All posts in Opinion

12 Posts

May 18, 2013 · Blog, Opinion

"That’s the beauty and curse of the beast. So when news breaks it’s about two things: accuracy and distribution. Right now we’re stuck with a drunk leaf blower in a flour factory. I’ll be the first to champion these tools as platforms for change, opportunity and knowledge sharing, but it has become clear we – and especially the reeling news media – are in need of a system that helps Twitter et al sort through the haze of breaking news and get the facts straight, faster. The current model and tools are not clearing things up – they are adding to the mess."

http://paidcontent.org/2013/05/18/how-to-make-twitter-the-ultimate-news-ticker/

April 9, 2013 · Blog, Interviews, Media, Opinion

"Twitter is the perfect vehicle to express rage, or people's outrage at other people's rage, and nothing stirs tweeters more than "very polarising personalities", according to Paul Armstrong, a social media consultant at Digital Orange. "When it comes to well-known figures, especially controversial figures, everyone feels they can weigh in and have a personal opinion," he says. With death, there is also a phenomenon, particularly on Twitter, of people wanting to be the first to report it, he says. Of course, Margaret Thatcher's death wasn't the first to spark a Twitter frenzy. Michael Jackson's death was "stratospheric" and Amy Winehouse was huge too, Armstrong says. What was unusual in Lady Thatcher's case was the vitriol."

BBC News

February 7, 2013 · Blog, Interviews, Media, Opinion

"So could Vine tickle the fancy of advertisers? Paul Armstrong, the head of social at Mindshare, believes it can, although he concedes that it might take a while for people to understand its true potential. "Vine could do more than simply put a smile on people’s faces. It has, with the right strategy, the potential to make cash registers ring," he predicts."

January 4, 2013 · Blog, Opinion

BBC : “Twitter Advertising Changes”

January 4, 2013 · Opinion

"But news outlets are still expecting people to care about them – even after years of evidence against this proposition. Unless you’ve got millions to spend on strong brand campaigns, clinging to this ideal feels like the wrong move. Instead, a better fixation on emerging technologies, and the way people use them, will stand media in a better place than simply fighting for diminishing returns. Only then will the media stand a chance of making the masses come to them and stay. Because the product knows (and grows) with them, it’s impossible for them to leave it. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Serve the reader, not the business model."

Paul Armstrong in an essay on Pando Daily

January 2, 2013 · Opinion

"Google has had a successful year - despite its recent tax issue - with the continued rise of Google+ (+135m active users worldwide), its first foray into hardware (Nexus 7), a continued focus on non-tablet mobile, and, let’s not forget, the tiny matter of refining its core revenue-generating product Search...or more specifically the ad network."

Paul Armstrong talking to MSN

December 6, 2012 · Blog, Opinion

Everyone is missing a major point about Google+ Communities…

Now with +135m active users (and +500m members overall) Google+ is no longer a “Ghost Town” but rather a 2013 must have. Today Google launched “Communities” (in essence, places to chat about your passions with other likeminded obsessives) and further hit home that … Read the rest

November 16, 2012 · General, Opinion

"Forget tablets, forget smartphones, the technology behind Glass is not an extension of you, it literally becomes part of you."

October 25, 2012 · Blog, Opinion

"It was terrifying. The death knell—a merciless, unrelenting Twitter feed titled “The Media Is Dying”—sounded on a daily basis, sometimes hourly. Staffers watched in fear as the ghouls of HR, fingernails dabbed in scarlet, inched ever closer...“We’ve gone through a period of treading water, but now it’s crunch time, and there will be lots more of these,” said Paul Armstrong, who writes the “The Media Is Dying” Twitter feed. Although Mr. Armstrong continued tweeting through the good times, his dispatches were mostly about innovation and other happy things. Now he is once again the angel of death."

October 11, 2012 · Opinion