Archive for the ‘Fifth Estate’ Category

Big Brother Won and We Loved It

Posted on: April 30th, 2013 by Geoff Livingston 15 Comments

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Image by estacey

The deployment of technology and media to successfully capture the Brothers Tsarnaev remains a subplot in the incredible Boston Marathon bombing manhunt.

Closed circuit television, triangulating cell phone signals, rapid identification, calls to the public for help through mass media, and civic reporting (including family members) used to hunt men in the streets is the stuff of dystopian science fiction. Really, it’s the Orwellian nightmare of Big Brother realized.

The public loved it. Fears allayed, justice to be served, lives resumed.
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Geoff Livingston on Google+

Download Welcome to the Fifth Estate

Posted on: April 29th, 2013 by Geoff Livingston 7 Comments

Welcome to the Fifth Estate by Geoff Livingston

It’s almost been two years since my second book Welcome to the Fifth Estate was published. Because of the compensation issues, time since publishing, and frankly, the plethora of social media and online marketing books out there, it’s time to give it to you for free!

Please feel free to download the book here. I’m sorry that it’s only available to you in this PDF format. And per the issues link, please forgive any typos.

From a content perspective, the Fifth Estate offers the deepest dive into social media of my three books. Here’s a glimpse:

  • A fantastic introduction from Mashable’s Chief Strategy Officer Adam Ostrow.

  • The first chapter details the media theories driving social networks and communities online.

  • Chapter Four offers perspective into the four types of strategies most frequently used in social networks; participation/community, content, influencer marketing, and crowdsourcing.

  • My former colleague Kami Huyse delivers perhaps the best 20 pages you can imagine on social media measurement in Chapter Six.

  • Chapter Seven offers tips to handle and successfully adapt to rapidly evolving social media.

Enjoy! Feedback is certainly welcome.

Geoff Livingston on Google+

How Social Empowers Journalists

Posted on: March 20th, 2013 by Geoff Livingston 7 Comments
Image by Denver University

Journalists Report on the Presidential Debate, by Denver University

Pew released its annual State of the New Media report highlighting a continued decline in all forms of journalism except online. Yet online reporting has come with an increase in journalists using social media.

My client Vocus issued its fourth State of the Media report last month, revealing a strong synergy between traditional and social media.

What was once viewed as an either or choice is now irrevocably intertwined as a powerful synergy of content and fan engagement. Traditional media outlets from newspapers and magazine to broadcast use social media to distribute news and engage their readers.

For example, a vast majority of reporters use social media to report and to promote. Over half of respondents use social media primarily for content promotion: linking to content online or previewing upcoming news reports and features. Forty three percent are using it for research alone, and 31 percent use it for both.

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Geoff Livingston on Google+