[1]We here at NTEN spend a lot of time thinking about how nonprofits can use mobile phones in their work. Why? Because we believe that mobile phones are game changers, with the ability to shift -- fundamentally shift -- the way we communicate. Mobile phones are powerful tools in your media arsenal. No one has said it as eloquently as Alan Moore [2].
If your organization is thinking about starting, or is currently running, a mobile campaign of any sort, you need to read this paper. If your boss remains unconvinced, text her the URL.
Some highlights:
Lessons from First Mass Media (PRINT): a new media will introduce new industry, new professions, and new business models. Advertising can support, even carry a media channel.
Lessons from Second Mass Media (RECORDING): a new mass media can cannibalise from the old, but also add new opportunities. A new media can create formats which were not viable before it. In addition to creative and technical talent, there can be performing talent in media. Even with an expensive media player to be purchased by users, a media can flourish.Lessons from the third Mass Media (CINEMA): moving pictures are more compelling than written words or just sounds. People are willing to pay per view. And a media that does not require the audience to go buy new equipment has the ability to bypass older media in adoption speed.
Lessons from the Fourth Mass Media (RADIO): include that broadcast is tied to a schedule, even a cannibalistic new media typically will not kill off an older media, rather adjust it. Even if two mass media use similar content, the newer one will still spawn new professions and a new industry. It’s possible for two media to form a symbiotic relationship.
Lessons from the fifth Mass Media (TV): even a very expensive media player is not an obstacle to adoption if the format is right. A media can gain a dominant position without a unique technical benefit. A new media rival with an absolute advantage - such as TV over radio - will still not kill of the previous mass media.Lessons from the 6th Mass Media (INTERNET): if a mass media is an inherent threat media, threatening to cannibalize all legacy media, it also will rapidly alter each of the legacy media. Interactivity creates digital community and moves media from push to pull. A hot media is inherently preferred over any cold media and will cannibalize older media at unprecedented speeds.
The internet alone is an iceberg still mostly under the water. Don't misunderstand this White Paper as suggesting mobile will somehow “kill off” the internet. Just like cinema and TV did not kill off books, radio did not kill of recordings and the internet has not killed off newspapers, magazines, videogames, etc. Mobile is the newest mass media: a very different mass media, but not the hangman of the internet. For all of the major internet services, companies, and media formats, bright futures are still ahead. Just note that while the internet has started its path towards the second billion users, the youngest media, mobile, is already nearing its third billion users.