social TV - Social Media Week New York (SMWNYC) - MAY 4

Full Circle: An SMW Wrap-Up

Posted on March 5, 2014July 11, 2014 by Gary J. Nix

This is a guest post by Gary J. Nix.

Contrary to the belief of some, digital marketing conferences are not merely another chance for people to showoff how awesome they are, learn new autocorrect facts, such as the word Livestream converts to Kirstie Aimee (don’t ask), and come up with new-fangled buzzwords like screenagers and platblishers. These conferences are an opportunity to reinforce the fact that, no matter what adjective you use, it’s all marketing. This is something we must all remember, especially once you see the tag #MarketingMarketing on Twitter. And here’s why:

Games People Play

The IAB conducted a discussion on the relationship of today’s gaming and social experiences, both on and offline. Besides the fact that data tells us that two billion people are playing games digitally and about 900 million of those are doing so on mobile devices, the huge point is that people enjoy competition, collaboration, and sharing. These three levers are used in digital gaming now and have always been used in marketing.

Adding these elements in your marketing mix at the right time and in the right way will give consumers another reason to be involved with your brand. Plus, there’s a reason “Shall we play a game” is one of the most popular movie lines from the 80’s.

The Revolution won’t be Televised, but it May be Streamed

As expected, there was plenty of talk about content at Social Media Week. The most poignant from a marketer’s general point of view was presented by Percolate in a discussion that was really about content delivery has been revolutionized. While it is important to understand the seven core components of content marketing — audience, trigger, brand element, topic, campaign, business objective and platform — along with the importance of context, content has been delivered way before we’ve done so digitally. I only mention this to clearly state that content marketing is not a magic bullet. It is important for discovery and delivery in the world as we know it today; however, it is nothing new. We’ve been doing this for many moons and will continue to do so. It’s marketing. #NODISRESPECTOTPERCOLATE #ALLDISRESPECTTOJIMMYKIMMEL. That last hashtag was clearly a joke.

Millennials are Humans

This is a direct quote from a fun-filled discussion about the millennial demographic. Many truths about millennials were examined, such as their actual loyalty coupled with the ability to adapt, their demands regarding innovation and entertainment, their level of thoughtfulness, their aversion to banner ads, and their respect for serious issues. However, we have been talking about them as if they were some new species. Many of us have gone through a period of life with these characteristics, and some of us, like me, are still going through it. It’s good to know what makes this age group tick, but please don’t confuse them with a flying machine that can make the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs. Please don’t confuse them with #GenerationSelfie either.

Culture and Behavior Trump All

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, marketing relied heavily on focus groups and surveys for the data needed to understand what people wanted. Yes, these are still important actions, but we can get a plethora of information from the social web by simply listening. The discussions that take place reveal so much psychographic information as to how people behave and people follow and create culture.

To me, this is the most important recurring theme of the conference. At times it seems that we forget that the most important part of marketing is figuring out to whom we will market our product or service. We’ve become so caught up in how we will deliver the message, we’ve forgotten to make sure it goes to the right people or that the message even makes sense. So, before you go off with a beautifully designed visual campaign with bells and whistles on the newest platform, make sure that you remember that the consumer retains control over our businesses and we need to go to them and show them value. They’ll appreciate you for it.

Just my two cents…

Gary J. Nix is known as many things: Your favorite brand’s de facto ambassador. Propagator of true brandwagoning. Zeitgeist Firestarter. [American] HYPE man. Digerati Deputy. Random comedian. Life observer. Founder of #bespokehashtaggery a/k/a Cobra Kai. Enigmatic wunderkind. Zen BRANDarchist. Keyser Söze. But most importantly, he’s all about marketing, identity, and branding in business. Strategy, Testing, Implementation — all of these things must be done in order to ensure success. Risk & Reward are his R&R. Learn more here.

“Games People Play” image courtesy of Joshua, WarGames, MGM.
“The Revolution won’t be Televised, but it May be Streamed” image courtesy of Web Solutions of America.
“Millennials are Humans” image courtesy of Disney/LucasFilms/The Corellian Engineering Company.
“Culture and Behavior Trump All” image courtesy of KeyChangeNow.com.

Social, Mobile, Digital, Livable: A Review of Randi Zuckerberg’s Dot Complicated

Posted on December 18, 2013July 11, 2014 by Deanna Utroske

A 360-degree perspective on the dot that is the dot-com era is hard to come by—the digital is terrifically vast. Which may explain why books aiming to be how-to guides for the digital age inspire advice of religious proportions: recall the Ten Commands For A Digital Age that Douglass Rushkoff inscribed in his 2010 book Program or Be Programmed. And now Randi Zuckerberg in Dot Complicated, a memoir-esque title on “tech-life balance,” offers up guidelines such as, “Repost unto others as you would have them repost unto you.”

Opiate of the masses aside, Randi’s view of the wired media space is panoramic. Having been Facebook’s first marketing lead, now CEO of the Zuckerberg Media production company and all the while coming of age, establishing a career, and having a family in the dot-com era, she’s a consummate professional shaping and parenting the future of tech. And, she’s giving us a 360-degree tour. Dot Complicated has something for readers at every level of social media savvy.

For those newly enchanted or simply curious, Randi recommends waiting no longer: “If you haven’t yet learned to tweet, blog, or upload photos to Instagram on your own, get on that.”

Dot Complicated isn’t a user’s guide to any platform, but once you’ve read it, you’ll be reassured to know that common sense is virtually all that’s necessary to participate effectively in social media communities.

If you prefer looking at the big picture of digital media, Randi’s ideas about the potential for media content to extend well beyond the medium will be inspiring. She gives us a glimpse of her vision for creating live social TV events that are not defined by any platform. And, social media experts will enjoy a behind the scenes look at silicon valley, the beginnings of Facebook and plenty of diverting celebrity encounters.

Randi’s advice for living well in a digital world centers on the social and the human behind all things tech, addressing etiquette and lifestyle issues, as well as spotlighting the social good that can come of modern media. Given the space Randi devotes to family and relationships topics in Dot Complicated, it’s no surprise that this project, which began as an online lifestyle community and blog, has also led to the children’s book Dot.

But perhaps the most valuable contribution Dot Complicated makes is an analysis of the “public, private, personal” boundaries that social media has rendered delightfully permeable. Randi defines each of these concepts as they exist in contemporary culture and offers useful guidance for navigating a world where “today, everyone is a broadcaster as well as a receiver.”

Randi seems to be every bit a brainchild of the Internet age, and as a result says she is “a passionate believer in the power of authentic identity….We are both the artists and the curators of our online one-person shows. Our digital selves are quickly becoming reflections of our actual selves.”

In Dot Complicated, she describes how to find tech-life balance as much as she models for the reader what it looks like to share faithfully and exercise discretion. The text is an old media template for a life well lived in the new media landscape. In the telling of Dot Complicated, Randi Zuckerberg demonstrates the very authenticity that she advises us to embrace.

Deanna Utroske is the Social Media Brand Director for New York Women in Communications and writes on women’s career issues, lifestyle topics and more. Follow her on Twitter @DeannaUtroske.

Zero-Distancing: The Collapsing Distance Between Fan & Celebrity

Posted on February 14, 2013February 14, 2013 by smwnyc

This is a Guest Post by MTV Insights’ Alison Hillhouse

It’s no longer unusual for the biggest pop star in the world to wish you luck on your math test, or for a reality star to forgo therapy and solicit advice from 8 million teen fans. The pedestal has been dismantled by social media tools in the hands of a generation that loves to flatten hierarchies. We indeed live in a flat world where fans demand not just a VIP pass to celebs, artists and entertainment experiences, but an eye-to-eye view.

This is the age of “Zero-distancing.”

As Julian, 21, says “Today, artists can be your best friends.” So conversations like this between Nicole (@trukardashfan) and Khole Kardashian about Nicole’s upcoming midterms aren’t unusual:

As Nicole says, “Khloé always makes time to talk to all of her fans. Whenever I get a tweet from her it makes me so happy because it feels like we are close since we communicate often.”

Millennials also crave intimate glimpses into the mundane daily activities of their favorite celebrities, such as Taylor’s cat claw clipping:

We hear from Millennials that they click through various social media channels to get different perspectives into a celeb’s life just like different video camera angles at a live performance. Each social media channel serves a distinct & unique purpose:

+ Facebook is the most “formal and official outlet” for tour updates and information
+ Twitter offers a “blow-by-blow feed” and highlights interactions with other celebrities
+ Instagram provides a direct line into their literal world-view, like “seeing the world through their eyes”
+ Tumblr is the most intimate glimpse into an artists’ psyche/spirit. Jessica, 25, explains that it allows fans to get an authentic glimpse into an artist’s creative inspiration and process… it “shows how artists express themselves, the aesthetic that makes them tick.”

@MTVInsights will be speaking more about “zero-distancing” on February 20th during New York’s Social Media Week. We’ll start with a teen panel who will speak about their virtually-intimate relationships with celebs in social media, and then be joined by Viacom stars who will speak about their experience interacting with fans:

+ Nev Schulman from MTV’s “Catfish: The TV Show”
+ Drita D’Avanzo from VH1’s “Mob Wives”
+ Cody Alan from CMT’s “Hot 20 Countdown” and nightly syndicated radio show, “CMT Radio Live with Cody Alan”
+ Ivy Winters from Logo’s “RuPaul’s Drag Race”

MTV is just one of over 300 Event Partners taking over SMW to help make SMW NYC a success. Sign up for their event here or for our other events here!

5 Minutes With Huffington Post’s Roy Sekoff

Posted on February 14, 2013January 14, 2015 by Nicky Yates

Yesterday, we helped get things moving towards SMW NYC with our partners, HuffPost Live. Covering how safeguarding free expression and an Open Internet is still a critical issue, they hosted a dynamic exchange on the current issues facing both our country and the global community, with leading thinkers, including: Jillian York of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Andrew Rasiej of Personal Democracy Forum, and Christine Chen of Google and moderated by Ahmed Shihab-Eldin.

Not only was it engaging and get you thinking, but it also displays the professionalism and innovation that represents HuffPost. With their use of Google+ On Air HangOuts, HuffPost Live does live integration of social media better than most.

And we’re thrilled to be partnering with them this year! SMW NYC is honored to have President and co-creator of HuffPost Live, and founding editor of Huffington Post, Roy Sekoff, join us. Before his event, get to know him a bit more:

Roy, this year, our global theme is “Open & Connected: Principles for a Collaborative World.” How does The Huffington Post embody or support this idea?
HuffPost thrives precisely because our staff is utterly committed to all three of these attributes. Openness and transparency are core principles at HuffPost – both culturally and editorially. We are obsessively connected – which is good, because collaboration is the lifeblood of what we do. Rare is the email or GChat that isn’t rapidly – and creatively responded to.

The publishing industry is undergoing change overall; and the Huffington Post has been a leader in that. Where do you see the future of journalism and publishing heading?
HuffPost has been around for almost 8 years. In that time, we have seen the rapid rise of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, and so many other game-changing products. We adapted and incorporated them all into what we do, but can’t say that we saw them coming. So, in a time like this, one rife with innovation, trying to look into a crystal ball and divine the future seems like a fool’s game.

The Huffington Post has continued to innovate, making waves in social video. How is the development of HuffPost Live leading the way and where do you see social video heading?
With HuffPost Live, we have placed our bet on people’s growing desire to engage with the news – on the shift from presentation to participation. They want to help shape the stories – and the issues – of our time. HuffPost Live was designed as a platform for engagement – one that puts our users front and center in what we do.

What has been the biggest success from HuffPost Live?
Because of our commitment to engagement, we are proudest of our engagement metrics, which confirm that we have created a unique and addictive social and community offering. Over 6,500 guests have joined us from all over the world via Skype and Google Hangouts. Over 750,000 comments have been left on the HuffPost Live platform (with many more left on HuffPost stories that have HuffPost Live videos embedded in them). And our users are spending over 15 minutes on the site per visit.

As more news and media outlets rely upon citizen journalism, how can the issue of accuracy and accountability be adapted? What recommendations would you have for smaller outlets just getting started?
Accuracy and accountability are vital. For us, that means doing everything we can to assure the accuracy of what we publish, and moving quickly and transparently to correct any mistakes that are made.

Advertorials have come under scrutiny lately, and we’re seeing many outlets experiment with different revenue models. What trends are you seeing for media and entertainment outlets maintaining a profit?
As the old models plateau, brands are clearly looking for fresh ways to reach consumers. And it’s important for publishers to try to lead the way in that innovation – but it’s critical not to blur the lines. Consumers value high-quality content, whether it comes from publishers or advertisers, but they should never be confused about the source. Our key touchstones are authenticity and transparency.

What are you most excited about for SMW NYC?
Thursday’s session on “The Shift from Presentation to Participation.” It will be a great discussion.

We couldn’t agree more. A big thanks to Roy for taking the time to talk with us. Make sure you check him out in-person this SMW NYC or join via livestream!

A Student’s Perspective: The Agency of the Future

Posted on February 17, 2012February 21, 2012 by smwnyc

Janet Upadhye is a student at Columbia’s School of Journalism. She is one of ten students providing on the ground coverage of SMWNYC- all from the student’s perspective. She is providing her report from The Agency of the Future.

“YouTube will not kill TV,” said Robert Davis, Director of Ogilvy’s Advanced Video Practice. “And actually, video never really killed the radio star.” What Davis meant by his colorful introduction is that agencies of the future need to stop thinking in absolutes. And instead focus on common threads.

Davis highlighted content as the most obvious common thread. The content remains the same in any medium, but how companies think about content needs to change. Davis, accompanied by Mitch Bernstein, Client Strategy Director and Martin Lange, executive Marketing Director of Digital Strategy, laid out ten strategies to create, what they called, a “Content Revolution.”

Briefly, those points included speaking in languages that audiences understand, making content more interactive, creating good distribution methods, measuring success rates by more than just views, creating content that is liberated from the interface, focusing on hand held devices to deliver content, and identifying who the target audience is and when and how they best receive content.

Social TV is one of the most important emerging strategies. A panel comprised of Peter Naylor of NBC Universal, Kimberly Meyers of GetGlue, Matt Crenshaw of Discovery Cannel, and Mark Ghuneim of Trendrr talked about how to socially activate TV audiences.

Ghuneim identified “calls to action” as great ways to get viewers involved. For example, American Idol asks viewers to discuss and vote for their favorite competitors. According to Trendrr, 420,000 people mentioned American Idol on social media sites during its premier on January 18 of this year. This shows increased involvement and a new way to measure a show’s success.

Meyers talked about one of her clients, Pepsi, and one of their new social media campaigns. Viewers that checked into watching the Super Bowl on Foursquare and Facebook received a sticker in the mail worth a free Pepsi. Without mentioning numbers, Meyers said that they strategy was very successful.

Social TV can actually change the artistic direction of a show. The USA Network allowed viewers to tweet about the new opening credits of the television drama White Collar. After an outpouring of negative comments, the network decided to change back to the old opening. “USA took the opinions of its viewers to heart,” said Naylor. “That is what social TV is all about.”

The way that people are watching TV has changed and Social TV is the networks’ response to that change. “People want to be able to discuss the shows that they love with other fans,” said Ghuneim. “Social TV allows viewers to do just that.”

Janet Upadhye is a multimedia journalist covering Hunts Point in the Bronx. In a past life, she was the Development Director at San Francisco Women Against Rape. During her decade in the Bay Area, she also organized within queer and trans communities for safety and justice. You can follow her on Twitter at jupadhye.

Youth and Social Media

Posted on February 15, 2012June 27, 2014 by differencesmag

This post is the second in a series by SMWNYC media partner, Differences Magazine. Written by Dr. Jennifer Shewmaker. Learn more about Differences Magazine and see the original post here.

This is an exciting time to be a young person interested in media! With the advent of mobile technology devices and the growth of social media platforms, many youth have access not only to consume media more easily and quickly but also to make media and share it. As access to both the consumption and creation of media has risen, so have the challenges and opportunities.

Challenges to youth in this new age of quick and easy social media come in both the consumption of media and in the creation of media. One of the greatest challenges that youth face in negotiating new media revolves around sex. With the average adolescent watching television for 12 hours per week and using the Internet for 12.5 hours per week, exposure to media that depicts unhealthy sexual practices and attitudes is highly likely. Not only is pornography more accessible than ever, but also even mainstream media tends to depict sexual behaviors without any mention of risk or responsibility. This creates a very real challenge for youth who may be relying on media to provide them with guidance and information about sexuality and sexual practices.

From cyber bullying to sexting, social media opens up avenues for problems in social relationships that did not exist twenty years ago. As teens and tweens use more mediated forms of communication, the chance for miscommunication expands exponentially. Between texting and social media sites such as Facebook and Tumblr, youth communicate more easily with friends outside of school and extracurricular activities. But because of the lack of traditional social cues such as body language and facial expression, many will end up arguing with friends over issues that may not have arisen if they had been talking to one another face to face. And, of course, the danger of being victimized by an adult predator is always lurking when youth use social media to communicate with people who are unknown to them in real life. Children who use mobile technology to share sexy photos of himself or herself with a friend may find that the ease of sharing pictures leads what they thought were private to become public. Arguments, sexy photos and conversation, and bullying that begin through social media can expand into real life and cause devastating social problems for young people.

These challenges of media use and accessibility are very real, and youth need guidance from trusted adults to learn how to negotiate them in order to make the most out of the opportunities that increased access creates. But, along with these challenges come opportunities for youth to increase their knowledge and skills and to share their own ideas more broadly.

A new wave of learning through social media has opened up doors for young people to learn everything from foreign languages to how to write computer code and everything in between. This kind of access to knowledge and skill development is completely new, and in some ways youth benefit more than adults because of their familiarity with new media and their openness to using it as a source of learning.

Social networking sites and the use of wireless communication programs allow real time conversations with someone from a distance. This provides the opportunity to continue relationships that in the past would gave been too distant and to build new relationships with friends from around the world. This open line of communication builds new understandings and collaborations for young people from very different cultures. They can build worldwide coalitions around everything from special interests and hobbies to activism activities.

The ease of making media provides the chance not only to make original media but also to share one’s creations with the world. Mobile technology puts the ability to take photographs and create films right in the hands of young people. Sites such as YouTube, social networking sites, and blogging sites allow young people to develop a worldwide audience for their work. Instead of waiting until they can afford expensive equipment, young people can use mobile devices to hone their filmmaking and photography skills as they grow and learn. This brings new vision and fresh ideas into media industries.

Youth today have opportunities to use media in ways that could not have even been imagined twenty years ago. There is no doubt that media literacy education is a must for children and adolescents today. With opportunity comes challenge, but when young people are provided with media literacy education, it gives them the tools to learn to use social media safely, to critically analyze the messages that are being sent to them from different sites, and to learn to construct and share media and their thoughts, skills, and knowledge on their own terms. With these new tools and this new knowledge, young people have a wide-open world to explore, learn, and share.

Jennifer Shewmaker, PhD is a nationally certified school psychologist and licensed specialist in school psychology who has worked with hundreds of adolescents and families. She writes about adolescents and media on her blog www.jennifershewmaker.com.

Spotlight on Fran Hauser, President of Digital for Time Inc.’s Style & Entertainment and Lifestyle Groups

Posted on February 9, 2012February 9, 2012 by Nicky Yates

When we select our partners, we think big. Real big. We want to bring the best quality and most engaging organizations to the table. Which is why having Time Inc. on board was an easy choice. You can see them at SMWNYC on Thursday at 1PM with their event “Second Screen & Social TV,” but until then, get to know them and Fran Hauser, President of Digital for Time Inc.’s Style & Entertainment and Lifestyle Groups:

Fran, the global theme for SMW 2012 is “Empowering Change through Collaboration.” How does Time Inc. support this idea overall?
As it happens, this past year has been one filled with collaboration and change. Time Inc. reaches 138 million people in the U.S.- half of the adult population engages with at least one of our brands. Because of our scale, we’ve been able to collaborate with leading device manufacturers, social start-ups and marketing partners to create new and better media and entertainment experiences for audiences everywhere.

For example, we have begun to re-imagine the experience consumers have with content, making it more social and interactive, by partnering with the likes of LinkedIn, to integrate CNNMoney.com’s Best Companies to Work For list into the site, and Foursquare and Google Maps to enhance PEOPLE’s Caught in the Act franchise.

And we became the first publishing company to make our entire portfolio of brands available on tablets– all of which are designed specifically for each device. We gave our print subscribers the ability to “authenticate” or access the tablet version for free using their subscriber info.

We’re also rethinking our relationship with advertisers and finding new ways to collaborate with them by creating rich ad experiences that leverage both the platform and the devices our content is being consumed on. For example, PEOPLE.com pulls in celebrity tweets through a sponsorable module that can include an advertiser’s Twitter feed. And later this month, PEOPLE will launch a tablet-optimized version of their site with a new and engaging ad experience incorporating swipes and gestures.

But when I think about empowering change, it is more than just what we are doing as a business to improve the products we deliver. More than ever, we’re collaborating with our readers to make a difference. This year, through its PEOPLE FIRST charitable initiative, PEOPLE is partnering with Kentucky-based Blessings in a Backpack to provide backpacks full of food to hungry schoolchildren. Using various platforms including social media channels to promote the program, the partnership is estimated to feed approximately 25,000 children in 2012. Whether it’s a company-wide anti-bullying campaign or shedding light on the plight of afghan women, our brands are boldly driving the conversation around the world’s most pressing social issues.

What was the drive behind Time Inc.’s involvement in Social Media Week?
We’ve been involved with Social Media Week for the past three years and have found it is a great place for us to engage in the conversation and share some of our learnings. We’re working with so many of the social players out there, both big and small, but we know there are new companies surfacing all the time. Being part of this event gives us a chance to interact and help filter new ideas that are building buzz and momentum in the social space.

We also have Time Inc.’s annual franchise “10 NYC Start-ups to Watch” coming up in May and SMW is a great vehicle for us to identify the hot new social start-ups in the city.

How are journalists adapting to the speed with which stories are now being published? What tools are they using that allow them to report and post so quickly?
Our journalists, whether they’re covering politics or celebrity or sports, have really become experts in getting their stories out there first and fast and ensuring it is of the most value to our readers. They have all of these great tools at their fingertips to not only identify the most relevant and trending stories but also new ways to get the stories out there – from search to social platforms to RSS feeds. They’re sharing everything from celebrity sightings to the latest polling stats with our readers in real time and across multiple platforms.

The political blog The Page by TIME’s Mark Halperin is a good example. Washington insiders and political junkies can get the scoop instantaneously by email, RSS, Facebook, Twitter or iPad app. For many of our brands, Twitter has been an incredible tool for us in getting the news to our readers just as it happens. Time Inc. has over 18 million followers collectively, with PEOPLE (3.3MM), TIME (3.2MM) and InStyle (2.1MM) holding the top three spots for magazine brands.

The Style and Entertainment and Lifestyle portfolios include some incredibly notable names like PEOPLE, InStyle, Real Simple and Myrecipes.com. How do you give each brand a unique voice that engages a variety of readers?
One reason why our brands have been so successful with social is because they take the time to understand each platform and how to best communicate there while staying true to who they are. Each brand has its own distinct voice and style of engagement. If you find yourself on the Cooking Light Facebook page, for example, you’re going to get some great ideas for dinner tonight, hand-picked by the editors you trust, some already tried by your fellow fans, which is very different from the conversations around red carpet looks and fashion weeks updates happening on InStyle’s page. We have dedicated social editors who understand the nuances of not just their brand but each platform and the type of news, stories and personalities that will resonate on each and the voice that is needed whether it is Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr or Google +.

We also continue to focus on building our brands in new places and choosing the right medium for engaging readers for each brand. A platform like GetGlue for example was an ideal fit for Entertainment Weekly when it was looking to socialize its popular Must List. Real Simple has seen a lot of success from their early adoption of Pinterest and now sees more traffic from Pinterest than from Twitter and Facebook combined.

With nearly 50 million monthly online visitors and over 18 million followers on Twitter, which digital strategies have been most effective in growing and retaining Time Inc.’s online audience?
Search has always been important but over the last several years social has become a major source of traffic for our sites and referrals from social have increased in several-hundred-percent range year over year for several of our brands. We’re always looking to innovate and identify new social platforms that are relevant for each brand and can help grow and develop their audiences.

Strategic Partnerships and seeking out opportunities on new screens is another way we are growing our audiences. We’ve been taking advantage of all the new touchpoints out there, whether it’s Gogo, the in-flight service where 200 million passengers can access People.com stories, or Samsung’s connected TVs which features TIME.

We believe that consumers are increasingly seeking out the brands that they know and trust in a crowded world. Which is why 50% of PEOPLE.com’s audience comes to the site using their bookmarks and why Time Inc.’s mobile apps are consistently in the top 10. The key for us is to continue to deliver trusted, premium content, while investing and building on our current franchises as well as introducing new ones.

Time Inc. properties attract 15 million mobile unique visitors per month. How have you adapted content to make the user experience flow naturally between print and mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones?
Mobile is hugely important for us right now. We’ve invested in redesigning and optimizing our content to provide a premium experience on every platform. We designed tablet versions of all 21 of our U.S. titles and are working to create tablet optimized websites for many of our brands.

The majority of our websites have been optimized for smartphones in some way. This ensures that when our readers visit a Time Inc. site using their phone, they find the stories are optimized for a touch experience. It’s a very easy, natural reading experience, which you don’t always get on a phone– it’s something our readers have come to expect from our brands. We have also done a lot of research to better understand the arc of a consumer’s day so that we know when people are coming to our brands and on which device and can program accordingly.

What trends do you see in the publishing and content distribution industry and where do you see it going in the next year?
In terms of trends, we’ve been talking a lot about SMO (social media optimization) as search and social start to behave more like complementary channels than two totally independent ones. Google has already started to integrate its Google+ social results into its search engine. As a big media company, we’re watching this closely and making social distribution a priority in getting our content discovered by new audiences.

We can also expect to see an increased focus on areas like commerce and second screens as publishers continue to build out richer and more dimensionalized experiences with their brands.

What will attendees see from Time Inc. this February during SMW?
We’re going to be hosting a high-profile panel around Social TV on Thursday March 16th at 1pm where Bill Gannon, Managing Editor of EW.com and other industry leaders talk about the state of Social TV and second screens and where it is heading. This is an area we are very excited about.

Teens and Social Media Week: Why Should They Care?

Posted on February 6, 2012February 6, 2012 by differencesmag

This post is the first in a series by SMWNYC media partner, Differences Magazine. Written by Jessica Bender. Learn more about Differences Magazine and see the original post here.

One of the biggest weeks of the year for social media is just around the corner, and thousands across the Big Apple are just anxious in anticipation for the year’s festivities. One major demographic that might not even know what’s going on, though, is the adolescents and teens that use social media about every day of their young lives.

It feels like the only stories that the news covers about teens and social media usually involve being addicted to the Internet or how sites like Facebook and Formspring give youngsters easier ways to cyber bully. Heads up, news conglomerates; the Internet wasn’t made to brainwash teenagers. Just to prove this notion, SMW 2012 is full of teen-friendly panels and events.

With over 80 percent of American teens age 12 to 17 on social networking sites, here are just a few examples as to why SMW is vital for teens to pay attention to (although we don’t recommend skipping classes to attend – stay in school!):

1. Your education depends on social media. With higher amounts of students dropping out and the higher education bubble on the verge of bursting, our education system is in trouble. Universities and colleges across America are already ahead of the game and plotting ways to make high school graduates interested in going back to school. The rise of online courses and high use of social media to transition from high school senior to college freshman have made earning an associate’s or bachelor’s degree look a little cooler, but can methods like this work for the high school spectrum?

a. Panels that might interest you – The Classroom of the Future: How Social Media Can Better Our Education System; Get “Schooled” By the Class of 2015: The New College Orientation – Powered By Students, Enabled By Social

2. Television will become a lot more interactive in the future. Networks have had a hard time scooping up and keeping viewers from watching their programs in real-time, thanks to their mortal enemies DVR and TiVo. Their only hope is to engage their demographics in interactive ways, like using social and mobile media to interact with their audience and keep them watching. The home of Top Chef and The Real Housewives of Every City in America, Bravo, is just one of the few networks that currently do this successfully – can others follow suit?

a. Panels that might interest you – The Mobile-Social Living Room: How Emerging Media is Reviving the Live Television Experience; Social Television: Opportunities for Broadcasters and Advertisers

3. Your video game addiction will actually benefit society at some point. Games can be fun, but can they actually make a difference? New research has suggested that gaming can create real-world change by influencing positive behavior and creating collaborative communities. While green companies are using mobile apps and social media to reward green actions, new games like America2049 are using pop culture and community mobilization to provoke people to take action for human rights and other important causes.

a. Panels that might interest you – Green Gamification: Combining Social Media & Game Mechanics to Promote Sustainability; GAME/WORLD: The New Collaborative Community

4. Social media will make you more socially responsible. If a campaign or organization wants to succeed in changing the world nowadays, they have to engage their followers and partners using social media to persuade them to jump on to their bandwagon. One cause in particular that has been stirring up global interest is girls’ education. Campaigns and non-profits like 10X10 and She’s the First know that girls will run the world one day, and their methods of social engagement have opened the eyes of thousands across the country.

a. Panels that might interest you – 10×10: Educate Girls, Change the World; The New Face of Social Good: How to Create Your Own Social Media Magic

With over 300 panels and events to choose from, there’s something to suit every teen’s taste. There’s officially no excuse to miss out on the fun. But, should homework and extracurricular activities get in the way, all the SMW excitement will be covered on Facebook and Twitter.