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CNN Saturday Morning News
Interview With Regina Lewis
Aired January 04, 2003 - 09:37 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: From the front page to the Web page, everything from the standoff with North Korea to meat and football are getting big hits on the Internet.
For finding out what you're wanting to know about the most, Regina Lewis, AOL's online adviser, is joining us now with more about that.
So what's the topics, I guess?
REGINA LEWIS, AOL ONLINE ADVISER: Well, the top five news- oriented items that were discussed online in message boards and chat rooms were, first, should military service be mandatory? And topics that strike a real chord with people tend to get a big online reaction. And because of the anonymity of the online medium, I think people tend to be more candid.
I read lots of these. They were very impassioned from people who are currently serving, have spouses serving, have served, or have even served in foreign governments where sometimes it's just a rite of passage in growing up.
Also, from moms, who will write things like, My husband will say I'm not patriotic, but here's how I really feel. So it's interesting to read through those and see the diverse opinions on that pretty touching issue.
VAUSE: OK, so they're the discussions that people are looking at. What else have we got? We've got a few others there like "The New York Times" columns...
LEWIS: Yes, I read...
VAUSE: ... that kind of thing.
LEWIS: Yes, here's what happens. And these are related, both Iraq, the controversy there, North and South Korea, "The New York Times" is a real phenomenon, and this happens with a lot of major news outlets, particularly with op-ed pieces, which are designed to incite a reaction, and they sure do online.
People are encouraged to read the column and then react to it. And what they do is say, OK, here's what Maureen Dowd or Tom Friedman thinks, Here's what I think. And in some cases, they are actually writing briefing memos to the administration or to leaders. They are saying, you know, Dear Colin Powell, here's what I think you should do in those discussions next week.
And I have talked to major columnists who say that they do sometimes browse those boards to see what people are saying.
So people are looking for a voice, they're looking for an audience, they're looking to meet and talk with people who either read the same publications or care passionately about the same issues.
VAUSE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
LEWIS: Elections is also very popular.
VAUSE: Yes. OK, I guess the next topic is the water cooler, the stuff that people talk around the water cooler, the top searches. And in this we got the cloning.
LEWIS: Yes, cloning was big, particularly with the news this week that the group the Raelians, might have cold feet on that DNA testing. And a lot of people are really curious about this group. And if you go to their site, it's in 16 different languages, and it starts with a brief introductory video that takes only a few minutes to download.
And I'll tell you, "Close Encounters," the movie, has nothing on this video. It's really interesting. And you get a firsthand appreciation for where these guys are coming from.
VAUSE: What else is on that Web site that's kind of interesting?
LEWIS: Well, you know, give you information on their mission, and of course I think a lot of people have focused on the cloning part of this story. But what are they really after? Certainly they owned a news cycle, certainly a lot of people now are speculating that that might have been manipulative.
I don't know if their membership has increased, but certainly they're looking for people to help back the creation of an embassy and to help back Clonaid, which is the company they formed. So I think from a public relations awareness perspective, they hit it out of the park, because they're getting some serious Web traffic, and that's been sustained over two weeks now.
VAUSE: And we just saw a graphic up beside you just then talking about how it spiked at number 51. What does that actually mean, though?
LEWIS: Well, it's a big spike. To be in the top 50 search terms means tens of thousands of people are actively seeking out information about this organization, not just clicking on pictures and news stories, but literally typing in the words. And that's pretty telling when you think about a kind of spike that would land you in the top 50.
VAUSE: OK, what about the holiday-related issues, what are the big ones there? LEWIS: Well, this is interesting. I don't think it gets any more American than this. We saw spikes in several categories. First, autos, two, meat, football, self-improvement, and supporting the troops.
I'll start with autos. "Kelly Blue Book," which is really popular for years and years and years now, is now online. And a lot of people were looking for the trade-in value on their cars. I don't know if it was all the car ads or people decided suddenly maybe I need four-wheel drive because of the weather, but that site, which is a perennial favorite online, got a really big boost this week.
VAUSE: And we're talking about meat, meat's in the, into the top search topics?
LEWIS: Yes, this was -- Yes. This is an index list, so...
VAUSE: People looking for prime rib?
LEWIS: Yes, we look for movers. I know, this one I just -- I couldn't believe it. It moved 1,500 search term spots. So again, we're looking for spikes and we're looking for movement. It had to be on sale at grocery stores nationwide. People were looking for information on how to cook it and recipes, recipes -- exchanging recipes is a big deal online. And of course people were home for the holidays. I think they had a little extra time. And that one just went through the roof this week.
VAUSE: OK, we're into the new year, let's talk about self- improvement. What are people looking online to try and improve their looks, if you like, or their health, and that kind of thing?
LEWIS: Well, this tracked the top resolutions, which are weight loss and smoking cessation. And there are a lot of resources online, both free and premium services. So take weight loss, for instance, sites like ediet and menshealth.com will gave you tailored play-by- play programs to meet whatever goals you have.
On the smoking cessation side, there is a terrific site created by the Boston University Public Health School. They actually have a really neat thing where once you join the site, you sort of make the commitment to quit, and then they celebrate anniversaries, at the two- day mark, at the two-week mark. And in the end, this site started in 1997, they think that they have staged about 14,000 years in people's lives and about $100,000. So nice to see that working for a lot of people..
VAUSE: And Regina, we -- finally, we've just had Christmas, where you can Santa, and now we can write to the troops online.
LEWIS: Yes, this is -- this is a great one. The Department of Defense has really cracked down this year on genetically -- generically addressed letters to the troops. In fact, they're not allowing them at all. So they teamed up, the USO teamed up with America Online on a national e-mail writing campaign.
So this is the address, write the troops at AOL.com, and a lot of people are taking advantage of that, about 15,000 letters going a day.
VAUSE: It's a lot of traffic, Regina, a lot of things to keep track of. But thank you for bringing us up to date on that. We appreciate your time this morning.
LEWIS: OK, thanks, John.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 4, 2003 - 09:37 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: From the front page to the Web page, everything from the standoff with North Korea to meat and football are getting big hits on the Internet.
For finding out what you're wanting to know about the most, Regina Lewis, AOL's online adviser, is joining us now with more about that.
So what's the topics, I guess?
REGINA LEWIS, AOL ONLINE ADVISER: Well, the top five news- oriented items that were discussed online in message boards and chat rooms were, first, should military service be mandatory? And topics that strike a real chord with people tend to get a big online reaction. And because of the anonymity of the online medium, I think people tend to be more candid.
I read lots of these. They were very impassioned from people who are currently serving, have spouses serving, have served, or have even served in foreign governments where sometimes it's just a rite of passage in growing up.
Also, from moms, who will write things like, My husband will say I'm not patriotic, but here's how I really feel. So it's interesting to read through those and see the diverse opinions on that pretty touching issue.
VAUSE: OK, so they're the discussions that people are looking at. What else have we got? We've got a few others there like "The New York Times" columns...
LEWIS: Yes, I read...
VAUSE: ... that kind of thing.
LEWIS: Yes, here's what happens. And these are related, both Iraq, the controversy there, North and South Korea, "The New York Times" is a real phenomenon, and this happens with a lot of major news outlets, particularly with op-ed pieces, which are designed to incite a reaction, and they sure do online.
People are encouraged to read the column and then react to it. And what they do is say, OK, here's what Maureen Dowd or Tom Friedman thinks, Here's what I think. And in some cases, they are actually writing briefing memos to the administration or to leaders. They are saying, you know, Dear Colin Powell, here's what I think you should do in those discussions next week.
And I have talked to major columnists who say that they do sometimes browse those boards to see what people are saying.
So people are looking for a voice, they're looking for an audience, they're looking to meet and talk with people who either read the same publications or care passionately about the same issues.
VAUSE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
LEWIS: Elections is also very popular.
VAUSE: Yes. OK, I guess the next topic is the water cooler, the stuff that people talk around the water cooler, the top searches. And in this we got the cloning.
LEWIS: Yes, cloning was big, particularly with the news this week that the group the Raelians, might have cold feet on that DNA testing. And a lot of people are really curious about this group. And if you go to their site, it's in 16 different languages, and it starts with a brief introductory video that takes only a few minutes to download.
And I'll tell you, "Close Encounters," the movie, has nothing on this video. It's really interesting. And you get a firsthand appreciation for where these guys are coming from.
VAUSE: What else is on that Web site that's kind of interesting?
LEWIS: Well, you know, give you information on their mission, and of course I think a lot of people have focused on the cloning part of this story. But what are they really after? Certainly they owned a news cycle, certainly a lot of people now are speculating that that might have been manipulative.
I don't know if their membership has increased, but certainly they're looking for people to help back the creation of an embassy and to help back Clonaid, which is the company they formed. So I think from a public relations awareness perspective, they hit it out of the park, because they're getting some serious Web traffic, and that's been sustained over two weeks now.
VAUSE: And we just saw a graphic up beside you just then talking about how it spiked at number 51. What does that actually mean, though?
LEWIS: Well, it's a big spike. To be in the top 50 search terms means tens of thousands of people are actively seeking out information about this organization, not just clicking on pictures and news stories, but literally typing in the words. And that's pretty telling when you think about a kind of spike that would land you in the top 50.
VAUSE: OK, what about the holiday-related issues, what are the big ones there? LEWIS: Well, this is interesting. I don't think it gets any more American than this. We saw spikes in several categories. First, autos, two, meat, football, self-improvement, and supporting the troops.
I'll start with autos. "Kelly Blue Book," which is really popular for years and years and years now, is now online. And a lot of people were looking for the trade-in value on their cars. I don't know if it was all the car ads or people decided suddenly maybe I need four-wheel drive because of the weather, but that site, which is a perennial favorite online, got a really big boost this week.
VAUSE: And we're talking about meat, meat's in the, into the top search topics?
LEWIS: Yes, this was -- Yes. This is an index list, so...
VAUSE: People looking for prime rib?
LEWIS: Yes, we look for movers. I know, this one I just -- I couldn't believe it. It moved 1,500 search term spots. So again, we're looking for spikes and we're looking for movement. It had to be on sale at grocery stores nationwide. People were looking for information on how to cook it and recipes, recipes -- exchanging recipes is a big deal online. And of course people were home for the holidays. I think they had a little extra time. And that one just went through the roof this week.
VAUSE: OK, we're into the new year, let's talk about self- improvement. What are people looking online to try and improve their looks, if you like, or their health, and that kind of thing?
LEWIS: Well, this tracked the top resolutions, which are weight loss and smoking cessation. And there are a lot of resources online, both free and premium services. So take weight loss, for instance, sites like ediet and menshealth.com will gave you tailored play-by- play programs to meet whatever goals you have.
On the smoking cessation side, there is a terrific site created by the Boston University Public Health School. They actually have a really neat thing where once you join the site, you sort of make the commitment to quit, and then they celebrate anniversaries, at the two- day mark, at the two-week mark. And in the end, this site started in 1997, they think that they have staged about 14,000 years in people's lives and about $100,000. So nice to see that working for a lot of people..
VAUSE: And Regina, we -- finally, we've just had Christmas, where you can Santa, and now we can write to the troops online.
LEWIS: Yes, this is -- this is a great one. The Department of Defense has really cracked down this year on genetically -- generically addressed letters to the troops. In fact, they're not allowing them at all. So they teamed up, the USO teamed up with America Online on a national e-mail writing campaign.
So this is the address, write the troops at AOL.com, and a lot of people are taking advantage of that, about 15,000 letters going a day.
VAUSE: It's a lot of traffic, Regina, a lot of things to keep track of. But thank you for bringing us up to date on that. We appreciate your time this morning.
LEWIS: OK, thanks, John.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
