The Caribbean Perspective On The Importance of Social Media In A Changing Information World
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The Caribbean Perspective on The Importance of Social Media In A Changing Information World presented at the Information Society Of Barbados(www.isb.org.bb) Conference.
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The Caribbean Perspective On The Importance of Social Media In A Changing Information World
- 1. Presented By Corey Graham 2.0 www.CoreyKGraham.me www.Drenalin.biz
- 2. DrenalinProductions.Biz www.DrenalinProductions.biz | Biz Blog – www.coreykgraham.me/bizblog
- 3. The Caribbean Reality www.DrenalinProductions.biz | Biz Blog – www.coreykgraham.me/bizblog
- 4. How Things Are Now? www.DrenalinProductions.biz | Biz Blog – www.coreykgraham.me/bizblog
- 5. Transactions Are “Offline” Investment Performance Based marketing BBM www.DrenalinProductions.biz | Biz Blog – www.coreykgraham.me/bizblog
- 6. Industry Level Conversation www.DrenalinProductions.biz | Biz Blog – www.coreykgraham.me/bizblog
- 7. Our Content How we consume our content? Sports Award Ceremonies Reality TV www.DrenalinProductions.biz | Biz Blog – www.coreykgraham.me/bizblog
- 8. Connectivity The development of mobility is being retarded www.DrenalinProductions.biz | Biz Blog – www.coreykgraham.me/bizblog
- 9. www.DrenalinProductions.biz | Biz Blog – www.coreykgraham.me/bizblog
- 10. Things to Consider Going Forward www.DrenalinProductions.biz | Biz Blog – www.coreykgraham.me/bizblog
- 11. Who Owns The Network? www.DrenalinProductions.biz | Biz Blog – www.coreykgraham.me/bizblog
- 12. FEAR FACTOR www.DrenalinProductions.biz | Biz Blog – www.coreykgraham.me/bizblog
- 13. Innovation Demands Medicine for Implementation Deficit Disorder Faith Patience Failure Vision Collaboration Leadership www.DrenalinProductions.biz | Biz Blog – www.coreykgraham.me/bizblog
- 14. Global Scope www.DrenalinProductions.biz | Biz Blog – www.coreykgraham.me/bizblog
- 15. Link Me www.facebook.com/coreykgraham @CoreyKGraham Or Just Google Me - “Corey Graham 2.0” www.DrenalinProductions.biz | Biz Blog – www.coreykgraham.me/bizblog
- 16. Thank You for your attention! Any Questions? www.CoreyKGraham.me www.DrenalinProductions.biz
Editor's Notes
- A little about me I am currently building my business Drenalin Productions.biz which is focuses on working with individuals and business to bring them into the world of Web 2.0.
- I just wanted to briefly highlight some of the key characteristics of social media in the Caribbean context. My intention is to provide the spark for some fruitful discussion around this topic for the next few minutes. I have been an active blogger, content manager and social media marketer in the Caribbean space for the past few years.Keeping consistent with the theme I have prepared this talk for you today with only images from the Caribbean to illustrate my points.So let’s add some context. Next Slide
- In comparison with developed countries, most of our local business transactions are still occurring offline.The lack of Credit Card penetration in the Caribbean is the primary reason for this. Like you see in the picture, we still have to go to the counter and pay for our stuff. I believe it is this lack of e-commerce, that is core reason that the internet and by extension our social networks will develop differently in the Caribbean.Investment – Fewer businesses are investing in social media as it is a bit difficult to make a business case for social media in the Caribbean. Lemme tell you a storyStoryI had a client who was all gung Ho about getting onto social media after he attended an international conference which said YOU need to be on social networks. He literally pushed and pushed and pushed until I got to work on doing “social media for them”. We got started and they loved it and enjoyed what was happening. It is only after the first invoice that I heard them question, so how do I know this is working for me? It was amazing to me because I thought it was working fine. In that moment it was clear to me that local market behavior online is going to be inherently different to those in developed market primarily because of absence of e-commerce. Let me illustrate that, I met a 16 year old who could buy a pair of short pants for 2 dollars from the K-mart nearby and get it delivered.Performance based marketing – Online and social media makes it a lot easier for us to track the performance of some types of marketing campaigns. The key example of this is affiliate marketing programs. You get a commission based on what you sell. i.e. you have to perform. StoryOur online publishers are having challenges getting businesses and advertisers to purchase advertising on their website. If we had the capacity to make affiliate programs it would satisfy the needs of both sides. Advertisers will have to make the ads available to the publishers and they will only pay for that ad when they get a buyer. It is a no commitment style relationship, which I am sure some of you in the audience would appreciate …. or would like to have.Both people get paid based on their performance so online publishers will be more efficientBBM NetworkAt the moment BBM is possibly one of the most used networks in the Caribbean Community across the world. You only miss a good thing when you don’t have it any more. Over the summer I lost my blackberry for a few weeks and there were a few core business relationships that seemed to vanish simply because I was no longer a part of that network. It made me wonder what is the impact of BBM on business in the Caribbean. What percentage of communications now happen over BBM especially for small businesses.Extrapolate to what life might like if making payments via mobile phones was standard?Another idea to consider is Industry Level Conversation Next slide
- There should be a networks that persons can log into and quickly get the pulse of what the issues of the day or week are in their industry not only when we meet physically at a conference. We don’t have many forums or membership websites in the Caribbeandedicated to what I call industry level conversationWe do have some of this conversation happening onLinkedinFacebookGoogle Groups NingBIPA Linkedin groupHow social media is affecting our content Next slide
- Online Publishers I think one of the very real benefits of social media in the Caribbean is definitely in the area of content. When I first started blogging it was difficult to get traction because so few people in the Caribbean actually knew what RSS feeds were. Now online publishers have the largest followings on facebook and twitter, and that is how the Caribbean audience is subscribing to receive updates about new content posted. The headline story in this area is in the film/TV world.Social media is impacting TV in a significant way. The social networks are driving the conversation around the content.You see this most clearly with special events like The Grammys and Big Sporting Games. Following Twitter, facebook, blogs and other forms of social networking make the experience more engaging. You can be sitting on your couch, but enjoying the event with the rest of the world. (insert screenshot)Earlier this year it was mind blowing for me to watch the International Soca Monarch online and see Caribbean Soca StarsIwer,Bunji, Faye-ann and Machel Montano hit the top 10 trending topics on twitter. Let me say that again, in other words our Caribbean Celebrities where the most talked about people on a network of over 175 Million people around the world. Note that they are 40 million people living in the Caribbean including Haiti.Now it is expected that all major events of Caribbean festivals will be streamed especially from the Carnivals.Here is how it is enabling the Caribbean Film Industry. Through social networking web series like BajanFari, “Iz Santana” and Buhwamoder (Trini Slap Chop) have come to prominence. In Trinidad especially these personalities have become legitimate celebrities. People are posing for pictures next to Iz Santana …. a muppet!(numbers)Now there is Santana the movie coming out.How consume content has definitely changed with social mediaConnectivity is another thing to consider NEXT SLIDE
- ConnectivityI love to be virtual , anyone who knows me knows that the idea of a physical meeting, to do business is not how you get me to warm up. I am so much in the cloud I might soon be in orbit. Recently I posted these photos on my facebook page with the tag line, where to work today? and it sparked lots of conversation. If you haven't checked it out already check out wifispottr.com which can help u answer this question.So how is connectivity impacting the use of social networks?We all know the challenges with our mobile network and connectivity. I don’t have to go into that. I think its greatly hampering the use of social networks. How many of you are likely to use twitter, foursquare or linkedin while you are on the road? Foursquare is a habitA group of us from GramStepformed a core group who did the twitter updates from the BEF Summit, it was such a hit that some of the other people in the room especially some of the not so young people got into it. After the conference the conversation4 kept going on for weeks around various topics, however as the months progressed the conversation dwindled 4off and one of my theories I that it is dude to the poor connectivity. Based on a quick analysis of the grouping I am talking about. I found the twitter users who are still relatively active are actually the ones who did not use the mobile to do the updates. This is one of the reason I believe in the move to make Barbados a WiFi Nation. Next Slide
- The direction the world is going is one where there is continued internet access.As you all are well aware the BEF has an initiative to make Barbados into a WiFi Nation because we believe connectivity is critical to our development. As a result we have asked everyone to be a part of the initiative from the top all the way down to the bottom.Security is one of the biggest issues that is raised with the initiative. We are promoting responsible sharing of your internet. And I think that the Barbados tech community could really get behind this initiative and make it work. Would you not like wifi in Banks lines Doctor offices Bouganviella hotel How you can get involved? Next Slide Recommended solutions Page
- Rally car pic?
- I think we have to be aware that as we build up our social networks on these various sites we also need to invest in our own networks especially when it comes to commerce. Social Media requires a change in thinkingNext Slide
- We are still a bit scared to change the status quo. We still want to control everything. The core idea is to control the people and the community/market we are operating in so we can make money the same way we always did.Social media is challenging that. It giving people who never had a voice a voice. Social media is about empowering people and listening and understanding their needs.Brewster’s Road Crew story - H20. It all sounds great but it comes with demands. Next Slide
- Social media will demand you to become innovative, it is constantly evolving every day with new tools, new insights and new thinking. Hovercraft *IDD – Implementation Deficit Disorder Some organizations might feel like they have been a caterpillar for so long they don’t know how to be a butterfly. I just thought I would leave with some tips I try to remember as I approach the world of social media daily.Next Slide
- As we develop social networks we need to ensure that we have a world view. We have to make sure we develop networks that help us with our reality, but also allows us to embrace the world.