I’m pleased to announce the launch of my own blog, Farm Food Blog. My blog will discuss farm foods as well as profile farms and farmers, and the plants and animals that live there. I’ve been maintaining westonaprice.org and realmilk.com for the Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF) since 2001, so this is an opportunity to write from a personal perspective about all that I’ve learned about nutrient-dense foods and sustainable agriculture over the years.

I aimed to set my blog up “right” from the start, using lessons learned I’ve gathered from others. I spent time choosing the name and URL, paid for an attractive design, installed Google Analytics and Feedburner from the start, and integrated from the get-go with corresponding Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Flickr accounts.

Happily, via my WAPF connections, my blog was picked up immediately by the Real Food Media (RFM) network with 13 featured bloggers currently. RFM is a blog network focused on whole, natural, nutrient-dense food. They carefully vet advertisers and provide automated banner ads for my site so I can focus on writing while having approved advertising to help my site pay for itself. My blog posts go out in the RFM summary emails daily, exposing my content to a much wider audience than I am able to garner for myself, especially in these early days.

RFM also provides a forum for featured bloggers to connect and share ideas and lessons learned. Some of the bloggers have been blogging for a number of years and have become profitable–in fact, one blogger supports her spouse and child via her blogging and their joint management of a farmers market. In addition to advertising revenue via click-through from the free content, she sells online classes, recipe cards, and menu plans.

It is great to see how social media tools like blogs are helping nonprofits disseminate their message, and helping entrepreneurs promote nutrient-dense, sustainable food.

First, I should tell you that when it comes to technology trends in communication I tend to be an early adopter…not quite on the cutting edge but close enough. I also tend to be enthusiastic about these changes, most of which are happening online, viewing them as a positive step forward in how we engage with content, how we learn and how we obtain our news. But as sources of online content increase in number and scope, coupled with the rise of social networking, it looks as though we may also be in for a future of increasingly balkanized information and fragmented content consumption…something I’ve referred to in the past as info snacking or media snacking. But before I get too deep into an explanation of what I mean by that terminology, let me first describe what my self-created media ecology looks like .

Several years ago we stopped almost all of our magazine & newspaper subscriptions (I still have a couple that I can’t let go of…like Harper’s and The Atlantic…and my wife still gets Washingtonian Magazine). We did this partially in an effort to be “greener,” and partially because we had become increasingly used to getting our news, educational and arts & entertainment content online. So I now read The Economist on my iPad, as well as browse through Politico, the Washington Post, the New York Times, Huffington Post and Slate. I get a digest of the Wall Street Journal in my email inbox every day. I also get e-newsletters from Government Executive, Nextgov, Washington Technology and several other government related publications.

A few months ago, I also decided that we would cancel our cable TV subscription. We had already been getting used to watching movies and documentaries via Netflix (by mail) and other programing fare via Hulu, so I canceled our cable subscription but kept our cable modem, and bought a WiFi router and a Blu-Ray DVD player instead. The router lets me access the speed of the cable modem via various of the WiFi devices we have at home (via our iPads and laptops) and the Blu-Ray DVD player lets me view Netflix and Hulu movies and programs on my TV.

While proud of our move towards more media independence and control, I also wonder about two trends that have accompanied this new state of affairs. Increasingly, both my wife and I can sit in front of the device of our choice and watch (or interact) with whatever content, information and programing we may be interested in at the time, which includes what our friends, colleagues and others may be saying or doing via the various social networks we belong to. It also means that although we have narrowed our own fields of interest, those funnels are now capable of presenting me with almost unlimited choice within that narrower scope. Let me explain. I love documentaries. And furthermore, and more narrowly, I love political and social justice documentaries. Netflix now knows this (better “suggestion” engines, a la Amazon) and has managed to recommend no less than a hundred political and social justice documentaries of all types…and since they make it so easy to add a title to my personal instant “queue,” I’ve got more than a hundred documentaries patiently waiting for me to decide to watch them.

Now multiply similar access to various other passions and interests (via smaller screens on multiple devices) and it’s not hard to imagine that the Aldo Bello media universe is a fairly large space. Not only that, it’s got so many goodies, all of them pre-selected and waiting to be sampled, that it’s hard to stay with only one thing…hence, my media snacking comment. I have found myself sampling and accessing content of short duration from many different sources. The social media networks actually function best in this manner…Twitter being the most extreme example…but Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media spaces function very similarly…short bursts of content, often devoid of larger context. Additionally, when I got rid of my magazine and newspaper subscriptions and began to sample news and information via selected online sources, I have been reading more but not as deeply, another problem associated with media snacking.

So one trend is towards media snacking which I believe, forces one to sample, and which often implies that deeper understanding is out of the question. But I’ve observed an even more disturbing trend, and that is towards the balkanization of information. Aldo Bello’s universe of online media is so attractive that it tends to present me with the things that I want (hurrah for that) but keeps me from accessing other information, in a way that hardly ever happened with print magazines and newspapers…or cable TV (even though I could always choose to ignore certain channels, and did). Increasingly, I hear people talk about the content that they access in a way that is different from the recent past: favoring certain channels and altogether avoiding others. I am beginning to think that it’s this trend that is contributing to a lack of civility in political discourse and the resulting lack in bipartisanship.

What do you think?

1. Unless you are a Hollywood or Television Producer (whose aim is to distribute their long-form content via Hulu or Netflix), short is best. Keep your videos to the 2-5 minute range as most consumers have little patience for anything longer than that. Our fast-paced culture promotes info-snacking and this is especially true of online video.
2. If you are producing videos to promote an idea or product or are fundraising for a social cause, include a call to action. The easiest call to action is one that will drive traffic to your website, so include a URL at the end of the video. And if you are distributing it via YouTube, Vimeo or any of the social networking sites, take the opportunity to include your site’s URL on the text box provided to describe your video.
3. If you are distributing your video via services such as YouTube and Vimeo, protect your intellectual property by including a bug that indicates where the video came from.
4. If you are thinking of using humor in hopes of creating a viral video hit and that its popularity will draw attention to your product, idea or cause, don’t do it on the cheap. Humor is difficult to do well and requires skill and real dollars to pull off. Most successful viral videos used for promotion have been created by large advertising agencies or their online subsidiaries. Additionally, although this is NOT written in stone, most edgy and humorous videos work well for edgy and humorous brands (such as the Axe effect series of videos promoting their line of men’s grooming products).
5. Include measurement in your campaign. The great thing about online video (actually, anything online) is that you can measure its effectiveness. If you are running any sort of campaign, you can keep track of how many people have viewed your videos and consequently, how many viewers visit your site after seeing the video. If things aren’t working as well as you’d hoped, you can always tweak your campaign until you get it right.
6. Contests work well to generate interest in your company, non-profit and government agency but if you ask people to create content on their own (videos about your mission, for example) you’ll have to be prepared to take the good with the bad (most video contests are run by publishing ALL of the videos created and then having your viewers vote on the best ones).
7. Tell a story about your idea, mission or product. Most people don’t want to be lectured or told what to think, they’d rather draw their own conclusions after watching your well-crafted and compelling video.
8. Be cognizant of who will be watching your videos. Obviously, you know who your target audience is and what you want them to do, so a runaway viral hit might not always be the answer…you may just get a lot of people watching your video but very little follow-up. And although by reading most articles you could be led to believe that only 18-24 year olds are interested in watching online video, the 25-54 age group is quickly catching up…especially if you let people share the video via social networking sites like Facebook.

Your ride ahead will be a lot smoother if you keep some of these do’s and don’ts in mind as you embark on the planning and execution of your online video campaign.

The panel was a good mix of speakers. A YouTube rep showed off some lesser known YouTube features valuable to those that manage a YouTube partner channel and social media campaigns. Blue State Digital showed off a pro bono project that leverages user-generated video and YouTube for itgetsbetter.org. National Resource Defense Council (NRDC) offered lessons learned about successful social media video campaigns. One interesting tip was that no matter how emotionally charged an issue may be, sad videos don’t do well in terms of going viral. NRDC showed a video they produced, that I would say prompts angers instead of sadness, and it is one of their most successful in terms of being shared and inspiring action. The best performers, however, are funny videos, thank goodness. I can only handle so many angry activists.

The presenter I found most valuable was Kay Morrison, a senior advisor in the office of web communications at the Environmental Protection Agency. Oh, and she’s also the liason between the Federal government and YouTube or maybe it’s Google. Regardless, that’s pretty huge. Ms. Morrison was the repository of info that every agency needs before plunging into social media, specifically YouTube.

What the other presenters never touched on was the unique challenges of creating content on behalf of the Federal government. They made everything seem so easy because they’re just creating and posting and accepting user-created video and collecting personal information and doing all these things that Federal agencies either can’t do or are afraid to do or are not sure they can do. Reasons or excuses for inaction, no doubt. Enter Ms. Morrison who had answers for all of it. Turns out there is a specific addendum to the YouTube terms of service specifically for Federal agencies that she can get for you. She also has vetted disclaimer language, privacy statements, and even terms of use for how the public can interact with a Federal social media site. For example, I asked Ms. Morrison about moderating comments. Can a Federal agency refuse to post my comment, what with the first ammendment and all? She says yes, and I don’t believe she was off the cuff with that answer. In her words, the agency can choose to not publish a comment, but they would never censor a comment and then post it. And that to me was worth the price of admission right there (that price happened to be zero, but you get me, right?). I’ve heard numerous Federal clients shy away from social anything  just because they didn’t know how to deal with wild/hateful/off-topic comments.

It’s so exciting to see certain agencies, and super stars at those agencies like Ms. Morrison, working to break down barriers that might keep the Federal government from leveraging social media as quickly, or as effectively, as for- and non-profit organizations. The wider the lines of communication between government and the people, the more likely we can truly have government by the people.

Oh, one last, awesome, tip agreed upon by the whole panel and audience. If you are a Federal agency producing a video, do NOT put a senior leader in front of a flag and agency seal and let them read a prompter for eight minutes. Not even two minutes. Just don’t do it. What kind of video would YOU like to watch? What kind of video would your audience and their friends like to watch? Let’s start there.

This year, however, was the first time I spoke to the general attendees. I sat on a panel called “Effective Food Activism” with social media superstars Kimberly Hartke (WAPF publicist and Hartkeisonline.com blogger), AnnMarie Michaels (Cheeseslave.com blogger, Realfoodmedia.com founder, and Twitter expert), Kelly the Kitchen Kop (blogger), Jenny McGruther (Nourished Kitchen blogger and online e-course developer), and Kari Carlisle (Utah chapter leader and LinkedIn expert).

Left to right: Moderator Kim Hartke, AnnMarie Michaels, Jill Nienhiser, Kelly the Kitchen Kop, Kari Carlisle, Jenny McGruther. Photo by Alex Lewin.

Our goal was to educate attendees on how to harness social media tools to grow Foundation membership and support; mobilize grassroots activism for food causes; and promote local artisanal food, farming, and health enterprises. The audience was an enthusiastic mix of would-be bloggers and entrepreneurs wanting to market their food buying clubs, farms, cottage industries, and alternative health care services through social media.

AnnMarie Michaels kicked us off with a brief PowerPoint of the Top Ten Reasons to Use Social Media. Then moderator Kim Hartke asked each of us a few questions to get our best tips for using Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, as well as best practices and beginner’s guidance for blogging. We finished by opening the floor to questions from the audience.

Some of my tips:

1. Consider starting with Facebook as a great beginner’s social media tool that lets you easily share links, images, videos, and text (via Notes) in one place.
2. Use Facebook’s Edit Friends feature to group your Facebook “friends”–who you may not always know personally–to help keep track of how you are connected to them.
3. Determine how much time you can/want to spend on social media and make a social media “to do” list of the top things you want to check on and update in a given computer session. This helps ensure that you keep your content fresh and make the most of your limited time before getting sidetracked by friends’ posts.
4. Keep the purpose and tone of each social media tool in mind:
   • Twitter is great for sharing links to articles your customers may find valuable. Don’t use it only to market yourself; in fact no more than 20% of your tweets should market; the rest should be value-added information for your client base.
   • Facebook can be used for more casual and fun posts, such as trivia and personal stories about life on your farm or happenings in your store.
   • LinkedIn is meant for professional networking and asking and responding to questions. Use the Q&A and discussion areas to establish your expertise in your areas of interest.
   • Flickr is for photos and if you are an avid photographer, can be a good place to keep and share photos, as well as find royalty free photos to illustrate your blog posts.
   • YouTube and Vimeo are for sharing videos. A video channel for your small business or farm might make sense for offering video “tours,” illustrating food preparation techniques, or any “how-to” videos.
   • Blogging is where you can really develop a conversation with readers by posting short commentary and inviting comments and feedback.

The conference was so much fun, incredibly informative with three full days of lectures in several tracks (always so hard to choose who to listen to!), and DELICIOUS as usual, since each meal was lovingly prepared from farm food and artisanal food donations from the membership.

Next year’s conference will be in Dallas, Texas. Get details at westonaprice.org..

Jobs

• OPM has released a new iPad and iPhone app that will make getting a job with the federal government LESS of a job (or at least a bit more entertaining): OPM App

How To Do Web 2.0

• Usability.gov is a site that offers great advice on how to design a website for the end user, in other words, the audience that you’re trying to reach.  Of course, their advice could just as easily apply to a Web 1.0 world but their site really acts and feels like a Web 2.0 site, full of easy-to-grasp advice and techniques.  And the focus, as the name of the website so aptly implies, is to provide techniques on building a website aimed at the end user…not one whose aim is to satisfy the demands of the geeks in the IT department or the one-way conversation that ol’ gov was used to engaging in.  Bravo for that!  Of special note is their blog, which enjoys robust participation from all kinds of web folks working at various federal agencies.

How to Open Up

• We’ve given them big kudos via various of our social media channels already but another nod to a big step forward for Veterans Affairs is definitely worthwhile.  Their recently launched blog, VAntage Point, is worthy of special notice because they have a totally open comment policy AND are inviting guest bloggers to participate.  Their very first blog post has received 239 comments (so far…and counting) and most of them are pretty positive…although you do get some negative and sometimes quirky (I’m being polite) comments as well.  Hey, it’s all part and parcel of being OPEN and I commend the VA for being courageous enough to allow it to happen.  Like the Cluetrain Manifesto says, it’s a conversation, and sometimes it can get a little strained but as long as it’s real, it’s humanizing.

These are just a few of the many examples that can be found (far and wide) of the federal government adopting social media and a social media attitude.  Do you have any other examples you’d like to bring to our attention?

According to the infographic, federal employees may advocate for a political candidate via Facebook status updates from home, but not from work. Ok, but if I use my personal smartphone, while in the cafeteria in my federal office building, during my lunch break, to post such a FB status, am I at work or not? If I use my federal-government-supplied laptop, on Saturday in my backyard, to post that status, am I at home? What if I’m teleworking, now I’m both “at work” and “at home”!

At least some of the rules have zero grey area. For example, if you look up “Solicit political contributions via Twitter” column one, for Less Restricted Employees indicates, “Not on your life”, and column two, for Further Restricted Employees simply says, “Nevah!”

Well that’s pretty clear.

I would definitely recommend reading it as it will give any newbie a good intro and will remind many experts of things they may have forgotten.

Hope you enjoy The Health Communicator’s Social Media Toolkit: “A guide to using social media to improve reach of health messages, increase access to your content, further participation with audiences and advance transparency to improve health communication efforts.”

Sorry about the late notice on this one but the G3 Conference is taking place tomorrow (Thursday, October 14) at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC from 9am-6pm.  The conference will deal with the triple theme of Gurus, Growth and Government and is put on by Smart CEO.  Here’s the agenda for the day.  If you can’t attend tomorrow (I know, it’s a little late) despair not, as I’ll be posting some of the juicier info from the conference in the next few days!

The 2010 Adobe Government Assembly Engage America one-day event is taking place on Wednesday, November 3 at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, DC.  As described by them:

“More than talk, agencies are now communicating within their own walls, breaking down silos to interagency collaboration, and engaging with constituents in new ways – with citizens, with soldiers, and with employees. Join the debate defining the line between ensuring a full and open government – by the people, for the people, while still protecting the people. Here’s your chance to engage, innovate, and improve government efficiency.”

If you are interested in open government, I would strongly recommend attending.  The event is free.

For all of you Digital Media, Video and A/V folks, the Government Video Expo 2010 is taking place from November 30 – December 2 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC.  This is a really good place to catch up with all of the latest and greatest video and A/V tools available in our profession, as well as to network with other professionals and take some courses to polish up on the newest trends in our ever evolving field.