Personally, I felt the Cluetrain Manifesto and its 95 theses had a hostile undertone. I agreed with the point being made– that consumers are human beings and should be treated and addressed as such– but I thought the 95 different theses to be repetitive and at times snappy. What was dragged out in 95 points could have been presented in at least half that. I believe corporations have been doing a better job at being more consumer oriented than the site gave them credit for, but then when I read the theses concerning Y2K I realized the information was outdated. The information was copyrighted to 1999 and I give the authors credit for foreseeing the changes I have noticed companies making over the past decade in the way they handle customers. Even though the site was written in 1999, the main goals still apply as corporations can always improve how they handle and view their customers.
Chapter Two, Web 2.0, of “Journalism 2.0: How to Survive and Thrive” presented information about media corporations in a more factual and less opinionated way than the Cluetrain Manifesto. I thought it was straight forward and was easy to read. Specific cited examples helped get points across. The main topic of the chapter was the concept of “Web 2.0” which is a form of the internet where the viewers contribute to the content of the site (for example Facebook or YouTube).
These two readings relate to each other because they both concern the evolution of the web and how corporations need to adapt (in the case of the first reading from 1999) and have adapted (in the case of the second reading from the mid 2000’s) in order to hold the interest of their consumers.
I feel the implication for news is that the line between the role of the consumer and producer of information are beginning to blur. As both a consumer and producer of information, this makes it especially important to differentiate myself as someone with journalism skills and utilize my knowledge and training in all aspects of media, because now any consumer has access to many of the same methods of information producing that I do.
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April 5, 2010 at 9:00 am
Week 2 Assignments « Digital Journalism
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April 5, 2010 at 10:43 am
mcvicker
Krista, I agree with you that the “voice” of the “95 Theses” was a little harsh. It personally reminded me of an annoucer from a horror film preview. But I also agree with a lot of the points the theses made. Consumers have a lot of power, and I think what we, as consumers need to think about is how to use that power. I agree that the other reading was better. I think it may just have to do with the format though. Not being broken down by sentence made the ideas more fluid and detailed. Did these pieces depress you as a journalist? Sometimes I think getting a major is a waste if anyone has power in the media world.
April 5, 2010 at 10:51 am
kealarichardson
I agree with your statements about how the Cluetrain Manifesto is out-of-date and a bit on the “take action now or else” type approach. And how it does present a valuable message to businesses—a message that although business is moving in this consumer oriented model, still misses the demand of the emerging market. I think ultimately, yes it could have been simplified, but the message still stands today, we need to refocus businesses to incorporate a conversation between business, employees and consumers.
Also, with the lines being blurred between consumer and producer, I think you’re right about separating yourself from the general population of producers. Yet I feel like the market trend is showing us that producers of journalism in the future will be common people. The problem facing journalist is that they will not only be competing with other journalist but the conglomerate of all, since now the technology exists to allow anyone who is willing to write to produce their work to an online audience.
-K Richardson
April 5, 2010 at 10:52 am
Liz Lantz
I agree; the Cluetrain Manifesto had an aggressive sensibility. Though, I admit I found it exciting. At times, I did also disagree (I think one was 53). It was somewhat threatening. But, like you, it had a motivating force behind it. The future is going to move so quickly, like a rapid conversation, that people maybe need to get a fire under their seats! But like you said, the differentiation will be a hard task for journalists…something definitely to think about.