Mohammed Saleem Press Conference: How West Midlands Police made history this morning at YouTube while searching for a murderer

+West Midlands Police made Press Conference history today LIVE at YouTube.

In a Google world where fast is better than slow (on the web or in catching a murder), anyone can become their own media company.

Let me make it clear, the most important message in this post is for the family of Mohammed Saleem to see the killer brought to justice.

25-45% of  all videos viewed at YouTube are on mobile (my One Channel post and Portrait of a Smartphone user Aug 2012). So, creating a press conference that streams straight to someone's pocket is sensible.

However, 67% of those mobiles views are at home (in the lounge or the bedroom) as a second screen. That means, a person is sitting in the same room as a switched on TV, but uses the mobile too.

What is happening at YouTube on their lap will not reach TV until a few hours or even half a day later.

The slides in this post show how Google favours a LIVE Video and rewards that in Search. We also have a few new features with Google+ Hangouts like a LIVE Rewind button that gives the audience complete control.

So, if you arrive at the LIVE feeds a few minutes late, one click restarts the broadcast (similar to sky or cable TV). Another click and you are LIVE again. As you drag the slider, mini thumbnails appear giving you a visual clue on what you have missed (TV does not do this).

We can also see YouTube generates a snapshot of the broadcast and places that at the YouTube LIVE page giving you an instant glimpse in the program.

Finally, this is free. Anyone can do this. If you are a UK or Global Police Force - ask me how to get started.

We already have officer +Scott Mills of the +Toronto Police Service who uses backpack journalism to stream similar press conferences and reports from the street. We also have +Kerry Blakeman from +West Midlands Police already using LIVE at YouTube with more planned broadcasts this month.

Let me leave you with the Press Conference as it happened and the accompanying CCTV of a man and a vehicle.

UK Police Forces on Social Media - April 2013 Survey It's about Culture not Technology in Blended Reality

Met Police Marine Policing Unit

Here's the April 2013 Survey looking at UK Police on Social Media (data sheet). 

In celebration of The Metropolitan Police passing 100,000 Twitter followers, I've added a Marine Policing Unit slide. You can watch the Met's own video of thanks at the end of this post.

There's not much news about the twitter numbers this month, still growing at a healthy rate. Facebook is where the action is with sixteen forces above 20% growth. I hold my hands up as a facebook novice, so if anyone wants to dig deeper and say why there are so many likes, be my guest.

I've titled this post Culture not Technology as it's about the Social Interaction and the Storytelling as opposed to anything else. We live in a Blended Reality where we have Media Literate Citizens equipped with creative skills to communicate with a Modern World.

To understand the facebook numbers will involve looking at each story and seeing the patterns. In my view, that's the manual labour of reading and thinking about each post, not a quick click on some data visualisation tool. I cannot say enough how people, for some reason, do not spend enough time slowing down and taking one thought at a time.

Last month, I focussed on YouTube and the new One Channel. If Culture dictates, we do not need YouTube, then so be it. But as 25% of YouTube is watched on mobiles, another 25% on screens larger than thirty inches and users swapping devices twenty seven times a day - Video is exploding.

This month's YouTube slide shows nothing more than three four forces streaking out ahead. It need not be this way. I have been working with a new company called Zoom.us who provide a 25 user face to face video platform. It is truly breathtaking and available on PC and Mobiles. All Police would benefit from giving it a try. Google+ hangouts are another way, especially LIVE at YouTube.

If you've read this far, then let me finish with how I've spent the last six weeks force feeding myself Media Studies theory. I've read a bunch of texts and even more wikis on everything from Audience Theory to The Public and it's Problems (1927).

We've come a long way. When Lincoln was assassinated, it took twelve days for the news to reach England. Nowadays, it's realtime everything.

When Paris Brown was appointed (and resigned) as Youth PCC, twitter had every part in it (link to News), it was all over, in what seemed like a few hours. For me, it's stories like this that emerge from nowhere, reach a critical point and eventually simmer.

And as for the Boston Marathon, many were saying, I heard about it first on Twitter (link to articles). And camera phones are playing a major part in supplying the visual clues to catch those responsible (link to FBI).

Here's the Met Police 100,000 Twitter Followers video of thanks ..

Kenilworth Castle on Google Street View Much to see Much to Learn about our Heritage in the last Thousand Years

I'm delighted you can see the splendour of Kenilworth Castle in the glory of Street View.

The tour starts at the car park, past the ticket office, down the Causeway and onto Mortimer's Tower.

What's super valuable is the tour round the Curtain Wall which was once the site of the Great Mere.

Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire, England, UK is the lead image I use in all Mike Downes Media. For me, it represents the last one thousand years and how far we have come.

One of the questions I always ask myself, What would the medieval people have done (with Media)? How did it work back then? What can we learn from them and apply today? You don't need to be Robin Hood to figure out how some people think they have all the power and the peasants have none. 

This blog's readership is far and wide. Nine nine percent of the visitors to whatsinKenilworth will nevet visit the Castle, but thank you Google for making it available in this way. 

Links: Kenilworth Castle at: Wikipedia .. English Heritage and this site (with footpaths).
Google Image Search.

The New Youtube One Channel by Andrew Stinger, Video and Slides

Slide 4 from the video

A few days ago, +Andrew Stinger gave a talk LIVE at Youtube on the new One Channel.

I would mark this as essential viewing for everyone. And by that, I mean watch all 58 mins, do not skip, do not think you know it - because you don't.

It's very rare for a development like this. I have two and a half pages of scribbled notes.

How to Subscribe to a YouTube Channel with email Alerts for each Upload - It's easy once you know how by Mike Downes

Maria Quiban from Mommy Loves Tech

Every YouTube Creator litters each video with a Subscription button while giving verbal messages every few seconds.

But, what's the point if to subscribe has little meaning unless email with new uploads is checked?  

Clicking subscribe means subscribing to a user's videos and their public activity (their favorites, their ratings, etc).

UK Police Forces on Social Media - March 2013 Survey Anyone can become their own Media Company

Photo Credit WMP Papal Visit

Here's the third in the series of UK Police on Social Media. As usual, we have the Google Docs Data Set. I make no excuses, it's starting to look a tad messy, that's why I produces a few charts and talk you through them.

All the data is gather by me clicking through and copy, pasting the numbers. It helps me make sense and look for the patterns. Having APIs gathering data is fine, but the more statistics, the less you read.