Social Media TrendsWhere Are You Taking Me?!

Presented to Humber's Refresh Conference April 9, 2013

Who Am I?

Wanted to be a writer or a journalist

Ended up working online instead!

• Writer/Editor at Torontoist

• Online Editor at National Post

• Community Manager at Huffington Post Canada

A Few Facts About The Huffington Post (Canada)

• U.S. version one of the largest news sites online (39-million UVs/monthly)

• Also one of the most 'social' news sites

• Founded in 2005

• Founded in Canada in May 2011, First International HuffPost site

• Over 4-million UVs/monthly (psst, that's bigger than the Globe and Mail and National Post btw)

What Do I Do At HuffPost?

• Social media strategy

• Come up with new 'social' ideas for content

• Keep up with best practices and social media developments

• Day-to-day monitoring of our social media accounts

• Train staff on how to use social media tools

So Where's All This Going?

• We're in a massive transition from mass media to something else...

• From TV, radio, newspapers to...

• Social media, fragmented media, and more

• It's just starting. All of this is quite new

Trend #1: Mobile

Think Mobile First

• Facebook has +1-billion users, more than 50% access FB mobile

• Twitter has always been a mobile experience

• It's becoming a richer experience (audio, video, games, location, and e-commerce)

• 45% of Canada's cellphone users are on a smartphone

What We're Doing?

• Apps

• Mobile pages

• HuffPost Live works on mobile and iPad

Trend #2: Video

More Than Just YouTube

• YouTube is dominant but there's competition

• Netflix, Amazon, Cable companies

• Also other platforms (think Vine)

What We're Doing

What We're Doing: HuffPost Live

http://live.huffingtonpost.com, @HuffPostLive

What is it?

• 15-30 min. segments, 12 hrs/daily

• We're creating conversations around the day's important topics

• The segments gain new life on future HuffPost stories

Trend #3: Think Live

Social Media Is Live

• Brands need to adapt to this

• Think like a newsroom, react quickly and when things happen

• Give front-line staff leeway and autonomy

• What can happen when things go horribly, horribly wrong?

Or Worse...

Trend #4: The Social Screen

• Combines 'live' and 'video' in some ways

• Twitter + Nielsen

• Also think live events! Sports, award shows

Trend #5: Hybrid models. Advertorial? Journamarketing?

• It's always existed... Advertorial sections

• And now it's also online

• Both journalists and marketers have to be vigilant about this

• The reader/user must come first

How We Do It

• Partnerships where they make sense

• A net gain for both advertiser and us

• Editorial integrity is important

What Happens When It Goes Wrong?

Atlantic's Scientology Scandal• Loss of credibility• Hurts your brand• Controversy and backlash

Trend #6 Location

Some prominent uses for it right now:

• Foursquare, Yelp, Twitter

What's next? Google Glass? Something else?

Thanks! Questions?

Follow me on twitter @boyreporter

Check out the Huffington Post Canada

www.huffingtonpost.ca

E-mail: ron.nurwisah@huffingtonpost.com