Social Media and the Zombie Apocalypse

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Jilly Charlwood

Would you turn to the social media community in a crisis?

If the apocalypse landed on your doorstep tomorrow, where’s the first place you would go for information? Would you turn on the TV? Would you locate your home emergency kit and power up your battery-operated radio? Or would you be on Twitter in seconds searching #Armageddon?

The rise of social media as a powerful crisis communications tool has been demonstrated liberally lately – be it the use of ushahidi after the Haitian earthquake, Facebook during the Australian floods or Twitter as a driving force in the Egyptian revolution.

But what is sometimes forgotten is that for emergency organisations, the rise of social media has meant some fundamental changes in the way official sources communicate with the public during a crisis. The time window for communicating emergency information has shrunk considerably, which is a big deal for government organisations used to working at the speed of…well…government.

But it’s not all negative. One of the most game-changing aspects of social media is the ability for emergency organisations to communicate unedited messages to the community during disasters and emergencies. The average grab in a television news bulletin is about nine seconds long, which isn’t a lot of time to get important emergency and community safety information into the public sphere.

One of the most popular social media initiatives adopted by emergency services during the Australian floods earlier this year was uploading full media conferences to Facebook and You Tube. The feedback from the community was overwhelmingly positive – people appreciated being able to act as their own news editors rather than relying on the media to filter the information on their behalf.

The second game-changer is that never before have emergency warnings and information had so much reach. Twitter particularly has moved away from the ‘social’ aspects of social media, and has reshaped as a kind of virtual megaphone for information sharing.

The social media community, in all its glory and horror, is incredibly keen to share. Emergency warnings, evacuation advice, road closures, donation information, shelter locations – social media isn’t just a messenger, it’s an amplifier. This willingness to share information is pretty damn exciting for emergency communicators like myself, whose main goal in life is to disseminate emergency information as far as possible, as quickly as possible.

These initiatives might sound like simple stuff, but in a sector as structured and traditional as emergency management, they are giant steps. Ready or not, social media has found a place in disaster communications.

Hijacking or Highlighting – is a facebook “Community Page” a Community at all?

Posted on June 29, 2010 by Michael Boronowski

You’ve just joined a heap of new communities! At least, that’s what facebook is telling me on all of these new community pages.

Community, or Collection of Crap?

Check this one out – Cooking, a lot of people like cooking, 2.5 million have it as a “like” in their profile. By facebook law that seems to mean they’re / you’re members of the facebook cooking community. That’s regardless of whether you’ve been notified that your posts are being scrubbed for keywords and presented as contributions within this new format.

This section from the intro is particularly surprising, “…the best collection of shared knowledge on this topic.”

To me this seems like a very underhanded way to extract monetary value from the userbase. That best collection is actually a collection of posts not intended for this page, given some sort of context thanks to a description and image ripped straight from Wikipedia.

I’m undecided on whether this is a move to shift how we use facebook, moving users from personal networking to community-publishing, or if it’s just the next logical step in facebook’s growth. After all, we started with individual profiles, then we got groups and pages, and now we’ve got communities built on top of all of that.

Truthfully, I suspect these are just a step towards refining search and portal components to better compete with google and the like. That’s where the money is in terms of serving targeted ads and sponsored content.

Take a second and check out your profile. Chances are you’ve listed at least a few interests, and now when your posts contain keyword matches they’re being pulled into these community pages.

What do you think?

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Kevin Greer – The Editorial Associate (not Intern)

Posted on May 30, 2010 by John Horn

Who are you?

I am a six foot three, competitive yet an easy going student currently attending the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia. I love to express my opinion about many different topics, whether it be over the internet or a coffee. Appointed as editorial assistant for the Daily Gumboot, my goal is to get all of the voices within this blog extended to a greater audience.

What do you do for fun?

I play extreme upside down turbo Ultimate Frisbee (what I like to call it), study, eat way too much Asian food, hang out with my awesome girlfriend Rosa and argue for hours about how we can change the world. I also spend an insane amount of time tinkering with my computers.

What is your favorite community and why?

I enjoy any group of entities that merge to share their stories. It can be as small as a woman and her dog to the massive scale interactions that occur within a city such as Vancouver. Everyone has a story to tell and I guarantee that others will want to hear it. I also find global communities arising through the help of the internet groundbreaking and controversial.

What is your super power?

Having mad hops to jump over anything including the literal, factual, metaphorical and figurative obstacles of the world while simultaneously aiding others to do the same.

How does your power help you to build community?

I have one simple motto which builds community personally, locally and globally: help others. I may procrastinate, J-walk and sleep in (I am not perfect, just close) but I always do things with the needs of other people as the number one priority. I thoughtfully use these so called ‘hops’ to inspire, lead and present ideas to others unselfishly. My goal is not to be the richest man in the world, simply someone who has the skills and attitude to construct, as well as develop, community and relationships.

My Three Favourite things about Kevin Greer are…

1. The cut of his jib. Kevin the Intern lived on a boat for a year or so and this experience certainly refined his sense of self – he might be 18, but he carries himself in a way that suggests he’s 18 going on 30. Also, his nautical sense and boat-savvy makes him the most pirate-like member of the Daily Gumboot team.

2. The Toolkit. Business + Computer Science + Innovation + Entrepreneurial Spirit + Sex Appeal = Kevin Greer. Kevin came to our first meeting with a lot of ideas that he is carrying out as we speak, and it’s pretty darn inspiring.

3. Lifelong Learning. Kevin the Intern Editorial Associate is the kind of guy who will just keep getting better with age – knowing what I know about the career potential about mid-to-late-twentysomethings here in the Lower Mainland, I can safely say that the young and talented Mr. Greer is well on his way to being a thought/business leader in Vancouver and beyond well before his time. No pressure though, pal.

On behalf of the Daily Gumboot team, thanks for all your hard work, Kevin!

…As told by John Horn…

The Real Pete – Mystery Man

Posted on May 23, 2010 by Kurt Heinrich

Who are you?

My name is Pete and I am a Social Media Expert and Event Management Consultant in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area). I monitor and contribute to over 100 blogs and provide feedback and suggestions to them all and sometimes it isn’t what they want to hear even if it’s the right thing! My event management work is mostly with an urban adventure company that specializes in bringing extreme sports into the cities (like rock climbing buildings, base jumping, bungee jumping, and zip trekking (like in Vancouver for the Olympics).

What do you do for fun?

For fun I work by getting a sense of the best blogs out there, teach others about what I know with social media, volunteer in politics and garden.

What is your favorite community?

My favourite community is New Orleans I do so much business there and love to party with clients and take them out for real gumbo and jazz!!! Sun, fun and sin baby! Going down to the Big Easy to help with the oil spill in a few weeks.

What is your superpower?

Speed is my superpower. How can I do 40 hours of work in a 24 hour day? Organizing, multi-tasking and speed. I have good eye for detail and never have to read anything over once. Think. Write. Send. Its how I do so much business. And it builds community by my ideas and suggestions getting into businesses and people’s minds all over the world all at the same time. I get to every community at once.

Our three favorite things about the Real Pete are…

John: Spellinh. Honestly, I spend 15% of my work day correcting grammar and spelling mistakes for graduate business students – and there are many, many mistakes. Pete just doesn’t have time to spell things write or even to care about whether or not people should care about what they spell or how they spell it. And it gets me thinking, what if I didn’t care about spelling? And what if I told my students – and maybe the staff of the Gumboot – that they shouldn’t care about spelling, sense and all the rest of it. What if we just thought about it, wrote it, and sent it? Yeah. Then we’d have efficiency we could only dream of. Oh, and irony…so, so, so much irony.

Fake Pete: His Manichean view of the world. With John being at the fulcrum, because he is the only one of the Gumboot-staff who is allowed to be both the ying and the yang in Pete’s world – the best and the worst of our contributors that is. Pete is a black and white-man and when he’s made up his mind you can be sure that he won’t waver. Knowing what I do now, Pete is really the role model of the “well informed gentleman of the 21st century”. It’s just not a miracle that he manages to spot things that others don’t perceive. Like the fact that we’re all secret commies at the Gumboot. Okay. Before this ends in dire satire and a bloody feud: Pete is dead-honest. I gotta hand it to him: He won’t give you no bullshit or politically correct phrasing if he thinks otherwise. And even though I sometimes hate his guts because his comments often are on the verge of rudeness I gotta say “kudos!” for that.

Kurt: Nostalgia. Every time the Real Pete comments, I’m reminded he’s one of our first and longest running fans/detractors. Some people might not know this, but the Real Pete provided one of our first commenters. I mark it as a watershed moment in our blog – one of the first times someone who wasn’t a friend posted on our site. And what a blistering first comment it was (all I remember is he pretty much called me out about my views on Toronto). Now, after many countless months, he continues to engage us in a blunt, offensive, humorous, and (I must say) weirdly supportive way.

Krystle Sivorot – The Dancer

Posted on May 16, 2010 by Kurt Heinrich

Who are you?

My name is Krystle, almost always spelled incorrectly. I was born in Korea and was raised in Kelowna, BC. I am a self professed geek, dancer, and foodie. I work at Peak Communicators in their social media department -where I can be as geeky as possible – right now I’m enrolled in a web development class.

What do you do for fun?

Besides binge eating with my cousin, I love anything cultural. I like discovering new and exciting activities around the city. Especially taking in live music, theatre, or trying a new dance style. My agenda is always full with shows. I love to dance and have tried a variety of styles – ballet, modern, jazz, flamenco, bollywood…currently I’m shaking it in an afro cuban dance class at Harbour.

What is your favourite community and why?

As a dance enthusiast, I really have an appreciation for the arts and dance community in Vancouver. I recently attended a dialogue on the future and growth of the Vancouver arts scene. Even with the recent cuts to the arts in BC, it was great to see the arts community, and artists from different disciplines, come together and discuss what the arts could be in 2050.

What is your super power?

I’d like to think my super power is spontaneity. I keep an open mind and am almost always willing to take on a new challenge or try something new.

How do you use it to build community?

I think by keeping an open mind I am accepting of new ideas. It is always beneficial to be open to different perspectives – you never know what you can learn from other people.

My Three Favourite Things about Krystle are…

Her Positive nature and “I’m listening” spirit. Krystle emits positive vibes like a neutron star emits energy. Wherever she goes, it emanates outwards. Aside from being generally happy go lucky, she wanders the world being constantly interested in other people. Being interested in folks and “keeping an open mind” by accepting new ideas is a critical to a good listener and a good communicator. Krystle’s got it in spades.

She’s Hip to the Vancouver Arts Scene. A little while ago, a worked on Street Soccer fundraiser with a host of bands from around Vancouver. Many of these bands weren’t huge names, but they were local and generously donating their services. Krystle knew them and was enthusiastic about seeing them play. In fact she brought a bunch of friends with her to watch the show. Each week I learn about a different dancing opportunity, art show or other cultural experience that Krystle’s plugged into. It’s like having a super culturally trendy friend a stones throw away in the office. Good times.

She’s tried Bollywood Dancing. Is it just me, or is that just super interesting? Enough said.

Your Digital Fill – New Dorks

Posted on April 10, 2010 by Kurt Heinrich

A music video that embraces social media and online “dorkiness” to a whole new level. Jay-Z has never been cooler…

The Great Debate at UBC Goes Digital!

Posted on April 3, 2010 by John Horn

Check it out! A Daily Gumboot editor, played by John Horn, joins forces with Get to Know Your Community superstar, Shagufta Pasta, to take on outdated pedagogy in formal higher education. This street fight discussion took place a few weeks ago during Educamp at the Univeristy of British Columbia.

Who wins UBC’s Great Debate on social media in the classroom? I will leave that to you!

Just kidding. The YES team totally won. The revolution isn’t coming, it’s here. Let’s all be a part of it, people!

- JCH

Your Digital Fill

Posted on March 13, 2010 by Kurt Heinrich

The social media revolution is here:

A great video showcasing the vastly expanding community of the social media web. Set to the great tunes of Fat Boy Slim. Check it out if you haven’t seen it yet!

Harpaul Sambhi

Posted on February 14, 2010 by John Horn

1.Who are you?

In short – batman. Kidding aside, I am a recent graduate (2009) from the University of Waterloo that finally finished the 5 year program for Electrical Engineering. Most of my co-op terms were doing entrepreneurial ventures. I think of myself as a very approachable guy who likes to help people with their careers and simply network. Careerify is my second venture which I founded in 2008 while in fourth year. I often skipped classes to network with the business community in my area (which was often Toronto), went off to places like London, Barcelona and Rome when I wasn’t supposed to (thank god I had a great lab partner!) and enjoys everything I do, because if you don’t, life tends to suck when you’re always complaining.

2. What do you do for fun?

Just ran a half-marathon last year, training for a full-marathon. Love to grill as the BBQ is my best-friend in the summer. Like to spend time with my friends, play hockey and golf occasionally, and will be getting back into martial arts to complete my blackbelt (currently two levels away). I also categorize my work as being fun, as I meet with great people, try to see how I can connect my network together, and writing a book with Thomson-Reuters on social networks and HR.

3. What is your favourite community and why?

If you mean community as a place – definitely Toronto, although I have my eyes set on the Big Apple. I love the fast paced environment of any big city as it motivates me to do my best. The Go-go-go environment speeds up my heart, and is one of the reasons I want to get out of bed.

4. What is your superpower?

“Unlike most superheroes, he does not possess any superpowers; he makes use of intellect, detective skills, science and technology, wealth, physical prowess, and intimidation in his war on crime.”

When I am myself my superpowers is connecting and helping people.

5. How do you use it to build community?

To build any community, you need to fight off evil and the villains that usually come with the territory. In this case, evil is deemed as unemployment, and procrastination. Unemployment can be defeated by connecting two people and allowing true networking to come into play as people know other people. This can go a long way for those looking for their first employment opportunity and are having a difficult time fighting off the evil unemployment villain with tools like job-boards and newspaper ads. Careerify is a new tool that zaps energy out of evil pretty quickly, as it speeds the process.

Tune in tomorrow — same Bat-time, same Bat-channel.

My three favourite things about Harpaul are…

1. The Power of Relationships. A former student of mine introduced Harpaul and I because “it’s always great to bring good people together.” We’re all connectors, methinks. It’s just a beautiful thing when people who can learn from each other get connected. And who doesn’t want to be connected to Batman?

2. Innovation and Future Trends. Many human resources professionals, career development practitioners, educators, and recruiters believe that the traditional “job board” – be it paper or online – will cease to exist by 2020. By then, the experts say, employers will find, hire and retain employees through social networking. Harpaul’s business, Careerify, combines the concepts of LinkedIn, e-Harmony and Visa Rewards to personalize the employer-employee matching in the world of work. And he’s ahead of his time.

3. He’s an Entrepreneur. As the Daily Gumboot’s readers (ie. my parents) know, I’m a huge fan of entrepreneurship. I’m also a huge fan of people finding the most meaningful path into the world of work, where, believe it or not, we will spend most of our lives. Did you know that 80% of North Americans are dissatisfied with their jobs? Cures for such malaise are the entrepreneurial spirit and finding work that you really, really, really love doing; and mediums like Careerify are what bring such qualities together.

As told by John Horn…