"One in five teen girls (22%), nearly as many teen boys (18%) and one-third (33%) of young adults say they have electronically sent, or posted online, nude or semi-nude photographic or video images of themselves."

That was the scary and raw research delivered by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and CosmoGirl.com in a study entitled, Sex & Tech. You can expect this news to makes its way through the regular mass media channels as a call to arms on the dangers of the online channels, privacy, mobile devices, the Internet and the new reality that younger people are more connected than ever and may not understand the long term implications of being able to publish anything at anytime to one another (and the world).

If we move beyond the images and videos, the numbers get just as raw and unnerving. Here's what was reported today on Marketing Charts for the news item titled, One in Five Teens Sends Sexually Explicit Images:

"On the receiving end of the messages, 48% of teens and 64% of young adults (56% total) say they have gotten a sexually suggestive message from someone else. Among young teen girls (age 13-16), one-third have received such messages. The research also finds that sexually suggestive images are frequently passed around and shown to friends: One-third (33%) of teen boys and one-fourth(25%) of teen girls say they have had nude/semi-nude images–originally intended to be private–shared with them. What teens and young adults are doing electronically seems to have an effect on what they do in real life, the survey found. Nearly one-quarter of teens (22%) say that technology makes them personally more forward and aggressive. Moreover, more than one-third of teens (38%) say exchanging sexy content makes dating or hooking up with others more likely, and nearly one-third of teens (29%) believe those exchanging sexy content are 'expected' to date or hook up."

Even if this content is going from one person to another, we've seen enough hijacked Sidekicks to know that the general rule of thumb must be: if you email it, you have to expect that it will be made public. Which is sad.

One of the more fascinating areas of these new digital channels is privacy and how it is changing. Young people - who have never known a world where everything they say and do is not posted on a Wall or tweeted - are going to define privacy in a very different way than we do. Digital Natives see things dramatically different (for further proof of this, check out the article from New York Magazine, Say Everything). All of this is going to make do-not-call registries and the like seem very rudimentary.

The bigger question: is this going to make people recoil and seek a much higher level privacy, or are we going to continue down this path where all of our lives become open books in online social networks and the like? 

Tags: cosmogirl digital native internet culture marketing charts mass media national campaign to prevent teen and unplanned pregnancy new york magazine news privacy say everything sex sidekick tech technology young people

Whether you are creating any form of content online (text, audio, images or video) or are simply consuming it, there is a huge cost to all of this free goodness.

On December 23rd, 2008 I posted a Blog entry titled, Breaking News On The Internet, where the question came up:

"Who is going to pay for all of this content that we are all now consuming online?"

That question could well be the crux of the problem most Marketers have with trying to figure out either how to monetize the Social Media channels or how to connect with consumers within it. The business behind most content has always been:

1. Advertising supported to make the content free.
2. Advertising supported to subsidize the cost.
3. Advertising-free with a cost.

Free without any form of advertising is only a business model if you can either sell and profit from the content (like a book) or if the media is being supported in another way (like government funding or private support). It's the way it has always been, so exploring new business models (see: Trading Analog Dollars For Digital Pennies) is a huge challenge for most companies. The other side of the coin is forgoing the idea of getting into these channels via advertising, and engaging in the concept of creating your own content and building your own community. Nothing builds loyalty like providing high quality content in a constant flow. These digital channels (be it a Blog, Podcast or online community) enable people to publish for free, but there is a huge cost. It's not just from the design, implementation, maintenance and hosting of the online channels (after all, if you don't want full control over the final product, there are many places that will give you the tools and the space to do it for free), but it's the creation, ideation and ongoing curating that is expensive.

Anybody can Blog, doesn't mean anybody should Blog.

Yes, the best part of these tools is that they are free and easy to use, but we all know the saying, "just because you can, does not mean that you should." On the personal or hobby side of things, Blog away, post away, tweet away. From a professional perspective, you need to have the content creators and a semi-well thought out plan in place if you really want to use these channels and tools to create a viable media property surrounding your brand, products and services. It's not as simple as freelancing the video out and it's way harder than hiring a writer to be your in-house Blogger.

There's probably a decent argument here that being able to publish for free has made the value of great content that much more valuable.

If everyone is publishing content across all platforms, who stands out? Clearly, the ones who are really being different, unique, creative and relevant. Finding the right people who "get it" and understand how the conversations flow, and how to keep them going is priceless. Figuring out how to take that channel and make it work - in terms of pure ROI and alignment with your overall business strategy - can't be cheap (or free)... and it shouldn't be.

What do you think: is content really free?

Tags: advertising blog business model business strategy consumer behaviour content digital marketing marketing monetization online community podcast publishing social media

Welcome to episode #137 of Six Pixels Of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast. Podcasting is not dead. In fact, it can't be dead because it hasn't even developed its own two, full lungs yet. If you have had a hard time understanding what all of this audio and video content is and how it can be used in Marketing and Communications, this episode is exactly what you'll need. Actually, it's not really *my* Podcast at all. Joseph Jaffe, author of Life After The 30-Second Spot and Join The Conversation plus Blogger and Podcaster over at Jaffe Juice gathered a bunch of Podcasters to discuss the media channel. This is the conversation. Enjoy the conversation...

Here it is: Six Pixels Of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast - Episode #137 - Host: Mitch Joel.

• Running time: 1:39.13.
• Audio comment line - please send in a comment and add your voice to the audio community: +1 206-666-6056.
• Please send in questions, comments, suggestions - mitch@twistimage.com.
• Hello from Beautiful Montreal.
• Subscribe over at iTunes.
• Please visit and leave comments on the Blog - Six Pixels of Separation.
• Feel free to connect to me directly on Facebook here: Mitch Joel on Facebook.
• or you can connect on LinkedIn.
• ...or on twitter.
• Facebook Group - Six Pixels of Separation Podcast Society.
• In a perfect world, connect with me, directly, through Facebook.
• The Road to Six Pixels of Separation – The Book – coming soon.
• Retweet or Cross Post of Jaffe Juice #121.
• Live record of a conversation with almost 100 people on the topic of Podcasting.
• Is Podcasting Dead?
• Podcasting Is Not Even On Life Support.
• The conversation is almost 90 minutes, but well worth the listen.
• Guests include:
• Joseph Jaffe – Jaffe Juice.
• Adam Curry – Podfather – Daily Source Code – Mevio.
• Cliff Ravenscraft - GSPN.TV.
• Shel Holtz - For Immediate Release - The Hobson and Holtz Report.
• Mignon Fogarty - Grammar Girl.
• Terry Fallis - Inside PR.
• Lee Hopkins.
• Jay Berkowitz - Ten Golden Rules.
• Dave Guerra.
• Jay Moonah - Media Driving.
• ... and many more.

Please join the conversation by sending in questions, feedback and ways to improve Six Pixels Of Separation. Please let me know what you think or leave an audio comment at: +1 206-666-6056.

Download the Podcast here: Six Pixels Of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast - Episode #137 - Host: Mitch Joel.

Tags: adam curry advertising blog blogging business cliff ravenscraft daily source code dave guerra digital marketing facebook facebook group for immediate release foreword thinking google grammar girl gspn inside pr is podcasting dead itunes jaffe juice jay berkowitz jay moonah joseph jaffe lee hopkins marketing media driving mevio mignon fogarty motivational books online social network podcast podcasting shel holtz six pixels of separation social media marketing ten golden rules terry fallis twist image twitter web 20

There are many places online to speak your mind in a quick, off-the-cuff and immediate fashion. This makes it one of the most fascinating media channels to come along. With it comes many challenges, like the legacy you leave behind in the heat of the moment...

This is nothing new. We all know that Google has a very long tail. We all know that anything we say, can and will be accessible forever. When it was mostly Blogs and Podcasts, there were enough incidents where people would write and say stuff that they later regretted or was challenged by others. Sometimes things got ugly, sometimes these incidents just came and went. Whatever the case, they are indexed and accessible by doing a very simple search.

Twitter ranks high in Google.

Have you been paying attention to the type of language and tone of voice that certain people use when they are on Twitter? People who consider themselves Communications, Marketing and Public Relations "professionals" using some very bad language and acting more like a high school sophomore than someone whose opinion is to be revered and respected. One of the basic rules given at any etiquette course is to never discuss religion or politics at a dinner party. If we kept with that line of thought, there would be some very empty spaces online. While we may have evolved from that line of thinking, the sentiment still stands strong: be mindful of what you say as you never know who will be offended, but worse, you never really know who you are talking to and who is listening in on that conversation. In public forums, this is both amplified and multiplied. It's not just who you're talking to (or about), it's everybody else in the world that is able to see it, read it and make their own judgement call about it.

How would you feel if you didn't score that client you were working on because they discovered an online conversation that you did not deal with in the most professional manner?

Some have been bold enough to say that it doesn't bother them one bit because that potential client obviously would not be the right match personality-wise. Based on some of the content I have seen passing through these channels, it has little to do with personality and much more to do with how that client feels their company would be represented in terms of reputation and credibility.

Bottom line advice would be to watch your language. Consider the perception one would have of you if they had never met you and only had your Twitter feed as a point of personal and professional reference. Take a look back on your Digital Footprint. How would you feel if - in the future - your children looked back on these conversations to see what their parent was really all about?

Following through is also a part of this conversation.

Many people criticize and comment but when responded to, they do not take the time or check back to see how it ended. All too often, I've come across Blog postings where someone left a comment that was responded to, but they never returned or never bothered to finish the dialogue. Even though their point may have been made, the public perception of how that conversation ended is not in their favour. Don't just criticize, provide a solution or a different perspective that can stand on its own.

Sometimes being able to publish every whim that scans across your brain is the best thing in the world. Sometimes, it can become a real problem. The killer is this: when it is a problem, you're usually the last to know and the damage is done.

Tags: blog commenting communications conversations digital footprint google internet culture language listening long tail media online community podcast public perception public relations etiquette publishing twitter

The news cycle has changed so much in the past five years. This has had a direct effect on Marketing and Advertising. It's about to change again and - as usual - Marketers are not prepared. And, from the looks of it, the general mass population might not be ready either.

There's that old saying that you have to know where you have been to know where you are going. The news used to be controlled by the major news outlets. Companies would launch their press releases in the morning on any given weekday (preferably Monday to Thursday) in hopes that it would be picked up by the television stations for the six o'clock news and then it would hit the newspapers the following morning. A good piece of news had legs and could linger for two - three days (if it was able to make it to the magazines, you would be looking at weeks and months). Then, TV stations like CNN launched and the mass public's appetite for news was turned on its head. We suddenly ushered in the era of the twenty-four hour news cycle. News was available at any given moment, and in an effort to fill that air time, news makers had to up their game to ensure that they were the ones breaking exclusive stories and having the scoops.