Future skills needed for digital teams

Although managing websites, managing content and supporting communications will remain important for Government digital teams, it’s likely the future focus will be on the other areas. Exploiting data, engaging communities, gaining insight and digitally enabling government business will be key areas for individuals and digital teams to develop their skills, knowledge and behaviours.

 

Defining digital skills for government communicators

 

 

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Why the Queen an avid user of the web just doesn't click

Reading that the Queen "surfs the web" reminded me of a brief conversation I had with HM. A couple of years I was invited to attend the new royal website launch at Buckingham Palace where after a speech by Sir Tim Berners-Lee the Queen pressed a button and shook a few hands.

At a function a week later I had the opportunity to talk directly with the Queen about her use of the internet. I asked her about her website - cue quizzical look - and then asked her about her youtube channel, same look, and then her twitter account - very quizzical look.

What was apparent is despite what her PR people say the Queen is no avid user of the internet - no surprises there. That's certainly no crime for a lady in her 80's but the next time you read about the Queen tweeting, surfing the web, facebooking, or watching youtube realise there is about as much chance of this as her traveling on a bus. Not impossible but very unlikely.

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The journalist of the future is a jack-of-all-trades and a master of one

With budgets squeezed as newspapers make record losses the pressure is on today’s journalists to be much more than a good writer.

Job adverts for multimedia journalists have a long list of requirements: as well as being able to produce a cracking news story you must be able to code HTML and JavaScript, record and edit video and audio, have experience of content management systems, Flash and Photoshop.

With such a large set of requirements how can today’s journalist be, well - a good journalist? Time is at a premium and if you are fiddling with your JavaScript and doing basic editing of a video in FinalCut Pro, there is limited time to concentrate on what’s important - the story.

You should have a broad knowledge of the technical aspects of the job but strive to become a master of just one.  Concentrate on being a good writer or become an expert at putting together video and audio packages.

You are a journalist first and foremost and not a programmer.

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The future of journalism is crowdsourced, says futurist

I’m in agreement with self-styled futurist Ross Dawson and his predictions for the future of newspapers.

I wrote a post a couple of years ago that outlined that news was moving away from being printed on dead trees and onto to e-readers, and that today’s major newspapers are going to have to distinguish themselves as islands of quality if they are to survive in a sea of a abundance.

Dawson takes the argument further claiming that by 2022 newspapers will be irrelevant and that by that time most journalism will be crowdsourced.

Here are his main points:

• By 2022 newspapers as we know them will be irrelevant. However the leading newspaper publishers of today may have transformed themselves to thrive in what will be a flourishing media industry.
• Media revenues will soar but will be unevenly distributed. We are shifting to a “media economy” dominated by content and social connection. Yet established media organisations will need to reinvent themselves to participate in that growth.
• The successors to the iPad will be our primary news interfaces. We will most commonly consume news on portable devices, of which the iPad will be recognised as the forerunner.
• Digital news readers will cost less than $10. By 2020 entry-level devices to read the news will cost less than $10 and often be given away. More sophisticated news readers will be foldable or rollable, gesture controlled and fully interactive.
• Journalism will be increasingly crowdsourced. Substantial parts of investigative journalism, writing and news production will be ‘crowdsourced’ to hordes of amateurs overseen by professionals.
• The reputation of individual journalists will drive audiences. Many journalists, most leading experts in their fields, will still be employed, with public reputation measures guiding audiences on how much to trust their work.

Looking at how the newspaper industry is developing this seems about right. My bet is it won’t be too long before Mr Murdoch tries to woo us with subsidised e-readers in exchange for taking out a subscription to his titles.

Turbulent but exciting times for journalism.

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How much longer for the bookshop?

With the new Kindle's September release imminent and rumours that its price could be cut to $99 (£64) by Christmas, the iPad selling like hot cakes and other e-readers chewing at the printed page, how much longer can the local bookshop last?

One answer: not very much longer.

In my hometown of Brighton (UK) I have seen the closure of many small independent bookshops as well as national chains such as Borders. We are now left with Waterstones , WH Smiths, a couple of cut-price stores and the bonk busters being sold in the book section of Asda.

Cheap e-readers are only going to accelerate this decline. So far in the UK they have only been a niche product, but with Amazon pushing its latest Kindle hard they are just about to explode into the main stream.

With a growing selection of titles available and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos pouring pressure on publishers to reduce the cost of their digital editions, the remaining barriers to widespread adoption of e-books are fast evaporating. And with them goes the expensive retail space of the local bookshop.

So here’s my prediction:

Apart from a few specialised outlets, independent bookshops will be completely dead within five years. All the big chains will close their high street branches in ten. The majority of libraries will be entirely e-book by 2025 - and with the way our current Government is slashing budgets probably sooner.

Like vinyl and CDs, the printed book will soon become nothing more than a quaint reminder of our past only seen on special editions of the Antiques Roadshow.

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Making twitter work for you

Probably the best description I've heard about Twitter is that its the real time search engine that you didn’t realise that you needed.

It’s a great way to discover new content and stay informed of developments in your field, connect with new people and even if they don’t follow you still learn from their tweets.

To make tweeting work for you try following these simple tips:

Add value where you can

Join a conversation if you have some information or an opinion that will expand an argument.

Tweet links to great articles you’ve discovered

I find the links tweeted by the people I follow one of the biggest pluses with Twitter as I discover articles and facts that I would never have found myself. Aim to share the material you find that will be of some value to your followers.

Tweet profound things

Hey don’t be scared by this you don’t need to turn into Socrates overnight. But tweeting an original comment, observation or fact might get republished by your followers (retweeted), and this helps to build your influence and hopefully number of followers.

Give a little of yourself

You don’t need to tell the world what you had for breakfast but it's social media and that means people like to get to know a bit about you. Saying your going to a concert, pub or taking a holiday helps your followers form an opinion about who you are. Some moderation on personal stuff is the best policy unless you think you are a celeb and feel the world needs to know your every thought and movement.

Think about the time you tweet

If most of your audience is in bed then they are not going to read your tweets. I find the best time to tweet is in the morning when people are on their way to work, or the evening when they are at home. It’s not a good idea to send out a batch of tweets in a short period of time. Try to stagger your tweeting so you are not spamming people.

Remember the golden rule - as with all efforts in social media - is to try to add value. If you succeed in doing this then your influence and reach can only grow.

And don't forget you can follow me on twitter here.

Happy tweeting.

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Information overload isn't Google's fault

Nicholas Carr in his book The Shallows writes about the rise of the web and how it is drowning humanity in a sea of data and ideas. However many of the technologies that he criticises such as Google have been developed precisely to help us get some control.

Google isn't the problem - it's the beginning of the solution

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