PILLARS OF THE DIGITAL AGEMICHAEL NETZLEY, PHD

Communicateasia@gmail.com

CIPD Report: June, 2017

“Fewer than four in 10 employees feel empowered to meet the demands of the digital workplace, according the Asia Workplace 2020 report by Microsoft.”

“As Asia primes itself to become the most connected market, with more than half of all mobile connections originating from the region by 2021, organisations need to rethink how they empower their workforce with the right culture, policy, infrastructure and tools to maximize their potential,” said Kevin Wo, managing director of Microsoft Singapore.

“This means enabling collaboration from anywhere, on any device. However, it is also critical for business leaders to evaluate and implement changes to counter cultural and management challenges that are hindering employees to work seamlessly from wherever they are – which will in turn hinder an organisation’s growth and progress in the digital age.”

http://www.cipd.asia/people-management-magazine/hr-news-opinion/singapore-digital-equipment?utm_medium=email

Our Objectives This Weekend

To think about the future of PR and communications profession

Specifically, to learn network theory as a tool that explains why social networks operate the way they do

Learn how to write for the web, perform basic SEO approaches, and respond to online comments.

Think about coming trends in online communication, such as augmented reality, and how we can prepare ourselves for the future of digital communications

Present your outcomes and thoughts to the class on Saturday late afternoon (templates will be given, along with time to prep)

Complete two short online quizzes

DARPA Red Balloon Challenge

2009 challenge on wide area collaboration

Defense Advance Research Project Agency

$40,000 prize to be first at finding 10 balloons around the United States

How long did the winning team need to find them?

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

How Did the MIT Team Win?

Shared the reward

$2000 correct coordinates

$1000 for whomever invited them

$500 for inviting the inviter

$250 for inviting them

And so on…

Mass & social media were complementary

Data mining via social media

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

Twitter & Queenstown

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

I Would Like You to Meet Gen

28 years old, Gen graduated from

Singapore Management University and

now works in finance.

She lives with her family, enjoys biking and

coffee with friends. Her favorite brands

include Zara, Nike, Tom Ford and Prada.

Each day she uses Facebook, WhatsApp

and Instragram to talk with friends. She

doesn’t read a newspaper or listen to radio.

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

Gen & Friends Think of Digital As…

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

Digital and Social Media

Social media is a type of online media that expedites

conversation as opposed to traditional media, which

delivers content but doesn't allow

readers/viewers/listeners to participate in the creation

or development of the content.

Source © 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

Sociological View of Media

Social Media refers to not only the technology but the

cultural and behavioral traits of people communicating

and sharing with one another. Through social

networks, people are listening, sharing, creating,

judging, and innovating in ways that are reshaping

relationships (e.g., government to constituents or

friend to friend), power bases, financial models, and

knowledge.

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

Gen is Literate

First Media Age: Greece

Greek alphabet and

writing led to one of the

most productive

cultures in all of history

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

Second Media Age: Print

Chinese moveable type

in 11th century, and

Gutenberg's Press in

the 15th century,

brought books to the

non-elites of society

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

Third Media Age: Broadcast

20th century

broadcasting brought

media into homes, and

at a low cost, thus

increasing demand while

decreasing the supply of

media channels

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

Fourth Media Age: Internet

Everyone becomes their own

media company because of

infrastructure, Internet, digital

technology, and interactive

easy-to-use sites.

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

Why Did This Happen?Networks

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

We Live in Networks

Networks, not Information

The defining characteristic of the modern age is networks

All societies have had information (e.g., Ancient Athens and Rome)

Digital networks are unique to the current age

Networks, for the first time, can be a sustainedstructure for organizing people and work

Developed from the work of Manuel Castells © 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

Space of Places

Source: http://www.public.iastate.edu/~cfford/Colonytraderoutes.jpg© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

Flows: Information & PeopleSource: http://www.simon-law.com/archives/1274

How We Now Organize

Societal elites are now much less

connected to cities [places], and are

instead connected to information

flows. Thus, the network serves as

our organizing principle.

Previously, networks were just an ad

hoc organizational structure until the

rise of digital technologies.

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

Gen Was Born Into This World

Living in Gen’s WorldUnderstanding How Networks Function

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

Research Says

Emotions Spread via Social Networks

Conclusion: People’s happiness depends on the

happiness of others with whom they are connected.

This provides further justification for seeing

happiness, like health, as a collective phenomenon.

- British Medical Journal 337 (2008)

Fowler and Christakis

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

Obesity Spreads via Social Networks

“You may not know him personally, but your friend’s

husband’s coworker can make you fat. And your

sister’s friend’s boyfriend can make you thin.”

- Fowler and Christakis (2009)

Connected

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

Political Science: Why Americans Vote

If you vote, then it increases the likelihood that your

friend’s friend will also vote….Instead of each of us

having only one vote, we effectively have several

and therefore much more likely to influence the

outcome. - Fowler and Christakis (2009)

Connected

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

3 Degrees of Influence

25

25

25

25

25

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

Professor Christakis

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

Rule: Connections need

to be strong; but you

need not know the

people.

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

When to Use Strong Ties

Urgent Situation

Dependency for Well Being

Decision Making

Ethos-Based Influence

Access: Doors Opened

Regular Information Flows

Change Target’s Values

Source: Granovetter © 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

When to Use Weak Ties

Speed of Distribution

Less Dependent on Others

Reach Distant Targets with Whom We are not Connected

Innovative Ideas or Models

Episodic Information Flows

Bridge Diverse Groups

Source: Granovetter © 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

What It Means For GenHow to Grasp the Opportunity

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

We Could Not Have Imagined Her World

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

Digital Brings Risks and Rewards

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

The Network Effect

Effect that one user of a

product or service has on its

value to other users

Value of good or service

increases when more people

use it

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

Network Effect: Benefits

You get the latest updates from your contacts

You socially remain “in the know”

You can manage your public persona

You can ask for help or support from your network (i.e., crowdsourcing)

You maintain contact even while physically separated from one another

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

Proliferation of Media

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

Attention is a Scarce Resource

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

High Cost of Multitasking

Harold Pashler, Uni of Calf: Trying to keep dual tasks in our conscious mind can see cognitive ability drop in an amount equal to the difference between a Harvard MBA and an 8 year old

David Rock, Neuroscience Institute, reports: Constant text and emailing is equivalent to an average 10 point drop in IQ (5 point drop for women in the study; 15 point drop for men)

For men, this is 3x the effect of smoking a joint

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

Networks & Social Isolation – Related?

Rise of internet, mobile

phones and social networks

have pulled people away from

traditional social settings,

which were typically

associated with large and

diverse social networks

Average size and diversity

of core discussion networks

have declined

Source: Social Isolation in America: Changes in Core Discussion Networks over Two Decades © 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

Networks & Social Isolation – Related?

“…on Twitter, political talk is highly partisan, where

users’ clusters are characterized by homogeneous

views and are linked to information sources….”

Source: “Birds of a Feather Tweet Together: Integrating Network and Content Analyses to Examine Cross-Ideology Exposure on Twitter”

Pew Research Center study

(2014) confirms the same

finding - little overlap in

the news sources different

groups turn to and trust

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

Q130-143. [TRACKING] Below is a list of people. In general, when forming an opinion of a company, if you heard information

about a company from each person, how credible would the information be—extremely credible, very credible, somewhat

credible, or not credible at all? (Top 2 Box, Very/Extremely Credible) Informed Publics, 27-country global total.

CREDIBILITY OF SPOKESPERSONS, 2014 VS. 2015

Leadership: Expert and “A Person Like Yourself” More Credible than CEO

70%68%

63%

54% 55%53%

46%

37%

70%67%

63%

56%53%

49%

43%

38%

Academic orIndustry Expert

CompanyTechnical Expert

A Person LikeYourself

NGORepresentative

Financial orIndustry Analyst

RegularEmployee

CEO GovernmentOfficial orRegulator

2014 2015

More Trust Less Trust

Informed

Public

© Michael Netzley, Phd. 2016

Context Collapse

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

Tech Lowers

Cost of Making

Weak Ties

Enable the

free flow of

info

Peripheral

Cental

Brid

gin

g

Ex

pa

nd

Yo

ur

Reso

urc

e

Ba

se

So

lve

Pro

ble

ms

Messages from

Peers more

Influential

Em

bed

ded

in

the

Ne

two

rk

DARPA Applied

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

Cognitive Surplus

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

How We Use Time

ACTIVITY TIME SOURCES

Work (USA) 7.5 hours per day (avg) Bureau of Labor Statistics

Work (SG) 8.5 hours per day (avg) AsiaOne(1 in 5 works 11+ hours perday)

Television (USA) 2.7 hours per day (avg)18.9 hours per week

BLS50% of free time

Television (SG) 12 hours per week We Are Social

Internet Use (SG) 25 hours per week We Are Social

Singapore spends 25,000,000 hours each month

watching online video (We are Social)© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

State of Consumer Receptivity

Unlocking Gen’s Digital FutureMajor Trends on the Horizon

Virtual RealityOculus Rift

Augmented Reality

Artificial Intelligence

Weber Shandwick on AI

The vast majority of consumers in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., China and Brazil (92%) believes AI is already here, or is coming in the near future.

were, in aggregate, six times more likely to see AI’s impact on society as positive than negative (45% vs. 7%, respectively).

Source: Leslie Gaines-Ross, 2016

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

Weber Shandwick on AI

When it comes to their personal lives, consumers are even more likely – seven times more – to think AI will have a positive, rather than a negative, impact (52% vs. 7%, respectively).

77% want AI’s development to accelerate or stay on its current growth trajectory while a mere 6% want AI to stop altogether.

Source: Leslie Gaines-Ross, 2016

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

Your Briefing for Scenario Planning

You are challenged to take the perspective of the PR industry, agency-side, and think about how to prepare local firms and talent for the future of PR.

This future should specifically consider: Virtual Reality

Augmented Reality

Artificial Intelligence (including chatbots and authorless text/manuscripts)

Internet of Things

Blockchain

Your window is 2020-2022, which is 3- 5 years from now

Focus on what you are uncertain of (not megatrends)

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.

Special Thanks to….

And a special hat tip to http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/for the free and great photos of today’s lead character, Gen.

Lots of free and great photos here, so do check it out.

© 2016, Michel Netzley, Ph.D.