Tuesday 10 September 2013

Martha Payne and the Story of Neverseconds: Take Two with new google+ embed code

On Sunday 17 June 2012, I made a post at this blog making sense and telling the story of Martha Payne and #neverseconds: (Martha Payne and the Story of Neverseconds: What I posted at Google Plus: Well Done Martha, You're a Star).

There were 14 Google+ posts which were copy and pasted into this blog. Yesterday, Google+ launched the ability to embed a g+ post into this blog.

Monday 2 September 2013

BBC News at Google+ The last 100 posts: +1s, Shares and Comments

+BBC News at +Google+  have 2,637,261 people who have them in Circles.

They also have 3,395,109 users who have +1ed their page.

I've taken a look at the last 100 posts detailing +1s, Shares and Comments.

Tuesday 27 August 2013

Assessing a Project's Success by the Out of Office Auto Reply, the Birthday Paradox and Speed

It maybe that time of the year in the UK when last minute vacations are taken just before the children go back to school - but, are you really ever contactable these days?

For me, the message is pretty clear. If I have to send to someone's email and get a bounce back out of auto office auto reply, I make a mental note: Give Up and Move On.

Monday 26 August 2013

UK Police on Twitter: Followers, Tweets, References at 26 Aug 13 by Mike Downes

Police used a whistle and a wooden ratchet for alerts
The curious case of the Daily References per Tweet per 1,000 followers

I haven't posted about the UK Police in a while, so here's an area of study. This post follows on from 60 News Orgs on Twitter (with a similar idea).

This post is short. Simple idea, you tweet, get some followers and get mentioned once in a while. You change what you can like number of tweets you make.

Tuesday 20 August 2013

60 News Organisations on Twitter: Followers, Tweets, References and Charts by Mike Downes

Following on from a post I made in the We the People, Google+ and the BBC Community, I've become curious on how often News Organisations Tweet - and what they get out of it.

As a two line background, I saw a BBC twitter account making 84 tweets a day compared to 8 posts at facebook and 3 posts at Google+ in a day.

Sunday 18 August 2013

I've hit at Google+ wall, so I'm going back to Blogger for more Creative Multi Media Posting

I've made over 9,000 posts at Google+, but I'm running a little low on self expression and creativity.

Typing without limits is valuable - choosing a video, or photos or a link is not so great. As is the bold, italic and strikethrough.

Tuesday 16 July 2013

Realtime Communications - When will LIVE Video become Natural and Commonplace? CILIP 6 June 2013

Patrick Viera and Nicola McCarthy of Man City FC
I gave a talk at CILIP in London last month - it served as many things. +Sarah Hill called it a great historical perspective of the last two years of Google+ and Hangouts.

For most people who visit this post, they'll have been directed here by me personally - usually from a conversation, g+ post or looking to learn something.

Monday 15 July 2013

The Virtual Field Trips - Virtual School Trips Resource Page with Case Study: Hangouts in History

Update on 29 Jan 2014 Google Education launched Connected Classrooms on 4 Nov 2013 with a website and a Google+ Community (there are 4,369 members as now).

In many ways Virtual Field Trips became #connectedclassrooms.

This post will still serve as a resource page, but I have a new one for the UK as Tesco launched the Eat Happy Project (which will use connected classrooms). This is the first time in the UK, a large org has stepped up with real time video with schools.

Monday 1 July 2013

The Solutions Journalism Resource Page - Today, I'm going to change the World..

David and Sarika are just two members of the team at SJ 
On reading a post about activism journalism at Nieman, I explored every link.

Which lead to Solutions Journalism containing some powerful, yet simplistic ideas - I use simplistic as a massive compliment to the team at SJ.

But wait, the idea is also brainbox complex - that's the solution and the creative part.

Thursday 27 June 2013

UK Police on Social Media June 2013: #WMPLIVE at YouTube with West Midlands Police

Photo Credit West Midlands Police
Here's the June 2013 UK Police on Social Media post.  We have three charts for twitter, facebook and YouTube.

In video, there have been some changes at YouTube which now allow anyone with over 1,000 subscribers to have a LIVE Events Channel. So far, three UK forces are eligible: Greater Manchester, Metropolitan and West Midlands Police.

Friday 14 June 2013

Campaign for Links In Reporting CLIR - The Writer should do the hard work so the Reader does not have to

From all the Hangouts I've been in, nothing has been said more than, Where's the Link?

This extends to Harvard referencing and any student doing their Homework.

Yet, if you're a Reporter you still get away with it. And no, I'm not the first person to flag this issue and ask for some improvements.

Wednesday 5 June 2013

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

Slide 4 from the video
Edit: This post was made 1 April 2013, but takes effect worldwide today 5 June 2013.

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.

Tuesday 28 May 2013

Kenilworth's Sophie Callahan releases her debut single Another One in style with an Official Music Video

Sophie Callahan
Rising star +Sophie Callahan told me earlier today, It's the first song I've ever recorded in a professional studio, which is fantastic news for the Kenilworth singer who has her video released today. 

I'm all for supporting and promoting local talent. In a tweet earlier today Sophie said..

Thursday 2 May 2013

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.

Wednesday 17 April 2013

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 ..

Saturday 13 April 2013

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

UPDATE: Two Castles Run 9 June 2013

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.


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Saturday 16 March 2013

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?  

Friday 15 March 2013

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.

Friday 22 February 2013

How to Post Edit a Hangout On Air for Beginners by Mike Downes

Sony Vegas Edit Window
Video editing is something I've always walked away from, until now.

I've said many times before, how I prefer text and the odd photo to time consuming video production.

No real surprise how Hangouts have lead the way in realtime communication.

But, the way video has become both essential and comfortable is the clincher for me. No longer, is it a novelty.

Monday 18 February 2013

UK Police on Twitter - When the Accounts Opened, some Charts and How to Cross the Road

In this post, you'll find about when every UK Police Force joined Twitter, how many Tweets they've made and what simple conclusions we can draw.

As usual, I've included one Google Docs Data Set and a few carefully chosen charts (Data was gathered on 17 Feb 2013).

Out of the fifty two forces that have official twitter accounts, I've created one chart that steps back in time.

Saturday 16 February 2013

UK Police Forces on Social Media - The February 2013 Survey

A month ago, I published The January 2013 Survey. Here we are, with a bunch of new data and already a revelation with the UK Police passing One Million Twitter followers (reported on this blog yesterday).

On that post, there are a few charts and a closer look at the West Midlands Police as they rose by 37%.

New this month, are a few stacked charts where you can see in blue the January numbers, and in red the followers gained from mid Jan to mid Feb 2013.

Friday 15 February 2013

UK Police Forces Pass One Million Twitter Followers with West Midlands Police Increasing by 37% in the Past Month

Last month, I published the UK Police Forces using Social Media. I'm updating the data every month, but bring you this special post about Twitter as three facts emerge:

1, The total number of followers to all UK Police Official Twitter Accounts is now at 1,041,850.
2, West Midlands Police has seen a 37% increase in followers from 50,101 to 68,793 in the last month.

Wednesday 13 February 2013

Mike Downes Teacher Broadcaster Google+ Hangout Specialist

google.com/+mikedownes mikedownesmedia hangoutsonair hangouts google+ teacher broadcaster
Mike Downes Teacher Broadcaster Google+ Hangout Specialist
google.com/+mikedownes | mikedownesmedia.com | mikedownesmedia@gmail.com

Note: By making this public post, should anyone scan my print card as a Google Image Search, they find me. I will also make one blog post to do the Same. Notice, I do not include a phone number, who needs one of those these days..

Monday 14 January 2013

UK Police Forces using Social Media: Twitter, facebook, YouTube, Google+ and Hangouts On Air - The January 2013 Survey by Mike Downes

Aug 14 edit For the latest UK Police on Social Media, visit: search/label/police or uk police social media survey Aug 2014 with two posts on uk police youtube (11 Aug/50 forces compared and  12 Aug 14/ top 10 most viewed videos).

14 Jan 13 This is the first post in a series looking at the UK Police and how they use Social Media. It's not so much a Survey, but a collection of what's public and putting it all in place.

All I've done is ask a few obvious questions, looked on the web to see what I want (which doesn't seem to be there), so decided to make one data centre for the fifty three forces, see what patterns there are and ask some larger questions.

The 125th Anniversary National Geographic Hangout that Connected the Continents

This post is for those who ask me the question, What Can Hangouts do for you? I answer, They Bring the World Together.

My Google+ Post: All Seven Continents Connected via a Hangout On Air, just Fantastic Well Done+National Geographic Celebrating 125 Years .. Wow ..

Sunday 6 January 2013

The Google+ Community for Hangouts Rangers is now open

Google+ Communities was launched on 6 December 2012. Hangouts Rangers™ is a community group I own and moderate. 

It has a modest 135 members, which is on task and relevant compared to some other groups assisting people with Hangouts On Air.

Hangout Rangers™ is an Education Service for TV News, Broadcasters, Business, Media, Law Enforcement, Police, NGOs, Charity, Musicians and Celebrities.

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