#INBOUND16

OWN YOUR AUDIENCE: DON’T GIVE IT AWAYOr: How I learned to stop worrying and love my readers.

Amy Vernon

#INBOUND16

• 20 years in newspaper journalism• Miami Herald staff Pulitzer, 1992• Top female submitter of all time to Digg.com• 15th most influential woman in tech on Twitter (Business Insider/Peer Index)• Mommy, wife & Siberian Husky owner

Photo courtesy of Social Media Week

#INBOUND16

#INBOUND16

A little history, first. I mean, we spent thousands of years building our audiences, right?

A LITTLE HISTORY

#INBOUND16

The Roman Acta Diurna dates to 59 BC when news of the day would be inscribed on stone or metal and hung outside government offices

Photo by Dawn Danby via Flickr Creative Commons

#INBOUND16

The government got the people to come to them for the news. Right there, right outside their offices.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Senate

#INBOUND16

The birth of the printing press helped the church way spread their word further, so long as you could read Latin of course.

Photo by Andy via Flickr Creative Commons

#INBOUND16

But their reluctance to allow translations led to

(https://www.flickr.com/photos/jezza101/6227242173/)

#INBOUND16

Luther, who took his 99 theses and nailed them to the doors of churches and translated Bibles into German, to heck with what the Pope said.

Photo by Holly Hayes via Flickr Creative Commons

#INBOUND16

FAST-FORWARD A FEW YEARS

OK, let’s fast-forward a bit. I could give a whole history lesson, but that’s not what we’re here for.

#INBOUND16

When newspapers started, they were very conversational and had tons of little items with all the news of their communities and the world at large.

https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth138466/m1/1/

#INBOUND16

A side note: This is my favorite story from this front page of the El Paso Herald from Oct. 26, 1916.

https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth138466/m1/1/

#INBOUND16

As magazines, radio, television and cable news ate into their audiences, newspapers could have doubled down and become more vital to their communities.“To look at the paper is to raise a seashell to one's ear and to be overwhelmed by the roar of humanity.” ― Alain de Botton, The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work

#INBOUND16

Instead, they became “objective” and distant. They regionalized their coverage and consolidated their companies.http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/913985-morning-news

#INBOUND16

#INBOUND16

But you had to be incredibly motivated to write a letter, and your response might not publish until long after the article that spurred it.https://www.flickr.com/photos/st00ka/8080449439/

#INBOUND16

Enter the World Wide Web. Newspapers created forums for their readers, and added comments to stories. Instant feedback!Oh, and by the way? That coffee smoke was animated. Very Geocities. (Friday, Dec. 20, 1996, via Internet Archive)

#INBOUND16

Thing is, journalists had become so distant from the communities they served (sure, not all), they didn’t really want that feedback.

#INBOUND16

They refused to moderate comments and forums, and the loudmouths reigned. More thoughtful readers stayed away.https://xkcd.com/386/

#INBOUND16

They didn’t want to be called names or worse, just for expressing an opinion. And they weren’t going to get any backup from the news folks.http://www.livememe.com/qdz7bkx

#INBOUND16

#INBOUND16

People started having conversations about news on these platforms. The conversations were informative and pleasant. (Yes, that has changed, too.)http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/3q5tsy

#INBOUND16

And now where are we? Circulation is declining. Advertising revenues are plummeting. And few people are willing to pay for their news.http://www.radioinsights.com/newspaper/

#INBOUND16

Because for all this time, you’ve abandoned your audience. You’ve ignored them, not wanted to talk to them, gotten offended by criticism.

#INBOUND16

You’ve told them not to bother spending time with you. No place for comments, sites that are difficult to navigate, pop-up ads that auto-play sound.http://www.memecenter.com/fun/176599/pop-up-ads

#INBOUND16

Oh, they’ll come when they see something that interests them – on FB, Twitter or elsewhere.https://memecrunch.com/meme/13594/see-ya

#INBOUND16

You’ve done it to yourself.You’ve told them you don’t care about them.How can you ask why they turn to others, then? https://www.flickr.com/photos/wadem/2730257498/

#INBOUND16

This hubris is not unique to the news media. A pioneer in social media, Digg had a huge and thriving on-site community.https://www.flickr.com/photos/karol-krakowiak/2369803102/

#INBOUND16

The powers that be grew to distrust their own community and took away the ability to talk to one another on-site.http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/05/digg-shout-share.html

#INBOUND16

Hardcore users took to Twitter. Then discovered they preferred Twitter to Digg. And stayed there. And Digg made more changes to take the site away from the community; it slowly declined and then died.http://socialblade.com/show/2010/08/31/an-old-digg-user-returns-after-being-gone-for-a-week-comic/

#INBOUND16

Not everyone has suffered from this syndrome. Yes, Buzzfeed.

#INBOUND16

Buzzfeed, for example, from the beginning invited engagement on its site. And on Facebook, and on Twitter. And anywhere.https://www.buzzfeed.com/erinchack/pure-tweets?utm_term=.aupbmpVOb#.qhP4OQ5A4

#INBOUND16

Sure, when your bread and butter is funny cat and dog pictures, it’s a little easier to engage with random people. https://www.buzzfeed.com/alexnaidus/cozy-cats-yall?utm_term=.ueQE6MA7E#.gfxb4wp3b

#INBOUND16

But they’ve used all these platforms to build their audience. An audience they can monetize anywhere.http://www.relatably.com/m/get-money-memes

#INBOUND16

Now, most publishers – the so-called “legacy” as well as newfangled digital-only – freak out every time Facebook changes its algorithm.https://theamericangenius.com/social-media/facebook-makes-yet-another-change-to-their-algorithm/

#INBOUND16

That’s because half the time, their audience doesn’t even think about what site they’re visiting. They saw the story on Facebook, on Twitter.http://pandawhale.com/post/58915/walking-dead-season-5-episode-11-s5e11-the-distance-gifs-and-memes

#INBOUND16

They talk about the stories on social media. Sometimes they’re even reading the stories, whole, on social media.http://www.blowoutcards.com/forums/member-sales-trade-feedback/877352-so-i-told-people-have-been-being-warned-about-me-3.html

#INBOUND16

Koff koff *instant articles*https://instantarticles.fb.com/

#INBOUND16

It’s been heartening to see some publishers begin to embrace on-site comments again.The Coral Project, Civil Comments, Spot.im and others are working to help make comment sections civilhttps://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1268931

#INBOUND16

– and therefore a place people would actually want to spend time.https://imgflip.com/i/107axl

#INBOUND16

But this lesson should not be lost on anyone: Building community matters.

#INBOUND16

The thing is, we’ve pushed everyone to these platforms, and found ourselves at the mercy of them.http://ru.memegenerator.net/instance/54822257

#INBOUND16

What we need to do – NEED – is to use these platforms (OK, except Vine).http://wellonscommunications.com/services/socialmedia/

#INBOUND16

Use them to build community. Use them to engage with our people.Use them to remind our audience of how important they are to us – and we are to them. https://memegenerator.net/instance/26056706

#INBOUND16

At the end of the day, we need to bring it home.http://www.usableinterface.com/articles/is-your-homepage-doing-what-it-should/

#INBOUND16

Own your audience.http://theeword.co.uk/digital-marketing/creating-content-with-your-audience-in-mind-its-not-one-size-fits-all/

#INBOUND16

Don’t push them away.http://conduit1.com/bye-felicia-memes/

#INBOUND16

THANK YOU.