{"id":778,"date":"2014-07-22T13:07:58","date_gmt":"2014-07-22T20:07:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ambriente.com\/blog\/?p=778"},"modified":"2014-07-22T13:07:58","modified_gmt":"2014-07-22T20:07:58","slug":"digital-publishing-innovation-summit-part-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ambriente.com\/blog\/2014\/07\/22\/digital-publishing-innovation-summit-part-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Digital Publishing Innovation Summit, Part 4"},"content":{"rendered":"

Emerging trends, behavior and takeaways for social media use<\/p><\/div>\n

On day two of the Digital Publishing Innovation Summit<\/a>, I missed the initial session \u201cData & Technology Influencing Corporate Culture\u201d by Charlie Weiss. So I started off the day listening to the very entertaining Cindy Jeffers from Salon<\/a> presentation \u201cReaching the Next Generation of Content Consumers.\u201d Jeffers stated that younger people are moving to anonymous and ephemeral sharing platforms rather than using FaceBook or Twitter. She discussed the rising use of Whisper and Secret – social networks that disassociate from public identity in which messages tend to be raw, present catharsis and negative emotions. She also noted that news tips and corporate leaks are common on these anonymous sharing applications. Since anonymous sharing presents a rapidly growing sector because one isn\u2019t tied to her\/his identity, it requires greater vetting.<\/p>\n

Amongst 18 to 22 year olds, expiring or ephemeral content through Slingshot<\/a> or Snapshot is becoming very popular. Users can have fun sharing funny things and selfies without worrying about future consequences. These applications are even built to not allow screen capture to ensure the ephemerality of the content. Research shows that the vast majority of content is light-hearted and a superfluous way to connect with friends. Although sexting has been in the media, users that were polled showed very little sexting. These tools represent an outlet without lasting consequences due to archived content.<\/p>\n

\"Apps

Apps that Are Gaining Steam<\/p><\/div>
\nSo the summit specific question is how can brands use these anonymous and ephemeral sharing applications? Jeffers believes that companies are already using these social tools for research. Brands can use these applications to ask questions that generate discussion and gather feedback on products, advertising, branding\u2026<\/p>\n

Laura Wind of Macmillan Education<\/a> followed Jeffers with a presentation titled \u201cThe Future of Educational Publishing.\u201d I\u2019ll quote Wind\u2019s description of her presentation to set her premise:<\/p>\n

\nHigher Education in the US is in dire trouble. Between degree mills, low retention rates, and unemployment rates for degree holders, there is an obvious disconnect between the amount of money we spend in higher education and the return on the investment. Yet, the high price tag of education clearly doesn\u2019t paint the full picture. Despite a surge in MOOCs a couple of years ago, their development and usage is currently at a rapid decline. To boot, while ebooks are beginning to surpass print books in trade, that same trend has still not transitioned to the classroom. This is largely because the education system has not kept up with technology and buzzwords such as \u201cflipping the classroom\u201d are often used in place of action. How do we bring about more rapid change so that the education system keeps up with the rapidly changing world? Where will educational publishing in the next, 5, 10, and 20 years? What role do publishers play in improving the higher education system and ensuring the success of our students and, thus, our future?\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Wind went on to point out the enduring power of a college degree – it puts the stamp of approval from recognized universities on the successful student. The degree demonstrates that the individual is employable. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) do not do this and the target audience – those who do not have access to education are not the primary users. 80% of MOOC users already have degrees, so the common use appears to be people seeking to expand their knowledge (however, the vast majority register and do not return).<\/p>\n

Wind stresses the need for schools to act on the phrase \u201cflipping the classroom\u201d and not merely use it as a buzz term. She feels that the future of higher education is not the tradition of in-class lecture and then the student goes home to do homework. Instead, the lectures are watched at home and the projects are executed in the classroom with the professor there to direct and assist. Passive learning does not translate to the workforce. However, actually \u201cflipping the classroom raises the bar on teaching, because there are likely to be unexpected questions, moments that when the faculty\u2019s knowledge is tested, because the classroom experience will not merely be a prepared lecture.<\/p>\n

Wind briefly discussed the ramification of education through the use of badges and analytics. Analytics may be used to make adjustments during the semester. Analytics should also be used after the student graduates to track where they are going.<\/p>\n

Jorge Urrutia of Fusion<\/a> stressed the need for greater research on Millennials to understand more deeply a gigantic consumer base. Millennials or Gen Y born in the 1980s and 90s will be over 50% of the labor force by 1916. Over 5000 brand messages pass by Millennials on a daily basis and yet they are hard to reach. This is because Millennials are misunderstood. Urrutia broke down common myths about Millennials:<\/p>\n