiling at them.
2. Plane landing in the Hudson: The first report of a US Airways plane landing in the Hudson River wasn’t by CNN, NBC or any other television station – it was on Twitter. Passenger Janis Krums sent out a TwitPic just minutes after the plane came to its water landing, which was heavily circulated on the Web and was the first photo of the incident.
3. Twitter Goes Green: In support of democracy during the 2009 Iranian election, many Twitter users began shading their profile pictures green. This became one of the largest trending topics of the year, and #iranelection was the second most used hash tag of the year (the first was #musicmonday, not #swineflu)
4. Marriage Proposals and Giving Birth: A marriage proposal over Twitter may not be romantic, but it was very unique. In 2009 Twitter saw its first public marriage proposal, and once the first one occurred, others followed as well (honestly, this seems like asking someone on a date through a note in middle school). Following engagements, Twitter became involved in giving birth, as Sara Morishige Williams (wife of Twitter co-founder Evan Williams) tweeted her way through labor.
As 2009 comes to an end, it’s time to look back at some of the memorable social media moments during the year. This is the first in a series of three posts that will look back at a few of the most entertaining and groundbreaking occurrences on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter this year.
RaceTalk’s Best of YouTube in 2009
1. The Wedding Dance Video: This was so popular that “The Office” did a spoof on it during their wedding episode when Jim and Pam got married.
2. United Breaks Guitars: After watching baggage people break his guitar while loading it onto the plane, this musician made a music video when United refused to play him for the damage.
3. Kayne West is a Jackass: First Kayne West decided to jump on stage and interrupt Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech, then President Obama called him a jackass. Both media clips made it to YouTube, where they were viewed by the masses.
4. Baby Dancing to Beyonce: This entertaining video was a hit on YouTube, quickly attracting more than 6 million views.
It was announced today that the Wall Street Journal is closing down its Boston Bureau. The following email was sent from WSJ editor Robert Thomson to the staff, notifying of them news.
Colleagues,
Today we told our team in Boston that we are closing the bureau in its present form. The economic background to the closure is painfully obvious to us all. An investigative function will remain in Boston, but the core reporting team will be disbanded, though all nine reporters affected will certainly be able to apply for openings elsewhere on the paper. Coverage of the Boston mutual fund industry will switch to the Money and Investing team and we are creating an enhanced New York-based education team. Any such decision inevitably stirs apprehension and uncertainty, but there are no plans, nascent or otherwise, to close any other U.S. or international bureau. Meanwhile, the Newswires bureau and the MarketWatch team in Boston will remain at their present staffing levels.
That there has been truly great reporting under the generalship of Gary Putka out of Boston over many, many years is not in doubt. But we remain in the midst of a profound downturn in advertising revenue and thus must think the unthinkable.
Robert
This is a sad day for the WSJ and for the Boston market, which often had a large technology and health care focus in the paper. As the letter above said, nine reporters will be affected by this closing, through there will be an “investigative function” that remains. It us unknown how this will affect coverage of Boston-area companies and news.
Nancy Blair, senior assignment editor, Technology for USA Today stopped by the Racepoint San Francisco office this morning for an informal chat on what’s going on with the Technology section of the nation’s largest daily newspaper and 8th most popular online news site.
Like most media organizations today, reporters at USA Today are experiencing increased demands for their time in juggling multiple distribution channels. Fortunately for USA Today, management jumped in early in the game by going online in 1995 and developing a strong community approach – what USA Today calls “network journalism” – to enable an interactive and immersive visitor experience.
As a result of this, Blair feels that USA Today has smoothly adapted to the new world of journalism, herself working very collaboratively and closely with online Tech Editor Michelle Kessler in ensuring a comprehensive view on technology in both the print and online news edition. While the print edition continues to be strong with more than 3.6 million daily readers, the online site enables increased experimentation and “fun” with expanded coverage into areas like video gaming with the Game Hunters blog, the popular Science Fair blog and Jefferson Graham’s Talking Tech video series.
Blair noted that USA Today encourages all its reporters to be active in social media, including Twitter. Unlike other media organizations that have been taking a more restrictive approach to reporters in this regard, Blair states that USA Today has entrusted its reporters to use “common sense” in understanding their role and representation, and through social media channels such as Twitter, readers can get to know reporter “personalities”.
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