COMPUSCHMOOZE

Rowan panel busts "new media" myths

Anytime you try to make predictions about how people will use technology, it pays to remember the "Opposite George" episode of the popular TV series, "Seinfeld," warns Edward H. Moore, associate professor of public relations and advertising at Rowan University.

In that episode (http://tinyurl.com/2xsr4z) George decides that every decision he's made in his life has been wrong, and attempts to do the opposite of what his instincts tell him to do.

As an advertising executive in 1983, Moore recalls being assigned to help the U.S. Postal Service market its email product.

"Imagine this," he said. "You could go into a Post Office and type your email message into a terminal and the Post Office would deliver it the very next day to anyone in the United States." The Washington Post quickly declared the idea foolish and suggested that email was "dead."

Last year, Moore noted, 97 billion emails were sent. "We all figured out ways to use this technology and we resisted the control the Post Office tried to bring to it," he said.

Moore used the "Opposite George" theme as part of his presentation during a recent panel discussion at Rowan University among online media experts. The panel debated some common myths and misconceptions about the socalled "new media" of blogs, podcasts, and other leading edge technologies.

The predicted ways people will use a technology usually have little relation to how people actually use it, according to Moore. Efforts by large companies to use social media to reach customers may not end up defining how the technology is used in the future.

Katy Thorbahn, senior vice president and general manager of the Philadelphia office of Avenue ARazorfish, a digital advertising agency, said research with members of the "connected class," a group of technology-using 18-34 year old adults, suggests that users of social networks like Facebook and MySpace frequently maintain different profiles to "tell different stories about themselves." One profile might be for business purposes, another for friends and family.

Similarly, people will have more than one technology device, such as a laptop computer used for business, and a separate laptop or desktop unit for home use, Thorbahn noted. People seem to be quite comfortable using multiple devices or websites, she said, despite predictions that people would want simplicity in the form of multipurpose devices or a single social networking website.

People also use cell phones differently, the research found. One woman told Thorbahn's researchers that she only used cell phone text messaging with her boyfriend when they were fighting. Other research indicated that some groups of people use their cell phones as their primary timepiece instead of a wristwatch, or, in some countries, as a timer for cooking.

Social media does democratize information because it eliminates the "gatekeeper," said Chris Lukach, account manager/co-owner of Marltonbased Anne Klein Communications Group LLC.

"If I'm reading a blog about IHOP, it's because I really like pancakes," he said. "And if I'm writing a blog about IHOP it's because I just love pancakes so much that I have to write about them. That's the audience we're ultimately trying to reach, and now we have a direct route to them."

Creating opportunities for social media users to explore broader conversations has been a goal for Alan Levy, a former telecommunications executive and founder of BlogTalkRadio.com, a web portal that allows users to become hosts of their own talk shows. Already, the service has hosted a wide range of celebrities on specialized talk shows. The service was partly responsible for the CBS decision to revive the show "Jericho," when BlogTalkRadio listeners responded to a host's suggestion that they petition the television network not to cancel the show.

Social media technologies are also being used in the pharmaceutical industry's efforts to engage patients in a conversation, said Adam Roberts of Digitas Health, an advertising agency specializing in online promotion of healthcare products and services.

What are the ways you use social media? Do you listen to podcasts, read or write blogs, or join networking websites? Join the conversation at the CompuSchmooze blog, http://compuschmooze.blogspot.com. You can hear a podcast of the complete panel at http://tinyurl.com/3cqlwh. .