After reading Wired's recent article "Facebook's Latest Update Shows It Wants to Beat Twitter at News", we asked James A. Neufeld, Founder of SAM, to share some thoughts on how social media platforms influence the type of news we see and the context these stories develop in.
Facebook recently announced some pretty slick filtering functionality which will help keep their users in the loop on trending and breaking news events (read the announcement here). This has been something sorely missing on the Facebook platform. Typically news that Facebook users see is hours a sometimes days old. Now you can essentially break outside your normal social graph to see content from people that are better informed than your own network of friends might be. This is a subtle but powerful functionality.
On the flip side, Twitter has been hailed as the breaking news platform as they don’t mess with the feed; it’s just a raw stream of content. While it’s less of a bubble effect, context is greatly lacking. Following a breaking news event can be very overwhelming as opinions, falsities and speculation get retweeted like truth.
Battling the algorithm is a massive challenge for social networks and consumers. It’s a delicate balance that’s very hard to get right. I don’t think any one company has it nailed just yet, however moves like this from Facebook are certainly a step in the right direction. Our own view at SAM is that humans are greatly underestimated in many of these feed based platforms. There is still a disconnect when the machine tries to take full control of what the consumer sees (especially when they don’t give any indication of why you’re seeing something in your feed). We think that consumers want more control and more transparency of how the news is being feed to them. Some of our most forward thinking newsroom customers are pushing down this exact path - it’s more about the process than delivering an end result - all while keeping their readers/viewer informed in the process.
Reflections: Building Startup Communities - #yegsw14
When Tiffany, Ken and Cam found an incredibly welcoming network of makers, builders, and champions at Boulder Startup Week 2014.
Building Startup Communities featured Tim O’Shea and Rich Maloy, gurus of community building who were involved in the original Startup Week that took place in Boulder, Colorado. These guys have a passion for building community in their city and helping other communities do the same.
Q: What created the Boulder startup community we see today?
Tim:
Boulder has a number of established legacy systems providing the foundation for what came next: the natural food market, government funded labs, and the university system. In the 90s we saw the tech sector grow by a number of people leaving major markets and putting roots down in Boulder. They were exploring new ideas and it would become infectious.
As tech started to permeate you could do it anywhere. In the 2000s we saw the foundation laid for the next wave of community development.
It has been a successful model but we're not one industry: brewing, labs, bio-medical, marijuana startup industries...with a lot overlap with other industries.
Q: Can you summarize Brad Feld's Boulder Thesis?
Rich:
The Boulder Thesis includes the notion of leaders & feeders. That by the very nature of being an entrepreneur you are a leader. Feeders are people & organizations that can create the support network around your vision.
One of the roles leaders fill is asking the long term vision question - "how are my actions going to build/effect the community 20 years in the future?"
Tim:
Time goes very quickly when you're building a company and it's easy to ignore the question "what will happen after this first wave of success?"
Rich:
The Boulder Thesis is built around an inclusive community. Welcome everyone to the community. Don't play gate keeper. When someone needs a connection - and you have the means - help them.
It's also important to engage the community.Your world can be very small. Engage other communities & find opportunities to collaborate.
Q: How has the role of leaders & feeders evolved in Boulder?
Rich:
Successful communities need to have a recycling of talent.
1) If you fail you need to have a soft landing. The community needs to create the environment that supports risk. This can only happen collectively. Don't shame someone for failing.
2) When you do succeed get back into the community! Don't have your exit and disappear for a year. Ask "how can I prop up other companies & people in the community?"
Tim:
Be welcoming. Ask "how can I help?" Your time can be a game changer for someone else.
Give before you get. Welcome people into your space, go to events & encourage people. Welcome help when it's offered.
Q: Cultivating Leadership - Is there dependency on iconic leadership? How is this evolving in Boulder?
Rich:
There are always iconic leaders in every community. Because that person exists - they're not bringing air out of the room, they're bringing people to the room.
If you see a need for something just make it happen. Existing leadership doesn't mean you can't also do something.
Tim:
We're fortunate to be on the top of entrepreneurship community lists. Recognizable leadership is still a very small list. There are dozens of leaders that we need to showcase in our community. We shouldn't always go to the same well of leaders to showcase. No one person or leader will define your community.
Q: Our first version of Startup Edmonton was to see if there was anyone else doing what we were doing. Then we were fluid enough to respond and work with the community.
Can you speak to the role of government - collaboration vs. going and doing it on your own?
Tim:
With legacy systems, like the government, sometimes it's better to opt for forgiveness. Build enthusiasm and support from the ground - that breeds success.
Government can stifle that innovative process. On the flip side there are massive doors that can open with partnerships.
Have dialogues that are more educational than negotiation based. We encourage people from these legacy systems to show up - come to events, listen, and be authentic in your interactions with the community.
Leave ego and turf behind; collaborative efforts and change should be rewarded. Some of the resources that can be placed by legacy systems would be best managed by entrepreneurs. Giving them access can make thing move more quickly.
You can't be too critical of a system that you don't understand. It's important to come into systems with an open mind. Listen and find ways to help solve problems.
Q: Do you have one message to our leaders & feeders, what's one thing they can do now to get us to the next level?
Tim:
Boulder is a companion community to Edmonton's Startup Community - we don't have all the answers.
Rich:
Give first. Find something that needs to be pushed forward and do it.
Tim:
Something Brad Feld said in Maine about focussing more on feeders resonated with me. Entrepreneurs need so much support. They need people focused on elements like partnerships and creating possibilities.
Bring your ideas to the table. It's a great time to be in the feeder role. We all have the opportunity to make it
better for entrepreneurs and help them be successful. Get out of your bubble.
Thank you to Tim O’Shea and Rich Maloy for joining us at #yegsw14
We help wholesale buyers and sellers of electricity and natural gas optimize their bid and offer prices. We harvest massive amounts of disparate real-time data, analyze that data, again in real-time, and generate real-time bid and offer recommendations in hundreds of locations across the US. kWantera takes advantage of the recent efforts by energy market regulators to create more transparency in the electricity and natural gas markets. We take advantage of this transparency to make energy markets more efficient and generate better energy prices for everyone.
What one thing should the nation know about Pittsburgh's startup community?
The tech community in Pittsburgh is as diverse, advanced and creative as any place on earth. A lot of things go in to why this is the case. However, I think the main reason is the culture of working together that is deep in the fabric of our city. There are a lot of zero-sum tech environments where I win at your expense and that culture will never work here. It is why Pittsburgh could remerge as the tech center it is from the ashes of a industrial decline decades ago.
How can the nation help you and/or the Pittsburgh startup community?
Address the immigration issue in a thoughtful way. Our small company has employees from five countries and that diversity is likely to increase. US immigration policy should make it far easier for anyone from anywhere to come the US and build their entrepreneurial dreams.
