When news broke of the Penn State Scandal, the conversation took a life of its own on Twitter

Unless you have been hiding under a rock the past two weeks, the Jerry Sandusky and Penn State child abuse scandal has dominated headlines, talk/radio shows, and all forms of social media. And through the course of events, I have been particularly fascinated with how Twitter has been used (or not used) to take advantage of what it is good for: pushing out information instantly and engaging a broad audience that you may have no immediate connection to. Being the digital geek and spaghetti western fan that I am, I have selected a few examples from the past two weeks to highlight how Twitter was used or could have been used, and broken them down into the good, the bad, and the ugly.

However, before I go any further, I should note that as a Penn State graduate and husband to a wife who devoted hundreds of hours working with The Second Mile organization as a student, I was particularly transfixed by the unfolding events of this tragedy and consequently more obsessed and affected personally than the average American by the situation. And while this is not intended to be an op-ed, I do want to say that my heart goes out to the victims and their families, and also to the students, alum and all those associated to the University who are still trying to make sense of everything. My prayers are with you.

The Good: Twitter as a Breaking News Source
On November 5, the investigation into Jerry Sandusky became public knowledge as the formal grand jury presentment was released and Sandusky was formally accused of making sexual advances or assaults on eight boys. At the time, the news item was a footnote on ESPN’s website, and a small headline with local Pennsylvania news outlets. As a dedicated Penn State football fan, I needed more information, and not able to find anything of value on the web, I turned to Twitter to learn more. I did a quick search on Jerry Sandusky and found several Penn State users using the hashtag #PSUCharges to comment on the news. By following those users, I built a list of about 10–15 sources, most local to the State College area on Twitter that posted updates every 5–10 minutes over the next week. Not only did I have the latest news and information about the events as they happened, I also had an insight into what the students were going through and what the mood was like on campus, including photos and videos, as those local users retweeted tweets posted by Penn State students. Twitter continues to prove itself as the top source for breaking news and I recommend you use it as such for personal use, or as a means to disseminate your own news. Since Google ended their agreement with Twitter, real-time information is harder to come by in Google search results, and until Google Buzz catches on, you cannot rely on a search engine to surface the latest news.

The Bad: Twitter as a Form of Crisis Communication Management
The University knew about this investigation, and they also knew that the information would become public knowledge on November 5. And while most of the sports world was focused on the LSU-Alabama football game set to take place that night, which some argued was a game between the two best college football teams in the nation, Penn State’s public information department had an opportunity to set up a social media crisis response team, outline a strategy of information dissemination, and get ahead of the impending media storm. Social media has proven to be a critical component of any crisis communication management strategy, and as an example, Penn State could have established their own hashtag, could have set up a Twitter profile dedicated to distributing updates, facts, and contact information. This team (and I emphasize team as something this large would require many people) could also have used Twitter to engage the media in real time, and headed off the propagation of the multiple rumors that were flying fast and furiously. Sadly, Penn State stumbled out of the gates and chose to take a reactive approach which demonstrated their incompetency, led to the distribution of misinformation, and further fueled the media frenzy. As a digital strategist, it pained me to see my alma mater fall so short on something that should be PR 101 at this point and urge you to recognize the power of Twitter and never underestimate its value in defending your brand.

The Ugly: Twitter as a Means to Expand Your Audience
It became very clear at the outset of the media blitz that Twitter would not be exempt from sensationalism reporting, furthering personal agendas, and driving eyeballs, listeners, or in this case, followers. I have never been as disgusted as I was seeing people who styled themselves as “news” media shamelessly spouting off complete ignorance, conjecture, and speculation, taking advantage of an emotional and personal tragedy to make a name for themselves. What, ideally, should have been basic fact reporting turned into a contest to see who could denounce Penn State officials most vehemently, who was more against child abuse and Penn State, and who could criticize Penn State alums or students the hardest for being upset. 140 character pearls of wisdom have been tweeted and retweeted, effectively making the rounds within the Twitterverse similar to the email chain letters of old. And while I was personally disappointed with the content, I could not argue with the fact that these personalities were exposing themselves to new eyeballs, effectively growing their audience.

Finally, one other lesson I learned the hard way: use Twitter with caution when attempting to get work done at the same time. If you’re not careful, you will quickly get sucked in reading tweets, news articles, trading messages with users, and ultimately getting nothing done. Not that I’m speaking from experience…

The Honda In America web and mobile site

Grafik helped Honda GR shift into high gear with the launch of www.hondainamerica.com. Directed towards policymakers on the Hill, the site features the most up-to-date information about Honda’s efforts in the areas of fuel efficiency and advanced safety technology, as well as detailed investment data about the company’s manufacturing, employment, and purchasing history in America.

“It’s a responsive web design, which means it adapts to its environment. The same site looks different on the web and on mobile,” said Greg Appler, VP Interactive for Grafik. This provided great cost savings to Honda, as they didn’t have to build a separate mobile site, but their users are able to easily view the site on mobile devices. “Additionally, the magazine style format leverages contemporary experience technologies to enhance interaction and usability.”

In previous years, Grafik helped Honda GR produce a comprehensive data book, however with this new effort, not only is the company able to extend its reach—but it is more environmentally sustainable.

“We now offer our audiences the same valuable information, and more, via the web with HondaInAmerica.com,” said Edward B. Cohen, Vice President Government & Industry Relations for Honda North America, Inc.

Grafik was so proud of the work, we entered it into the DC Ad Club’s Best of DC Agency Showcase, featuring the year’s best marketing presented by the area’s top creative agencies.  The panel of judges selected the site to be among the work that will be presented. On November 15, Greg Appler and Creative Director Gregg Glaviano will share the inspiration behind the execution of this, deemed one of the best marketing campaigns of 2011.

Internet users evolve faster than the internet itself. The massive movement of personal data onto the web has triggered the birth and death of many web services. As the internet continues to evolve, with big players like Twitter and Facebook, one can only imagine what happens when those services have failed to keep up with the crowd. In the wake of so many dead web services lie the stale collection of user-generated content. I kind of wish I could take it all back. Problem is not all of it is available in an easy format and the trouble of downloading that content supersedes the sentimental nature of said content. This might be changing as both new and old services begin to see the importance of owning your own content.

When Google+ soft-launched earlier this year, many users worldwide praised its advent; Facebook finally had a competitor. After years of Facebook burnout, I was ready to ditch the social media behemoth for a fresh new service. I found it was easier said than done. The hangup was abandoning years of data; a visual and textual account of my online interactions with people in my life.

I was reading an interview in November’s issue of .net magazine. The interview was with GimmeBar’s founder, Cameron Koczon. GimmeBar is a very promising service, still in beta, that allows for users to collect snippets of text and imagery around the web. It was important for Koczon and the GimmeBar team to allow users to own their curated content. The users of GimmeBar can at any time batch download all their snippets. I can’t describe what a breath of fresh air this idea is. It’s simple, but the implications are profound.

Facebook's new archive feature

Shortly after reading that article, I stumbled upon Facebook’s Archive. I can’t stress how I literally stumbled upon it. This service was launched without much publicity (can you blame them?). This new capability allows for users to download their entire Facebook history. History includes: “your photos, wall posts, messages, and other information” as described in the Account Settings. Both GimmeBar and Facebook provide an archive that is raw data, not a proprietary file structure.

A download capability reflects that users are sharing more sensitive information on platforms that don’t give them complete control. As the web service market continues to expand and evolve, this ability will hopefully be integrated into every service, providing a security and peace of mind to users.

Illuminated LED on a MacBook Pro

I was watching TV the other week when the screen suddenly powered down and went blank. The status light that would normally be a solid red to indicate it was off, was flashing in a rapid, urgent succession, indicating to me that something grave had transpired.

Connected to the TV lay one of my Apple computers. The gentle, white, undulating light on the front reassuringly communicated to me that unlike its TV cousin—it was not dead—it was merely “sleeping.”

There are things we immediately, if subconsciously, find comforting or soothing and, in that moment, I found comfort in that little white light. In designing and engineering something as complicated as a computer, a status light seems like a minor detail in the grand scheme of things. But it’s details like this that can psychologically make a block of aluminum and silicon more communicative and more personal. And it took Apple two patents and hundreds of hours in R&D to make it happen.

In July 2002, Apple filed a patent for a “Breathing Status LED Indicator” (No. US 6,658,577 B2). The status light is intentionally designed to simulate sleep and the patent filing described it as a “blinking effect of the sleep-mode indicator in accordance with the present invention mimics the rhythm of breathing which is psychologically appealing.”

Prior to the patent filing, Apple carried out research into breathing rates during sleep and found that the average respiratory rate for adults is 12–20 breaths per minute. They used a rate of 12 cycles per minute (the low end of the scale) to derive a model for how the light should behave to create a feeling of calm and make the product seem more human.

But finding the right rate wasn’t enough, they needed the light to not just blink, but “breathe.” Most previous sleep LEDs were just driven directly from the system chipset and could only switch on or off and not have the gradual glow that Apple integrated into their devices. This meant going to the expense of creating a new controller chip which could drive the LED light and change its brightness when the main CPU was shut down, all without harming battery life.

On more recent machines, you’ll also notice that the status light is completely invisible from the surface when the computer is in use. There’s no transparent plastic or glass where the light emanates from. The light seems to glow straight off the surface of the aluminum and, in fact, that’s exactly what it’s doing.

This feat of engineering is achieved though Apple’s “Invisible, light-transmissive display” (No Us. 7,880,131). During the manufacturing process of the computer body, a CNC machine first thins out the aluminum. Then a laser drill creates small perforations for the LED light to shine through, creating the illusion of a seamless surface when the light is off.

Several years ago Dell decided to mimic Apple, and add a similar sleep status feature to their computers. They decided to use a rate of 40 cycles per minute for their indicator. Comically, this is the average respiratory rate for adults during strenuous exercise—not very indicative of sleep.

Attention to detail is what makes Apple products feel so impeccable. The team there doesn’t just pore over financial spreadsheets and personnel issues as most companies do. They don’t just think about design, they obsess over it to the smallest details. There are many companies that have the talent and the resources to potentially mimic Apple’s success, but without getting the details right, it ends up just looking like strenuous exercise—inelegant and labored.

LinkedIn, Aim, Digg, Myspace, Squidoo, Facebook, Twitter and Reddit express some holiday cheer!

It’s now November and Christmas is just 52 days away. Gift shopping, turkey feasting, and snow shoveling (Hope I don’t jinx it!) seem to occupy the top of your to-do list, and tweeting and posting may not be such a priority. Anyone who engages in social media, either personally or professionally, knows that it’s one of those tasks you know you have dedicate time to, but when things get crazy busy with work projects and personal schedules, it’s what usually gets pushed aside. Here are a few basic tips to keep in mind that will make sure your Klout score doesn’t suffer during one of the busiest times of the year.

1. Start now and plan ahead

Take a cue from department stores that are already playing Christmas songs and selling holiday decor. Start thinking about what topics you should be blogging, posting, and tweeting about now so, when you have to leave work early for that holiday party, you’re covered. Tools like HootSuite and Crowdbooster allow you to schedule tweets and Facebook posts to be published at a future, predetermined time which is really useful when you’re out on vacation or just plain swamped.

2. Be timely and newsworthy

The risk you encounter when you schedule tweets and posts is that your content may be stale (or as Eric would say, “So nine minutes ago!”) by the time it gets pushed out. For your content to stay relevant, don’t just say what happened, but include your take on it. Don’t tweet “It’s 52 days till Christmas,” but say “Tips for tweeting your Christmas countdown.” This is where your brand’s voice comes in giving your content added value.

3. Go mobile

If you haven’t already, definitely get access to your social platforms on your smart phone. Some of you might be thinking that this is a given, but just this week, I’ve encountered a few people who work in the online media field who don’t have Twitter and Facebook apps on their phone. Enough said.

4. Keep your audience top of mind

It’s important to remind yourself when generating content, that your audience is in the same boat. They’re also as busy as you, if not more, and you have a smaller window of opportunity to engage them. Echoing number 2, be smart about when and what you tweet. If you know that most of your audience tend to comment on Facebook during their lunch break, then concentrate your Facebook activity at that time. Crowdbooster has a useful feature that gives you suggested times on when you should tweet and Facebook post based on previous clicks, replies, and shares on your content.

5. Get in the holiday spirit

One “perk” of this busy season is since there is a lot going on, there’s more to talk about. Do your coworkers decorate their offices? (Yes, Danielle, I’m talking about you.) Is your company holding a holiday marketing campaign, sale, promotion or the like? These all make for good ideas for blogging, posting, and tweeting. Tis’ the season to be jolly after all.

These simple and somewhat logical tips do not only apply to the holiday season and can be quite helpful if practiced throughout the year. Just based on my informal research, people rarely follow all of the above which can save you a lot of time and maybe even your sanity. If you have any other tips in mind, please do share!

Your Bounce Rate is 46 percent, your average page views have declined after a recent site redesign, and the average time on your site has fallen. What do these numbers really mean? How do they and other metrics drive increased revenue, decreased costs, customer retention, or other online objectives?

It depends.

Are users coming from a search engine to view one news article and leaving with their content goals met? Or do users arrive at the site, find it’s not the site they were looking for, and bolt? Either scenario would explain a high Bounce Rate.

How about an increase in overall visitors? That’s got to be a good thing, right?

Well, probably. But do visitor counts increase in general across your industry—maybe seasonally for holiday sales? And are your increases underperforming the industry average? If so, your gain may also be your lost opportunity.

Most site analytics are value-free, and generate more questions than answers—and smart questions are definitely needed. But further analyses or testing is required to answer those questions, and to understand how best to impact online behavior and grow your bottom line.

What do these figures mean?

There are a multiplicity of tools and measurement strategies you can engage—and you should be using more than one. One of the easiest to implement and most powerful is the on-exit, in-line site survey. You don’t need to be an expert to build one—just review your site metrics, generate hypotheses, and then craft a short set of questions that will test your hypotheses. You can be up and running in hours and have more meaningful quantitative and qualitative feedback than you ever imagined.

What do visitors come to the site for? Ask. Did they get what they came for? Ask. Would they like other content, features, or functions? Ask. Will they come back? Just ask.

Some of the things you’ll want to consider when building an online survey are:

• the number of questions—they should be limited to encourage participation and completion
• industry and competitive benchmarks that you can measure against (e.g., ACSI, Compete)
• Google Analytics—integration with survey tool for targeting and segmentation
• quantitative feedback—(e.g., rating from 1–10) that will make the case to management
• qualitative feedback—open-field, voice of customer that will seal the deal with management

Each survey you complete will generate new insights, new improvements, and new surveys that can and should grow into an important program of continuous learning and optimization. Again, you can be up and running in no time. Feel free to give us a call if you need an assist.

(In his book, Web Analytics 2.0, Avinash Kaushik updates and expands on his earlier work, Web Analytics: An Hour A Day. I highly recommend it for all of our clients. Pick up a copy at Amazon or, if you’re in the office, ask me for one of our extra copies. We keep a few on hand for our clients. Also, consider Q4 by iPerceptions, a free (or paid) on-exit survey tool developed in collaboration with Mr. Kaushik).

My Facebook profile is being stalked!

Do you remember when you were a child and your mother told you not to take candy from strangers? Well, this general rule still stays true as an adult, and apparently also in the interactive space.

TakeThisLillipop.com is a website that has gone viral on Facebook and Twitter for the past few days and presents a terrifying interactive experience that taps into everyone’s inner fears of social privacy issues. When you first enter the site you’re tempted by an image of a lollipop (with a “hidden” blade) and a simple, but provoking statement: “I Dare You.” If you do dare enter, you are prompted to grant access to your Facebook account—not much different from when you use social apps or games on Facebook. Now, I only proceeded because Brandon swore it was harmless—well, I guess only physically. You are then taken though your own little personalized, Halloween-appropriate, horror film. The victim? You.

Without divulging the details of the experience (you have to go and experience it for yourself!), the three-minute video showcases what could happen if a Michael Myers/Norman Bates/Chucky-type got ahold of your Facebook profile, and used your information to hunt you down. There is a disclaimer on the homepage that states your information won’t be saved, but it does teach everyone a valuable lesson: use social media wisely and know your privacy settings. Digital marketer Jason Zada is the mind behind the site, and in an Ad Age Digital article, he spoke about how “the scariest part is that your information is in the video. The piece is scary because a person is violating your privacy, not because it’s bloody or there’s anything jumping out.”

Social media is a very power tool for communication available to basically everyone, but everyone who uses it should have a basic understanding who sees what, and what granting access to your account means. Facebook has a very straightforward and informative Privacy section in its Help Center. I suggest everyone take 10 minutes to get to know the basics of protecting your information. I generally would have preferred less shock value—I still get the creeps thinking about it—but this site is certainly diabolically brilliant.

The actor who plays the stalker, Bill Oberst Jr., gives such a creepy stare.

Photo from @jennifercparker

What you get is a conversation about where the creative industry is, and where it is going. This week, DC chapter of AIGA, the American Association for Design, is holding DC’s Annual Design Week. A few of Grafik’s creatives attended their event last night, “Download” which consisted of a panelled discussion from some of the top winners of the AIGA 50’s contest last year. Panels included Jefferson Liu of AKQA, Karen Zuckerman of HZDG, Andrew McClellan of Fleishman-Hillard, and Stefan Poulos of Pappas Group. The panel was moderated by Bill Colgrove of Threespot.

The ongoing theme of the night was interactive design. The panelists presented design challenges their studio faced, and how they were able to solve the communication and format challenges. It was a presentation of iPads, motion graphics, videos, mobile apps, and many other components that make up the exciting field of interaction design. To hear from experienced designers and how they made the transition to interactive media was a testament to the versatility that designers must have.

Andrew McClellan of Fleishman-Hillard said, “Ideas drive technology.” This one simple statement sums up the challenges of the design industry today. As technology rapidly advances and things that were awesome yesterday become mundane today, it is imperative that concept remains at the forefront of the design profession. Concept will always be the staple of good design.

To read more of the discussions, check out #DCDesignWeek or follow @AIGA_DC.

Facebook stealthily made two fairly big announcements yesterday afternoon—one is the launch of the long-awaited Facebook for iPad app and the other is the announcement of social apps being extended to mobile platforms. These two announcements seem to come hand in hand showing the network’s strong push to go mobile.

Just based on a glance at my Twitter feed and a few opinions from colleagues, not many really care about the new iPad app. I, however, am quite happy that it’s finally available. If you are a casual Facebook user and just need basic access to notifications and the News Feed, existing apps such as Friendly and MyPad should more than suffice your needs. But for someone who spends a considerable time logged in for both work and personal reasons, I often find that those other apps are not as easy on the eyes and to use as they could be. That is another story all together. The major difference between these apps and Facebook’s is that the native app is as robust (if not more with a few cool additional features) and easy to navigate as viewing in a browser. It mimics the browser experience which is crucial for me who manages a few pages and groups on top of a personal profile.

The left menu allows for quick navigation such as accessing Grafik's page

In light of that, the rift between the browser and mobile Facebook experience is further closing with the start of social apps availability on the iPhone, iPad, iTouch and the mobile site with Android coming soon. Facebook Software Development Engineer Luke Shepard wrote on the developer’s blog about using social channels such as Bookmarks, Requests, and the News Feed to propel the use apps and create a more seamless integration of both the web and mobile experiences. You can view which apps and games are now mobile ready here.

Invitations to third-party apps and games can now be accessed and opened via mobile

According to a new study from ComScore, U.S. mobile web traffic grew 19 percent from last year to 116 million people, almost half of the U.S. population. That number is just likely to increase and these steps by Facebook show that this is definitely a market worth watching out for.

Rest In Peace Steve

He changed the way we think, the way we work, and how we interact. Steve Jobs was a luminary of course, and a brilliant technologist, inventor, and thinker. But, he was also one of the most vocal champions of design. Steve showed the world over and over again that design matters.

I remember the first Macintosh that Grafik bought. At the time we thought it was only good to help render type. And our initial reasons for buying one were somewhat misguided. Not to mention the fact that the cost was astronomical for a small firm, all the components were sold separately and we could only afford to lease one. It cost about $12,000 and it was obsolete as soon as we paid for it. Over the years, I probably have easily purchased well over a hundred Apple computers of all sizes and shapes. Everyone knows that if you were a design shop Microsoft was the Evil Empire. And, we scoffed at the clunky world of PCs and the horrible interfaces and designs of any computer that was not an Apple product.

We loved our new toys, but what we loved almost as much was the packaging it came in—the clear simple instructions, and the well designed user manuals. No design detail was too small or overlooked. I know that I have always kept the packaging long after I have unpacked my many computers, iPods, iPhones, and my iPad. Who could throw out the beautiful white boxes?

Even the way Jobs dressed in his cool black turtle necks made the design community love him. He was one of us. He was not just any CEO—we felt like we could trust him to take our best interests to heart. And, he never disappointed us.

When Jobs stepped down as Apple’s CEO, like many others, I knew the end was near and I felt immense sadness. Tonight upon hearing of his death, I feel like I have lost a good friend and I know that the design community has lost a luminary that understood the power that design has to change the world.

Jobs’ first ad campaign was the brilliant “Think Different” series. And that is the challenge that he leaves all of us with: to continue to push the limits of design, to sweat the details because they matter, and to keep the faith that good design sells.

Steve, designers around the world thank you and will miss you.