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Readings and musings

Notes on Trust Me, I'm Lying by Ryan Holiday

8/24/2012

3 Comments

 
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Two friends of mine almost simultaneously recommended the new book Trust me, I'm Lying by Ryan Holiday to me, so I decided to see what all the fuss was about. It turns out that the book focuses on the modern media and journalism landscape and how it can be effortlessly manipulated by individuals and companies to put out fake news or further their interests. The author is a very well-connected journalist and social media expert who has worked in marketing at a number of companies, including American Apparel, and he has written his book to confess his own media manipulation "sins" to expose the broken system to the world and cry for change.

I had heard about how various news aggregators and blogs can be manipulated, and how there is a lot of spam out there that aims to manipulate various advertising markets (for arbitrage), mostly through SEO techniques. But I always thought that the "credible" news sources were still more or less trustworthy; this book totally debunks that idea.

I enjoyed the tidbits of journalism history thrown in, as well as all the quotes from other authors and journalists. I felt like the book rambled a bit with SO many examples of blatant manipulation, but that did serve its purpose, I guess.

The biggest surprise for me was how easily fake news and fake controversy can be implanted in a blog, then "traded up the chain" to larger blogs and then eventually the national news sources, and then have such devastating effects on REAL LIFE that the fake becomes real. That's definitely scary.

This is obviously one author's viewpoint. I'm curious to hear what others have to say (and I'm scared for the author's life...).

Intro

  • Media manipulator
  • Lies to media to get them to lie to you
  • News is driven and created by marketers
  • Create ads and then create fake protests against them to make controversy, drama, and attention
  • Tucker Max
  • American apparel
  • Not knowing what's real anymore
  • Media manipulation as monster to be fed
  • Nine tactics

Book 1: feeding the monster: how blogs work
  • Blogs create memes and news
  • Political blogs like Politico
  • Change reality through news
  • Fake political candidate generates page views and revenue
  • Traffic more important than truth

Ch 2 how to turn nothing into something in 3 steps

  • Ppl including reporters just do what's easiest
  • Trading up the chain: place content on small blog with no standards then that becomes base for article at bigger blog and so on
  • Ex: YouTube video, post on blog that huffpo likes, then make kick starter and put on reddit where have connections
  • Email reporters from fake address
  • Content trickles up
  • Bloggers and reporters must write daily and scour web for content
  • Twitter used for online research by reporters (ridiculous)
  • Lack of fact checking
  • Level 1: the entry point
  • Local issues
  • Expert sites
  • Small and understaffed
  • Level 2: legacy media
  • Local media, smaller counterparts of big media sites
  • Smartmoney
  • Worse editorial standards
  • Level 3: national press
  • Sites who took your bait submit to larger ones themselves
  • Get 3-4 small sites to write about some fake tip or event you seed yourself under fake name
  • Then this can be basis of a trend piece
  • Queue stories up on sites that larger media reporters read like gawker and mediabistro (specific sites mentioned throughout book)
  • Create multiple fake addresses and send collection of links to reporters
  • Find a lead steer for your campaign
  • The rest just gallop in herd
  • Every single person in system under pressure to publish

Ch 3 the blog con: how media companies make money online
  • Economics of news sites contorts all stories
  • Traffic is ads is money
  • Scoops are traffic
  • TMZ
  • Pretend they have scoops
  • Make money by stealing scoops
  • Using names to build a name
  • Blogs meant to be eventually sold

Ch 4 tactic 1: bloggers are poor, help bloggers pay their bills
  • Covert bribe
  • Compensation per post, speed not quality
  • Plus bonuses on page views
  • Twitter accounts will tweet for you for money
  • Give free swag and perks to bloggers and offer affiliate commissions
  • No conflicts ever disclosed
  • Digital sweatshop

Ch 5 tactic 2; tell them what they want to hear

  • Identities never verified
  • Press releases copied word for word
  • Wikipedia wording changes what reporters write
  • HARO help a reporter out
  • Manufactures fake credibility


Ch 6 tactic 3: give them what spreads, not what's good
  • Top stories Polarize ppl
  • Threaten 3 b: behavior, beliefs, belongings
  • Provocative slide shows get more views and more expensive ads
  • Shared more
  • Most powerful predictor of what viral is how much anger it creates
  • Humiliation should not be suppressed, it should be monetized

Ch 7 tactic 4; help them trick their readers
  • Headlines with questions effective
  • Put entire story in headline but leave out 1 detail to make ppl click
  • Answer is of course no but question is juicy
  • Useful articles aren't shared
  • Being fair or reasonable stops trolls from commenting (bad)
  • Leaving comments requires registration and flow shows more ads and pages

Ch 8 tactic 5: sell them something they can sell, one off effect
  • Newspapers get attention however they can
  • Fakes and embellishments
  • Yellow journalism lessons and tactics apply
  • Pay per subscription which worked best dead; now back to one off selling which works by sensationalism
  • Blogs constantly chasing other readers instead of loyal ones whereas subscriptions were about trust
  • Industry killed rss to deceive readers more easily


Ch 9 tactic 6: make it all about the headline
  • Headline must be appalling and catchy to sell and win fight for attention like yellow press
  • desperate fight
  • Give them fake news, they'll write the headline
  • Write the headline and let them steal it


Ch 10 tactic 7 kill them with page view kindness
  • Unshared or unliked article is bad
  • Care about seo terms and cpm it could generate
  • Only focus on what can be measured not quality
  • Afraid of silence
  • Leave fake comments to make ur company appear political


Ch 11 tactic 8 use the tech against itself
  • Hard for ppl to know what's new
  • So now use stacks to do reverse chronological order on homepage
  • Publish short posts quickly because will sink off front page quickly
  • 800 word limit
  • Best 200 words max, 100 words even better


Ch 12 tactic 9 just make stuff up
  • Bloggers will keep spreading fake news


Book 2 the monster attacks: what blogs mean

Ch 13 toxic blood
  • Manipulation leads to lawsuits and money lost over fake news


Ch 14 manipulator hall of fame
  • Ppl lost jobs over fake news


Ch 15 cupid evil: online tactics that drug u and me
  • YouTube manipulates you
  • Mass distraction
  • Content optimized to get you to watch
  • Thumbnail cheating with hot girl
  • Genetically modified info
  • Algorithmically created media
  • Demand media optimizes seo and ad value


Ch 16 link economy, delusion of sourcing
  • Trading up
  • Companies dodging bullets
  • No burden of proof
  • Delegation of trust broken
  • Link economy only confirms/supports and doesn't question or correct
  • Fake wiki edit -> blog post -> news article -> wiki citation reference


Ch 17 extortion via the web
  • Blackmail in viral videos
  • Distracts companies
  • Culture of fear
  • Reputation mgmt service handles all these bs issues and counter manipulating
  • Hundreds of millions of market value killed in a stock from fake blogs and leaks


Ch 18 online journalism bogus philosophy
  • No one checks before spreading info
  • Beta journalism: publish first then check
  • Really bad
  • Iterative journalism with no research
  • Every correction is a new post and more traffic


Ch 19 myth of corrections
  • Corrections online joke
  • Cognitive dissonance
  • No one consumes iteratively (no way to track back to users who've read something to give update)
  • As soon as read it's fact
  • Corrections amplify and support original even when refuted (psych study)


Ch 20 cheering on our own deception
  • PR and blogs big deception self feeding
  • Advertising is content
  • Charts of popular video ads
  • Bloggers at their conferences
  • Ordinary pseudo event they pay to happen
  • Coverage about coverage
  • Email to blogger: here's an exclusive leak of our Upcoming video ad, and blogger immediately publishes


Ch 21 dark side of snark
  • Make fun of lawsuits instead of serious discussion of fake claim
  • Use snark to distract media
  • Nothing you can do against it
  • Snark about insecurity


Ch 22 21st century degradation ceremony
  • Press is modern execution or punishment
  • Tear up ppl after we build them up


Ch 23 welcome to unreality
  • All news second hand opinions and rumors
  • Fake and real can't be told apart
  • Job of journalism to surprise joy instruct
  • Normal parts of life hidden
  • Tiny news funnel
  • Trust blogs the more we use them
  • Pseudo event: anything done just to get media
  • Not real events, just staged
  • Done to introduce info to media


Ch 24 how to read a blog
  • Tipsters leaks reports all just stuff emailed in and not checked
  • Sources not vetted
  • Attributed quotes just stolen and not checked
  • Exclusive not true
  • What spreads and finds you is actually the worst stuff 


Conclusion
  • Internet controls culture now
  • All aspects of society suffer because of it
  • Doesn't know how to fix it
  • We are all feeding the monster

3 Comments

Notes on Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk

5/8/2011

2 Comments

 
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This book definitely crushed it.

Gary's story and recommendations in Crush It!: Why NOW is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion are extremely fun and informative. Also, I can truly say that for this book, the audio version was quite an enhancement because it's read by Gary himself (who has quite a quirky, fun personality), and he routinely goes off the script to elaborate, inject more personal stories, and update the text since the manuscript was published. That was a real value-add in the audiobook.

The book goes through Gary's background, how he set up his business, how he learned about social media marketing, and contains specific recommendations on how to get started and specifically what to do to make money pursuing your passion using social media. Below are my main takeaways and notes.

Ch. 1: Passion is Everything
  • Love your family.
  • Work super hard.
  • Live your passion.
  • Social media = business.
  • Business is contradictions.
  • Gary's background: family Jewish immigrant story
  • Grew up as natural entrepreneur
  • Started with lemonade stands
  • Collected and sold baseball cards; found market opportunity in unpriced/unlisted cards
  • Wants to own NY Jets one day
  • Sold wines in family liquor store
  • His success all about storytelling.
Ch. 3: Build Your Personal Brand
  • Your business = your brand.
  • Trust your palette.
  • Crete video blogs of your point of view.
Ch. 5: Create Great Content
  • Choose product you're most passionate about.
  • Know your stuff.
  • Pump content to social media.
  • Think of 50 blog topics on your subject.
  • Tell a story.
  • Comment on others' blogs.
Ch. 6: Choose Your Platform
  • Wordpress
  • Tumblr: free hosting of your domain, re-blogging functionality, helps with word of mouth spread
  • Use call to action buttons: Follow Me, etc.
  • Use share buttons: story extenders.
  • Facebook fan page
  • Twitter: search by zip code, search for your topic, interact with all
  • Ask on Twitter: What can I do for you?
  • YouTube
  • Ustream
  • Ping.fm
  • TubeMogul
  • Blip.tv
Ch. 7: Keep It Real
  • Invest in important stuff: only content (no one cares what mic you have)
  • No redos, no retakes; use Flip cam; must be real
  • Be authentic.
  • Hustle, work hard.
  • Patience: must devote serious effort for at least one year before you can judge any results
Ch. 8: Create Community
  • Community building should take more time than content creation.
  • Start conversations with others online.
  • Trade anecdotes; join all conversations in play on your topic; devote hours to this per day.
  • Distribute all posts on Ping or TubeMogul.
  • Search for all conversations or comments out there anywhere on your topic.
  • Leave comments linking back to your blog.
  • Capture every interaction: Call to Action buttons (Subscribe, Follow, Join Fan Page, Share, Tweet, Email This).
  • Even one interested person/fan is great.
Ch. 9: Best Marketing Strategy Ever
  • Care (entire chapter is one word)
Ch. 10: Make the World Listen
  • Buy domain of your name or focus.
  • Start tumblr account to host.
  • Hire web designer to make you a nice UI with Call to Action buttons.
  • Buy a Flip cam/Mino HD (maybe not anymore!).
  • Create Facebook Fan page, Twitter, Ping, TubeMogul accounts.
  • Every night, post a video of you talking about your content area.
  • Search twitter for your topic; follow people talking about it.
  • Leave good comments on others' blogs.
  • Do this over and over again.
  • Anything you get (fans, revenues, etc.) is better than 0.
Ch. 11: Start Monetizing
  • Advertising
  • Deck Network
  • Cold call all companies using AdSense on your topic and ask them to advertise directly with you.
  • Give talks for free at shows on your topic.
  • Affiliate programs
  • Commission Junction, ShareASale
  • Uncrate
  • Try retail.
  • Create swag.
  • Write articles for other blogs, local papers.
  • Put up your own seminars.
  • Write books.
  • Get on TV.
  • Do consulting.
Ch. 12: Roll with It
  • Sometimes need to be reactionary in business also (even if contradictory)
  • Adapt
  • Example of Cristal champagne which failed to adapt when rappers were drinking it in clubs; they didn't embrace this customer segment and eventually lost it (more on this in Jay-Z's autobiography!).
Ch. 13: Legacy Greater than Currency
  • All people are now in the public eye.
  • Long-term always more important
Conclusion
  • Everyone is in the customer service business; only your content changes.
  • Focus on culture.
2 Comments

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