Over the Wire

Role Model, Anyone?

Turns out that being squeaky clean (at least as far as the public knows) now officially means NOTHING in the way of sports fanship. Last month, we released the Harris Poll’s list of favorite sports stars… and as far as I can tell, only 2 out of the top 8 have stayed out of the spotlight for off-the-court/field hijinx (is that what we are calling it that these days?).  Our favorites list includes reality-show proportions of addiction, infidelity, gambling, and arrests, just to name a few of the exploits covered. 

Sure, we don’t love our sports stars quite as much when they’ve been behaving badly…Like for example, Tiger Woods no longer has a lock on first place, he now has to share it with what-scandal?-I-have-my-fifth-ring Kobe Bryant…And yes it’s true that Lebron James fell 3 spots to #6 after he took us on a tour of his ego this summer.

But this list rings like a roll call of who’s most-wanted for indecent and egomaniacal behavior rather than (or as well as) a list of our most beloved sports icons. As a mom and a sports fan, my list would be SO different… but then of course, none of mine have ever won a ring. What’s the lesson here, kids?

P.S. Just to Lebron, only one athlete in the top 8 has never won a ring in his sport… I’ll let you do the math.  So with all respect, maybe your move to Miami was necessary but I’m not sure how patiently we are going to hold onto your spot.

Saving Green on the Little Things

The Harris Poll Wrap-Up is back! This time, Dan and Whitney hit the streets of New York City, asking folks what little things they are cutting back on to save money.

 

 

"Digital Turnoffs" for Employers

Post by Whitney Heckathorne, Marketing Manager

While surfing various Tweets today (it's my job, I promise), I came across this video which makes use of Harris data from a study we conducted for CareerBuilder back in June 2009. The study sought to answer a couple of different employment-related questions:

• Do employers look up potential job candidates using social networking sites? (The answer is a resounding YES, YES, YES ... and the percentage is only growing.) 
• How can a potential employee's social profile make or break them in terms of scoring a job?

Check out this video and find out if you are committing any of the cardinal sins of social networking -- chances are, your profile isn't as squeaky clean as employers would like!

(As an aside -- the video also includes soothing music along with photos of cute animals and babies, so if you aren't into learning how to give your Facebook a facelift, you'll still really enjoy this afternoon treat.)

In the meantime, I'm off to delete a few pictures.

P.S. Many thanks to YouTube user, edtechsteve, for posting this video.

Fleishman-Hillard/Harris Interactive: Digital Influence Index Event 2010

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Last week, Harris Interactive and global public relations firm, Fleishman-Hillard, teamed up to host the 2010 Digital Influence Index Event. The Digital Influence Index is in it's second year and aims to understand online consumption practices around the world. We at Harris were tickled to get to conduct the research and our own George Terhanian was invited to speak to the data as part of the event panel (far right).

More on the findings of this landmark study tomorrow - in the meantime, here is a recent Harris Poll based on data from the study.

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Harris Poll Wrap Up: Interviewing New Yorkers about the Economy

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The economy: getting better or getting (staying) worse? According to today's Harris Poll, Americans have mixed opinions...and the people of New York City are no different. Dan and Whitney are back and are out on the streets, asking people their opinions about jobs and the economy and, more importantly, if their outlook for the future is better or worse.

 

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A Social Media Tsunami for Nonprofits

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Post by Justin Greeves, Senior Vice-President, Public Affairs and Policy Research

Those of us who are on Facebook and other social networking sites know that many of our friends have “friended” their favorite cause or non-profit and have asked us to be friends as well.  Many of us chalk this up to a fun activity that allows us to learn a bit more about our friends, their likes and dislikes, and to hear about interesting new causes.  However, some non-profits are taking great advantage of this growing population and are starting to count the money, the friends, and their growing online influence.  While still, other non-profits remain on the sidelines, unsure if this new reality will have any actual use or payoff. 

Our recent DonorPulse study reveals the growing power of social media for non-profits, advocacy organizations and others.  The numbers are staggering and show how many organizations are leveraging this new national pastime into real support toward their missions.  Our survey shows that just less than half (48%) of adult Americans engaged in philanthropy have done something passively to support a non-profit through social media.  This includes “friending”, encouraging others to act, showing support generally, and posting stories about their favored non-profits. This adds up to about 76 million Americans and that is quite a base of potential new donors, advocates, volunteers!

However, we all know that being a friend isn’t just about passive activity.  A small but growing proportion of active social networkers represent the leading edge and true power of this pastime.   The results from DonorPulse reveal that, of those who already use social networks as a way to keep up with their non-profit friends on social media, an amazing 85% have taken meaningful action as a result of what they have seen or read about those non-profits in social media.  This includes making a financial contribution, recommending to friends and family, volunteering, attending events and other such directly supportive  behaviors.  This leading edge group represents about 10 million adult Americans, many of whom are highly engaged in giving, networking, influencing, and recommending other things to their friends.

Social media outlets of all types represent a new bounty for non-profits and those that support them.  The costs for social media are incrementally lower than for other media forms and the returns appear tantalizing for those that have the right people inside the organization to properly leverage this growing media form.  One day soon, organizations that used to measure their influence in dollars spent may start telling us instead how many friends they have on Facebook.

For up-to-the-moment news about DonorPulse and other Harris surveys, follow Harris Interactive and the Harris Poll on Twitter.

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Our Heart Will Go On

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So for anyone who knows me, you know that at least as far as pop culture goes, I am in lockstep with America – I follow American Idol like a religion, have set my home page to www.ew.com, rarely miss an issue of People magazine; and can lip synch all the words to Lady Gaga’s "Bad Romance."

So pardon my flabbergast when Celine Dion was named the #1 favorite singer by you-guessed-it: America. 

I barely broke a sweat with the next three: U2, Elvis Presley, and the Beatles… and even felt semi-comfortable with Tim McGraw, Alan Jackson and George Strait, knowing of course that against my better judgment, country would rule America (though really, 3 singers in the top 10 seem like overkill)…

And I felt no surprise that Frank Sinatra was tied at #9 which, in my estimation, may even be unacceptably low for Ol’ Blue Eyes…and Lady Gaga is obvs, if only because my daughter emotes all her songs into a hairbrush every night before she goes to sleep.

But… Celine Dion.  Besides 3 years ago being one of the largest celebrity earners of the year and appearing magically with Elvis Presley on Idol Gives Back, what has she done for us lately?  But if you – unlike me and the rest of NYC – think Celine is the top artist of the year, then check out these fun facts.

Now really, you other married female Democrats from the East, please tell me … to quote Ms. Dion herself… Why Oh Why? 

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Favorite Bands or Musicians - Interviews on the Streets of NYC!

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Post by Whitney Heckathorne, Marketing Manager

...And here we go! Round 2 of the Harris Poll Wrap-Up video, this time asking about people's favorite bands and musicians. Getting the opportunity to co-host a video like this (err...solicit people on the streets of New York City) definitely brought out some interesting moments. Being in the numbers biz, I thought I'd provide you with a few fun facts about the results and making of this video...

The Numbers Don't Lie

• 1 - Ranking for Celine Dion as America's favorite musician
• 0 - Number of people on the streets of NYC who said Celine was their fave
• 29 - Number of times Dan and I hadn't heard of a particular group or artist
• 29 - Number of times our camerawoman had to tell us who the group or artist was
• 32 - Degrees Fahrenheit outside the first day we filmed
• 72 - Degrees Fahrenheit outside the second day we filmed (wearing the same coats and scarves for consistency)
• 2 - Number of Harris employees who've gotten mad at me for not knowing who "Cream" is
• 5 - Number of times I've meant to Wikipedia "Cream," but haven't

So who's your favorite band or musician? See if your faves are mentioned in our video, below!

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Watch for Harris on MSNBC!

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Harris was thrilled to welcome the producers and crew of MSNBC's Sunday morning program, Your Business, to our NYC office today. The show is producing a segment about how focus groups can be beneficial for small businesses and - lucky us! - Harris's expertise was chosen to be featured.

Here are a couple of pictures from the focus group we conducted for the segment; we had such a terrific time working with the MSNBC folks and can't wait to see how the segment turns out when it airs in about 6 weeks. Until then, these pictures should tide you over...

Camera crew setting up!

 
Harris' lovely focus group volunteers

Harris' resident focus group expert (and moderator for our session today!), Clay Dethloff

We can't wait for the segment to air--will post a video when it's live! 

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No Need to Fear Cloud Computing—You’re Probably Already Doing It

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Post by Whitney Heckathorne, Marketing Manager

I love when web technology creates new verbs - Googling, Friending, Tweeting - indicating these web activities are so enveloped in our daily lives that we have to come up with ways to verbalize our usage.

But how long will it take for cloud computing to get “verb-ed”? For it to become so commonly referenced that even my mom and her friends will talk about “clouding” something? Okay… so maybe cloud computing will get assigned a different verb (because “clouding” sounds totally lame), but you get my gist.

Let’s take a step back—if you are asking yourself, “What is cloud computing?,” you’re not alone. Simply put, cloud computing enables you to store your files on the web (documents, pictures, videos, music, etc.), as opposed to on your computer, making your files available anywhere with Internet access. In other words, you don’t have to lug your laptop or a flash drive around to access your stuff. An additional benefit is that groups can collaborate on these files at the same time.

According to today’s Harris Poll, the following percentages of online Americans said they would be interested in using cloud computing:

• Email: 47%
• Pictures: 42%
• Music: 38%
• Office documents: 34%
• Videos: 33%
• Financial services: 27%

What most probably don’t realize is that the majority of us likely cloud compute without even knowing it. If you've ever stored your photos in an online photo album, shared a calendar online, stored documents in your email inbox, or even emailed, in general... CONGRATULATIONS! You’ve technically cloud-computed.

As cloud computing services, such as Google Docs and Dropbox, become even more popular and the business side of cloud computing expands, it’s easy to see why people feel intimidated by yet another web service to learn. And understandably, concerns about security and privacy are paramount.

• 81% of online Americans are concerned about the security of cloud computing;
• 62% do not trust cloud computing with personal information;
• 58% do not think files stored online are safer than on a hard drive; and,
• 57% do not trust that their files are safe online.

And privacy is certainly a concern of many; at the end of March, Yale University made a decision to not have their email be web-based because of security concerns about having grades and dicipline being in the "cloud."

So, lots of security concerns, but many online Americans still see the benefit of cloud computing and say having access to their files wherever they are would make their life much easier (63%).

Are we willing to risk possible loss of privacy to have our files be accessible whenever we want? Which is more important to you?

*Image courtesy of http://atyourlibrary.com/cloud-computing.htm

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