Where Did "Conversational Media" Come From?

The phrase "conversational media" has been kicking around for awhile, although it hasn't been very widely used. I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge some people who were mulling this emerging field over long before I heard the term...

PAUL CONLEY: Paul is a freelance journalist and a journalism mentor for trade magazines and newsletters. He's also one of the most thought-provoking media bloggers I read. In fact, I first noticed the term "conversational media" in his Nov. 18, 2005 article "Learning the basics of conversational editorial." If you read the thread of comments for that article, you'll see that phrase resonated with me because it pulled together several evolving trends that have interested me for a long time. Paul has written several articles that mention conversational media, including one published just this morning: "Learning to speak with, not to, readers." They're all worth checking out.

In an e-mail discussion this morning, Paul emphasized to me that he differentiates between "conversational editorial" and "conversational media." I'm hoping that in a future posting to his blog (or perhaps even in a comment to this posting, hint hint Paul ;-) he'll expand on how he envisions that distinction.

ROBERT SCOBLE AND SHEL ISRAEL, authors of the soon-to-be published book and popular weblog Naked Conversations. The book is due out sometime this month, and I can't wait to read it. Although they don't necessarily use the term "conversational media" much, their focus is how blogs are changing how businesses talk with customers -- a key aspect of conversational media.

DAVID BURN, editor of the advertising/PR blog AdPulp. Yes, conversational media encompasses advertising, marketing, and PR as well as journalism and independent media. As David was kind enough to remind me in this comment thread this morning, he's been talking about conversational media for some time. A good example is his Oct. 18, 2004 posting, "Conversational Media Goes Big Time."

EVELYN RODRIGUEZ writes the Crossroads Dispatches blog and is a writer/consultant who has been immersed in the conversational media mindset for some time. She helps businesses adopt that mindset, too. I had the good fortune of hearing Evelyn speak at the BlogHer conference last summer, and we've corresponded a bit since then. She's very sharp. Check out her Aug. 9, 2005 posting to the Fast Company weblog, "Small + Disruptive = Powerful," where she connects conversational media to an important business trend.

REX HAMMOCK, president of Hammock Publishing, Inc. (custom publisher of magazines, newsletters and digital media for corporate and association clients) has mentioned conversational media several times in his weblog. For instance, see his Nov. 30, 2005 posting "BusinessWeek Gets It" -- with which I completely agree.

KIM WECKSTROM, who I believe is a Finnish high-tech entrepreneur, wrote an interesting historical perspective on conversational media, published by the Aula Network June 10, 2005.

...That's all I have time to list right now, but there are others. I'll mention them later.

Where did you hear about "conversational media?" Who has influenced your thinking about this field? Comment below!

Comments

[Rex Hammock]

I guess "conversational media" means having a vanity search looking for when my name is posted on a blog. Thanks for the inclusion among this list of those who use the "conversational media" phrase. I've always preferred the phrase "conversatioal media" to "social media" or, the worst option IMHO, "consumer-generated-media" or things like that. I love the "conversation" metaphor. I registered the URL "conversationalmedia.com" several years ago and it used to redirect of my company's website. Thanks to your post, I see that it's not redirecting properly -- see what one learns when one "listens" to the conversation.

[Amy Gahran]

You're welcome, Rex :-) Yeah, I do the ego-surfing thing to -- yet another creative use of search feeds. I figured you'd probably find this posting before I got a chance to e-mail you. But I'm glad you've joined this conversation!

So *you're* the one who grabbed the conversationalmedia.com domain! I noticed it was grabbed when I went shopping...

- Amy Gahran

[David Burn]

Wow, I wasn't looking for credit, but I'll take what I can get. Thanks, Amy.

I look forward to your work here.

[Amy Bellinger]

I don't think he uses the term, but Howard Rheingold's name belongs on anybody's pre-blog honor roll.

[Rex Hammock]

I second that Howard Rheingold nomination.

[Evelyn Rodriguez]

Hi Amy, Thanks for the mention. The markets are conversations Cluetrain mantra contributes to the use of that term. I think I saw "conversational media" used in Harvard Business Review last March in article about the top 25 trends for 2005.