Liveblogging vs. live-tweeting in social media events
I have been unable to attend two of the latest Third Tuesday Vancouver, and I (as others often do) relied heavily on the live-tweets that people sent and hashtagged “3tyvr”. Third Tuesday Vancouver is one of the three major social media meetups in our beautiful city (the others being, Social Media Club Vancouver and Vancouver Bloggers Meetup, the meetup organized by yours truly).
Both of the previous months’ Third Tuesday Vancouver meetups were of interest to me, and I caught myself in a whirlwind both of work and having to deal with personal issues (friends needed time with me and I will always ditch anything for my loved ones), so I missed being there in person. I tried to follow the Twitter stream with live-tweets hashtagged #3tyvr and it was an absolute mess.
Sorry guys, I know that many of you live-tweeted as well as you could for those of us who couldn’t get in on the action, but I find it really hard to draw any actual insights from the live tweets. There is a reason why I blogged earlier this year about how important it was to have liveblogs of talks.
You’ll see, for a couple of years, I liveblogged almost every single meetup in Vancouver (2008-early 2009). I attended the vast majority of them, many times along with my good friend Rebecca Bollwitt (Miss604), and we would both liveblog events (for the most part, entirely free) in benefit of the community at large. We both liveblogged Northern Voice 2009. We both liveblogged many of the BarCamp 2009 sessions. But I got to a point where I refused to do any more liveblogging for free (actually, ANY work for free). And I also got way too busy with my consulting, my research and my teaching.
The reality is, there is a real dearth of liveblogs of events out there in Vancouver anymore. With the exception of some Social Media Club events I’ve seen liveblogged, and a few times that I have volunteered my own blog to capture the live-tweetage of conferences, liveblogging is primarily, not done. I know that this post may not earn me any sympathies, but I wish there were more people in Vancouver doing what Rebecca and I used to do for the community: liveblog events. Because the live-tweeting is just not cutting it anymore.
I recognize that liveblogging is an activity that is draining, takes time and technical expertise and savvy. I know that better than anyone. It should be rewarded as a professional activity. People should hire and pay livebloggers. I have been in fact one of the people who have championed being paid to do work that we used to do for free. Of course, you could say that *I* could very well pay to have the events I miss liveblogged. That’s not the point (and I won’t, of course).
The point is, live-tweeting is good for quick snippets of thoughts, but we need a real long form liveblog. Live-tweeting brings up one important issue – attribution. In 140 characters, how do you attribute a particular thought to a particular speaker? I saw lots of examples of thoughts that were the panel’s that were being re-tweeted as though they were the person live-tweeting. And I can list many other examples.
There is a reason why liveblogs should come back. And there is a point where they’ll come back. I am feeling that this might be the time.
Related posts:
- The @CPRSVanStudents event on Social Media 101
- Retweeting, contests and social media etiquette
- Cover It Live vs Scribble Live (Round 2 Comparison)
- My recent Social Media Club Victoria talk: “Towards an Action-Focused Agenda for Social Change Using Social Media” (#smcvictoria) @smcvictoria
- Net Tuesday Live blog/live tweeting (using ScribbleLive)
Raul, this is a great note.
I know, for me, I would never do this for free (and I’m not claiming I’m actually practiced enough to charge). If I go to an event, I want to be part of it. I’m not keen to be the one so attached to my phone or computer that I miss some of the content or the opportunity to connect with people in attendance. Definitely been there, done that. I’m glad to tweet or blog about how excited I am to go and then write about what I thought afterward, though.
This link (http://www.davemacdonald.ca/2010/04/today-i-attended-f5expo/) links to a blog I wrote after ‘attending’ a conference, F5, via Twitter because I couldn’t be there in person. There’s definitely significant value to people performing this activity and I think they deserve some thanks (or payment).
Dave Macdonald recently posted..Leadership Thought Experiment in pictures
So true. I always take detailed (and illegible) notes at meet-ups but have moved to twitter-casting because somehow in my brain I thought it would be easier for all to access. At the last #3tyvr (Third Tuesday) I woke up and recognized the same thing. It’s not the right trend. I still have my notes from a year ago and can make sense of them but would struggle to find a comprehensive story searching recent #hastags.
It is easy to get caught up in the moment and forget that Twitter is most effective when it links to the larger story in a blog (that can grow in richness with comments) OR with the ability to stir up a fleeting ah-ha moment with a witty interpretation of the present in the present. Both have a place.
It is a concern. Live-blogging is, important but not considered urgent, a quad. 2, for all those Covey-ians. Add that only a few people can do it well. Add an increase in meaningful events that need great live-bloggers and fewer attendees that appreciate it’s value enough to offer to pay their event organizer to offer this history capturing service.
Its an interesting dilemma. Sorry for the long reply. It felt good to get a bit philosophical.