Five journalists from Canadian, French, Belgian and Swiss radio stations are trying to find out how reliable Twitter and Facebook are regarding hard news. Starting February 1, the reporters will travel to a remote Perigord, France farmhouse and only have access to the outside world via the two networking sites. According to AFP/Google News:

“This experiment will enable us to take a hard look at all the myths that exist about Facebook and Twitter,” said Helene Jouan, a senior editor at France Inter, one of the stations that is sending a journalist.

The experiment poses some interesting questions: How will the journalists verify accuracy of stories? And how will they decide when to report the “news” to their respective audiences? From the AFP:

Trying to sort the wheat from the chaff without access to these other sources will be a difficult task for the four men and one woman confined to the farmhouse in Perigord.

Very true. But, there are a few issues with the experiment. For example, at the time this blog was posted, the five journalists were following 852 Twitter users, combined. That seems like a pretty small sample for the basis of an experiment of this magnitude. And, I wonder if they are considering the sources of their followers? For instance, are they following childhood friends or traditional media such as CNN International? Do you think that Facebook Friends and the Twitter equivalent are more likely to post news because the experiment has been announced?

Despite the obvious problems with the experiment, I can’t wait to see how it pans out. In fact, I’m already *following each reporter. I’d just recommend taking their findings with a grain of salt … but if you’re in the communication profession, you already knew that.

*Note: Since all tweets in this list will be in a language other than English, check out this quick video on how to translate Twitter updates. Hopefully, the powers-that-be at TweetDeck will soon create an auto-translate feature for groups.

Photo credit: Rob Enslin

Think print will ever make a come back?

I don’t know what it is about print publications, but I love them. I love spreading newspapers out over my office desk or dining room table on Sunday mornings. I love dog-earing magazines with good exercise ideas or ripping new recipes out of my favorite cooking publication.

This got me thinking …online media is in…but so is “retro,” right? If that’s the case, how long until print becomes retro and explodes again? Will it ever? Which publications will survive long enough to find out?

Photo credit: bravenewtraveler

I thoroughly enjoyed Roger Martin & Jennifer Riel’s BusinessWeek article on Innovation’s Accidental Enemies. The logic behind “what could be” is truly exciting and inspirational.

The Wall Street Journal recently launched a multimedia branding campaign titled “Live in the Know.” The campaign stresses the value of the in-depth research that the paper brings that goes beyond chatter and sound bites. In a time where major newspapers are fighting to keep their readership, I thought the campaign was an interesting approach.

Today, Costa DeVault presented “Making the Case: Social Media for Attorneys,” to the Volusia/Flagler Association for Women Lawyers. The program covers the basics of social media, and how to market oneself using this modern medium. Special thanks to Christopher G. Hill from Construction Law Musings, Susan Cartier Libel from Solo Practice University, Scott E. Greenfield from Simple Justice and Carolyn Elefant from MyShingle for their input and expertise. We hope you find this information useful, and welcome any suggestions for our next program.

I recently finished reading Words That Work by Dr. Frank Luntz, which discusses the most effective words and phrases for getting a message across. The book’s cornerstone is that no matter how “good” your message is, it’s useless if the person on the receiving end doesn’t understand or relate to it. This passage in the book made me think about how terms lose meaning with some audiences:

The idea of spending your entire adult life at a single company and then retiring with a gold watch and a pension is so ancient to most young people today that it might as well be feudalism. In fact, if you talk to a person under age thirty and use the term “gold watch” in relation to retirement, they probably won’t get the reference.

In addition to the “gold watch” reference, here are some phrases/terms that I think can be potentially lost on Generation Y:

-    ”Give me the Reader’s Digest version”
-    ”Can you fax this?”
-    ”9 to 5″
-    ”Do you know shorthand?”
-    ”Where is a pay phone?”

Of course, there are also messages that can be lost on Generation X and Baby Boomers. It all comes down to remembering your audience and what resonates with them. What are some other terms you could add?

Recently, First Monday, a monthly publication from the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce, ran a story written by Costa DeVault’s Director of Public Relations, Heather Whaling. In the article Heather presents “The Business Case for Social Media,” including how it can help your business, as well as a few tips. Check it out here.