NTEN’s 2010 Nonprofit Technology Conference was quite a success. The keynote speaker Andrew Sullivan spoke about new online media and articulated his thoughts on the same. While the monetary motives of non-profits vary from that of a full-fledged business, from an operational and marketing standpoint, there are many similarities.
Here are Andrew Sullivan’s thoughts on modern digital media.
1. A Blog is not a static being:
A blog or an online page is a broadcast. It should not remain static and has to be dynamic. It has to be dynamic enough for folks to take notice. If it’s not brisk enough, it flags and dies a fast death. The brisker the pace, the more engaged the readership and the more co-dependent is the relationship between blog and reader. A blog is bloody hard work. And, that’s just the way it is.
2. How the web is a great leveler:
A page is a page. Period. And every page is as accessible as any other. The barrier of entry to any page on the web is zero. The democratization of content on the web has made all content equally accessible. In traditional journalism, the barrier of entry was very high. Not any more. Any page, today, has equal opportunity.
3. One-on-one relationships blossom:
A reader has a personal relationship with the person who has written the words i.e. the writer. A popular writer is like a performer and is expected to deliver every time his audience expects him to. People expect a certain degree of consistency from writers who they connect with and get upset if that reliability is absent.
4. A blog’s readers keep it honest:
The sheer database of knowledge that a subscriber database tends to have keeps a writer honest and accurate. These readers over time become like friends. A good example is Slate’s readership or any other highly subscribed blog like the SEOMoz blog or Matt Cutts’ blog. Andrew created a letters page to highlight his blog’s readers’ comments, but saw that no one was reading the same. He then began involving his readership into the blog posts with the “two cents of the day” so readers would be a stronger part of a community. The atmosphere of the community he created led people to share stories.
5. Speed of New media:
The lack of control of new media is terrifying. The immediacy and speed of new media is even more terrifying, especially for those who have something to hide.
Transparency is ultimately a good thing. Like the truth, it sets you free. Control leads to smugness, error and corruption. Andrew stated further that some people keep think that they can own the Internet by owning a site. But, that’s illusory. It’s like putting a wire fence around the water. Users, visitors, readers on the internet will go where they want, information will flow freely, and things will get out. The moment of wisdom comes when you accept that. Yes, there are things that we’d like to keep private, but the moment you’ve inserted yourself into the information sucking world of the internet, your life can be disseminated to everyone on a moment’s notice. You have to let go. Preconceived notions have no room on the internet.
Some neat lessons. Philosophically, it makes a lot of sense. We are as vulnerable as we choose to be. Kudos to all the writers, publishers who have opened up to the Internet and let market forces determine their credibility. It’s a new world.
