Like is the new love

One of the great benefits of our age is the ability to access data and swiftly turn it into an enlightening (or at least entertaining) infographic, and share it — quite literally — with the world. Who knew that college students had such a strong liking for Corona, Chipotle, and Macs? Facebook, of course.
This graphic makes it clear.

"Day Without Media" not worth living?

A former newsroom coworker just spotted this gem of a public notice in New Mexico — and naturally captured the image with her cell phone camera and posted it on her FaceBook page.

It brings to mind a fascinating study my husband, Dan Close, recently conducted with his classes at Wichita State University's Elliott School of Communication. Asking digital natives to give up their cell phones, videogames, laptops, iPods, TVs, etc., etc., for just 12 hours was asking more of them than most initially realized.

Students wrote about their experiences, and he presented the findings at a Popular Culture Association conference (in Albuquerque by coincidence). He called it “A Day Without Media: Freaking Out Students Who Take Technology for Granted.”

Most, as the title indicates, described themselves as disconnected, lost, afraid, alienated, on edge, lonely, stressed, frustrated, silenced, withdrawn, clueless, irritable, antsy. . . you get the idea. “It was a weird experience,” said AB, “and that’s saying the least.” A few made good use of their new-found free time and tackled chores, enjoyed time with family or friends, or just felt blessed by the relative silence.


For the course I teach for the Elliott School, Comm 502 Public Information Writing, I opened the first night of class with a request that students turn off their cells and put them away — but conceded that if it proved too uncomfortable, they should at least put these distracting little devices out of sight and out of immediate reach for the 90 minutes we meet. It's not surprising that young adults are programmed to reach constantly for their phones; a recent Pew study indicates they typically send and receive 50 text messages a day.     

Brunettes kick more butt?

My teenage daughter is caught up with the idea that although a highly acclaimed film version of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" has been made in Sweden and released on DVD in the United States (just $19.99 in a flashy display at Borders!), there are already plans to remake it with an American cast.

She is anticipating casting "disaster."

"They can't just stick a nose ring on some blonde Kristen Stewart and call her a badass."

Well, they can, but it won't make it so, I assure her.

There are few bedrock truths in this life, and one of them is that badass girls are brunettes.

So who could be believable in the role as punked-out crime-solving computer hacker Lisbeth Salander? A young Angelina Jolie? A young Wynnona Ryder? Do we even have actresses like this in the wings these days?

"No," she says emphatically. "They are going to have to find someone unknown."

You know, like Sweden's Noomi Rapace, the original Lisbeth.

Tweet tip of the day

from @bydanielvictor 

  

"If a press release about a survey fails to include methodology, I'll assume it's because you're hiding it. And I will not believe the #'s"

Adding social media to the medicine cabinet

People fighting chronic illnesses are less likely than others to have Internet access (62% vs. 81%), but once online they are more likely to blog or participate in online discussions about health problems, according to a report released March 24 by the Pew Internet and American Life Project and the California HealthCare Foundation.

"Once online, having a chronic disease increases the probability that someone will take advantage of social media to share what they know and learn from their peers," the study found.

Still, people living with chronic disease remain strongly connected to offline sources of medical assistance and advice:

• 93% of adults living with chronic disease ask a health professional for information or assistance in dealing with health or medical issues.
• 60% ask a friend or family member.
• 56% use books or other printed reference material.
• 44% use the internet.
• 38% contact their insurance provider.
• 6% use another source not mentioned in the list.

Looking at the population as a whole, 51% of American adults living with chronic disease have looked online for any of the health topics included in the survey, such as information about a specific disease, a certain medical procedure, prescription or over-the-counter drugs, or health insurance.

History for modern times

Congratulations to The Wichita Eagle and writer Roy Wenzl for the latest acclaim for his series on Father Emil Kapaun, a Korean War hero from Kansas who could become just the third American-born Roman Catholic saint (left).

"The Miracle of Father Kapaun" has won a 2010 National Headliner Award for writing and reporting. The series, published in The Eagle in December 2009, has a considerable online presence — I found the historical photos and recording of Kapaun's voice especially moving. Add the first-rate video story produced by Eagle photojournalist Travis Heying — which was picked up and aired by the local PBS affiliate — and you have a great example of how newspapers are competing in today's tech-savvy media market.

Quote of the day

"There's a saying that we've now changed to read: 'Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can kill.' "

— Warren Blumenfeld, Iowa State

lead author of new study into cyberbullying

Stop, focus and read

Long before it was called "multitasking," researchers have been looking at just how well people can do two things at once. An article in The Chronicle of Higher Education gives a fascinating — and for many folks, counterintuitive — update. More than 100 years ago, the Industrial Age saw young factory workers rolling cigars while listening to books, newspapers and political or religious tracts being read aloud; the Tech Age finds today's college student sending text-messages in class while listening to the lecture, watching a PowerPoint with imbedded videos, taking notes and googling facts in anticipation of the professor's questions.

The multimedia experience, conventional wisdom tells us, enhances learning as it "lights up" more parts of the brain, but now it appears that people may be merely buzzed by over stimulation.

"Heavy multitaskers are often extremely confident in their abilities," Clifford I. Nass, a professor of psychology at Stanford University, told The Chronicle. "But there's evidence that those people are actually worse at multitasking than most people."

Nass and colleagues published a study in 2009 revealing that people who described themselves as multitaskers performed much worse on tests of cognition and memory that involved distraction than their counterparts who said they preferred to focus on single tasks. And a newer, as-yet-unpublished study by Nass, et al., shows that people who give a lot of time over to media screens fare worse on analytic questions, too.

"One of the deepest questions in this field," Nass says, "is whether media multitasking is driven by a desire for new information or by an avoidance of existing information. Are people in these settings multitasking because the other media are alluring — that is, they're really dying to play Freecell or read Facebook or shop on eBay — or is it just an aversion to the task at hand?"

So glad you dropped by to read this post — hope it didn't distract you for too long from your other tasks!

Quote of the day

"Businesses today fall into three camps – the social 'denyer,' the accidental socialite, and the socially aware.

— Michael Fauscette, IDC

Supervising social media

Guidelines issued Monday by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority are intended to “ensure that firms and brokers use social networking sites in an appropriate manner," says Chairman Rick Ketchum. FINRA is the largest independent regulator for all securities firms doing business in the United States, overseeing nearly 4,750 brokerage firms, about 167,000 branch offices and some 633,000 registered securities representatives.
Regulatory Notice 10-06 says member companies need to supervise the use of Web sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn by their employees — and "associated persons," such as their brokers and representatives — for public communications, to ensure that customers are not misled.
Firms also need to ensure that they can retain records of those communications.
Twitter, a 140-character online text-messaging phenomenon, started as a way for people to update friends and family on what they were up to at any given moment, but has become a powerful business tool. According to a recent report by the Pew Internet and American Life Project,
46 percent of American adults who use the Internet logged onto a social networking site in 2009, which is up from 8 percent in 2005. The "of the moment" nature of Twitter postings and FaceBook chats have an almost ephemeral feel, compared to blogs — something FINRA seemed to take into consideration. (Get its updates on Twitter by following @FINRA_News.)
It considers static postings to blogs to constitute “advertisements,” and any firm or registered representative that sponsors such a blog must obtain prior principal approval of any such posting. The exception: real-time interactive communications — such as tweets that are fed onto a site. FINRA considers that portion of the blog to be an interactive electronic forum that does not require prior principal approval — but that must be supervised.
The guidelines address the use of social media sites by firms and personnel for business purposes, not use by individuals for purely personal reasons. Translation: It's still not a great career move to post photos from your BFF's birthday bash at the beach bar — but FINRA won't care if you do.

Man of Steel takes on self-righteous rants

He may not think of himself as a Superman, but the strength of John Stewart's political humor on "The Daily Show" is that he consistently conveys the message that he is looking out for Truth, Justice and the American Way. His delivery style shows that he's not grinding an ax, he's just trying to have an intelligent and witty conversation with friends (his audience). And like any good friend, when political observation degenerates into ranting, Stewart considers it his responsibility to lead an intervention.  Rhetoric and debate professors across the nation no doubt cheered his Jan. 21 Special Comment.

Creative video projects

I love working with videographers and editors because the time they spend with a new tool (camera, graphics software, etc.) is just one more reason to let their creativity run loose.

This "playing around" isn't wasted time — it's all about learning how to get the most from your resources. As a bonus, it usually produces something that's fun to watch, too!

Consider this "videoscrapbook page" from Wichita State University video/editing guy Rik Dubiel, who incorporates footage from a Cannon HV20, some fun music, nicely choreographed color effects, and one cute as a bug little boy exploring his back yard.

My Backyard 3 from Rik Dubiel on Vimeo.

Did you catch the basset hound wagging his tail to the beat? Nice work, Rik!

Telltale numbers

As we approach the 10th anniversary of the Columbine shooting, you will no doubt be confronted with lots of "where are we now" stories. Consider these results from a new survey of K-12 teachers:

— 2 in 5 teachers have faced verbal or physical aggression from a student's parent or guardian.

— 1 in 4 say a pupil has attacked them.

— 1 in 3 teachers in primary schools say they have experienced physical aggression, compared with 1 in 5 in secondary schools.

More evidence that American kids are out of control? No.

This data comes from Britain, where nearly 60 percent of those who took part in the Association of Teachers and Lecturers' survey said they thought student behavior had worsened during the past five years.

Horror stories included 6-year-olds trashing rooms and computers, pulling knives, and attacking teachers and other students.

In contrast, my time last year filling in as an English and history teacher at Wichita's East and North high schools — which many people perceive as "inner-city" environments — was rewarding and low-conflict. Just a thought.

Wake-up call

As I've noted here before, I'm a statistical junkie.

Not the memorize-the-back-of-a-baseball-card type, but let me log into the online Statistical Abstract of the United States, or the Department of Justice's research section on violent crime, or a well-executed attitude and opinion survey, and I'll be gone for hours. I'm a miner at heart, digging up little gems and following veins of information this way 'n' that, hoping to reach the mother lode of knowledge and insight. I'm constantly finding stuff while on my way to look up something else.

Today's treasure is a 2008 video that challenges viewers to consider the necessity of career reinvention — given global pressures and technological advances — in the Information Age.

The video asks: "So what does it all mean?"

It's a competitive world. Position yourself accordingly.

Would I lie to you?

Last October, I blogged about micro-expressions and how understanding these subtle bits of body language can help reveal what's going on inside someone's head.
This week, Fox debuted a fun new crime show starring Tim Roth called "Lie to Me," which is built around the science of micro-expressions. The show's Web site offers a primer, along with video from the show.

The pilot was fun, tho I'm not sure the series can sustain over the course of several weeks without feeling like a college course practicum. . . . See this bad guy? I know he's lying because he shrugged his right shoulder. Did you see that woman look down before answering the question? She was honestly trying to recall what really happened . . . . Worth checking out though. This is a show you can play along with at home!

Perhaps more important for those of us out here in the real world, it's a great reminder to take a look in the mirror and analyze what inadvertent messages we're sending our clients and customers. Do we say one thing and "broadcast" another with knitted brows, raised shoulders or pinched lips?

Looking out for what makes us real

"A sense of place" is important to help us feel at home, what the academics call "psychologically comfortable in our environment." Beyond climate and geography, small businesses help define a city's character.

I've been thinking about this ever since a Denver burger chain opened up a restaurant on the east side of my hometown, Wichita. The new place was all the buzz, so I went to check it out. I guess the food was OK, but the place had a definite Strip Mall Vibe and I came away thinking: We've already got better than this here. And I feel a certain loyalty to them, these places that give Wichita its flavor.

I can't pick just one homegrown burger joint that's Quintessential Wichita; each one feeds our souls in its own way. I'd start with Dog N Shake, with history going back to 1948 and the slogan: "We butter toast our buns for you!" It makes a mighty tasty cheeseburger, despite leaving that fact out of the name. Then I'd move on to Bionic Burger, which not only has some of the best fries in town, but serves kids' meals in cardboard classic cars just right for Barbie and Friends. Then there's TJ's Burger House, a cafe in the revitalized Delano neighborhood that compliments its burger baskets (did that photo get your attention?) with a mean "Hamburgers (sic) Stew." I've gotta include Nu Way, the original non-patty burger, whose creed "Crumbly Is Good" still draws oldtimers to the little white brick place on West Douglas. (Then again, it might be the house-recipe root beer. Yum.) And I've gotta give props to both the the Oasis' burger on the west side and Heroes' sweet pepper bacon burger in Old Town.

As my waistline shows, I could go on. . . . I'll leave it to others to explore the True Wichita to be found cruising for comfort food at our Mexican, Vietnamese, Thai, Lebanese and other specialty restaurants. I've got my opinions. I'd love to hear yours.

YouTube as battle strategy

The Israeli army is taking its public relations war directly to a global audience: It has created a YouTube channel to disseminate video that documents recent precision-bombing operations in the Gaza Strip as well as humanitarian aid distribution efforts.

"The blogosphere and new media are another war zone. We have to be relevant there," says IDF Foreign Press Branch head Maj. Avital Leibovich.

Although graphic content — including a clip showing an air strike on men who were apparently loading rockets into a truck — has since been removed by YouTube, "The intelligent audience watching the footage will know that people killed did not have peaceful intentions toward Israel," Leibovich had told the Jerusalem Post. "I don't believe they'll be disturbed. The important thing is to get the truth out there."

And on YouTube, there's this posting from Leibovich's office (note the last sentence!): "We are saddened that YouTube has taken down some of our exclusive footage showing the IDF's operational success in operation Cast Lead against Hamas extremists in the Gaza Strip. As the State of Israel again faces those who would see it destroyed, it is imperative that we in the IDF show the world the inhumanity directed against us and our efforts to stop it. It is also worth noting that one of the videos removed had the highest number of hits (over 10,000) at the time of its removal."

The IDF Foreign Press Branch has also delivered briefings to bloggers around the world, and staff members are preparing to start their own vodcasts — video diaries — to discuss their feelings about the conflict in English and Arabic. They rightly calculate that this personal approach will affect audiences very differently than traditional news coverage and pundit commentary.

Since the beginning of the Gaza air strikes this holiday season, Israeli politicians have held frequent press conferences to defend the attacks, but when their words are broadcast on the news over images of mayhem, destruction and crying children, it is hard to listen to speeches. The IDF is making a smart tactical move.

Fun with words

Pop art, poetry and technology merge in Wordle, an applet that allows users to create a "beautiful word cloud" from a blog, RSS feed or copyblock with one click.

Fun to do, but even more interesting to people watch: The gallery includes everything from love poems to a master's thesis.

The results are in

The informal survey of Twitter users (see post below) yielded some interesting stats:
— 9 in 10 of those responding said they had volunteered this year.
— 1 in 4 volunteer on a set schedule
— 3 in 4 volunteer as events or their heart moves them

Tweeples were most likely to split their time between:
— Mentoring and
— Sitting on boards and advising organizations
Half of the respondents chose those activities.
Next most-popular was political action — which makes sense, given that this is a presidential election year.
That was followed, in descending order, by:
— Fundraising
— Tutoring
— Faith promotion
— Other, which included: feeding the homeless through a church program, working in the arts, being a Compeer match, collecting items for battered women at the holidays, and working with at-risk kids at school (I'd likely have put that under mentoring or tutoring, but for the respondent it didn't seem to fit those categories so OK)

How often do the responding Tweeples volunteer? We are split:
1 in 3 volunteer monthly
1 in 3 volunteer randomly
1 in 5 volunteer weekly
and a very small set volunteer yearly (at the holidays) or never.

Why do Tweeples volunteer? Lots of motivations. Here's a sampling:
— "I believe in the causes."
— "I believe in humanity."
— "I makes me feel good, and I have skills to share."
— "To give back."
— "I am blessed with a little money and a little time — happy to help others."
— "Sense of civic responsibility inherited from my grandfather."
— "I think there could be a revolution, parents' overall inability scares me these days, the future is delicate."
— "To make a difference in the community."
— "Why not?"

Thanks to all who participated!

Contagious politics

With less than three weeks to Election Day, political signs are everywhere, with more popping up daily. Ever wonder why signs tend to be clumped in yards on one end of a block, or why next-door neighbors will publicize their disagreements to strangers driving by? If it seems that there's something more than politics going on, you're right.

Putting out a sign can be a powerful provocation to others — to rally to your candidate, or to declare their opposition. The phenomenon is called "goal contagion," explains Art Markman, a cognitive scientist at the University of Texas and Psychology Today blogger.

When someone puts out a political yard sign, the people who see it immediately understand the goal. This action leads others to be more likely to want to announce their own preference. This desire is likely to be particularly strong for one's neighbors, says Markman, because they see the sign every day.

You can also see the contagion at work in this story: When business leaders became vocal in their opposition to County Commission candidate Karl Peterjohn, "It inspired a backlash for Karl," Darrell Leffew told The Wichita Eagle. He recently put six pro-Peterjohn signs in his yard.