What you think you know about social media is probably wrong. This session will discuss how these tools actually operate, often at odds with promoted functions. Based on data collected and analyzed by panelists and online science publications, we will discuss Digg, reddit, StumbleUpon, Slashdot, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media tools (with background materials for the uninitiated).

1. NASW WORKSHOPS October 17, 2009 Session C3: 4:15 to 5:45 p.m. "The Secret Life of Social Media: New Rules for Science Writers" source: Slate

3. Shift how people discover, read, and share news, information and opinion.

4. Transform media monologues (one to many) into social media dialogues (many to many).

5. Democratize information, changing content consumers into content producers.--Wikipedia Source: Slate

6. EXPLOSION OF SOCIAL MEDIA Communication Blogs: Blogger, LiveJournal, Open Diary, TypePad, WordPress, Vox, ExpressionEngine, Xanga Micro-blogging / Presence applications: Twitter, Plurk, Tumblr, Jaiku, fmylife Social networking: Bebo, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Orkut, Skyrock, Hi5, Ning, Elgg Social network aggregation: NutshellMail, FriendFeed Events: Upcoming, Eventful, Meetup.comCollaboration Wikis: Wikipedia, PBwiki, wetpaint Social bookmarking (or social tagging): Delicious, StumbleUpon, Google Reader, CiteULike Social news: Digg, Mixx, Reddit, NowPublic Source: Wikipedia/Tag Cloud

7. ROBIN LLOYD Freelance Science Writer & Online Editor, Scientific American Source: Scientific America

8. DAVID HARRIS Editor-in-chief, Symmetry Magazine & Deputy Communications Director, SLAC Source: Symmetry Magazine

9. ALEXIS MADRIGAL Staff writer, Wired.com & Visiting Scholar, UC Berkeley Office for the History of Science and Technology Source: Wired

10. TWITTER ScienceWriters09

11. LIVE STREAMING from New Horizons, Austin Sunday, 10/18 to Tuesday, 10/20 Check times www.CASW.org

12. The Social Media Firehose:Some Ways to Drink Safely NASW 2009 #sciwri09

32. NASW Annual Meeting October 17, 2009 Austin, Texas David Harris Symmetry magazine, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory The Secret Life of Social Media

33. Outline Principles of social media Why understand how social media works? New ways people get/share information How we can use this knowledge How social media really works Examples of social sharing sites

34. Why understand social media? As science writers, our trade is information Information is increasingly flowing in new ways We all need to really know how these mechanisms work if we are to take advantage of them (whether journalists, writers, or PIOs) It gives us new ways to think about what we do

35. Getting information: the old way Read/watch the standard sources (local/national newspaper/TV news/magazines) Discuss those topics with friends and colleagues, relying on commonality of sources (Water cooler conversations, pub conversations) Repeat

36. Getting information: the new way “If the news is that important, it will find me.” – Anonymous college student in a focus groupNew York Times, March 27, 2008http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/27/us/politics/27voters.html “This micro-knowledge of others has been termed ‘ambient awareness’ by sociologists, a new kind of social proprioception or ethereal limb, and I learned to flex it with ease.” (Referring to the world of Facebook status updates)New York Magazine, April 5, 2009 http://nymag.com/news/features/55878/

37. Getting information: the new way Converse with your friends and colleagues, A LOT!(in person, phone, email, txt msg, Facebook status, FriendFeed, tweet, LinkedIn update, etc.) Let your trust of others guide you Pick up on some of it and surf/search it further Contribute to public discussions Repeat This is not an ideal, but an observation.

38. How we can use this knowledge Changing information ecosystem Old: Authority relationships New: Trust relationships Journalists: We can’t rely solely on the authoritativeness of our publications. Now we need to develop trust relationships with readers. How? PIOs: We no longer just want to rely on the news media to reach audiences for us, but need to be active in developing relationships with other audiences ourselves. How?

39. Examples of social sharing sites Many user-vote-driven sites seem to present the “best” stories, which rise to the top as people vote for them. For digg, slashdot, reddit, stumbleupon, and facebook What the site looks like How stories really get to the top of the charts A typical story’s traffic An analogy

40. digg

41. digg traffic

42. digg is like…a gang Strong but organic hierarchy Dominance of an idea depends on who it comes from Leaders cultivate support from underlings by offering links and help up rankings Loyalty to the leader is key Identity is defined by the role in the group For success: Be in with the leaders, don’t cross the leaders

43. slashdot

44. slashdot traffic

45. slashdot is like…organized crime Small tight group controls the flow of information Outsiders are treated with some suspicion Once you’re part of the family and know the people behind the curtain, you can get things done /.’s “karma” system compared with OC status Leaders still have absolute power For success: Post good stuff to gain positive attention of the admins, cultivate their good graces

46. reddit

47. reddit traffic

48. reddit is like…an ADHD direct democracy Any idea can get to the top BUT... Many people need to respond positively to an idea rapidly or it will be forgotten For success: Post things lots of people will like and can easily see the appeal of from the headline

49. stumbleupon

50. stumbleupon traffic

51. stumbleupon is like…a book club Ideas don’t need to be fresh Topics keep coming back for attention/discussion Demographic trends older and female People rate quality after reflection on the work For success: High quality content

52. facebook

53. facebook traffic Occurs too rapidly to show day by day Most in the first few minutes/hours, some residual over following days Adds a steady amount of traffic to our site Twitter is similar Facebook+twitter send about 15% of traffic

54. facebook is like…a clique Information circulates within peer groups Information can spread to other groups through overlap, and ideas can revive and seem new again For success: Have lots of friends and know what they like

55. Conclusion Social media both drives and reflects a changing information ecosystem—it has new rules Things are not always what they seem, so dig(g) a little deeper and never trust what anybody says about social media (not even me) If you’re not playing the game enough to know the rules, you’re not going win in the future

56. Robot Sharks with Lasers and the Magic Traffic Machine We like Reddit bites (they’re better than Delicious), because they max out the wiki snarls of RSS feeds, which means less jamming at the Google scaffold. Then just Digg your uploads in a viral spiral to your social networks via an FB/MS interlink torrent. “Our Marketing Plan” Ellis Weiner in the The New Yorker

57. Learn the Norms, Get the Traffic “Twitter is not a community, but it's an ecology in which communities can emerge. That's where the banal chit-chat comes in: idle talk about news, weather, and sports is a kind of social glue that can adhere the networks of trust and norms of reciprocity from which community and social capital can grow.” — Howard Rheingold

58. How It Works for Wired Science

59. Twitter Users: Shaq, etc. In a word: (A)live Bait: “Eclipse of the Century Live Online Tonight” Tip: Get a desktop app.

60. Digg Users: Young, male. In a word: Spiky Bait: “Holes in the Earth: Open Pit Mines Seen from Space” Tip: Make friends in high places.

61. Reddit Users: Left-leaning nerds. In a word: Quirky. Bait: “Scientists Make Desktop Black Hole” Tip: Submit to the Science Reddit.

62. Stumbleupon Users: Internet tourists In a word: Whimsical Bait: “1 Million Spiders Make Golden Silk for Rare Cloth” Tip: Try santeria.

63. Use Us Feel free to get in touch: alexis.madrigal@gmail.com @alexismadrigal http://www.greentechhistory.com @betsymason @wiredscience These slides are available at Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/alexismadrigal