http://abc-innovation.tumblr.com/

fastcompany: Google is taking to the air. The online giant has...

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:14:40 +1000

Google is taking to the air. The online giant has announced plans to test a network of stratosphere-wandering balloons intended to provide Internet access to the two-thirds of humanity who still can’t log on to the Web.

The solar-powered balloons transmit signals to each other high in the sky, signals which eventually find their way to a user’s “Internet antenna” on the Earth below. The balloons simply drift with the winds—algorithms help the balloons rise or fall into the wind pattern that will take them where they need to go.

And they said this Internet thing would never take off …

All the News That’s Fit to Tweet

Mon, 13 May 2013 11:35:00 +1000

Times have changed, but much has remained the same … Photo by writer on Instagram.

Neil Varcoe, Social Media Lead @ the Australian Broadcasting Corporation based in Innovation

Breaking news is broken, and Twitter looks guilty. I was in New York for a social media summit at the New York Times, surrounded by some of the best and brightest social media journalists and news leaders from around the globe when news of the Boston Marathon bombings was unfolding.

While online current affairs and culture magazine Slate were telling people to go into a self-imposed exile to avoid the “cul-de-sacs and dark alleys of misinformation” contained in the breaking news about Boston on cable television and on Twitter, a panel was hastily put together to examine the main problems of breaking news in 2013, and to call for solutions.

For those of you who accepted the advice from Slate and avoided the swirling vortex of misreporting on traditional and new media, here is a recap in 140 characters or less:

Graphic created using letmetweetthatforyou.com

Claire Wardle of Storyful, a news agency that verifies social media content for clients including The New York Times and here at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) chaired the session. Panellists included Andrew Hawken (Head of Digital at Sky News), Liz Heron (Director of Social Media and Engagement at the Wall Street Journal) and Lisa Tozzi, an editor at the New York Times who directed The Lede blog, which provided real-time coverage of the bombings. Tozzi, it was announced in the days after, will start a new role on May 14 as News Director at Buzzfeed – a prolific social news site more often associated with cat memes than breaking news coverage - another sure sign the traditional media model has been recast.

Intent on making the best use of the specific expertise in the room to provide meaningful solutions, we broke off into small groups to pull apart the critical failures of fact in the reporting of Boston, and the noise in the room rose to a steady hum as passionate media types set the cracks.

A range of solutions were tabled from editable tweets and verification task forces to the attractive but impractical idea of applying a media credit ratings system much like Moody’s or Fitch.

Like sixth graders at their first spelling bee, typically cocksure journalists walked with apprehension to the microphone to announce their conclusions, voices soft with doubt.

While the ideas were sound and will be taken to the relevant social media platforms, some of which were represented in the audience, one idea rose above all others in my mind.

One conference goer swaggered brassily to the microphone and declared: “Don’t tweet unless you have something to say.” This was accompanied by silence, then another elegant solution: “Don’t report rumour or speculation.”

Sitting in the newly-created TimesCenter in the shadow of the New York Times, the now famous words that have adorned the front page of the The Grey Lady for some 116 years - “All the news that’s fit to print” - took hold in my ear.

The paper and the media landscape have evolved beyond recognition. One thing that remains true is the need to check the veracity of information to ensure it’s ‘fit’ for publication, which includes Twitter.

If you do not trust the information, then wait. When journalists get it wrong, and they will, they should correct the record, whether by a retraction in the newspaper, an on-air apology, an online update or in the not-too-distant-future an ‘editable tweet.’ Many media organisations both in the United States and here in Australia failed to do any of these in the days that followed the bombings.

When you boil it down, blaming social media for journalists and media organisations getting it wrong is like yelling at the head printer for a mistake carried down from the newsroom floor. And I think we deserve better than that, don’t you?

Neil Varcoe is a social media specialist and journalist who prefers to tweet the facts right, rather than tweet right now.

Would you like to catch up on the conversation from Social Media Summit? Read Neil’s Storify of the best tweets from the conference.

whitehouse: “Second term, you need a burst of new energy, try...

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 10:42:16 +1000

whitehouse:

“Second term, you need a burst of new energy, try some new things. And my team and I talked about it. We were willing to try anything. So we borrowed one of Michelle’s tricks.” — President Obama at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

Watch the video.

Our endless hours posting and reblogging on Tumblr have finally paid off. Welcome to Tumblr, Mr. President.

“Any struggle worth fighting for is both a march and a...

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 20:23:51 +1100

“Any struggle worth fighting for is both a march and a dance:” See what has become of the social-media-powered campaign that made the world roar, then seemingly fell silent.

fastcompany:

Kony 2012, One Year Later

After its explosion onto the world stage and subsequent hard crash back to Earth, the organization is still trying to fix problems in Uganda—just a little more quietly.

Read the full story Kony 2012, One Year Later.

For our followers who enjoyed Valentine’s Day with a...

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 18:56:55 +1100

For our followers who enjoyed Valentine’s Day with a religious fervour.
Happy Friday, everyone.

newyorker:

Cartoon by Danny Shanahan. For more from this week’s issue: http://nyr.kr/Xfyeyu

'Virtually' a cheer squad for your new year's resolutions

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 19:43:13 +1100

Give your goals a lift… Photo via North Carolina Digital Heritage Centre on Flickr.

Neil Varcoe, Social Media Lead @ ABC Innovation

I don’t make New Year’s resolutions. I like to assess my life daily, giving myself the best chance to stop my tub-a-day habit for Ben and Jerry’s Chunky Monkey before my family and friends have to take my spoon away and book me into a clinic, weaning me off those little bowls of happiness with gelato.

But last year was a belter. I started a new job, completed a master degree, began a major writing project, and regularly donated time as a digital consultant to a Sydney arts organisation. I also have a girlfriend, family and friends who like to hang out with me from time to time, and several house plants that did not survive my neglect, with many more plants scurrying to the corners of our apartment when I talk about returning to study, or some other idea that could lead to their demise.

So, I was determined to changes in 2013 that would allow me to stay truly connected with the people who are important to me, and do the things that make me happy, the stuff that makes my blood fizz.

There was a list, as there often is with me, but there was nothing to tie me to these goals, no pocket coach that would remind me to meet up with my friends, call my four-year-old niece, get eight hours sleep, and write, daily.

I did not find the coach, but I found a virtual cheer squad that also made me accountable, something key to turning good intentions, into lasting habits, and I wanted to share it with you.

Lift is an iPhone app that allows you to develop good habits by using a check in feature once it’s complete, giving you the ability to track your progress.

There is also a social element to Lift. If you browse and add habits other users are also trying to achieve, you will see everyone who checks-in, and they can leave comments or give ‘props,’ like a digital high-five.

You can also connect to Facebook or Twitter, if you want to add more voices to the rallying cry, and it can send notifications to remind you whether you’ve brushed your teeth or kissed your wife, hopefully in that order.

Lift also has some serious smarts and investors in its corner. It is the first project backed by Twitter co-founders Ev Williams’ and Biz Stone’s restarted technology incubator Obvious Corp, and other investors include self-help and productivity gurus David Allen (Getting Things Done), Timothy Ferris (4-hour Work Week) and Anthony Robbins (as seen on late-night television).

Chief Executive and Co-founder Tony Stubblebine said the company drew inspiration from David Allen’s book, which was based on the concept of taking the next step towards achieving a desired outcome, and this philosophy is imbued in the product.

But what ultimately makes this work for me is taking that simple idea of achieving goals in small steps and powering it with social, motivating yourself to get something done because you know others are watching, just like Russell Crowe does on Twitter.

I found this app incredibly useful, and I hope it might help you take steps towards achieving your goals. After all, it helped me to write this blog.

*Neil checks into Lift on his phone and and closes his laptop.*

Neil Varcoe is our social media specialist, who enjoys finding new ways of doing old things, better. This post originally appeared on neilwrites.tumblr.com.

Photos of Innovation’s annual Christmas Desk Decoration...

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 11:51:00 +1100

Photos of Innovation’s annual Christmas Desk Decoration Competition via mobile guru Manuela Davidson and social media specialist Neil Varcoe on Instagram.

Bringing the old to the new

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 18:00:47 +1100

Rocking ‘the House…’ Crowded House’s Neil Finn during the band’s Farewell the World concert in 1996. Photo by Tony Mott.

Innovation has launched an online documentary on the iconic Sydney Opera House. In a post on the ABC’s From The Engine Room blog, Creative Director Sam Doust shares his insights about how this new media project was informed by an ancient media, the book.

What do you think about The Opera House Project? Tweet the team via @ABCinnovation or Ask Us A Question. And follow Sam (@samdoust) for the latest news on this and other projects.

We often experience ‘flow,’ yo. theatlantic: The...

Tue, 20 Nov 2012 15:44:21 +1100

We often experience ‘flow,’ yo.

theatlantic:

The Neuroanatomy of Freestyle Rap

“Flow”: What academics define as “a subject’s complete immersion in creative activity, typified by focused self-motivation, positive emotional valence, and loss of self-consciousness,” or, per the inimitable Urban Dictionary, “a rapper’s ability to rhyme to phat beats in a skillful manner.”

Read more. [Images: Reuters, Scientific Reports, PLoS ONE]

Shout out from the Innovation team to men growing silly...

Fri, 02 Nov 2012 16:20:41 +1100

Shout out from the Innovation team to men growing silly moustaches, everywhere.

thingsorganizedneatly:

SUBMISSION: Everything But The Moustache. Poster designed to fundraise for Movember.

fastcodesign: This is what Google’s secretive data centers look...

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 14:23:34 +1100

fastcodesign:

This is what Google’s secretive data centers look like.

If The Rock can do it, you can, too. fastcompany: The Rock...

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 15:51:00 +1100

If The Rock can do it, you can, too.

fastcompany:

The Rock didn’t want to do the social media thing. Then he met Amy Jo Martin. Now he has 7.2 million friends and 3.4 million followers—here’s how to follow his lead.

This Friday Funny is via our Social Media Lead Neil Varcoe....

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 14:33:00 +1000

This Friday Funny is via our Social Media Lead Neil Varcoe. Click on his name and follow him for more occasional absurdities, or follow @neilwrites on Twitter.

Also follow @ABCinnovation for the latest news and conversation.

neilwrites:

Radio has a vacancy … #ultimotweets (Taken with Instagram at Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

An excellent way to make a little lego, and a credit-card sized...

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 18:19:34 +1000

An excellent way to make a little lego, and a credit-card sized single-board computer go far.

wired:

Wanna build your own supercomputer? All you need is some Legos and a few dozen Raspberry Pis.

Andrew survived ten days dominating the slopes in New Zealand,...

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 12:44:46 +1000

Andrew survived ten days dominating the slopes in New Zealand, and was taken out at a local sports day. Life is unkind. But it’s friends like Franklin that get you through the hard times.

neilwrites:

Introducing Franklin… Senior producer @skillmcgill made a new friend after a three-legged race went wrong #ouch #inabc (Taken with Instagram)

neilwrites: The cup cake fairy has been, again … #cupcakes...

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 09:43:00 +1000

neilwrites:

The cup cake fairy has been, again … #cupcakes #sugarmakeshappy (Taken with Instagram)

An end to the ABC’s 'Second Life'

Fri, 24 Aug 2012 16:02:00 +1000

Second Life is over … It has has exercised our imagination, but we there’s little left to explore.

Gabby Shaw, Acting Head of Strategic Development @ ABC Innovation

The ABC will soon be closing down its island in Second Life with September 22^nd 2012 flagged as the final day. After the ABC’s birth into the world of Second Life in 2007, we believe it’s now the right time to pack up and move on.

The ABC is always looking for new and interesting ways of reaching and connecting with audiences and when Second Life first started out it was a great opportunity to test community building in a virtual world.

Over the years, the ABC Island has been a distinctively Australian destination providing visitors with opportunities to design, create and showcase objects, dance in a hidden underground club, listen to Indigenous stories, explore an environmentally friendly eco house, and experience ABC TV and radio programs in a social and virtual environment.

However, the ABC itself has not been active in Second Life for a while now and has relied on community administrators to help keep the island running smoothly. We don’t think this is fair nor suitable in the long term, and the small user base just doesn’t justify the resources required to be actively engaged in the community. It appears to us that Second lends itself more to individuals who are keen to form new friendships and communities rather than as a place for a public broadcaster to engage with its audience.

The ABC’s experience in Second Life has certainly exercised our imagination, but we feel there’s not much left to explore. We don’t see any new virtual worlds either by start-ups or a major web presence on the horizon. We do recognise though the continued growth in Second Life’s earnings since it started nine years ago, with one million people logging in each month and earnings of over $75 million a year for the founder Linden Labs. It’s obviously working for some but by all accounts it’s cyber-sex, gaming and virtual real estate that are the real drawcards, so it’s time for us to go.

We appreciate that the closing of the island affects a small and dedicated group of users. The island has been managed by a loyal group of ABC Friends, and we are grateful for the contribution they have made over the years. We hope everyone finds a happy new home for resettlement.

New frontiers … The ABC Island will be closed to allow for the exploration of new online spaces.

An easy tune to get you through to the weekend....

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 16:15:00 +1000

An easy tune to get you through to the weekend. Enjoy!

triplej:

Gossip ask ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It’ with this Like A Version cover of Tina Turner’s 1984 hit!

An open letter to Facebook letter writers

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 13:20:00 +1000

The ‘like’ is mightier than the sword … Photo via Victor Hertz on Flickr.

Neil Varcoe, Social Media Lead @ Innovation

Over the past few weeks, my Facebook newsfeed has been clogged with open letters from everyday Australians written large on the pages of big business.

They have ranged from the cost to farmers of the discounting of milk between Coles and Woolworths, Nine’s allegedly one-sided Olympics coverage - “swimming, repeats of swimming, interviews of swimming, analysis of swimming, previews of swimming,” to my friend Dave*, who took Pizza Hut to task on the unusual pricing of their value meal, with a pepperoni pizza, cheese pizza, 1.25L bottle of Sunkist and a Garlic Bread costing exactly $1.05 more than if you purchased the items separately.

While I do not deplore the right to keep organisations accountable, I wonder if there is a better way to use social media than to ridicule a brand you ‘like’ in front of 100, 000 or so of their closest ‘friends.’

So, besides imploring you all to discretely direct message the pages of brands and organisations that have drawn your ire, or even ‘go old school’ and send them an email, I thought I would write an open letter to the letter writers, pointing out some of the wonderful things they could be doing with social media, instead of ganging up on defenceless companies who just want to talk.

Dear Facebook Letter Writers:

You seem very upset, and I feel your pain. I understand how irritating it can be when a television network shows Australia’s most popular Olympic sport, when all you want do is watch the dressage.

But maybe there is a better way to use your time on social media, and being the helpful lad that I am, here is a list of five things you can do on ‘social,’ that won’t cause the stock price of your favourite company to plummet.

1. Report on a crisis

The 2008 Mumbai terror attacks are an early example of using social media to report on a crisis. Twitter and Flickr was used to inform the world of what was happening when information from state-owned media was insufficiently reporting the unfolding crisis, with a better picture of the scene pasted together by using knowledge sourced from the public.

2. Start a revolution

Twitter and Facebook became integral to the way people organised themselves during the uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt and Syria now referred to as the Arab Spring. ‘Tweeting the revolution’ became a common phrase used to describe journalists, activists and citizens reporting on the unrest, with social media platforms allowing them to maximise their efforts and amplify their voices.

3. Learn about celebrities

Almost ever celebrity you can imagine has a Twitter, Facebook or Tumblr, with several stars even using a combination of these and more. Justin Beiber, Lady Gaga and even George Takei, who played Hikaru Sulu on the 1960’s television version of Star Trek, micro-blog their every waking moment, and you can ‘virtually’ be right there with them.

Beyoncé Knowles and Jay-Z even used the blogging platform Tumblr to post the first pictures of their child, Blue Ivy Carter, something more intimate than buying a piece of toast half-eaten by a member of One Direction on eBay.

4. Fight crime

Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr and facial recognition software from Facebook via Google Groups were used to catch criminals during the 2010 London riots. Citizens also used Twitter to coordinate the clean-up effort, via the #broomsquad and #riotcleanup hashtags.

A tech-savvy police chief in Kenya is also using Twitter as part of a community policing strategy, and the Village Café in Hertfordshire in England used it to find a mean-spirited criminal who stole a cancer charity box from the counter.

5. Tweet from the bottom of the ocean

Titanic, Avatar and Sanctum 3D director James Cameron tweeted from the bottom of the Earth’s deepest recess, Challenger’s Deep in the Mariana Trench in the east Pacific Ocean near Guam. While his tweet was later reported to have been sent by a crewmember on the surface, after Cameron relayed a message, it’s still quite neat.

So, there you have it. There are plenty of constructive things you can do on social media, aside from venting your spleen.

Then again, maybe I have put too much value on social media, and author Jonathan Franzen is right, Twitter, and by association all social media platforms are ‘endlessly irritating’ and ‘like trying to write a novel without using the letter k.’

If Franzen is right, I will humbly apologise, by way of an open letter on Facebook, of course.

Neil Varcoe is our resident social media specialist, who was so incensed by micro-bloggers writing letters, that he decided to write a letter about it.

* This is not his real name. His identity has been protected to shield him from a letter writing campaign by those who love Pizza Hut and their quizzical pricing.

What do you think? Has the letter writing trend on Facebook made you want to log off? Tweet us and let us know. You can also follow Neil via @neilwrites.

“No matter who wins in what game, innovation always has a...

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 15:30:14 +1000

“No matter who wins in what game, innovation always has a spot.” A unique look inside the London 2012 Olympic Games, and an excellent credo for life.

Although winning is always the goal, right?

fastcompany:

The Fast Company Guide To The 2012 London Olympics