eModeration: Managing Social Media Around Live Events

Authored by

Date

26

2012

For more information call Tamara Littleton on +44 (0)20 3178 5050 www.emoderation.com

eModeration Ltd :: The Media Village :: 131-151 Great Titchfield St :: London :: W1W 5BB :: UK

Social media involvement adds the ‘wow factor’ to live events. This white paper explains how to manage social

media around live events, drive engagement and improve the overall live event experience, with some

suggestions for the tools to help you do it.

November 2012 Authored by Tamara Littleton, CEO

Managing

social media

around live

events

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eModeration: The Guide to Social Media Engagement for Financial Organisations

2

Managing social media around live events

The live experience and social media – why it matters ...................................................................................................... 3

What you’ll learn from this whitepaper .................................................................................................................................... 4

What social media can do for your live event ....................................................................................................................... 5

Promoting events ............................................................................................................................................................................. 5

Extending the live experience ..................................................................................................................................................... 6

Sports events ................................................................................................................................................................................. 6

Entertainment shows ................................................................................................................................................................... 7

The fashion world ......................................................................................................................................................................... 7

Politics .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 8

Sharing ideas ................................................................................................................................................................................. 8

Fuelling the live-event fire .............................................................................................................................................................. 9

The Royal Wedding .............................................................................................................................................................. 9

MTV Video Music Awards ........................................................................................................................................................ 10

The Olympic Games ................................................................................................................................................................. 11

Political speeches ...................................................................................................................................................................... 12

Types of social media live events .......................................................................................................................................... 13

Live chats, comment participation. ..................................................................................................................................... 13

Live events, no broadcast coverage ................................................................................................................................... 14

Q&As ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 15

How to manage and curate social media for live events ................................................................................................. 16

Engagement ............................................................................................................................................................................... 16

Curation ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 17

Preparation .................................................................................................................................................................................. 17

Moderation .................................................................................................................................................................................. 18

Channels...................................................................................................................................................................................... 22

Live streaming via YouTube .................................................................................................................................................... 22

Google + Events and Hangouts ............................................................................................................................................ 23

Twitter ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 24

Tools .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 25

About eModeration ................................................................................................................................................................... 26

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The live experience and social media – why it matters

Live events. There’s nothing like them. Sport, politics, entertainment – no matter what the

subject, live makes them more… alive! Whether you’re at a gig, hooking up with friends at a

bar to watch ESPN or Sky Sports, having people over to watch America’s Got Talent or X

Factor, it’s the immediacy, the unpredictability that makes it so engaging.

Add in the possibilities of social media, and you’ve got something with enormous reach.

We’re not content to just watch passively any more. We log on to Facebook to kick someone

out of the Big Brother house; we congregate in public parks to watch the Olympics, then

Tweet like crazy to relay the excitement; we participate in political Q&A sessions, firing

questions we want answered.

This is the new era. It’s 20,000 Tweets when the winning goal goes in; it’s set lists and videos

from the O2; it’s your opinion on that contestant before the last note is sung. It’s live and

dangerous. And you should be there.

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What you’ll learn from this whitepaper

Social media involvement adds the wow factor to live events. Savvy brands are using all the

channels at their disposal to generate a buzz around the events they are associated with.

That’s what this white paper is all about. We’ll explain how to manage social media around

live events, drive engagement and improve the overall live event experience, with some

suggestions for the tools to help you do it.

We’ll also show you how to manage the risks. Inviting a wider online audience to be part of

your event requires you to strike the balance between encouraging participation and

making sure people behave themselves. The great thing is that it’s all manageable, and

without killing the buzz. Live is fun; live is immediate; live is powerful. So how can you make it

work for you?

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What social media can do for your live event

Promoting events

Picture this: you have a major product launch, and you’re throwing a party to celebrate.

You’ve found a hundred opinion-formers to invite as guests. How can you help your

advocates to get the word out to your thousands of fans – and those people you want to

turn into fans?

Social media channels are ideal for jogging memories, reaching contacts and building

momentum.

On Twitter, for example, you can create a specific hashtag about your event – eg

#productxlaunch – and encourage people at the event to use the hashtag and Tweet live as

your event unfolds. Have your own people Tweet the headline facts; not too often, but often

enough that fast-moving Twitter feeds catch the buzz. Let the people at the event supply the

commentary and opinion.

Facebook Events take no time

to create. You can make your

page public or private, and

send personal invitations to loyal

customers and interested

prospects. Facebook may not

be the newest kid on the block,

but it’s still the most popular

social network, which means

your event has a better chance

of being found.

Google+ Events are another great way to spread the word. What sets Google’s relatively

recent event-planning platform apart is it encourages engagement before, during and after

the event, linking with Google+ hangouts and YouTube (more on this later). It’s also fun to use

and a doddle to master.

For ticketing options which will allow payment, Eventbrite is the market leader, socially

connected, with full data tracking and now with a new iPad ‘at the door’ credit card reader

system.

http://mashable.com/2012/09/09/twitter-hashtags-small-business/

http://en-gb.facebook.com/help/131325477007622/

http://www.google.com/+/learnmore/events/

http://www.eventbrite.com/

http://techcrunch.com/2010/10/14/eventbrite-facebook-share/

http://techcrunch.com/2010/10/14/eventbrite-facebook-share/

http://blog.eventbrite.com/introducing-the-at-the-door-card-reader/

http://blog.eventbrite.com/introducing-the-at-the-door-card-reader/

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Extending the live experience

Social media allow brands and broadcasters to extend the reach of their events and bring

people close to the action. Fans can watch live streaming on YouTube, Google+ or

Facebook, or submit ideas and questions to a live panel, for example. Here are some

examples of how live events organisers have used social media:

Sports events

At the start of 2012, Livestream hooked up with The Championships at Wimbledon to give

tennis fans unprecedented online coverage and access. Fans were treated to up to five hours

of live video streaming a day, and enjoyed interviews with players, press conferences, off-the-

court reports and behind-the-scenes content that wasn’t seen on live TV.

But where the interaction really took off was on social media channels – fans chatted in real-

time with each other during matches, shared photos, and got updates on everything

happening at the tournament.

Wimbledon using Facebook & Livestream to create a mashup to

connect the press room to Facebook fans.

http://www.sporttechie.com/2012/07/09/live-wimbledon-155/

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Entertainment shows

Broadcasters aren’t just fighting for

audience figures. They’re wise to

the power of user-generated

content, and many live TV shows

are now created with social media

firmly in mind.

In the UK, Strictly Come Dancing

and X Factor go head to head not

just on the airwaves, but in the

Twittersphere. When it came to the

crunch, the opening shows pulled

in a similar number of viewers.

However, X Factor trounced Strictly

three-to-one in the Twitter stakes,

handing it an important victory – it

was deemed the show that

everyone was talking about.

The fashion world

Fashionistas are also using social

media to extend the catwalk

experience. For example, UK

clothing brand Topshop created a

live-streaming, customisable

catwalk experience, first debuted

during Fashion Week in September

2012. It works by synching live-

streaming of the show with the

website, delivering a real-time customisable catwalk experience. Watchers can instantly buy

the look strutting down the runway, browse the different colour options for the outfit, check

out (and purchase) the make-up the models are wearing, share live photos of each model /

outfit, and even download the music playlist. Find out more about social media fashion

trends in our whitepaper on how the fashion industry is using social media.

http://www.strictlycomedancinglive.com/home/

http://xfactor.itv.com/

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2012-09-17/the-x-factor-beats-strictly-in-the-twitter-battle-of-the-talent-shows

http://mashable.com/2012/09/16/topshop-livestream-ss2013/

http://www.emoderation.com/download-how-fashion-retailers-use-social-media

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Politics

The 2012 US election saw campaigns fought online like never before – the internet and social

media platforms have become key political battlefields.

The Democrats wasted no time in using Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit, Linkedin and Facebook to

engage voters and mobilise volunteers. The Republicans also pumped serious resource into

their social media strategy. The Party’s YouTube channel was the online hub for its

convention, dubbed the “Convention Without Walls” – the idea being anyone can be part of

it, no matter where they are in the country. And they offered behind-the-scenes coverage

with an array of other connected platforms, like Facebook and Google+ Hangouts, and hired

social media reporters to update the channels. Obama made history back in January 2012

with the first ever Presidential Google+ Hangout: a risk which turned into a huge success.

Facebook friends aren’t forever though: post-election, Mitt Romney lost 847 Facebook “likes”

per hour.

Even Xbox gamers were served up their

own slice of the Presidential race, with an

Obama-Romney debate streamed live to

their console via the online Xbox Live

service. They had chance to answer

polling questions via Twitter #XboxPoll,

and see reactions to their questions in real

time.

Sharing ideas

TEDx is a great example of a format that takes a live event and uses online media to extend

its audience and share ideas beyond the event’s physical attendees. Live streaming of the

event means you can still be a part of the discussion and share a connection with those

interested in the topic.

http://www.youtube.com/gopconvention

http://mashable.com/2012/01/31/obama-hangout/

http://www.examiner.com/article/romney-loses-thousands-of-facebook-friends-post-election

http://www.examiner.com/article/romney-loses-thousands-of-facebook-friends-post-election

http://www.ted.com/tedx

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Fuelling the live-event fire

Certain events will always generate huge numbers of social shares / follows, and here brands

and broadcasters have a choice. They either ‘curate’ and manage user-generated content,

repurposing it to stimulate even more of a buzz around the event; or they can leave the

content be, and allow the buzz to spread purely virally.

Some high-profile events that spurred

huge social media activity:

The Royal Wedding

When Prince William tied the knot with Kate Middleton, social media channels were fit to

burst. On their big day, more than one million people in the UK used their Facebook status to

discuss the nuptials, with some 684,399 updates referencing the marriage in just four hours –

that’s 47 mentions every second. Stateside, there was also huge interest in the couple, with

US Facebook users posting nearly two million updates.

The wedding was an excellent example of how social media can capture what people are

thinking and propel anything into public consciousness. Not that long ago, Princess Beatrice

might have got away with just a rebuke from the style police for her odd-looking hat. But in

the social media age there’s nowhere to hide. Her headwear has assumed cult status – the

‘Princess Beatrice’s Ridiculous Royal Wedding Hat’ Facebook page has more than 134,000

likes.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Princess-Beatrices-ridiculous-Royal-Wedding-hat/203705509669392

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MTV Video Music Awards

The 2012 MTV Europe Music Awards event on November 11th was one of the most social

events ever: a textbook example of how social media can be used to extend an event’s

boundaries far beyond the event itself. This year’s show was laden with social media activity,

the cross-platform campaign incorporating gamification, social 'clout' rewards, social

sentiment, a Video Wall Studio and a second screen live viewing experience across 36

regions and 22 languages. MTV screened the Backstage Show live online during commercial

breaks, giving music fans access to behind the scenes action, red carpet arrivals, live artist

interviews and the presentation of two awards. The Video Wall Studio featured the popular

MTV EMA Twitter Tracker which this year had three modes: Buzz, Photos, and the Prediction

hashtag #EMAWIN.

The EMA amassed a whopping 5.7 million tweets during the show according to the Twitter

Tracker: here are the winners on the leaderboard. Fans could chat, share viral moments, and

receive real-time alerts on winners. Via the AttracTV overlay, fans had access to alternate

camera views, live polling and artist twitter feeds.

This kind of event takes at least a

year to plan, and needs a long tail

to get the fans involved. MTV

began the social media lead up to

the event in August 2012, with a

Facebook competition to win

tickets to the awards, and regular

updates, reminders and teasers as

the date drew near.

http://tv.mtvema.com/

http://ema-twittertracker.mtv.com/live/#/

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The Olympic Games

The 2012 sporting spectacular has been dubbed the first ‘socialympics’, with Twitter providing

the alternative commentary to the games (which gave those trying to watch NBC’s much-

criticised patchy and delayed coverage at least some idea of what was happening) and

athletes’ profiles gaining massive followings. During the opening ceremony, Twitter saw more

Tweets in a single day (9.66 million mentions) than it saw during the whole duration of the

Beijing 2008 Olympics.

However, it wasn’t without controversy: some athletes were either loose-lipped, or gagged;

and brands who wanted to ride the Olympic wave and create promotional activity around

the event were subject to a legal quagmire of restrictions (see our Social Media Guide to the

2012 Olympics which aimed to lay a pathway through the quagmire).

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-57481830-71/nbcolympics-great-opening-show-too-bad-you-cant-see-it/

http://blog.uk.twitter.com/2012/07/today-on-twitter.html

http://blog.uk.twitter.com/2012/07/today-on-twitter.html

http://www.channelguidemagblog.com/index.php/2012/07/31/how-the-social-media-olympics-fail-at-social-media/

http://www.emoderation.com/not-just-athlete-social-media-expert-too

http://www.briansolis.com/2012/08/why-the-olympic-games-social-media-policy-failed/

http://www.emoderation.com/social-media-publications/download-emoderation-social-media-guide-to-the-2012-olympics

http://www.emoderation.com/social-media-publications/download-emoderation-social-media-guide-to-the-2012-olympics

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Political speeches

Politicians have always delivered powerful speeches that got people talking – but in the past

it was far harder to quantify exactly how much people were talking. You could run a radio

phone-in right after the speech, but that would hardly be a representative sample. Or you

could run an opinion poll to gauge the impact of the speech, but it would take time to

collect and analyse the results.

Today, Twitter releases figures almost immediately after major political rallies – you can see

quickly how many people are talking about a subject, and with what intensity thanks to the

Tweets per minute stats. According to Twitter’s official blog, the Democratic National

Convention generated more than 9.5 million Tweets – more than double the Republican

National Convention. Not all buzz of course, is good news: sentiment analysis tools will tell you

whether the opinion is for or against.

The President also set a new record for political moments: 52,756 Tweets per minute right after

he finished his acceptance speech. And when it came to sound bites, Obama scored big

again: more than 43,000 for “I'm no longer just the candidate, I'm the President”, and 39,000

for “I will never turn Medicare into a voucher”.

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Types of social media live events

There is huge scope for different types of social engagement with live events, but we’ve

attempted to categorise them into three types:

Live chats, comment participation. The audience is either live at the event or watching it remotely, and they use a second

screen/mobile device to provide crowd-sourced commentary. Social media may be curated

(cherry picked, editorially guided) or not (simply moderated). Minimal editorial input is

required if using a host, but guiding discussion during the quiet bits or providing commentary

is the way forward. This would be live to big screen or scrolling on TV; it can be a huge hit, but

needs perfect moderation to ensure no inappropriate content is accidentally published.

Examples:

The FA Cup Final Tweets and audio clips were displayed on ITV website alongside the

live match.

Hosted live chats on the websites of reality TV shows such as The Apprentice and X

Factor. Live chats during broadcaster’s special events such as elections, or the Royal

Wedding.

US Tennis Open 2011: : The US Tennis Open attached match stats and news to viewers’

tweets and displayed them on the US Open website.

http://www.emoderation.com/portfolio/itv-com-fa-cup-final-twitterfall

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Live events, no broadcast coverage

Here the emphasis is much more on encouraging participants at the event to blog or tweet,

to give a flavour of what is going on and to create a record of the event. Events may be

streamed live or not, but there is no attempt to pull in UGC to the event itself.

Examples:

Product launches

Seminars

Conferences

Encourage people attending your event – whether in person, or virtually – to post to any

channels dedicated to the event (your webpage, Facebook, Google+ and so on). Make

sure, however, that you

moderate these channels so

you don’t end up associated

with inappropriate content).

Live blogging and Tweeting

can be a great way of

engaging people who don’t

want to attend or view the

whole event, but are

interested in the highlights.

Consider platforms like Storify

to bring all your event’s social

content into one place.

http://storify.com/

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Q&As

Often technically similar to Live Chats, but here the curator/host role is very important,

because audience expectations will always far out-run the ability of your guests to respond.

You need to collate similar questions alongside the Q/A stream, and manage expectations.

Encourage the audience to offer answers to the questions themselves, to fill the gaps while

your guest is replying; it involves more people. Note the problems associated with issues like

health or money matters, where everyone wants their question answered and people want

very personal advice – which you won’t be able to provide. They are often poor user

experiences because of this, and questions should be selected so that the answers can be as

general as possible.

Choose the right software. It’s important to use software that publishes the question and

answer together, and enables ‘question queuing’. For example, when the moderator finds a

suitable question from the incoming suggestions, they can place it in a 'holding' queue,

where it can later be read and answered by the host or guest panellist. Ideally, the software

should let the contributor who posted the question know that their question is on hold, so they

don't keep repeating it. This 'why won't they publish / answer my question?' frustration is the

most common complaint when users are 'in the room' with the chat (it’s less of an issue where

the feed is drawn from Tweets or other 'remote' sources).

Examples:

Doctor Who Q&A at Expo Comic

Con (Edited YouTube version)

was streamed live on You Tube,

with questions on YouTube and

the Facebook Page

The Obama Google+ hangout

↑ Click to see the Dr Who Q&A

Click to see the Obama hangout ↑

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf_wpxRfWOo&list=PLKEzuOOEQvYOs7H1v49DhaAyyTqBgnjh0&feature=plpp_play_all




http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=eeTj5qMGTAI



http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=eeTj5qMGTAI

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How to manage and curate social media for live events

Engagement

In today’s digital world, you can’t afford not to use social media to drive engagement

around your live event. How successful you are in harnessing these channels will have a major

impact on the success of the overall event. So it’s crucial to engage people at every

opportunity, before, during and after the event.

The University of Southampton in the UK offers a great example of how to maximise

engagement around a conference. During a live event, ‘Social Media Champions’ carried

out interviews with conference participants about their experiences and interactions via

Twitter, Storify, Flickr, Vimeo, LinkedIn, Facebook, QR codes and Corkboard. They also

collected delegate feedback after the event.

During your event, engage with the community as much as possible. If you can,

acknowledge and respond to comments from users – but of course, if you’re running a live TV

event, for example, sheer volumes will make that impossible. But you can spot themes and

trends in user comments, and post responses that address those themes.

Generally, events that ask questions have a higher engagement rate than those that just

invite comments. For example, when a host asks, ‘Who’ll win tonight’s showdown?’, it makes

it very easy for people to respond. Tip: a lot of the responses will be repetitive, so encourage

and display the concise and entertaining ones.

Be human. When you host a live chat and respond to comments, sound like a human being.

If you sound friendly, helpful and like a real person, your brand will come across as one

participants can relate to. And that’s what brand building is all about – sharing an emotional

connection.

Be responsive. Contributors love the personal touch of being acknowledged, and the chat

going in a direction they’ve set. And a good Host can lessen the disappointment of those not

seeing their comments posted by co-ordinating with the moderator and addressing any

complaints promptly and appropriately. Remember, it’s all about the quality of the

engagement, not the quantity.

http://www.smartinsights.com/social-media-marketing/social-media-strategy/new-research-reveals-effective-integration-of-livevirtual-event-experiences/

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Curation

Social media moves fast. Something interesting happens, and suddenly people post content

from all angles. This means one of the most important considerations when preparing for any

live event is how to curate all that content. You need to bring a sense of order and clarity to

proceedings, otherwise all those posts will just come across as ‘noise’. Get it right and you’ll

foster trust in your brand, enjoy a greater level of engagement, and see more people tuning

in for future events. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by how much you need to take charge of.

Spotlighting interesting comments is a good way to encourage participation from your

community. Create a system to collate interesting comments, and highlight them (using

‘editors’ picks’, for example, as some news sites do). This is also a valuable way of collecting

feedback after the event.

Preparation

Set guidelines

People need – actually, like – boundaries, and with a hosted event it is essential to set them.

Put the rules somewhere they shouldn’t be missed. If the opportunity or the need arises, direct

people to check them out. Be very clear about what’s acceptable and what’s not. And

make sure you enforce your terms, otherwise you’re compromising your integrity and your

reputation.

One more thing: review your guidelines regularly. Social media technology moves fast, you

can’t afford to lag behind. What worked this year may backfire on you next time around.

Manage expectations

Don’t oversell participation. Most contributors won’t see their posts on screen, so there’s no

point promising something you can’t deliver. If you do, you’ll annoy people (who will be very

visible with their annoyance) and they’ll have less confidence in you in future. Many

questions / comments carry a common theme, so one way around ‘participation frustration’

is to have a separate display of frequently posted comments, or variations on a popular

question you are going to answer just once. If contributors see their question has been

covered, they’ll be less likely to feel shut out.

Avoid arguments

Don’t get drawn into discussing individual acts of moderation – it’s asking for trouble and

diverting resource that’s better spent elsewhere. Again, just remind the contributor of the

rules. They’ll get the message eventually.

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“At the peak of the World Cup, when goals were scored, a Tweet a second was coming onto the tool, and we were clearing them nearly as quickly. The tweeted goals came on screen only five seconds after the ball actually went in the net. It felt like fan commentary”

Moderator, ITV Twitterfall World Cup 2011

Moderation

You’ll need robust moderation in place to prevent your event being hijacked. This is fast-

paced, highly-pressured work: we recommend at least two moderators working

simultaneously to allow for high volumes and shifts to be scheduled to allow for staff breaks in

order to maintain concentration levels.

Brands adopt different approaches to moderating user-generated content. In fact, how they

moderate is in itself a reflection of their brand values. Below are some universal truths worth

considering, regardless of the nature of the event.

Choose pre or post-moderation

Put another way, will you allow content to appear live before it’s reviewed (post-

moderating), or would you rather review all content before goes live (pre-moderated)?

Which method you choose will hinge on the channel, the type of event you’re running, how

many participants you’re expecting, and what level of risk is acceptable to you.

In our experience, moderating during a hectic live event is less about rejecting unsuitable

comments, and more about choosing the best and most apt comments for publication

(cherry-picking), so pre-moderation is recommended. You improve the whole experience by

providing better quality, content which can be screened for bias, heavily reduce the risk of

inappropriate content, and provided you are set up right, there is no appreciable loss of

immediacy. Moderated content can appear live on the right platform in seconds.

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If you post-moderate, then remember that even if content is only up there for a few seconds,

that’s enough time for a Retweet or screengrab. The pressure on the moderation team will be

very heavy.

It’s an obvious point, but worth mentioning that you can’t moderate Twitter. Tweets can only

be deleted by the user or by Twitter itself. What you can (and should) do is moderate them

before you publish a stream curated from keywords or hashtags. Beware also the Twitter

spambots who will leap on trending hashtags and ruin an event for everyone.

With some channels – notably Facebook, Google+ and YouTube – you can’t pre-moderate.

Which means that moderation needs to be very, very, very quick. You can at least set filters in

Facebook and via Facebook tools to help with anticipated inappropriate content.

The community management team needs to set moderation guidelines (more complex

versions of the user guidelines) which can be easily referred to during the event. Inevitably

there will be some ‘grey areas’ and potential emergencies (bomb threats etc). Provision

should be made for escalation during an event.

Control the flow

Part of the moderation team’s job is to control the speed at which comments are published.

Some brands base their KPIs on the number of comments displayed during the event, but this

is misleading. Depending on the display, participants won’t be able to read more than 150-

180 words a minute. If an average message is 20 to 30 words, they can only read six to 10

messages a minute, which means they should only be scrolled through at that rate. This is

what we call a natural 'throttle' on the level of user participation. Most software allows for pre-

moderation with a slight delay and a good moderator will make sure that the stream is

constant and not too fast.

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Keep the conversation balanced

Cherry-pick between different media and opposing opinions, for example, to ensure that

published content reflects what is happening in the live event, and the direction in which the

hosts would like it to go.

If there is to be a Q&A element to the event, the software needs to allow for 'queuing' of

questions: when the moderator finds a suitable question from the queue of incoming

comments, they select and place it in a 'holding' queue, where the question can be read

and answered by the Host or guest panellist. When the answer is ready, the software will,

ideally, publish the question and answer together.

Control the conversation

Live debates and Q&A-style chats need special handling because at any moment you might

receive a deluge of comments that skew the debate in one direction. Be on the lookout for

counter-arguments to balance it out, and be aware of agenda-driven hardliners trying to

narrow the debate to a single issue. So keep a tight rein on the discussion and make sure it

follows the format you want, otherwise the loudest voices will drive the conversation. Make

sure though that you take context into account: comments about how immigrants impact

the economy should be handled differently to those that are just plain race discrimination.

Constant communication

Keeping the lines open

between the organisers, the

host and the community

management and

moderation teams is

essential. The Community

Manager or Host can quickly

respond to specific issues

arising from the event or

from the chat. S/he should

give instructions to the

moderation team, and from

them gather sentiment from

the comments which aren't

being published. This allows the moderators to not only provide feedback on issues that the

users want to talk about, but where the conversation has yet to lead.

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Be brief

Shorter messages mean more messages make it on screen, and typically result in greater user

engagement. But take context into account. Pithy comments during America’s Got Talent

are fine, but during a serious news event they could appear inappropriate or insensitive.

Never allow abusive comments. Ever.

It’s really important you’re consistent with enforcing this rule. For example, if you forbid all

swear words, don’t turn a blind eye to an expletive just because the rest of the post is right on

the money. A moderation tool will give you the opportunity to block abusive users or

spammers, but it’s also worth remembering that contentious subjects stir up strong feelings. So

give people a chance. Sometimes they just need reminding of the rules, and not to let

passion give way to abuse.

Close to 40 percent of Americans now use their

tablets or smartphones while watching TV at

least once a day, and twice as many do it at least

once a month ... these devices are omnipresent,

and not just among the youth. Today, more than

39 percent of people use their smartphone at

least once a day while watching TV, 62 percent

say they do this multiple times a week and 84

percent do at least once a month.

Nielsen Cross-Platform Report . Q2 2012

”

“

http://www.digitalstrategyconsulting.com/netimperative/news/2012/11/the_rise_of_the_second_screen.php

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Channels

We’re not going to pretend we’ve covered all the options. But here are some tips for a few

FREE events channels you may want to consider:

Live streaming via YouTube

For anyone who can’t get to your event, live streaming is the next best thing and can work

wonders for extending a brand’s reach.

YouTube is a social media heavyweight and remains hugely popular – more than four billion

hours of video are watched every month, making it the largest video network in the world. So

it’s well worth considering broadcasting live using this trusted platform. You can even stream

straight from your webcam, using a Google+ Hangout, which then links to your YouTube

channel for the actual live broadcast.

Sheer weight of YouTube numbers means you could bring a lot of exposure to your live event

and brand. Once you’ve set up your broadcast, use every social media channel you can to

forward the YouTube link.

But beware of comments on YouTube: the anonymity of the channels makes it more

susceptible than most to abusive comments and spam. Approach with caution, and

moderate the comments (or disable them) so your streamed event isn’t associated with

inappropriate content.

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/youtube-live-streaming/

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Google+ Events and Hangouts

You can use Google+ Events pretty much as you would do Facebook Events: to invite an

audience to an actual physical event at a location. You then have the option of inviting the

guests to share photos and comments from the event. Want to reach wider than your invited

audience? Then ‘Make this an event on air’ (not the same as streaming it live) opens it up to

the public at large and anyone can share the invitation and upload photos.

But beware: you can’t pre-moderate content in Google+ (though you can delete it when it’s

posted), so if your event is public, you might want to think carefully before you encourage

people to comment and share images live.

Google+ Hangouts allows

free video conferencing for

up to 10 people – which is

pretty neat in itself. But

more importantly for this

paper, you can “Enable

Hangouts On Air” to stream

your live hangout publicly

on your Google+ profile,

your YouTube channel and

your website, and of course

invite. You can post a

recorded version to

YouTube as well.

TheCommunityManager.com has good tips on how to manage a hangout.

It’s not yet possible to use Google+ Events to schedule a Hangout On Air or to broadcast an

event. But you can use Google+ Hangouts and Google+ Events together to get the same

effect. A good article in the Social

Media Examiner outlines the (rather

complex) steps to do this.

One of the best known Google+

Hangouts wasn’t even hosted by

humans ...

Click to see the Muppets' Hangout →


http://support.google.com/plus/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2660424

http://www.emoderation.com/reporting-content-moderating-and-managing-audiences-on-google-plus-pages

http://www.google.com/+/learnmore/hangouts/

http://www.google.com/+/learnmore/hangouts/onair.html


http://thecommunitymanager.com/2012/11/13/tips-for-conducting-a-google-q-and-a-style-hangout


http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/google-plus-events/

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/google-plus-events/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hof5nlozAxU



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Twitter

Live tweeting is a skill. Get

it right and you can add

to the experience for

those at the event, while

for non-attendees you

can keep them updated

on event highlights.

Intelligent live tweeting

helps you make a positive

impression up there on the

big conference screen –

and may well help you

make new contacts.

These tips could prove useful on the day:

Quote speakers. People love retweeting a great quote. Make sure you use quotation

marks and attribute it to the speaker.

Be discerning. Don’t go crazy quoting everything the speaker says. Tweeting every six to

nine minutes is plenty. Think quality not quantity – it’s much better to be known as

someone who only Tweets when they’ve something to say.

Cite sources. When you post an interesting fact, give the Twitter handle or real name of

the person who said it.

Post other media. Make your Tweets more interesting by attaching photos of the event.

Interact with people at the event. Retweet people’s posts if you see something

interesting. But try to stick to a ratio of three Tweets to every Retweet.

Use hashtags. That way people can follow the stream of information about your event,

and you can track what people are saying about you.

Start conversations. Keep an eye on your replies tab and interact with others, especially

if someone asks you a question.

See more detailed tips on how to be a successful live-Tweeter here.

http://www.emoderation.com/how-to-live-tweet-from-an-event

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Tools

Again, by no means an exhasutive list, but a good place to start.

Sentiment

Free tools: Twitter Sentiment, Social Mention, Twendz, Twtrratr, Get Sentiment

(all reviewed here) Be aware though that this is still an inexact science...

Ticketing, invitations

Eventbrite, Facebook Events, Google+ Events

Curation, moderation, live blogging, live chat

CoveritLive, ScribbleLive, Never.no

Twitter-only aggregation, moderation, curation, display

Paratweet, Tweetwall Pro, Tweetbeam, Refynr, VisibleTweets, Tweetwally

Mixed media aggregation, moderation, curation

Feedmagnet, Mass Relevance (was Tweetriver)

Livestreaming tools and hosts

Livestream, BitGravity, Stickam, blogTV, ustream, Own3d TV, DaCast, LavaView, Justin.tv

Disclaimer – we are in no way endorsing any of these tools, nor does eModeration have any

kind of relationship with them. The links were active at the time of release of this white paper.

http://www.sentiment140.com/

http://socialmention.com/

http://twendz.waggeneredstrom.com/

http://twitrratr.com/

http://www.getsentiment.com/

http://smallbiztrends.com/2010/03/tracking-twitter-sentiment.html

http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/help/131325477007622/


http://www.coveritlive.com/

http://www.scribblelive.com/

http://www.never.no/

http://www.paratweet.com/

http://www.tweetwallpro.com/

http://www.tweetbeam.com/

http://refynr.com/

http://visibletweets.com/

http://www.tweetwally.com/

http://www.feedmagnet.com/

http://www.massrelevance.com/

http://new.livestream.com/

http://www.bitgravity.com/

http://www.stickam.com/

http://www.blogtv.com/

http://www.ustream.tv/new

http://www.own3d.tv/

http://www.dacast.com/

http://www.lavaview.com/Home.aspx

http://www.justin.tv/

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About eModeration

eModeration Limited is an award-winning social media management agency. It works with

some of the world’s biggest brands (including BBC Worldwide, ITV, HSBC, MTV, Sony Mobile,

Hyundai, Smirnoff, the LEGO Group, Sprint and The Economist) and agencies (including

Starcom MediaVest Group, Wieden + Kennedy, Ogilvy, Saatchi & Saatchi, DDB Worldwide,

Crispin Porter + Bogusky and Publicis Groupe).

Based in London UK, with offices in Los Angeles and New York, eModeration provides multi-

lingual moderation and community management services, consultancy and social media

crisis management training to clients in the TV, entertainment and digital publishing industry

and blue chip clients hosting online communities.

Committed to ethical business practices and to the promotion of child online safety,

eModeration's CEO Tamara Littleton recently worked with the UK Government department

UKCCIS to produce its on how to moderate online environments for children.

eModeration contributes to the growth of knowledge in the social media world via its blogs

and seminars, and has a strong roster of returning clients who appreciate the high quality of

its services.

Media and blogger contacts:

For eModeration: To speak to Tamara Littleton, CEO, eModeration, please contact: Kate

Hartley, Carrot Communications, Tel: 0203 178 5052 / email [email protected]

© eModeration Limited 2012. This document is the intellectual property of eModeration Limited and may not be

duplicated or disclosed to any third party without the written permission of an authorised officer of the company.

http://www.emoderation.com/

mailto:[email protected]

eModeration: Managing Social Media Around Live Events

Business

Transcript of eModeration: Managing Social Media Around Live Events